Twitter chooses Ghana and not Nigeria as first African headquarters
In what came as a disappointment to many Nigerians, twitter announced that it will set up its first Africa base in Ghana. Many Nigerians believe twitter’s decision to snub Nigeria was as a result of the “inconducive business environment” for Twitter choosing Ghana over Nigeria. This might not be far from the truth as Twitter described Ghana “as a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet,” majors reason for its choice. Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey capped a whirlwind tour of Africa in 2019 by pledging to move to the continent for several months in 2020 and this seems to be his first move.
Food inflation hit highest in 12 years
Nigerians cannot afford to buy as much as they used to as food inflation is now at the highest it’s ever been in over 12 years, heaping financial pressure on households already faced with a shrinking wallets. Inflation rate hit 18.17 percent in March, according to the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Food prices, which make up the bulk of the inflation basket, rose 22.95 percent. The NBS report noted that the rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of Bread and cereals, Potatoes, yam and other tubers, Meat, Vegetable, Fish, Oils and fats and fruits.
Nigerians can now buy and register new SIMs from April 19, 2021
The federal government has announced that from April 19, 2021, Nigerians and foreigners alike will be able to buy and register new Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) in Nigeria. This is coming after the Nigerian government banned the sale of new SIM cards and mandated every Nigerian to link their NIN to their SIMs or risk getting barred. This development followed the Nigerian Federal Government’s resolve to lift the ban on new SIM registration on April 15, 2021. The policy has affected individuals, businesses, and subscribers for telecom companies have dropped drastically.
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Controversy on whether or not Nigeria printed N60 billion for FAAC allocation
It all started when Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo State, said that N60 billion was printed in March to support allocation to states. The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said this while speaking with state house correspondents in Abuja that the claim was untrue and even sad that Obaseki would say such. However, after Nigerian took to social media to demand the truth over the confusion, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s governor, Godwin Emefiele said the apex bank bailing out the federal government is not peculiar to Nigeria. According to him, “What is being done is being done in any clime. Nigeria is unfortunately in a very bad situation. I’m not going to pretend about it, in the sense that we are facing problems about productivity output which is GDP, we are also confronted with issues of inflation and prices and the rest of them.”
Ex-Burkina Faso president charged in predecessor’s murder
A military court in Burkina Faso has charged former President Blaise Compaore in connection with the 1987 murder of his predecessor, Thomas Sankara. Thirteen other people were charged in connection with the killing, including Compaore’s former right-hand man, Gen. Gilbert Diendere. Charges against Compaore include undermining state security and concealing corpses, according to military documents seen. The circumstances behind Sankara’s death, who was killed during the coup, have been shrouded in secrecy. Sankara, who became an iconic revolutionary West African leader, took power in 1983 at age 33 after he and Compaore launched a leftist revolution to overthrow a moderate military faction. In 1987, Compaore turned on his former friend, staging the coup and ruling with an iron fist for more than 27 years before being ousted in a popular uprising in 2014.
A Nigerian is about to buy Shoprite
Nigerian property group Persianas, owned by Tayo Amusan is buying Shoprite’s Nigerian business after the South African retailer decided to retreat from other African markets. Regulatory approval for Persianas Group Ltd. to buy the Shoprite unit is expected by the end of April, an anonymous source tipped as the information is not yet public. While the asset has been valued by the seller at N30 billion ($73 million), it’s not yet clear how much Persianas has agreed to pay. Amusan is not new to the business as he used his 25-year property experience to build The Palms, a 45,000 square metre property. Situated on Lagos’ Lekki Peninsula, the mall complex has 69 retail stores, among other facilities. He is a Business Administration graduate of the University of Atlanta and also owns three additional malls in Enugu, Kwara, Ota and Ibadan.
NPA suspends electronic call-up system in Apapa
Barely two months after the the NPA introduced the electronic call up system in Apapa, which was an attempt to ease the traffic gridlock, the call up system has been suspended. This follows the disruption of operations at the terminal which is fallout of the dispute between members of the Maritime Workers Union and the management of AP Moller Terminals. The NPA said that while it is working towards resolving the dispute between both parties, APMT will not receive or exit cargoes for the next 24 hours. The traffic gridlock has return to Apapa despite the attempt to ease it occurrence.
Nigerian Fintech Appzone raises $10 million for expansion
Appzone, a Pan-African fintech software provider has secured $10 million Series A funding round. The Fintech software provider offers best-in-class products for digital core banking and interbank transaction processing with clients across seven African countries including Access Bank, GTBank, and Zenith Bank. AppZone further revealed that to date it has served nearly 20 commercial banks and more than 450 microfinance banks, with a yearly transaction value and yearly loan disbursement of $2 billion and $300 million. The funding will be used towards Appzone’s core technologies and the expansion of the platform to promote the digitisation and automation of the delivery of financial services in Africa.
