OPEC Postpones 60th Anniversary Celebration Due to Pandemic

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh With the prevalent dependency of African economies on the external supply of fertilizers and grains and up to 30% of cereals imported from Russia, ensuring that critical trade flows continue uninhibited remains the priority of Afreximbank and its African member states. The lingering global food security challenges and the critical role trade with Russia play in guaranteeing Africa’s food security were at the core of discussions for Afreximbank at the second Russia African Economic and Humanitarian Forum, which was held at St. Petersburg from the 27th to the 29th of July, 2023. Addressing the summit, Professor

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh South Africa hosts the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Russian President Vladimir Putin is participating, not in person, but this time only online. Historically, he has, a number of times, paid official working visits to South Africa. During these past two decades, he has held high-level talks, at different times, with Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa. Russia and South Africa have unlimited opportunities to develop mutually beneficial economic partnerships. For instance, in early September 2006, Vladimir Putin and Thabo Mbeki discussed the outlook for improving bilateral economic ties with representatives of the two countries’

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is held annually in cooperation with the Far East regional administration in the city of Vladivostok. Three years of COVID-19, followed by Russia’s ‘special military operation’ and the current geopolitical situation, have adversely affected this corporate business event, as Russia looks towards the East and makes the main focus on developing the Far East. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the opening session that the government would not allow the pace of development to slacken in the Russian Far East as it is a strategic region for the country. “We will

By Adedapo Adesanya India on Wednesday became the first nation to land a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole and the fourth country – after Russia, the United States, and China – to land on the moon. This has been regarded as a historic triumph for the world’s second most populous nation and its ambitious, cut-price space programme. The unmanned Chandrayaan-3, which means Mooncraft in Sanskrit, touched down at 6:04 pm India time (1:34 pm Nigerian time). Its landing comes days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region and four years since the previous Indian attempt failed at

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the leading tier-two lenders in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc, has announced the creation of a special loan scheme for traders at the popular Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPAMDA) market in Lagos. The product, called ASPASMDA Traders Support Facility, is designed to assist the traders boost their business operations. However, the traders would only be able to access funds earmarked for the scheme from Thursday, August 1, 2019. Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, who made the disclosure during a meeting with the market leaders, also said the company

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A tier-2 financial institution in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc, has assured its customers and non-customers of the availability of foreign currencies in all its branches. The lender gave this assurance in an emailed notification to its customers last week, urging them to use its platform to receive remittances from abroad. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had recently announced that from Friday, December 4, 2020, it would make it possible for beneficiaries of diaspora remittances to receive their funds in Dollar, Pound, Euro or other foreign currencies. This was part of the monetary authority’s effort to boost

By Dipo Olowookere The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, has denied media reports quoting him as giving conditions for lifting the embargo placed on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria. On Monday, Mr Onyeama held talks with some envoys of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union. These diplomats were summoned after they issued a joint statement over the weekend to condemn the ban of Twitter in the country by the federal government. This suspension followed the deletion of a tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari last week by Twitter for comments believed to be

By Dipo Olowookere A renowned tech journalist, Mr Omobayo Azeez, has called on stakeholders in the telecommunications sector to urgently take actions that will reduce the reliance on foreign inputs in the industry. Speaking in Lagos last Thursday at the third edition of the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo), Mr Azeez said this was putting more pressure on the Naira in the foreign exchange (FX) market. Though he said the telecoms sector has unarguably become one indispensable economic enabler for the country and its people, efforts must be made to use this channel to boost local production and stop the

By Adedapo Adesanya Transactions on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed in the bullish zone on Tuesday, September 21 after a 0.72 per cent growth driven by the positive price movements in four companies. Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc led the price gainers yesterday with an appreciation of N15 or 5.6 per cent to close at N270 per share versus the previous day’s N255 per share. FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc was another gainer as its value increased by N2.43 or 1.9 per cent to N125 per unit from N122.57 per unit. It was followed

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The new owners of Polaris Bank Limited, Strategic Capital Investment Limited (SCIL), have appointed Mr Adekunle Sonola as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. This followed the acquisition of the 100 per cent equity stake in the bank for N50 billion and the agreement to pay the N1.3 trillion injected into the lender by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the next 25 years. Mr Sonola, who is replacing Mr Innocent C. Ike, has more than 33 years of experience in the African financial services sector, most recently as Executive Director of Commercial Banking at Union

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Those interested in coming into Nigeria to invest in any of the sectors have been assured business friendly environment and attractive returns when they do so. This assurance was given by President Muhammadu Buhari in Yokohama, Japan on Thursday, where he specifically said, “Nigeria has very attractive investment opportunities with some of the highest Returns-on-Investment.” Presenting the country’s Statement at Plenary Session Three on “Public-Private Business Dialogue” at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7), the President said he looked forward to prospective investors making inroads “in the following priority sectors in Nigeria, namely, power

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Reps Committee on Public Petitions has summoned the Project Manager, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited, and the Project Manager of Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited to appear before it over the alleged torture and intimidation of Nigerian workers engaged in the construction of the NLNG Train-7 project in Bonny Island, Rivers State. There has been a protracted industrial crisis between the NLNG Train-7 EPC firm, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited, and its employees under the aegis of the National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO), who are demanding fair labour practices in line with international best