Sixth seed Serena Williams battled sluggish conditions to defeat fellow American Kristie Ahn 7-6(2) 6-0 to begin her French Open campaign on Monday. Playing an opponent she beat in straight sets at the same stage at the U.S. Open less than a month ago, Williams found herself struggling to win points on Court Philippe-Chatrier where the roof was opened just before the match. Williams started with three aces to win her opening game but the 102nd-ranked Ahn started moving better and chased down her opponent’s heavy groundstrokes, which on most surfaces would have ended up as winners. Ahn, who was…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Nigeria recorded 136 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections to 58,460. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) made this known on its official twitter handle @NCDCGov on Monday. The new infections, the centre said, were reported in 12 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In the latest update, Lagos topped the list with 71 cases, Rivers with 23 infections and Plateau trailing behind with 12. Others include Adamawa and Oyo -six, Kaduna – five, Abia and FCT – three, Katsina and Kwara – two, Bauchi, Borno, and Edo each having one. The NCDC also said 101…
By Gami Tadanyigbe Nigeria Young Farmers Network (NYFN), an NGO, has called on governments at all levels to reposition the agricultural sector as part of measures to diversify the economy and boost food security. Mr Promise Amahah, the Director General (DG) and National Coordinator of the group, made the call at a press conference on Monday in Abuja. Amahah urged governments to focus more on agriculture through rebranding, adequate facilities and youth engagement to encourage enterprise and make the sector interesting for economic development. He said the mission of the organisation was to raise a generation of young people that…
The World Business Angels Investment Forum today announced the African Development Bank as its newest Board Member. In this capacity the Bank will represent Africa’s early-stage equity markets, entrepreneurship and startup ecosystems, small and medium enterprises and high-growth businesses, angel investors, and private equity funds. Abdu Mukhtar, the Bank’s Director of Industrial and Trade Development, will occupy the Bank’s Board seat. “We are delighted to have the African Development Bank Group as a global board member of the World Business Angels Investment Forum,” said Baybars Altuntas, WBAF’s Executive Chairman. “I am confident that by including AfDB, WBAF will be able…
The General Electric, GE, says it has completed service interventions on three GE 9E gas turbines at the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC, power plants in Calabar and Sapele, Nigeria. This it said was with compressive safety measures due to COVID-19 in place, GE and NDPHC quickly ensured both employee safety and on-time project execution. GE further said that outages were executed on time and the restored power will enable NDPHC to provide the equivalent electricity needed to power up to 2 million Nigerian homes. GE (NYSE: GE), Monday announced the successful rehabilitation of three 9E.03 gas turbines, at…
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), has said it was “not disappointed that the Nigerian labour unions bowed at the last minute as usual as it has long become their trademark.” The CNPP in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu said “we expected that this would happen and that was why the CNPP opted to rally civil society movements across the country. “We are monitoring the situation and rejigging our plans in view of the now obvious reality that the ordinary citizens who cannot travel to Abuja are on their own. “In the last five…
By Tina George, Minna The Niger state commissioner of education, Mrs Hannatu Salihu says schools will reopen next week, emphasizing that there will be third term for public and private schools in the state. Briefing newsmen shortly after stakeholders meeting on resumption of non-exit classes of the basic and secondary schools, she said that all schools will reopen for the 2019/2020 third term on the 4th of October 2020, and that the schools will go on holidays in December. According to her, all second and third term examinations conducted by schools are cancelled while public primary and secondary schools will…
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, has charged the recently elected officials of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, to operate an open-door policy in order to woo new members and accommodate more people that were willing to join the party. The governor made the called when he hosted the new state and local governments party executives in the state. According to Tambuwal, “By opening your doors, more supporters will join the party because many people are already showing their interests to do so. There is the need for you to bring unity among the party supporters. Carry everybody…
The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund), has signed a US$20 million term loan in favor of East African Development Bank, EADB. EADB, which is an important regional development institution for delivering key development objectives across the East Africa region, will use the loan to support small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and infrastructure projects in East Africa. It enjoys a high level of commitment from member states Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, as well a diverse shareholder base that includes multilateral and bilateral development institutions and international financial institutions. SMEs account for more than half of EADB’s portfolio.…
The Federal Government is set to conduct a census of all businesses in the country, to ensure accurate statistical representation, operations and contribute to policymaking for national development. Mr Clem Agba, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, made this known at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) workshop in Abuja on Monday. The Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop organised by NBS was for National Business Sample Census (NBSC). Agba, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Olusola Idowu, said the training was taking place at a time of increased demand for comprehensive, accurate and reliable statistics. “There…