At Nigerian snack company ReelFruit’s Lagos warehouse a woman places handfuls of dried mangoes in bags and workers hammer open coconuts to scrape out the flesh. The company is expanding production and exports after a $3 million investment. ReelFruit is part of a burgeoning group of female-founded Nigerian startups attracting investor cash as women stake more claim to the funding and as some financiers look to support female-led companies and redress a gender gap. Africa’s female-founded companies got just 3% of the $1.7 billion invested in the continent’s startups in the past decade, according to emerging market intelligence firm Briter…
Author: Newsdesk
The head of major crypto exchange Binance said on Wednesday deposits were returning, a day after it saw heavy outflows of cryptocurrencies and halted some stablecoin withdrawals. On Tuesday, blockchain data firm Nansen said Binance saw withdrawals of $1.9 billion in 24 hours, the largest such outflow since June. Users had pulled out $3.7 billion in crypto over the seven days to Tuesday, it later added. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, also temporarily halted withdrawals of the major USDC stablecoin, citing a so-called “token swap”. “Things seem to have stabilised,” CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted. “Yesterday was not the highest withdrawals we…
Lawyers for the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX will square off in court on Wednesday to fight a demand for internal records from an insolvent affiliate based in the Bahamas as the two wrestle over scraps of the once high-flying business. In Wednesday’s emergency hearing, liquidators of FTX’s Bahamian business will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey to give them access to the U.S. unit’s Slack, Google and Amazon Web Services accounts and data. Lawyers for FTX asked Dorsey to deny the request. They argued that Bahamian regulators had worked with FTX’s founder, the recently arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, to undermine the…
The world union of professional soccer players FIFPRO said it was “shocked and sickened” by the risk of Iranian player Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three months. Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an “armed riot” in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan’s judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted Sunday by Iran’s ISNA news agency. Jafari said the 26-year-old had been accused of “rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh” —…
By Fadlillah Abdallah Traders in Sabon Gari Main Market, Zaria in Kaduna state have rejected revenue collection by revenue officers without the issuance of receipts evidencing payment. The traders accused the officers of collecting taxes without any proof of payment. The traders were issued a Point of Sales (POS) slip which bears the name of one Ibrahim Hassan instead of the company’s account. A trader, Sharif Abdulrasheed said the officials had pegged the annual revenue for each shop at N20,000. Another trader, who simply identified himself as Okey said they were not sure of the identities of the officials. A…
Pope Francis has urged people to celebrate Christmas more modestly and donate the savings to Ukraine. The head of the Catholic Church said during a general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday that people could cut back on festive spending this year and celebrate with more humble gifts. “Let us send what we save to the people of Ukraine who need it, who are suffering so much, who are hungry and cold,” the 85-year-old urged. The Argentinian prays weekly for the people in the Eastern European country who are suffering under Russia’s war. Francis called for a “concrete gesture” to…
Forty female candidates on the platform of various political parties converged on Ilorin, Kwara state capital, promising to take the mantle of leadership in the forthcoming 2023 general elections. They spoke on their readiness to take the barton of leadership in political offices at two-day Mentoring and Couching Workshop for Women candidates in Kwara/Kogi organised by the Women Radio and Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), supported by UN Women and the Government of Canada supported by UN Women and the Government of Canada. In her remark at the event, the Action Alliance Deputy Governorship candidate in Kwara State,Mrs.…
The Society of Digital Newspaper Owners of Nigeria (SDNON) has lost a member, Michael Alonge. Late Alonge died last week Saturday, December 10, 2022 in a Lagos state hospital at the age of 46 after a brief illness. Until his death, Alonge has been the publisher of the popular online news portal, www.mikeangelonews.com. According to a statement by the spokesperson of SDNON, ‘Wale Onifade on Wednesday, described late Alonge as a gentleman and a devoted Christian who would be remembered for his commitments to SDNON while he was alive. Alonge’s body will leave the morgue on Wednesday for Christian Wake…
Anambra state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo has signed the N260 Billion appropriation bill of 2023 into law. The governor appreciated the State House of Assembly for the expeditious passage of the budget. “The more fundamental job has been done by the State House of Assembly,” the Governor said. “I want to thank the parliament particularly for this productive partnership. We are partners in this transformation agenda for Anambra State. “The Leadership has shown capacity and passed this budget into law while we strive assiduously to lead Anambra into the land of our dreams as we promised the people. “This…
By Ishaq Dan-Imam, Lokoja The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kogi state on Tuesday, engaged the traditional rulers and representatives of political parties. As one of the series of stakeholders engagements and consultations preparatory to conduct of 2023 general elections, the meeting was on wide range of issues electioneering, schedules of PVC distribution, election security, conduct of election officials before and during conduct of elections in the state. The resident electoral Commissioner, Dr Hale Gabriel Longpet said an offender was being being tried in court for hate speech an offence against sections 91-97 of new electoral law, which criminalize…