South Africa Secures Additional 20m COVID-19 Vaccines

By Adedapo Adesanya A new insight has shown that 20 out of 54 African countries have restricted internet access amid elections since 2015. According to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker, over the last eight years, 30 countries and territories in the world have restricted the internet amid elections, affecting 2.3 billion people globally. It found that out of these countries, 20 of them were on the African continent, including the most recent in Zimbabwe and Gabon; both countries held elections in August and restricted internet access. The survey found that out of the 20 countries that have restricted internet during elections since

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 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 The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to end the deteriorating state of rule of law in the country and also defeat corruption as he marks six years in office. The body made the call on Sunday via a statement issued by its Deputy Director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare. The organisation urged the President to, “Use the sixth anniversary of his government in power as an opportunity to halt Nigeria’s backsliding from constitutional and international obligations, reverse a steady deterioration of the rule of law and persistent breach of human rights, including the

By Dipo Olowookere Preparations are already in top gear for the 2016 Nigerian Economic Summit (NEC), which holds from October 10-12, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. Addressing a news conference in Lagos, organiser of the programme, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) said the 22nd edition of the summit, themed ‘Made in Nigeria’, would be explosive. It was explained that this theme was coming at a right time; especially when Nigeria is strategizing on how to revamp her economy. Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, who was present at the briefing, pointed out that

A Masterclass event was recently hosted by Interswitch Group for the top 81 finalists out of the 17,460 who registered for the InterswitchSPAK 2.0 National Qualifying Examination. The event was part of the InterswitchSPAK Switch-a-Future project, a CSR initiative of the company focused on rewarding and driving increased interest in the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects among Senior Secondary School students across Africa. It was designed to impact in the student soft skills that are readily not taught in the classroom, through real-life thought leaders. Majority of the participants spoke about the need to be trustworthy,

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira to Dollar exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market in Nigeria maintained stability on Friday. According to data harvested from FMDQ Securities Exchange by Business Post yesterday, the domestic currency was traded at N415.07/$1, the same amount it was sold on Thursday. It was observed that the local currency closed flat during the session despite a significant increase in the demand for forex at the market window. At the last trading session of the week on the FX category, transactions valued at $240.97 million were carried out

By Adedapo Adesanya To avoid the unprecedented flood experienced across the country last year, the federal government has disclosed preventive measures to open up blocked channels. The Director General of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mr George Moghalu, made this disclosure after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. The NIWA boss explained that the agency was carrying out massive sensitization of the possible flood-prone areas as efforts are ongoing to ensure that rivers Niger and Benue are made navigable for vessels to have access to other ports being developed. It will be recalled that in 2022, Nigeria experienced

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday morning ordered the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to stop the planned increase in the prices of data by telecommunications in the country. There have been mixed reactions concerning the proposed tariffs hike of data from Thursday, December 1, 2016. On Wednesday, November 30, 2016, Deputy Senate Leader, Mr Bala Na’Allah, who raised a motion on the floor of the Senate on the increase in data tariffs by the telecoms, said the move was shocking and anti-people. Other lawmakers, who debated on the issue, also condemned it, reminding the NCC that it is

By Adedapo Adesanya At the close of the first week of the easing of lockdown on Friday, the Naira depreciated as much as N8 against the American Dollar at the black market segment. The domestic currency consequently wrapped the week at N445/$1 compared with the N437/$1 it traded at the segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market. At the same segment, the local currency closed flat against the Pound at N530/£1, while against the Euro, it depreciated by N10 to close at N450/€1 in contrast to N440/€1 it exchanged at the previous session. At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window

By Dipo Olowookere The ‘big five’ banks in Nigeria; First Bank, UBA, GTBank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank under the nickname FUGAZ, generated nearly N2 trillion (precisely N1.979 trillion) as revenue in the first nine months of 2017 compared with N1.338 trillion they achieved in the corresponding period of 2016. This is according to the Q3 financial statements released by the lenders last month to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the period ended September 30, 2017, which was analysed by Business Post Nigeria. From the analysis, Zenith Bank raked the highest figure during the period under review, N531.226 billion