The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has announced that Nigeria is to receive 3.92 million additional doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX by the end of July 2021. The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, made the announcement at a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja. Nigeria received its first consignment of 3.92 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility, COVAX, on March 2, 2021. COVAX, an initiative co-led by the vaccine alliance, GAVI, and the World Health Organisation (WHO), aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, by dividing about…
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The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for adopting Public-Private Partnership (PPP) procurement methodology to develop property worth N1.5 billion in Kano State. The acting Director-General of ICRC, Mr Michael Ohiani, made the commendation, while presenting Certificate of Outline Business Case (OBC) Compliance to the Chairman of NAHCON, Zikrullah Hassan, on Monday in Abuja. Ohiani said that NAHCON had identified that the commercial development of some of its property would help to raise the needed funds to meet up with the continuous growth of Hajj activities in the country and become self-sustaining.…
President Muhammadu Buhari has emphasized the need for countries rocked by security challenges in the West African sub-region and those in the Sahel to team up to confront the menace. Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Spokesman, said Buhari stated this when he received the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mr Mahamat Saleh Annadif, at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday. The president said: “You are our neighbour. You have vast experience on matters affecting the Sahel, having served for five years in Mali. ”I hope you will get the countries to…
Tech giants like Facebook could soon be facing a host of cases after the top EU court ruled on Tuesday. The court ruled that national watchdogs of any member state can enforce the bloc’s privacy laws, under certain circumstances. Under EU law, so-called lead authorities primarily bring cases against companies when they consider citizens’ privacy rights to be breached. But national data protection bodies can under certain circumstances take tech giants to court even if they are not considered the lead authority, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday. The Belgian privacy commission since 2018 called the Belgian…
The Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, has called for collaborative investments in biotechnology research for vaccines and drugs development in Nigeria. Mustapha, who made the call in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday, said Nigeria must also invest in biotechnology research in agriculture, example, herbicide tolerant (HT) soybean which was genetically modified, maize, cotton and other related biotech (bt) crops for cleaner environment and industrial development. He also urged that Nigeria should continue to empower the youth and women to participate in modern agriculture. According to him, no country can grow if it does not have…
The Aliko Dangote Foundation has disbursed N200 million to 20,000 women under its economic empowerment programme in Bauchi state, the Chairman of the Foundation, Aliko Dangote said in Bauchi on Tuesday. Inaugurating the disbursement exercise, Dangote, who was represented by Mansur Ahmed, Group Executive Director of the Foundation stated that similar disbursements had been made in 13 states, in the past two years. He said that 1,000 women were selected to participate in the programme from the state’s 20 local government areas, adding that each of the beneficiaries received N10,000. The plan, he said, was to empower 1,000 vulnerable women in all…
The Agro-Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project in Lagos State has stressed the need for marketing, branding and packaging of Nigeria’s agro commodities. Mr Adewale Alade, the Agro-Processing Specialist of the project, made the assertions at the training of some farmers on Tuesday in Lagos. Alade urged the farmers to engage in market surveys and other techniques to understand their markets before embarking on production of a commodity. “The importance of today’s training is to train farmers on marketing their products, which should entail all the processes of the value chain, from production to the market. “Farmers should be…
A report by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a research arm of The Economist magazine, indicated that gross domestic product could increase by 1.1 per cent for every 10 per cent increase in school internet connectivity in a country. The EIU report, which was sponsored by Ericsson, was published in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos. According to the report, a well-educated workforce is more likely to be innovative and foster ground-breaking ideas, leading to economic development and job creation. In the context of the West African country of Niger, the report finds that improvements in school connectivity to finish levels could increase…
Trading at the domestic bourse opened the week on a bearish mood with the market capitalisation losing N340 billion in one day, due to drop in Airtel Africa. Specifically, the market capitalisation, which opened at N20.409 trillion, dipped by N340 billion to close at N20.069 trillion. Also, the All-Share Index shed 648.99 points or 1.66 points to close at 38,507.29 from 39,156.28 achieved on Friday. Accordingly, month-to-date gain moderated to 0.2 per cent, while year-to-date loss increased to 4.4 per cent. The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which were; Airtel Africa,…
The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have set up a High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on sustainable and inclusive recovery and growth. The Bretton Woods institutions made the announcement in a joint statement issued in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. According to the statement, in the face of two crises, COVID-19 and climate change, the group will help secure a strong recovery and set a path for green, resilient and inclusive development over the coming decade. “The HLAG will be jointly led by Mari Pangestu, Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director, Strategy,…