The Federal Government of Nigeria has signed agreements with tech giants, Meta and Google, to tackle the menace of fake news and protect the integrity of the forthcoming general elections. The agreements were reached at a Friday meeting between the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and representatives of Meta and Google. At the meeting which was at the instance of the minister, the tech giants agreed to comply with four demands by the federal government. These include an agreement to work with the government in flagging and bringing down posts that constituted fake news and disinformation on…
Author: Oladi Samuel
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The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) is accepting grant applications from early career researchers and global health professionals based anywhere in the world. The preferred researchers should not have had previous research funding of that amount or more in their name. The RSTMH grants will cover one year. Research projects: The projects can be on any topic related to tropical medicine and global health, from across the research spectrum of lab, translation, implementation and policy, and should take up to one year. To learn more about the grant, a webinar will be held for those who want to…
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the arrest and prosecution of persons selling or abusing the new naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This is coming barely 24 hours after the CBN had through a statement issued similar threats, where it said that it would collaborate with law enforcement agents to arrest and prosecute those that sell and abuse the new naira notes. This is contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Muyiwa Adejobi, where he said that the police are duty-bound to…
Oyo state governor Seyi Makinde said he has suspended his campaign over the naira scarcity problem elicited by the CBN’s cashless policy and the fuel scarcity challenge affecting the country. The state’s Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria. Makinde urged residents and citizens of the state to remain calm as they try to navigate through this difficult period. Fuel and naira scarcity: The Governor revealed that his campaign was suspended in solidarity with the people over the harrowing experiences in recent times. Part of…
FCMB Group Plc has released its annual report and financial statements for the full-year ending 31st December 2022. The company’s profit for the year rose by 55.8% to N32.59 billion from the N20.92 billion in the previous year. The summary of the report is as follows: Gross Earnings 2022 FY: N281.75 billion 2021 FY: N212.01 billion Change: +32.9% Net interest income 2022 FY: N120.408 billion 2021 FY: N90.913 billion Change: +32.4% Result from Operating Profit 2022 FY: N37.105 billion 2021 FY: N22.621 billion Change: +64% Pre-tax profit 2022 FY: N37.105 billion 2021 FY: N22.716 billion Change: +63.3% Profit for…
Nigeria’s dollar-denominated government bonds declined on Friday ahead of a review of its credit rating by S&P Global. The decline is coming around the same time the country was downgraded by another rating agency, Moody’s. According to a Reuters report obtained by Nairametrics, Nigeria’s bonds dropped as much as 2.659 cents in the dollar, with the 2038 maturity falling the most, down to 69.189 cents, according to Tradeweb data. The bonds fall: The bonds had fallen for two days in a row thanks to a combination of global risk-off sentiment and Moody’s downgrade, with the 2038 maturity’s price falling as…
SunFI, a Nigerian clean tech startup, announced that it has raised $2.325 million in seed funding. The company’s CEO, Rotimi Thomas, said the investment would help SunFi grow its operations and improve its capabilities to recommend the best systems at the lowest cost to customers. The funding was led by Nairobi-based Factor[e] and Sterling Bank’s SCM Capital Asset Management. Other participating investors include Voltron Capital, Norrsken Impact Accelerator, Ventures Platform and Sovereign Capital. How SunFI operates: The startup specialises in connecting households and businesses who are interested in solar energy access to suitable payment plans. SunFi creates value for clean…
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned that businesses are suffering the consequences of CBN’s currency management policy lapses. This was disclosed by the Director General of LCCI, Dr Chinyere Alumona on Friday, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria. The LCCI’s warning comes at a time Nigerians are enduring heavy roadblocks due to the scarcity of naira notes following the apex bank’s naira redesign and cashless policies. The LCCI’s position: The LCCI added it does not see any value in this if the scarcity of the new Naira notes persists. Dr Chinyere Alumona stated that when…
The current economic situation in Nigeria has caused extra hardship for many Nigerians, aggravating their cost of living in crisis. Findings by Nairametrics have shown that across Lagos, many people are spending valuable time queuing in front of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in a desperate bid to get cash. Those who cannot get cash from ATMs are paying exorbitant charges to Point of Sales (PoS) operators. Since Monday, cash has been unavailable both at banks’ ATMs and over the counter. Bank customers who needed small cash to pay for transport fares, and other urgent needs could not find money to…
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of printing only N300 billion new redesigned naira notes after mopping up over N2 trillion of the old naira notes. He said that APC governors under the aegis of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the CBN to allow the old and new naira notes to co-exist to ease the tough time Nigerians are going through. The Governor stated this while speaking to journalists shortly after a meeting between President Buhari and the APC governors at the State House…