The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a grant of $8.1 million to South Sudan to fund its Emergency Food Production Programme.Allocated through the Transition Support Facility, the grant constitutes additional financing to the ongoing Agricultural Markets, Value Addition and Trade Development Project (AMVAT). AMVAT seeks to contribute to reduced food insecurity, poverty reduction, economic growth and building of community and household resilience and social cohesion.Exacerbated by climate hazards, the threat of a food crisis has long loomed over South Sudan, which has not been food self-sufficient since 2009 Some 8.9 million people, more than 70%…
Author: Newsdesk
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) on Monday in Abuja reiterated the need to promote non-oil exports for Nigeria to meet its national and global economic demands. Dr Ezra Yakusak, Executive Director of NEPC said this at a five-day export promotion capacity building programme. The programme designed to train stakeholders in the export sector was organised by Fidelity Bank PLC in partnership with the Lagos Business School (LBS) and NEPC. Represented by Mr Babatunde Falake, Director, International Export Office, NEPC, Yakusak said that emphasis must shift from crude oil export and be laid on export of Nigeria’s vast resources. “Recent…
Borno state Ministry of Health has confirmed that there is an outbreak of monkey pox in the state. The state Director of Public Health, Doctor Lawi Mshelia said on Monday that there are four suspected cases that were reported with three of the cases confirmed by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) after samples sent to the centre were returned positive. Dr Lawi Mshelia further discloses that two of the cases were reported from the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment while the other patient was reported from Biu in Southern Borno. The director…
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), an environmental rights advocacy group, has called for immediate switch to renewable energy to mitigate climate crisis induced by fossil fuels. The foundation maintained that climate crisis had often led to global warming which necessitated the call to embrace renewable sources of energy that are cleaner alternatives to emissions laced fossils. The Non-Governmental Organisation made its position known in a statement on Monday by Kome Odhomor, HOMEF’s Media/Communication Lead. It said that Dr Nnimmo Bassey, Director, HOMEF made the advocacy at the opening of HOMEF’s School of Ecology series on ‘Overcoming Climate Action’ Inertia.…
World Health Organisation (WHO) has embarked on a house-to-house enlightenment campaign in Maiduguri to educate residents on dangers of chickenpox, cholera and COVID-19 and offer preventive measures. The campaign was inaugurated on Monday in Bulumkutu Ward of the metropolis by the WHO North East Emergency Manager, Dr Richard Lako. Lako said the programme was part of proactive measures by a group known as ”Community Health Champions” to reach out to the residents in form of group discussions on preventive measures, in collaboration with the Borno Government and community leaders. He added that “WHO would continue to support the state’s Ministry…
The European Union has secured additional doses of a vaccine designed to combat monkeypox, the European Commission announced in Brussels on Monday. The commission said the relevant authority had arranged the purchase of 54,530 third-generation vaccine doses from the company, Bavarian Nordic. A total of 163,620 doses are now available for the 27 member states plus Norway and Iceland. “I am concerned by the increasing number of monkeypox cases in the EU. “We now have over 7,000 cases in the EU, an almost 50 per cent increase since a week ago,” Stella Kyriakides Health and Food Safety Commissioner said. The EU…
Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, Uniper, has drawn on its 2 billion euros (or $2.03 billion) credit facility from Germany’s state-owned KfW bank, the company said on Monday. Uniper has been hit hard by the reduction in gas supplies from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. In order to fulfill its contracts, the company has resorted to buying more expensive gas on the market, which has led to liquidity problems. The government is currently working on an aid package for Uniper. The company agreed on the credit line with KfW at the beginning of January, in view of…
Popular Nollywood actress and star of the sitcom, The Johnson’s, Ada Ameh has died aged 48. The President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas disclosed that Ameh died at a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) hospital in Delta state on Sunday. According to reports, the actress suddenly collapse at 11pm after which she was rushed to the hospital where she was confirmed dead. Ada’s colleague and stage actor, Steve Onu popularly known as Yaw condoled with the family describing the late actress as an exceptional and amiable person. He revealed that he had worked with her earlier…
Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has opined that the voice of slain Minister of Justice, Ajibola Ige resounded from the grave to determine the just concluded gubernatorial election in Osun state. Soyinka, who stated this in a brief communiqué on Sunday, said those who conspired to catapult Ige’s destroyers to unmerited national prominence, insult the memories of the living and jettison basic ethical constraints, have been justly served. According to him, the outcome of the Osun gubernatorial election is a lesson that speaks to other zones of rightful public expectations, equity, and just entitlements. “One despairs but continues to…
The Kano state government has banned the operations of tricycles popularly known as “A Daidata Sahu” from 10:00pm – 6:00am with effect from Thursday, July 21, 2022. A statement issued by the commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba confirmed that a decision to that effect was reached at the end of the state security meeting. He said the measure was part of an effort to ensure the security of lives and property in the state. The commissioner urged tricycle riders to comply and stop operating at the stipulated hours as security agents would enforce the ban without compromise. The ban on…