The World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative has excluded Nigeria for the Pfizer vaccines for its inability to meet the standard storage requirement of 70 degrees Celsius. With the development, Nigeria’s expectation of receiving 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative has had a hitch. Africa’s regional director of WHO, Dr Matshidiso Moeti during a virtual conference, said only four African countries were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine out of the 13 that applied and that the organisation could not risk wasting the Pfizer vaccines. The 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa,…
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The Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), says that the creation of multiple exchange rates by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was inimical to the nation’s economy. Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, ABCON’s President, made the remarks in an interview in Lagos on Saturday. Gwadabe said that such multiplicity would likely breed ‘rent seeking, poor compliance and round tripping’. “The concerns of multiple exchange rates creates gaps, panic, and threat to the survival of the sub-sector. “The sustainability of the bureau de change sub-sector largely depends on a single exchange rate regime in the economy which would discourage…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says there are over 93,000 deaths of COVID-19 recorded on the African continent. The UN health agency gave the update on its regional official Twitter on Friday. WHO said on its dashboard that there were more than 3.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent, with more than 3.1 million recoveries and 82,000 deaths cumulatively. WHO, in a statement posted on its website said that Dr Matshidiso Moeti, its Regional Director for Africa at a news conference said the continent would take the first delivery of COVID-19…
The Zamfara chapter of the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria, ALGON, says it would embark on rigorous prayers to end banditry in the state, the north west region and the country at large. Its chairman, Alhaji Muhammad Umar disposed this while speaking with newsmen at the end of the association’s state executive council meeting on security in Gusau on Saturday. “We are unanimous in supporting the steps taken by our governor in addressing the issues of armed banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and other heinous crimes which had brought our state to a standstill in the past. “This was…
9mobile, a telecommunication company on Saturday says it has launched its 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network in the city of Ilorin. 9mobile made this known in a statement made available in Lagos. It said the latest addition to the expanding 4G coverage would make it possible for Nigerians in Ilorin to join a growing number of its customers across the country already enjoying fast and reliable 4G connectivity for their smartphones. According to it, with this development, 9mobile’s 4G LTE would power digital experience in Ilorin and accelerate Nigeria’s broadband penetration target. 9mobile’s Chief Commercial Officer, Stjepan Udovicic said: “The…
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has faulted Nigerian government for prohibiting dealings and transactions in cryptocurrency in the country. In a statement on Saturday, Atiku also called on government to revisit the ban and rather, “regulate the sub-sector and prevent any abuse that may be damaging to national security.” According to him, regulating the sector would be a better option, than an outright shutdown. Atiku argued that Nigeria, now more than ever, needed jobs and openings for the economy in view of the report of the National Bureau of Statistics, which “indicated that foreign capital inflow into Nigeria is at…
The Biden-Harris Administration has expressed strong support for the candidacy of Nigeria’s Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in a statement, said that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is bringing a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigeria’s Finance Minister. “She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organisation with a diverse membership,” the statement read. This support followed the decision of the Republic of Korea’s Trade Minister,…
A Russian expert on Saturday said Wuhan’s Huanan seafood market may have made it possible for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to spread, but it does not mean the virus originated there. “There is no evidence that the virus originated there’’ but hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there,“ Vladimir Dedkov, a member of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) expert team, was quoted as saying by Sputnik. The seafood market was linked to an early cluster of COVID-19 cases, but scientists are yet to come to an unequivocal conclusion regarding the role it played in the…
Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama says with Nigeria’s Amb. Bankole Adeoye as the African Union’s (AU) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, the fight against terror in the ECOWAS sub-region will be strengthened. Onyeama said in an interview in Abuja that he was optimistic that the Nigerian ambassador, who the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government has endorsed, would win the election to the AU position coming up on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7. “Nigeria has a lot to benefit because we can leverage more easily on the African Union to also support our fight against…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says three quarters of all COVID-19 vaccinations were only in 10 countries, accounting for almost 60 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “Around 130 countries, with 2.5 billion people, are yet to administer a single dose”, WHO Director- General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said at a regular press briefing on COVID-19, in Geneva, on Friday. “On Wednesday, COVAX published its forecast for the distribution of vaccines to participating countries. Countries are ready to go, but the vaccines aren’t there. We need countries to share doses, once they have finished vaccinating health workers and older…