Author: Aishat Olalere

A Nigerian company, Okafor Motors, has announced plans to launch mass solar-powered tricycles also known as “Keke” into the Nigerian market. The company has secured support from Wisconsin Batteries (WinBat), a US-based company, for the production. It is expected that the new tricycles will boost Nigeria’s transportation system and bring further positive development. To achieve this, the company said it has entered a partnership with Sustainable Communities Corporation (SSC), a US-based non-profit organization. The partnership is to set up NrG Company (pronounced energy) and produce several units of solar-powered tricycles named keke. The Nation reports that Anthony Obinna Okafor, who…

Two Leesville residents were recently arrested following the discovery of “a large quantity of meth, marijuana, cash and guns after executing a search warrant at a Leesville home,” the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department announced. Arromus Abney, 33, is charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, while Miranda Lloyd, 26, is charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, receiving stolen goods and unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm. “Lexington County narcotics agents conducted controlled purchases of meth from both Abney and Lloyd, which gave…

The Eiffel Tower, one of the world’s top tourist attractions, was closed Monday after staff went on strike, unions told AFP. The strike, which was called to protest over the way the monument is managed financially, could be extended, they said. The tower’s operator, SETE, said on its website that “visits of the monument will be disrupted on Monday”. It advised ticket holders to check its website before showing up, or to postpone their visit. E-ticket holders were asked to check their e-mails for further information. The stoppage is the second strike at the Eiffel Tower within two months for…

The financial services industry during the week led activities on the equity market of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) reported as investors traded a total turnover of 1.6 billion shares worth N36.50 billion in 42,546 deals this week. The NGX weekly market report revealed that this was in contrast to a total of 2.478 billion shares valued at N47.856 billion that exchanged hands last week in 54,982 deals. According to the report, the financial services industry measured by volume led the activity chart with 1.127 billion shares valued at N18.908 billion traded in 19,424 deals. The industry, thus contributed 72.27…

Credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has said that the proposed foreign currency gateway bank announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria may have a negative impact on the liquidity of Nigerian banks. This was revealed in the latest Fitch Ratings commentary on Nigerian banks. The apex bank Governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso, recently disclosed in a television interview the plans to introduce a new foreign currency gateway bank to ease the country’s forex crisis. Cardoso said the CBN was “introducing a single FCY gateway bank to centralise all correspondent banking activities, currently dominated by two major banks in the corresponding banking…

Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of lacking ideas on how to tackle the FX crisis in Nigeria. He said the government has not offered any concrete ideas on how to bring the country out of the current crisis.The foreign exchange policies of the present government were hurriedly put in place Atiku Abubakar, added that the way President Bola Tibubu’s government’s FX policy was hurriedly put together is the reason for the present state of things in Nigeria. Atiku disclosed this on his X handle and…

The recent sharp depreciation of the Naira in the foreign exchange market as well as the rising inflation rate has started eroding the value of assets under insurance cover. Findings from the recent developments in the industry have indicated that most risks are now under-insured as value of claims are getting lower than the assets they were supposed to cover. Consequently, as claims continue to crystalise in the sector, insurance consumers are being paid claims far lower than the value of the asset insured. Also, insurance firms are now off-loading their underwriting businesses to ceding arrangements with both local and…

The banking sector inflow dropped by 60 percent in 2023. The banking sector received about $832.64m in foreign capital flow into Nigeria in 2023 which is lower than 2022 inflow. Despite its poor performance in 2023 compared to the previous year, the banking sector had been one of the largest recipients of foreign capital. The bank with the largest inflow of foreign capital in the year under review was CitiBank Nigeria Limited. It brought in over $1.03bn, with the highest being in the first quarter of the year ($424.13m). Following was Stanbic IBTC Bank at $919.32m, the highest was in…

The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company has a debt of N110 billion and other challenges before it. Despite the debt and the challenges, KEDC increased the salary of its employee by 10 percent. In January, The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) dissolved the board of director of Kaduna Electric over its inability to pay N110 billion debt it owes the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry. The NERC then appointed Umar Hashidu as the administrator of the Kaduna DisCo in furtherance to Section 75 of the Electricity Act. In a statement on Wednesday, Hashidu announced at a meeting with the management team that…

On Friday, February 16, River State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara hosted the Super Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali for the wonderful performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The governor announced a N20 million reward of Nwabali and also stated that he would be honoured with the Distinguished service Star of Rivers state. He also gifted N30 million to the Super Eagles’ crew, who were present. Fubara praised Rivers-born Nwabali for his exceptional goalkeeping skills for the Super Eagles during the recently concluded AFCON, noting that his performance, alongside other patriots, has brought pride to Nigeria. His words: “I want…