The Government of Kano has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) valued at about N1.8billion ($5.7 million) with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Dangote Foundation to boost healthcare delivery in the state over the next five years. Tagged “Health Basket Fund”, the MoU is aimed at strengthening child health and addressing the issue of maternal mortality in the state. Under...

The Federal Executive Council of Nigeria (FEC) has approved a power guarantee assurance valued at N701 billion ($2.2billion) to electricity generating companies (GenCos) to help solve liquidity challenges faced by the energy sector. This is to be provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). According to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (photo), who disclosed this on...

The Nigerian House of Senate said it will investigate allegations stating that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has illegally inflated funds collected as part of an official subsidy between 2006 and 2016. The sum concerned here amounts to $17 billion. This decision follows a motion filed by Senator Dino Melaye who claims that there were irregularities in subsidies...

The Warri refinery which has an installed capacity of 125,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd), has been shut down due to some technical faults. This was disclosed by Anibor Kragha, the Chief Operating Officer of refineries at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday in Abuja. He said the closure was as a result of power challenges caused by the failure of gas turbine...

After recording a surprising 75% growth in 2016, prices of iron keep up the trend. Indeed, on Feb.21, a ton of iron traded at $94 on the Qingdao stock market in China, thus a 17% surge since the beginning of 2017. Its highest level since 2014. The increase was mainly due to the rise of steel’s price paired with a strong Chinese demand. The price surge drove many mining firms including...

“Without additional efforts to promote pro-poor development, reduce inequalities and protect vulnerable people, more than 600 million people would still be undernourished in 2030.” This was revealed by the United Nations Organization Food and Agriculture Organization in its new report entitled “The Future of Food and Agriculture: Trends and Challenges”. Despite welcoming the progress...

The executive office of the National Association of Communities of Benin (ANCB) opened yesterday a workshop themed “Harmonizing the process of implementation of land and domain rule at the communal level”. Regrouping various land management experts, the session aims to “develop appropriate solutions to sanitize land rule to better adapt it to communities across Benin”. ANCB’s goal is...

The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Wednesday, disclosed plans by the Federal Government of Nigeria to issue a new savings bonds aimed at retail investors. “The bonds will be good for savings towards retirement, marriage, school fees, house projects,” the debt office said. The bond which is expected to be sold this month will offer two and three-year maturities with interest to be paid...

Dangote Cement Plc in its 2016 full year audited results announced that its sales in Africa, Nigeria excluded, have soared 54% to 8.6 million metric tons of cement compared to 2015. In addition, it has exported 0.4Mt of the product from Nigeria to its neighboring countries, thus making the nation a net exporter of cement. The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement Plc, Onne Van der Weijde,...

The Kebbi state government has launched a N1.7 billion ($5.4 million) project to rehabilitate 57.8km-long of rural roads. Governor of the State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (photo), who disclosed this on Tuesday, said the project is part of his administration’s campaign promises. He added that with the support of members of the House of Assembly, residents of the Ribah, Wasagu, Bena and Zuru...