Military Officers Oust Ali Bongo in Gabon Coup

By Adedapo Adesanya Gabon has become the latest African country to experience a military takeover as military officers appeared on television on Wednesday night, announcing they were putting an end to the current regime and cancelling an election that saw President Ali Bongo Ondimba win another extension to his rule. Mr Bongo’s whereabouts are unknown, according to reports as of press time. While announcing the cancellation of the vote results, one of the officers said “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved. The address was read by an officer flanked by a group of a dozen army colonels,

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Union (AU) has suspended Gabon’s participation in all of its activities following Wednesday’s military takeover. The decision followed a meeting on Thursday of the bloc’s Peace and Security Council. The military in Gabon on Wednesday (August 29) seized power and placed President Ali Bongo, 64, under house arrest. The AU said it strongly condemns the junta, which is the ninth on the continent in the last three years. After the takeover, the Gabonese junta said it would phase in what it is calling transitional institutions after the removal of President Bongo, who had held onto

By Adedapo Adesanya In an unprecedented response to the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Morocco, Binance, through its charity arm, has announced plans to airdrop up to $3 million in Binance Coin (BNB) to Binance users identified as living in the areas affected by the tragedy. Last Friday, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Marakkesh in the North African country and has left close to 3,000 dead, with at least 2,500 injured and a host of others missing. In the aftermath of natural disasters, people often lose access to traditional banking at the exact moment when extra funds are

By Adedapo Adesanya The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has disclosed that it made record financing in Africa to accelerate the continent’s energy transition, develop greener manufacturing, increase intra-Africa trade, strengthen smaller businesses, and boost local food production, including in more challenging fragile and conflict-affected regions in the fiscal year 2023. In a statement corroborating the release of its numbers which spanned between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, IFC disclosed that it put $11.5 billion in investments across 40 countries, the largest ever annual commitment for the continent. Giving a breakdown, the World Bank agency said the support includes

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The NASD OTC Market has thrown its weight behind a programme that aims to discuss ways business owners can source for funding from external factors to grow their enterprises. The seminar was organised by the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) and was well attended by alumni of EDC and other growth focused enterprises. It was part of the continued efforts of NASD to deepen the reach and impact of the capital market in the real economy. The session featured presentations on preparing growth enterprises for investments, a panel session focused on What Investors and Funders look out for,

By Sodeinde Temidayo David The federal government has released N30 billion as a revitalisation fund to universities across the nation. This followed a meeting with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in which the FG said was aimed at evaluating whether the implementation of the Memorandum of Action entered into by the parties was successful. The revitalisation fund was one of the seven key issues evaluated yesterday at a federal government’s meeting with the leadership of ASSU. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment,

By Kester Kenn Klomegah President Vladimir Putin has praised the entire healthcare system and particularly the hard-working team of scientists and specialists from different institutions for their efforts at research and creating a series of coronavirus vaccines for use against the coronavirus both at home and abroad. Three vaccines already registered in Russia, two of them – Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona – are produced in large quantities by Russian pharmaceutical companies and are currently used for vaccination. It is additionally planned to roll out another one – CoviVac. Despite the pandemic-related challenges, the domestic pharmaceutical companies, in conjunction with research

By Adedapo Adesanya The Brent crude inched closer to the $50 per barrel on Friday, December 4 after it went up by 54 cents or 1.11 per cent to settle at $49.25 per barrel. During the trading session, the United States’ benchmark, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, moved up by 1.36 per cent or 62 cents to trade at $46.26 per barrel. In recent times, the price of oil has seen an upward trend as producers finally came to a compromise, agreeing to add 500,000 barrels per day to January quotas. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State today commissioned the Abule-Egba Fly-Over Bridge tagged the ‘Jubilee Bridge.’ The Governor arrived at the event on Wednesday afternoon alongside his entourage and was welcomed by residents of the area, who applauded him for completing the project on time. Abule Egba is one of areas in the state having problems with traffic gridlock, which necessitated the project. Before arriving for the ceremony, the Governor had commissioned a similar project in the Ajah axis of the state. Present at the Abule Egba commissioning was the Speaker of the Lagos State House of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Wema Bank Plc has partnered with Health Connect to provide quality and affordable healthcare services to its customers. A statement from the bank said customers would have access to first-level medical services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Wema Health Connect allows subscribers to have access to a doctor for unlimited medical consultation by calling the toll-free number, access to affordable healthcare at a click of the button, honest and ethical medical advice based on evidence on smartphone and non-smartphone devices, prenatal and postnatal wellness and wellness lectures and workshop. Among other things, the

By Dipo Olowookere On Friday, April 26, 2019, FCMB Plc released its financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2019 to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The lender posted a gross earnings of N43.9 billion in the period under consideration versus N42.2 billion in the same time of last year. Also, the interest and discount income rose to N34.5 billion from N32.7 billion, while the net interest and discount income closed at N18.6 billion against N17.8 billion after the reduction of N15.8 billion from the figure for interest expense, higher than N14.9 billion of Q1 2018. It was further

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices gained on Tuesday following a report that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)  and its allies would consider deeper production cuts when they meet in December. As a result of this, major futures logged their first gain in three sessions. On Tuesday, the Brent crude oil rose by 1.22 percent or 72 Cents to trade higher at $59.59 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.64 percent or 88 cents to settle at $54.39 per barrel. Members of the oil cartel and their allies will consider making further reductions to crude