The program will support fast-tracking of the implementation of key policy and institutional reforms and boost private sector participation in agriculture. This will help increase cereals and oil grains production by 7 million tonnes to 35 million tonnes. It will also increase average cereal yields from 1.42 tonnes to 2 tonnes per hectare during the September 2022-December 2023 implementation period. The program aligns with the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility (https://bit.ly/3Pk0a2P) and will support Nigeria’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of the war in Ukraine. Food prices have been rising rapidly due to higher volatility caused by the Covid-19…
Author: Shalom Grace
President Muhammadu Buhari commends the gallant display of Nigeria’s Super Falcons against the Moroccan female national football team in the second Semi-finals of the African Women’s Cup of Nations. ‘‘Although many will be disappointed with the Moroccan victory on penalties, there are many positive outcomes for the Nigerian team to take home and prepare better for the next tournament,’’ the President says. President Buhari is encouraged by the doggedness, resilience and professionalism of the girls, who despite playing with two players down before a home crowd showed their quality and class. The President believes that great things are expected from…
Projects into Secured 2023 General Elections The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), NPM, fdc commends the security operatives particularly officers of the Nigeria Police Force, the Military, and other security agencies as well as the electorates in Osun State for the peaceful conduct of the elections held on Saturday July 16th, 2022 in the 3 Senatorial Districts, 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs), and 3753 polling units of the State. The IGP applauds the massive deployment of Police Operatives, Specialized Units, and other human and operational assets including 3 Helicopters and a couple of Unmanned Aerial…
There will be about 100,000 direct beneficiaries of the project composed of individual households, women’s associations, health centers, schools and businesses It consists of a $4.17 million grant and a $9.37 million loan from the African Development Fund (the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group) and a $24.13 million grant and a $28.72 million loan from the Transition Support Facility. The project is co-financed by the French Development Agency, the Islamic Development Bank, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, hosted by the Bank, USAID, through the Africa Energy Program, and the Guinean government. The Guinea Power Access Improvement…
DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) partnered with Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (LCRP) to safely transport four vulnerable chimpanzees from Guinea-Bissau to Liberia DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) partnered with Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (LCRP) to safely transport four vulnerable chimpanzees from Guinea-Bissau to Liberia. With many years of DHL’s expertise in transporting wildlife, all four rescued chimpanzees were re-located to their new home last weekend, on Saturday July 9, just in time to celebrate World Chimpanzee Day on July 14th. The collaboration aims to raise awareness about the welfare, protection, and conservation of the global chimpanzee…
Large organisations lead the pack with Energy & Utilities, Insurance and Consulting most at risk for social engineering followed by Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals for small and midsize organisations With ransomware payments averaging $580,000 in 2021 and business email compromise (BEC) losses topping $1.8 billion in 2020, a cyber attack can wreak havoc on an organisation. Yet, according to the baseline testing conducted for the report, without security training, across all industries globally, 32.4% of employees are likely to click on a suspicious link or comply with a fraudulent request. In some large category industries, such as Consulting, Energy & Utilities,…
The Bank’s Sovereign Portfolio now ranks first out of 50 global development institutions in Publish What You Fund’s 2022 Aid Transparency Index Publish What You Fund, the global campaign for aid and development transparency, has named the African Development Bank the most transparent organization in the world. The Bank’s Sovereign Portfolio now ranks first out of 50 global development institutions in Publish What You Fund’s 2022 Aid Transparency Index, released today with a top score of 98.5. African Development Bank Group President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “I am elated to learn of this outstanding recognition from Publish What You Fund.…
A demonstration organised by CSW was held today outside the Cuban Embassy in to mark the first anniversary of unprecedented nationwide protests in Cuba and the detention of Protestant pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo. On 11 July 2021 spontaneous nationwide protests erupted across Cuba in response to an ongoing economic crisis and a record surge in coronavirus cases, expanding to criticisms of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP)’s decades-long hold on power, its crackdown on independent civil society including human rights and pro-democracy movements, and poor management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cuban Communist Party and military responded forcefully to the protests,…
CSW welcomes the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC)’s appointment of Dr Nazila Ghanea as the new Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), which was confirmed by the Council on 8 July. Dr Ghanea is a professor of international human rights law and director of international human rights programmes at the University of Oxford. She will take over the mandate from Dr Ahmed Shaheed, who served as rapporteur from 2016-2022. The Special Rapporteur on FoRB is an independent expert appointed by the UNHRC and tasked with identifying “existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the…
President Muhammadu Buhari extends heartfelt commiseration to the Government and people of Angola on the death of Jose Eduardo dos Santos, former President of the country. The President pays tribute to one of the founding fathers of Angola, whose active participation, with other young nationalists, in the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, led to the independence of his country. President Buhari believes that Dos Santos, who received many awards and recognitions for the role he played in stabilising his country after the end of the civil war in 2002, will be long remembered and celebrated for promoting peace…
Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwumeka Eze, has linked the current political ordeal of the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as a recompense and obvious effect of karma – a force considered as affecting ones life triggered from their previous actions. In a statement made available to media houses in Port Harcourt, Chief Eze said at some point in one’s life, reaping what you sow becomes inevitable. And the idea is called karma which in effect, purports that what goes around comes…
On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari extends heartfelt condolences to the family of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and to the Government and people of Japan in the wake of the gruesome assassination of former Prime Minister. The President joins all Japanese in mourning the loss of the country’s longest serving Prime Minister and outstanding leader, assuring the family of Abe of the prayers and thoughts of all Nigerians during this difficult time. President Buhari recalls that Abe will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Africa and…
Former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has died at the age of 67 after being shot during a speech on Friday in Nara, Japan. He was the longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister in the history of the country. Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, died after being shot twice. Shinzo Abe had showed “no vital signs” after he was taken to hospital, an official report said earlier. He was reportedly shot twice by an unidentified attacker who is now believed to have been apprehended and is in police custody, while the former Japanese prime minister was delivering a campaign…
The first step in this partnership is the launch of Flostore, powered by a Visa digital wallet and the Flocash pan -African payment platform Visa, a world leader in digital payments, announced today that it is partnering with Flocash, FT Africa’s fastest growing fintech 2022, to promote digital capabilities for African SMEs through digital payments, supplier solutions and access to financial services. The first step in this partnership is the launch of Flostore, powered by a Visa digital wallet and the Flocash pan -African payment platform, which can help small businesses accept digital payments, manage supplies and access financial services…
Meta is using the modelling techniques and learnings from the project to improve and extend translations on Facebook, Instagram, and Wikipedia https://youtu.be/uCxSPPiwrNE Meta has announced that it has built and open sourced ‘No Language Left Behind’ NLLB-200, a single AI model that is the first to translate across 200 different languages, including 55 African languages with state-of-the-art results. Meta is using the modelling techniques and learnings from the project to improve and extend translations on Facebook, Instagram, and Wikipedia. In an effort to develop high-quality machine translation capabilities for most of the world’s low-resource languages, this single AI…
Okogie played his first four NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves The Phoenix Suns today announced the team has signed free agent guard Josh Okogie. Okogie (6-4, 213 pounds) played his first four NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 244 games, including 123 starts. The 23-year-old has 60 career games scoring in double figures and 57 careers games with multiple steals. He played for Team World at the NBA Rising Stars game as part of NBA All-Star both in 2019 in Charlotte and in 2020 in Chicago. Born in Lagos, Nigeria,…
It is the turn of Nigerians; Nigerian children, youths and everyone to take back their country”. In an interview with ARISE TV, monitored by The News Chronicle, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the forthcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria, Peter Obi, was on hand to tackle questions surrounding his candidacy and matters arising in the country. When asked why he has been traveling around to countries like to Morocco and Egypt without consulting local stakeholders, he rebuffed the idea and said he actually consulted stakeholders, and is making these travels based on information from these stakeholders so that…
The President of PVC Naija, a Project Victory Call Initiative, Dr Bolaji Akinyemi, has raised the alarm that vote-buying poses a serious threat to the 2023 general elections and Nigeria’s democracy. He stated that vote-buying has the propensity of negatively affecting the voting decision of the voters, adding that they would by such inducement, not be able to cast their votes according to their conscience. Speaking in Lagos on Monday, he alleged that there were instances of vote-buying in the just concluded Ekiti State Governorship election, adding that such should not continue. He also alleged that there was a ‘commercialisation…
On 1 July 2022, the International Criminal Court (ICC) marked its 20th anniversary. On this day in 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force upon ratification by 60 States, officially creating the ICC. Marking the day, the President of the Court, Judge Piotr Hofmański stated: “On the 20th anniversary of the ICC, we can celebrate the fact that we have a permanent, independent international court dedicated to the fight against impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.” He continued: “I invite all States to join the ICC, to give…
The grant from the African Development Fund will go to the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund on 24 June approved a technical assistance grant of $2 million to fund research that will contribute to electricity reforms in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The grant from the African Development Fund — the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group — will go to the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority. The ultimate objective is to stimulate cross-border electricity trade and improve energy access in the 15 countries in the…
Approximately 12,000 Christians participated in protests across the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on 18 June demanding that the state government acts swiftly to resolve an ongoing dispute regarding the reconstruction of a church. The rallies were organised by the Arunachal Pradesh Christian Forum (ACF) and protesters demonstrated in front of the District Commissioner’s offices in at least six districts across the state. The church in question lies in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, a region dominated by the Buddhist Monpa community. In September 2020, the reconstruction of the church was stopped by two local Buddhist groups who claimed…
At her touch you sink into insanity Swallowed To be mended or broken No one knows Till they sink too And though the sunken Knows a lot They say nothing often
The Igbo Leadership Development Foundation (ILDF), a leading pan-Igbo organization at the forefront of the campaign for the Nigerian President of South-East extraction, has called on the governor of Ebonyi governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, to RESIGN AS CHAIRMAN SOUTH-EAST GOVERNORS FORUM for what the group termed serious anti-Igbo stances and activities of the Ebonyi state governor. The grouse the ILDF has with Gov. Dave Umahi is hinged on three main issues: his dismal performance as Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, the palpable insecurity in the South-East deriving from the governor’s inability to produce cohesive leadership, his recent remark that…
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday, May 31, departs Abuja for Madrid, Spain on a State Visit at the invitation of the Spanish President, Pedro Sanchez. At a separate meeting during the visit, the first by the Nigerian leader, President Buhari will also meet with the Head of State of the Spanish nation, His Majesty King Felipe VI. During his engagements with both leaders, the Nigerian President will discuss issues of mutual interest to both countries, which will expectedly result in the signing of Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding on a wide range of topics geared towards further enhancing the bilateral relations…
After emerging victorious in the keenly contested PDP presidential primary election over the weekend, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has today paid a courtesy visit to his fellow contestant in the primaries, Chief Nyesom Wike. The Rivers State Governor, Wike, was the closest to Atiku after the votes were counted. The Waziri Adamawa called on all party members and his fellow contestants to join hands with him in wrestling power from the ruling APC. From a total number of 767 delegates, Atiku polled 371 votes Nyesom Wike – 237 Anyim Pius Anyim – 14 votes Udom Emmanuel – 38 votes Sen Bala…
In celebrating this year’s Children’s Day, President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that his administration will continue to work hard to ensure that every child has access to education, which prepares them for a bright future. The President recognises the place of education in the development of every country and is committed to seeing a further significant reduction in the number of out-of-school children. He acknowledges that while education of the Nigerian child will remain on the front burner for this government, other issues – healthcare, protection from harm, drugs, cultism, child trafficking and abuse, domestic violence- are equally receiving needed…
A BBC investigation revealing further details of the mass detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) was published on 24 May, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continues her six-day visit to China. The High Commissioner’s itinerary includes plans to travel to the Uyghur region. Several relatives of individuals detained by the Chinese government have called on the UN High Commissioner to pay attention to the cases of their family members, including Ziba Murat, daughter of retired Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, who called for the High Commissioner to be permitted to visit her mother who had…
In what could be described as one of the most shocking preludes yet to the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, presidential aspirant under the umbrella of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), has announced his departure from the main opposition party, PDP. Peter Obi”s announcement comes as a surprise to his supporters and opponents across other parties as he ranked high among the top contenders for the PDP ticket. This consequently means his withdrawal from the PDP Presidential Primaries. In a letter which he addressed to the national chairman of the party at WADATA Plaza Abuja, he cited among his reasons…
In view of the security challenges troubling Anambra state, the governor, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, at a news conference today made a passionate call on the people of Anambra to play their part in tackling the ugly menace. He also assured that things will change for the better in Anambra. Here is what he said: Umu nnem, Ndi Anambra! You employed me to lead the process of building a livable and prosperous homeland. After swearing-in on the 17th March, 2022, I worked for 8 hours and 45 minutes that day and have kept working hard every day to make you…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has today dissolved the state executive council. The Governor instructed all the former members of the State Executive Council to hand over to the most senior officers in their respective ministries. His chief of staff, Emeka Woke and his Senior Special Assistant on Protocol, Harold Koko, were also relieved of their duties. The dissolution was contained in a special government announcement signed by Governor Wike’s Special Assistant on Media, Kekvin Ebiri, in Port Harcourt on Tuesday morning. Though Wike is a top contender for the PDP presidential ticket, no reason was given for the…
