Author: Citynews

Mr Zhao Yong, Deputy Ambassador of China to Nigeria has disclosed that Nigeria is China’s major investment destination in Africa with a bilateral trade growth ranking first among China’s top 40 trading partners globally. Zhao made this known on Monday in Abuja while briefing journalists as part of activities to mark the commemoration of the 50 years of bilateral relations between both countries. He said that Nigeria had surpassed Angola and South Africa to become China’s second largest trading partner and largest export market in Africa. ABUJA DOCTOR REVEALS HOW MOST NIGERIA MEN ARE NOW OVERCOMING TERRIBLE BEDROOM PERFORMANCE DUE TO…

Abuja-based Centre for the Study of Economies of Africa (CSEA) has reported that a research it conducted had revealed that 28,876 deaths related to tobacco smoking are recorded annually in Nigeria. Mr Marco Castradori, a Research Associate with the CSEA, revealed this, on Monday, in Kano, at the report dissemination workshop on the health burden and economic cost of smoking in Nigeria. According to Castradori, the number represents around 16 per cent of deaths from smoking-related diseases and above five per cent of all cases of deaths. “Among the disease analysed, nearly 737,366 events are expected each year, of which…

Nigeria’s customer champion, 9mobile, has commenced the National Identification Number (NIN) registration exercise in select Experience Centres in Lagos and Abuja. The development follows the Federal Government’s approval granting telecoms the license for NIN enrollment to ease the pressure of large crowd turnout at the various enrollment centers of the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC).Speaking on the development, the Chief Commercial Officer, 9mobile, Stjepan Udovicic stated that, “as Nigeria’s customer champion in this industry, 9mobile always seeks opportunities to collaborate with regulators and other stakeholders on initiatives that will enable Nigerians to achieve their full potential. We pride ourselves as…

IBADAN- Contrary to view in some quarters, the Commandant of the Oyo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), Col. Olayinka Olayanju.(rtd) has declared that Ibarapaland is safe and free of killer herdsmen and kidnappers. The Commandant, who stated this in a statement on Monday and made available in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, said that he will volunteer to lead anyone who is interested in taking a tour of parts of Ibarapaland earlier hit by herders/farmers crisis. He also denounced some audio and video posts in the social media, which tend to raise what he called “clearly unfounded alarms” about the…

In furtherance of the need to promote the business activities of its foremost agent banking platform – Firstmonie Agents – Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, has announced the provision of loan facilities – up to one million naira – to its banking agents. The Bank currently has over 86,300 Firstmonie Agents, spread across the country’s 772 Local Government Areas. With its location in every neighbourhood, Firstmonie Agents have been integral to filling the financial exclusion gap, providing convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the…

By Reginald Onabu The year 2020 was an unusual one in every sense of the word. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic made sure of this. To remove any doubt about the threat that the virus posed to every country in the world, the World Health Organisations (WHO) recognised the COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Today, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic is global. There is hardly anyone who has not been affected by the pandemic to some degree. In a country like Nigeria, it has precipitated mental, emotional, social, business-related and financial impact. Nigeria is home to over 230 million people, the bulk of…

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has ordered the security agencies in the state to investigate the recent clash between herdsmen and farmers in the Yewa area of the state that led to the loss of a life and destruction of properties. In a Press Statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, on Saturday in Abeokuta, Governor Dapo Abiodun has also set up a Special Task Force that will maintain presence in all areas of the state prone to herders/farmers conflict to maintain peace and quickly respond to any form of violence or crimes. “The government is immediately…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has advised the Federal Government to have a rethink on its directive on cryptocurrency transactions in the country.This advice, which was contained in a statement on Saturday, was in reaction to the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to banks and other financial institutions to close accounts of any individual who transact in cryptocurrency.The CBN had told the regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges was prohibited.But Atiku stated that it was wrong to issue such a directive at this time, saying the number one challenge facing Nigeria…

By Tolu Oyekan As of this writing, the spread of COVID-19 in many African countries has been more contained, and the death toll lower, than some had expected in 2020. The economic fallout of the pandemic for Africans, however, will be different and could be more dire than for the rest of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than half of the world’s populations living at or below the poverty line. A recent World Bank scenario estimates that COVID-19 could push up to 40 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty, seriously eroding the progress that African countries…

The Federal Government has concluded plans to kick start the last two schemes of the MSMEs Survival Fund component of the National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP). The schemes are namely, the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme (GOS) and the General MSMEs Grant. In a media briefing on Thursday, the Minister of State Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum said the two new schemes is to complement other programmes all geared to rejuvenate the nation’s economy. According to the Minister, the two new schemes will launch at 11:59pm on Tuesday, 9th February, 2021 to Thursday, 18th February, 2021 for applications from…