Idriss Linge and Brice Mbodiam, both journalists of Agence Ecofin (Ecofin Agency) are laureates of the third and fourth promotions of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA). Last July 10, the two pressmen received in Lagos, Nigeria, where they took a 6-month course offered by experts of Bloomberg and the Lagos Business School, which partnered the initiative. The Bloomberg foundation...

The FINACTU Group has just finalized the actuarial valuation and certification of the technical commitments for the Mutuelle Agricole Marocaine D'Assurance (MAMDA), the Mutuelle Centrale Marocaine d’Assurance (MCMA), and the Mutuelle Ataamine Chaabi (MAC). Since 2011, FINACTU has conducted an annual audit of the technical commitments of these mutual insurance companies and produced an...

The improvement in foreign-exchange supply in the market has made Nigerian banks increase dollar spending limits for payment cards denominated in local currency by tenfold, Bloomberg reports. Indeed banks like Guaranty Trust Bank, the country’s biggest bank by market value, increased the maximum amount its Mastercard holders can spend abroad in a month from $100 to $1,000. Ecobank...

In its latest report, British insurer Lloyd’s said a global cyberattack could cause losses of about $53 billion to the world’s economy. Released yesterday, the study which was co-written by risk-modeling firm Cyence, suggests that in the event operating systems used by businesses were to be hacked, losses could range between $9.7 billion and $28.7 billion average. However,...

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) has again declared a force majeure on Bonny Light crude oil exports, two weeks after it lifted previous force majeure on exports of the grade. Effective from last week Thursday, the force majeure was declared after Aiteo, shut down the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, one of the two pipelines that export the Bonny Light grade. Bonny Light was...

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. (FMN), says it has increased its stakes in ROM Oil Mills (ROM), from 90% to 95 per cent. In a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, the company said that with the development, the Shahimi family (ROM Oil’s founding family) jointly own five per cent minority stake in ROM. According to the Group Managing Director of FMN, Paul Gbededo (photo), the...

The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming, together with multinational companies, is launching an initiative with smallholder farmers to restore vanilla quality while increasing farmers’ food security and preserving Madagascar’s unique landscape. The project aims to triple farmers’ revenues and provide companies with quality and fully traceable vanilla over a 10-year span. Vanilla is a vital...

The US Justice Department is looking to recover assets worth $144 million bought by Nigerian businessmen, Kolawole Aluko and Olajide Omokore. The assets include a $50 million Manhattan apartment and an $80 million yacht, the Galactica Star. In a lawsuit filed at the federal court in Houston on Friday, the department claimed that the two businessmen conspired with others to pay...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide Morocco $200 million for the first stage of its programme to accelerate industrialization. Agreement for the financing was signed last Friday, July 14th, in Abidjan, by the Moroccan ambassador near Ivory Coast, Abdelmalek Kettani, and Célestin Monga, Chief Economist and Vice President, AfDB, in charge of economic governance and knowledge...

Uber has partnered with Nigeria-based auto service and maintenance company, Germaine Auto Centre, to provide maintenance services to its driver-partners across the country. Under the partnership, Uber driver-partners in Lagos will service and have their cars maintained at Germaine’s auto facility at stipulated prices. According to the Country Manager for Uber Nigeria, Maria Rotilu, the move...