AfDB Lauds Moody’s Affirmation of AAA Credit Rating

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) have signed an agreement for a dual currency line of credit comprising $50 million and €50 million to support local agricultural businesses in West Africa. The credit lines are expected to strengthen food security, economic growth, and employment generation. The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, Mr George Agyekum Donkor and Mr Solomon Quaynor, AfDB Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure, and industrialisation, formalised the agreement during a signing ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh The African continent is one of the fastest-growing energy markets in the world. This is due to the growing economic and demographic potential of African countries, as well as the efforts of many of them to combat climate change. Despite having passed through a long period of tumultuous post-colonial era, Africa’s efforts to ensure effective energy cooperation with leading global powers has not been an easy journey down the years. Until today, more than half of the estimated 1.4 billion still have no access to electric power for domestic utilization while industries continue suffering from frequent

By Professor Maurice Okoli Amid heightened criticisms and intense debates over several significant global issues including new financial architecture, economic diversification, growing debts and reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, on October 15 wrapped up their week-long annual meetings held under the theme “Global Action, Global Impact” in Marrakesh, Morocco in North Africa. With the rapid geopolitical changes, it featured prominently finance ministers and central bank governors from 190 countries in desperate search of comprehensive mechanisms and suitable approaches to address the prevailing economic crisis across the globe. The coordinated annual meetings also reviewed its scope

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh South Africa prepares to host the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum to review critical challenges and obstacles adversely impacting trade opportunities and economic cooperation between the United States and Africa. The United States first introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000. It is the 20th AGOA forum scheduled from November 2 to 4 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The AGOA Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum seeks to expand and deepen trade and investment relationships between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. It also encourages regional integration and further reaffirms Africa’s position as a

By Dipo Olowookere The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has said majority of people living in the South Western region of Nigeria are Muslims. Director of the group, Mr Ishaq Akintola, said this while reacting to the Western Nigeria Security Network code-named Amotekun, Yoruba word for leopard. Mr Akintola, who called on Governors of the South West states to rebrand Amotekun because it has its origin in the Bible, emphasised that it would not be possible for Muslims to be a part of it. “Jeremiah 5:6 says, ‘A leopard shall guard over their city’. Amotekun is mentioned in this verse with

 By Adedapo Adesanya Both Enugu and Jigawa States have signed their respective revised budgets for the year 2020 into law. In Enugu State, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi signed into law the revised 2020 budget of N146.3 billion. The budget represents a 13.6 per cent decrease after a downward review from N169.5 billion initially proposed in December 2019. Out of the budget size, the capital expenditure stands at N69.7 billion while the recurrent expenditure is N76.5 billion, representing 48 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. Governor Ugwuanyi signed the budget on Wednesday in the presence of his deputy, Mrs Cecilia Ezeilo,

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel Provider of borderless payments for commerce in Africa, Klasha, has secured a sum of $2.4 million in a seed funding round to help retailers such as ASOS, Zara, and H&M receive payments from African consumers. Led by an American venture capital firm, Greycroft, the round saw the participation of investors such as Seedcamp, Practical VC, Plug and Play, First Round VC, 2.12 Angels, MiLA Capital, Berrywood Capital, AVG Basecamp Fund, and Expert Dojo. Investors Joe Cross of Wise and Michael Pennington of Gumtree also participated in the round as angel investors. With the fresh funding, Klasha also

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Leader in imaging solutions, Canon Central and North Africa, recently hosted a private press screening of Golden Effects Pictures latest movie, ‘Mokalik’. The private screening had exclusive guest attendance including members of the media, key industry stakeholders, cast and crew. Canon also used the occasion to showcase the full range of professional Canon cameras and lenses, enabling the Nigerian filmmaking community to network and get firsthand hands-on experience of Canon professional camcorder Following the Mokalik movie screening, produced and directed by award-winning Nigerian filmmaker, Mr Kunle Afolayan, using the Canon EOS C300 Mark II along with range

Reports say the ‘Just Do It’ NIKE Unlimited Campaign’ has continued to give inspiration to athletes all over the world, making them push beyond their limits. The company has also debuted its ‘Unlimited Will’ campaign. The campaign, which has struck a chord worldwide with nearly 300 million views to date, highlights quadruple amputee Kyle Maynard in final instalment. Nike, today, unveiled the final film in its powerful and globally reaching ‘Just Do It – Nike Unlimited Campaign’ which showcases how unlimited determination can overcome the toughest of challenges. ‘Unlimited Will’ follows ‘Unlimited Future,’ ‘Unlimited You,’ ‘Unlimited Courage,’ ‘Unlimited Together’ and

By Adedapo Adesanya In a new directive, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked commercial banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to request from their customers an indemnity for online transfers to the tune of N1 million and above for individuals and N10 million and more for corporate customers. An indemnity is a contract absolving someone from any financial loss incurred. It means if a customer making online transfers above the cap suffers a financial loss in the course of the transaction, the bank will not be held responsible as the loss would be solely incurred by the customer

By Dipo Olowookere The debut 25-year FGN bond tagged 9.80% FGN JUL 2045 Bonds issued last month by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of the Nigerian government has been listed on the local stock exchange. The debt instrument was admitted into the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday to allow holders of the paper to trade them at the secondary market with ease. Business Post reports that on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, the debt office auctioned N35 billion worth of the new 25-year FGN bond to investors and as expected, it was well-received. At the next bond sale

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange slumped by 0.42 per cent on Tuesday, October 11, as Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc closed the first trading session after the Id el Maulud holiday bearish. CSCS Plc went down by 80 Kobo or 5.7 per cent to settle at N13.20 per share in contrast to N14.00 per share of the preceding session. As a result, NASD investors lost N4 billion at the close of transactions yesterday as the market capitalisation of the bourse finished at N954.33 billion compared with last Friday’s value of N958.33 billion. In the same