StarOfService Secures $10m Investment

By Professor Maurice Okoli As stipulated by the guidelines, Russia will take over BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] from January 2024.  With the heightening of geopolitical tensions, Russia’s priority focus is on the group’s possible enlargement to counter U.S. hegemony. It plans to push seriously for critical reforms in the international financial architecture and create a solidified platform for building an equitable multipolar world order. In the past few years, the BRICS group has taken a number of broad initiatives that aim at countering hegemonic policies and against the collective West for imposing the ‘rules of the

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 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 Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, has held talks with the Equatorial Guinean President, Mr Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who was in Moscow on an official working visit. The visit could be characterized as historic and interpreted as one major step to broadly review the political situation in the Central African region, and specifically assess the prospects for deepening bilateral cooperation between Russia and Equatorial Guinea. As the current rotating Chairman of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the regional economic bloc uniting Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea,

By Dipo Olowookere The Federal Government has refuted a claim by the Ekiti State Govrnor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, that the Federal Ministry of Finance has withheld statutory allocation due to his state. The Governor was at the Ministry’s office in Abuja few days ago to demand for the allocation, alleging that his findings show that Ekiti State was the only state in the federation yet to receive the money. Reacting to the issue, the Ministry, in a statement signed by its Director of Information, Mr Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, pointed out that the Ekiti State government has failed to comply with

By Dipo Olowookere The third edition of West African Power Industry Awards took place at the 2016 West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC) held in Lagos, Nigeria and during the gala dinner; industry pioneers and projects were recognised and celebrated in eight different categories. Business Post reports that ECOWAS Executive Director Mahama Kappiah, Mojec Meter and Power CEO Chantelle Abdul, Aggreko, Ghana’s GRIDCo and Solar Nigeria walked away with some of the top awards at the ceremony. Held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, the Special Recognition award went to Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director, ECOWAS Regional Centre

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nigeria’s foremost total beverage alcohol company, Guinness Nigeria Plc, has released its Sustainability Report for 2016, reporting its performance on various aspects of its operations, while outlining its sustainability targets for the future. The report was unveiled in Lagos on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, at a formal ceremony attended by various stakeholder groups and partners such as the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), The Lagos Business School, Water Aid, Institute for Industrial technology (IIT) and Diageo’s Global Sustainable Development Director, David Croft amongst others. The Sustainability report, titled, Sustainability: From Grain to Glass, is an 87 paged

By Adedapo Adesanya Coronation Insurance Plc, formerly Wapic Insurance Plc, has reassured the public of its readiness to cover damages that arose from violent disruptions to lives and properties in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests in the country. In a press statement, the Chief Executive Officer of the underwriter, Mrs Yinka Adekoya, noted that it had “observed the recent tragic events unfolding in Nigeria. We support the right to non-violent protest, but deplore the unnecessary loss of human lives.” She declared that following the recent monumental loss of human life and damage to property and assets across the nation,

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc has tasked the federal government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, to come up with more friendly market policies to attract foreign investment inflows. At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos on Friday, the chairman of the organisation, Mr Umaru Kwairanga, assured that the company would work with the government to achieve this goal. He lauded the various reforms of this administration that have resulted in the impressive performance of the market. “The capital market community is excited by the new government and the steps it has so far

The UPSC interview is one of the most competitive jobs in the world. But for many candidates, it’s also one of the most daunting. The application process takes months and months of research, source-refining, and strategic planning. And even among top applicants, there are usually bound to be some gaps in skills—such as those related to administration or communication—that a candidate might be best equipped to fill. UPSC Exam – A Brief Overview Every country has a governing structure that directs and monitors the daily operations of the system. Administrative officers and public servants are common names for these people.

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has extended the closure of airports across the country by another two weeks beginning from Thursday, April 23, 2020. This was made public by the Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika, via his official Twitter handle on Monday. He said the extension was due to the recent lockdown order of President Muhammadu Buhari in order to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the country. In March, the federal government ordered the closure of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, and some other airports nationwide. The initial closure was supposed

By Dipo Olowookere The local stock market rebounded by 0.04 per cent on Wednesday following renewed buying interest in banking equities like Unity Bank, Zenith Bank, GTCO, and others. Also, bargain-hunting in industrial goods shares like Dangote Cement contributed to the uplifting of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited at the close of transactions. According to data, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 15.88 points to 43,477.48 points from 43,461.60 points, as the market capitalisation increased by N9 billion to close at N23.681 trillion, in contrast to the previous N23.672 trillion. Business Post reports that for the second trading session, Unity