The federal government has disclosed that Nigeria’s economy recorded $10.1billiom investment announcement in the first half of this year. Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Trade and Industry, made this known at Lagos International Trade Fair, held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). Adebayo explained that the $10.1billion announcement…
The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) will later this month host the first annual HiiL African Justice Innovation Symposium, bringing together key stakeholders from the worlds of law, activism, technology and business to discuss the existing innovations in justice delivery and the opportunities and challenges that present themselves in the world today. The symposium,…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially declared that the auction of the 3.5 Gigahertz (3.5 GHz) spectrum for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology in Nigeria, will take place on December 13, 2021. According to the Information Memorandum (IM) presented by the Commission at a stakeholder engagement forum organised on 5G spectrum in…
This week, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) got underway in Glasgow, turning the world’s attention to the global climate crisis and the solutions needed to address this. But many solutions already exist… in Africa. “Whilst we are delighted that nearly 500 global financial firms have agreed to align $130 trillion – 40%…
In the afternoon of October 20th, 2021, the opening session of the 10th Meeting of China-Africa Think Tanks Forum was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. As a companion warm-up event for the upcoming session of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Senegal, this Forum brought together more than 200 political, academic, media and business representatives…
Commercial banks in Nigeria shut down 234 branches and 649 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in 2020, according to reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The global financial body disclosed this in its Financial Access Survey 2021 Trends and Developments. According to details from the reports, the closure of banks and ATM service points across…
The AfCFTA Secretariat and its partners on the 4D, ProPer and Caravan Initiatives, AfroChampions and the Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA), have announced the winners of the AfCFTA Caravan Prize. A key criterion for the selection of the finalists and semi-finalists is for an organisation and its founders to conceive and implement models, concepts,…
The ??current leadership of Nigeria’s Digital Economy sector has continued to attract global attention as foreign investors seek partnerships with the Federal Government in that regard. The People’s Republic of China on Thursday, 4th November 2021, expressed interest in long term partnerships and collaborations with the Nigerian Digital Economy sector. This position was made known…
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen welcomed Facebook’s announcement that it would scrap facial recognition, but urged close government oversight of the move to ensure the social network lived up to its pledge. Facebook made the announcement on Tuesday, partly in response to growing scrutiny from regulators and legislators over user safety and abuses on its platforms. Activists…
The Lagos State Government has introduced Edutainment – the process of entertaining the pupils while also teaching them at the same time – to enhance better understanding and a further improvement in teaching and learning abilities of teachers and pupils. Speaking at the Y2021 Lagos State Festival of Instructional Materials held Wednesday at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa,…
Google trends have shown a surprising increased interest in Halloween by Nigerians. Google Search queries in the week leading up to 31 October 2021 showed top searches like ‘When is Halloween?’, ‘Halloween meaning’ and ‘History of Halloween’ Halloween, regarded as a Western tradition, is celebrated each year on 31 October in the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Scotland,…
Applications for Google’s three-month virtual accelerator programme are now open to startups located in Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Successful early-growth stage startup applicants (from seed to Series A) will gain access to equity-free support alongside the best of Google’s…
AURA, one of South Africa’s leading security and medical response marketplaces, has appointed David Myers as its COO. Previously a GM and Regional Operations Lead at Uber for Europe, Middle East & Africa, Myers brings with him decades of experience that will stand him in perfect stead for this position, according to a statement from…
Twitter has been steadily updating its rebuilt API following its mid-2020 relaunch. Most recently, the company added support for Twitter Spaces to its developer platform. Today, it’s announcing support that will enable developers to build better Twitter bots by launching new end points that allow you to tweet, delete tweets, post polls, use Reply settings and tag people in images….
An innovation incubation centre funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) has been launched at the Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI) at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi, aimed at promoting innovation development, market linkages, and technology transfer. The PAUSTI Incubation Centre of Excellence has been set up…
After Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its engagement with the metaverse, Microsoft too is gearing up to launch its own version, which is likely to focus on the corporate world. Speaking about the metaverse, a space where digital avatars of people interact at work and play, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted that…
Microsoft is bringing back Google Wave, the doomed real-time messaging and collaboration platform Google launched in 2009 and prematurely shuttered in 2010. Maybe we should’ve seen this coming. Back in 2019, Microsoft announced the Fluid Framework (not to be confused with the Fluent design system). The idea here was nothing short of trying to re-invent the nature of business documents…
The Femtech Accelerator Program, launched by Organon and Flat6Labs, aims to help female-founded digital health start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) flourish by assisting them in developing products, determining market fit, and improving business models. Organon, a global healthcare company with the mission of making every woman’s day better and healthier, has…
The Information Security Society of Africa-Nigeria (ISSAN) has expressed worry about Nigeria’s leading role in online fraud in Africa. ISSAN, which claimed that some $2 trillion was at risk, said all efforts must be harnessed to correct the menace. The President of ISSAN, Dr. David Isiavwe, who disclosed this at a webinar, organised by the…
Airtel Africa and UNICEF have announced a new five-year pan-African partnership to help accelerate the roll-out of digital learning through connecting schools to the internet and ensuring free access to learning platforms across 13 countries. Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services in Africa, is the first African private sector partner…
Online giant Google and Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani opened advance orders in India on Monday for an entry-level smartphone billed as the world’s most affordable, joining the race to tap into the booming budget market. Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries announced in July last year that it would partner with Google to launch the 4G…
From October 12 to 28, more than 500 high school students from underserved communities of Agege, Alimosho and Ifako-Ijaiye in Lagos Education District 1, participated in a series of STEM workshops sponsored by the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos. During the workshops, the students learned how to build, program, and fly drones, computer coding, solar panel assembly,…
eNaira is more or less like a digital version of the physical Naira. It is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and will exchange 1:1 to the physical Naira. The eNaira was launched by Nigeria’s President flanked by the VP and CBN Governor on October 25, 2021…
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s message about Instagram’s impact on teenage girls was unequivocal: Facebook’s studies found that 13% of British teens said Instagram prompted thoughts of suicide, and 17% of teen girls say Instagram makes eating disorders worse. These statistics, however, are only one part of the bigger picture when it comes to the general safety of…
The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for National Identity Number (NIN)-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) data verification to “the end of the year 2021”. This is according to a recent statement by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) . This is coming just 3 months after the last extension and barely a day to the expiration of…
Generation Z is rapidly stepping onto the world stage. They are graduating from high school, entering the workforce, and studying at tertiary education institutions. Referred to as digital natives, this generation grew up with technology and has no knowledge of life without it. They are globally connected, incredibly mobile, entrepreneurial, and crave autonomy – especially…
Apple lost its crown as the world’s most valuable public company to Microsoft on Friday, as the iPhone maker’s shares fell about 2 percent. Apple took a $6 billion hit to its sales during the fiscal fourth quarter due to persistent global supply chain problems, leading to a miss on Wall Street expectations. Top boss Tim…
During Facebook’s Connect 2021 conference, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would be renamed from “Facebook” to “Meta,” and according to a statement from the firm, “Meta’s focus will be to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses.” More specifically, the company’s new name is “Meta Platforms…
Facebook on Thursday announced it was changing the parent company’s name to “Meta.” Following the move, many people saw the rebranding exercise as an excuse to have a go at the social media giant. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was among them. He suggested that the new name of the company was confusing and it was…
Forty inclusive businesses from across Africa have been selected for the Social and Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC), a yearly acceleration programme designed to help the most promising high-impact African entrepreneurs scale up their businesses. The SIBC aims to support entrepreneurs and create long-lasting connections with a wide range of ecosystem stakeholders through innovative training sessions…