Author: Johnson Akinyi

Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, has described the controversial Nigeria Air unveiled by the Buhari-led administration as a fraud. He said the project remains suspended. He said that the ‘national carrier’ that was supposed to be an indigenous project and one that was supposed to bring hope for Nigerians, was flawed with a lot of secrecy and fraudulent activities. Keyamo made the declaration on Nigeria Air while fielding questions from journalists during the second day of the Ministerial Sectorial update on Monday, May 27, in Abuja. He said, “It was never Air Nigeria. It was Ethiopian…

…As FG prioritises Bayelsa, Edo, C’River, Lagos, Rivers The United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has donated 10,000 doses of the Monkeypox vaccine to Nigeria to respond to the current mpox outbreak. Mpox is an infectious viral disease that occurs in humans and animals. It can be transmitted through close contact, including sexual interactions. The prevention of mpox is through vaccination. Persons 18 years of age and older are at high risk for mpox infection and highly recommended to take the vaccine. The vaccine is a two-dose primary series for use in persons who have…

The longshoremen waiting for employment in Angola’s Atlantic coast were excited to see the stars and stripes when the US ambassador’s car pulled into a port terminal last month. “Nós amamos os Americanos!” they said in Portuguese, which is the official tongue of the nation. “We cherish Americans!” This startling newfound love for Washington comes from a nation that was once at the center of the Cold War, an ally of Moscow, and the biggest beneficiary of Chinese loans in Africa. However, it is not uncalled for. The Lobito Corridor, a 100-year-old railroad that will carry vital minerals throughout…

Interview with Faizal Bhana – Director – Middle East, Africa and India Jersey Finance.  Interview with Faizal Bhana, Director, Middle East, Africa and India, Jersey Finance, delves into the evolving landscape of family businesses and how they navigate the diminishing trust advantage amid rising ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) demands and NextGen aspirations. How has the use of trusts evolved for family businesses over the past decade? Over the past decade, the use of trusts has evolved significantly for family businesses. Increased regulatory scrutiny and transparency demands have led to more structured governance frameworks and a more planned approach. Families are…

The recent decrease in the stock prices of the Dangote Group, which includes Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries, has been attributed to foreign exchange losses and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to reject their merger request. Analysts suggested that the ongoing inflationary pressures and forex volatility have worsened these challenges. The depreciation of the naira has increased the cost of importing raw materials, further squeezing profit margins. From May to August 2024, Dangote Sugar Refinery’s stock plummeted by 18.67 per cent from N45.00 to N36.60, on the back of disruptions in the supply chain and volatile sugar…

The Mubambiro base near the eastern Congolese town of Sake has become a death trap for the 2,400 South African troops stationed there. Hemmed in by mountains crawling with rebels of the M23, a Tutsi militant group backed by Rwanda, the South Africans are regularly shelled by precision-guided mortars. With no air defence or ability to warn of incoming artillery fire, casualties have mounted: seven soldiers have been killed and 33 wounded this year. The base is short of medicine, food and ammunition. Morale is dismal.

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote an editorial headlined: African DFIs face existential threat. This was in relation to the strong ‘insider rumours’ that the world’s largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as the World Bank, the IMF and others of their ilk were discussing the withdrawal of the preferred creditor status (PCS) of African multilateral financial institutions (AMFIs).To recap: the PCS is an agreement between the lending institution and the borrowing client (usually a sovereign country, but also including parastatals and other organisations) that it will have first priority when it comes to repayment. This is even if…

As the nation approached the polls, iKhokha conducted a survey across its national base to learn more about SME confidence in our government. The survey revealed that 76% of SMEs felt government support to be ineffective in promoting small business growth and development. In May, retail spending fell by 0.7% month-on-month as uncertainty lead to more frugal consumer spending. This downturn was mirrored in the automotive sector, where new car sales saw a 14.2% drop. iKhokha also observed an 8% decrease in SME turnover in May and June as the nation held its collective breathe, watching potential coalition discussions play…

It has long been recognised that massive investment is needed to enable African states to embark on the energy transition in a timely manner. The rapid development of solar power in particular, but also wind energy, is needed to help minimise power sector emissions on the continent while also driving electrification campaigns and providing electricity for a large-scale switch to electric vehicles. Several mechanisms have been launched to funnel the required financing to the continent – some of it via African banks – but they need to be scaled up quickly to justify demands that African coal and oil reserves be…

Tolulope Osho, Yusuf Yakubu and Adewale Afolabi — all Nigerians — are the founders of Pesa, a remittance fintech. The trio founded the startup following their firsthand experience using informal channels to remit money to avoid costly charges after settling in Canada in 2017. They experienced how costly and unreliable remittance services made people resort to unsafe and informal channels like WhatsApp groups. Knowing the significance of remittances to households in Africa, they decided to find a solution, hence the founding of Pesa. They initially targeted the Canada-to-Africa remittance market but now eyeing global activity, according to Tech Crunch. Osho,…