Aisha Maina secures $40m investment to launch Africa-Caribbean trade corridor - ITREALMS

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... New Deep-Water Port to Create Digital Trade Corridor, Bypassing European Detours

The Managing Director of Aquarian Consult and founder of Gemini Integrated Commodities, Aisha Maina, has completed a week of high-level engagements that secured a landmark $40 million investment quote to establish a commercial trade corridor between Africa and the Caribbean, reports ITREALMS.

This investment, anchored by a new deep-water port, is a major step toward building what Maina described as a "physical backbone of a trade bridge that has been too long in the making."

TD Africa secures landmark AI, data privacy certifications - ITREALMS

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Leading technology distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa, TD Africa, has achieved two globally recognized certifications: ISO 42001 (Artificial Intelligence Management Systems) and ISO 27701 (Privacy Information Management Systems), reports ITREALMS.

This milestone, ITREALMS gathered, positions the company as a pioneer in preparing the continent for a secure and ethical AI-powered future.

Konga Travels & Tours secures major insurance partnership with coronation - ITREALMS

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In an effort to offer comprehensive travel insurance packages to Nigerians, Konga Travel and Tours, the leading travel service provider in Nigeria, has announced a strategic partnership with Coronation Insurance Plc, Africa's top-tier insurance company. 

This collaboration aims to enhance the travel experience for Nigerians by providing seamless access to comprehensive travel insurance.

Hyperspace secures 2nd patent for blockchain technology, cipherCHIP tap2verify - ITREALMS

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Hyperspace Technologies Limited has secured its second patent and trademarks for cipher CHIP tap2verify: A blockchain-integrated contactless product authentication & verification system.

 The Lagos-based Web3 startup specializes in next-level smart security infrastructure and key management systems.

Nigeria: Tizeti secures debt financing to expand internet access - ITREALMS

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The Chapel Hill Denham’s Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) has agreed to provide long-term financing to Tizeti Network Limited (Tizeti) reports ITREALMS.

Tizetti, ITREALMS gathered is the West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet service provider, while the senior debt facility will be used to finance the rollout of Tizeti’s state-of-the art broadband network across 15 states in Nigeria.

New feat for McEnies, secures FCDO, UK Met deal on Nigeria’s flood control - ITREALMS

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The McEnies Global Communications has achieved a new feat with the sealing a contract with UK Met Office to develop improved communications practices on weather information and work out meaningful communication strategies to mitigate against perennial flooding in Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

The project which is being sponsored by UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will bring together several relevant government agencies, like Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), etc while also engaging in some desk-based research and consultations.

Nigerian, Oluseyi Akindeinde, secures patent for blockchain-driven authentication system - ITREALMS

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The Hyperspace Technologies Limited has secured a patent for Blockchain technology-driven Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), reports ITREALMS.

Developed within the Hyperspace Technologies’ research and development (R&D) division, cipherKEY tap2sign MFA is a next-generation security system designed to leverage the decentralized nature of blockchain, the robustness of public/ private key cryptography, and the convenience of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to provide an unprecedented level of security against identity theft, phishing, and social engineering attacks

Sanwo-Olu in Bern, excites Swedish investors on Lagos opportunities, secures $5bn commitment - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The All Progressives Congress Governorship Candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has underscored the enormous investment opportunities in Lagos State at an exclusive session with selected Swiss Investors in Geneva, reports ITREALMS.

This is coming ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) holding from Tuesday, January 22 through 25, 2019 in Davos, Switzerland.
ITREALMS reports that the session held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, saw the business interaction triggered commitments of $5bn investment in infrastructure and capital projects in the state and also provided an avenue for Mr. Sanwo-Olu to further reinforce the investment opportunities in the state.

While the array of investors comprising commodity traders, equity managers, investment bankers, Fintech & I.T experts, infrastructure builders, international donors, energy and power companies unanimously agreed that Lagos is fertile ground for investments, they cited political risk as a more disturbing consideration over economic risk.

In reassuring them, Sanwo-Olu told the investors that Nigeria is safe for investment and Lagos State as the economic nerve centre of the country presents the best environment for global investments.

Sanwo-Olu said “There is progressive leadership and stability in the governance of Lagos State since 1999. The state has been under the administration of a party, my party, which is the All Progressives Party for more than 16 years. The state has remained a reference point for infrastructural development and economic prosperity in Nigeria and West Africa.

“On investors’ protection, I think that should be the least of your worries. Lagos has a comprehensive regulation that protects and shields investors. The scope of the regulation covers disputes resolution and commitment to ease of doing business.”

Earlier in his speech, Sanwo-Olu informed the investors about his determination to transform Lagos into a 21st century economy.

He said, “Lagos economy is adjudged to be the 5th largest in Africa and is not yet a 24-hour economy, where you can do every transaction round-the-clock, do you think we have really maximized the potentials of that economy?

“We are saying it is a large and growing economy, and you are not playing in it yet. This THEME agenda beyond being the focus areas of our government, it is also indicative of areas of possible collaboration between you and our government.

“Like I said, Transportation & Traffic Management, Health & Environment, Education & Technology, Making Lagos a 21stcentury economy and Entertainment & Tourism are the topline agenda our government will pursue upon election in 2019.”

While assuring Sanwo-Olu of investors’ and multilateral institutions’ commitment to Lagos and Nigeria, Country Portfolio Manager, High Impact Africa 1 Grant Management Division of Global Fund, Ibrahim Faria pledged the commitment to support health system in Lagos State if Mr. Sanwo-Olu won the election.

“I am happy to know your THEME priority areas that cover education, health, infrastructure and strengthening private sector investments in your state. We will work with you if you win your election. We have particular interest to support health system in Lagos. Global Fund is an important partner of the Nigerian government where we are funding support for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.”

Some of the multilateral institutions and private organisations that attended the session are Global Fund, Ford Foundation, HSBC, GENII Capital, International Trade Centre, Actis/CDC among others.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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Pic: Mr. Olusegun Andrew Paul, Executive Vice Chairman, Blackpace Africa, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, All Progressives Congress Governorship candidate and Ambassador Ralph Friendlander of Swiss Agency For Development Cooperation during an strategic meeting with the Swiss Agency to solicit support for Sanwo-Olu's THEME Development Agenda for Lagos in Bern.

ANA secures N3m grant for 2019 ANA/Yusuf Ali Nationwide Literary Awareness Campaign - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Association of Nigerian Authors has secured funding for the 8^th year towards the   ANA/Yusuf Ali nationwide literary awareness campaign, reports ITREALMS.

The Association received the sum of N3,000,000(Three Million Million Naira) on the 7^th  of January,2019 for the 2019 project from the donor,  Yusuf Ali(SAN), an Ilorin-based renowned legal practitioner, author and dedicated  philanthropist, whose son Dr Yusuf Olanrewaju Ali recently  wedded Barrister Hasiya Altine Nagode in a well-attended Nikkah wedding ceremony in Ilorin on the 29^th of December,2018.

The Grant was first secured by the National EXCO of ANA in 2012 and all state chapters of the Association  received sub-grants of N150,000 at various times between 2012-2014 for local literary awareness campaigns involving secondary schools across the country. In 2015, the grant was applied by the then National Executive Council of ANA to host a workshop on fiction writing in Abuja in which about 25 students, drawn from tertiary institutions across the country via a competitive process, participated.  

In 2016, the Denja Abdullahi-led National Executive Council of ANA took the literary awareness campaign a notch further by focusing on innovative literary awareness campaign among tertiary institutions across the country through the States’ chapters. Chapters submitted proposals on envisaged activities based on which they were assessed and sub-grants finally awarded to 16 Chapters that met the provisioned requirements.

The competitive process was introduced to ensure greater compliance to the overall project vision and to improve on the process of monitoring, evaluation and reportage of the implemented activities. The grant was used in 2017 to publish three (3) children’s literature titles under the Nigerian Writers Series(NWS) which have been distributed to chapters of ANA Nationwide to power  ANA ‘s A-Book-A-Child nationwide project that was flagged off at the ANA ‘s 36^th International Convention which held in Makurdi, Benue State in October,2017 and the phase two of it launched by the wife of the Governor of Ekiti State,Erelu Bisi Fayemi, at the 37^th International Convention of the Association held in Ikeja, Lagos in October,2018.

For the year 2018, the Yusuf Ali grant was deployed to facilitate a comprehensive media supplement on the projects executed with the yearly grants over the years since 2012 to date and an intensive workshop for 15 selected chairmen of ANA chapters focusing on ‘innovations in contemporary literary awareness campaigns’ to deepen the execution of the project in the coming years.

This year 2019 grant will be devolved to selected State Chapters of the Association to carry out innovative and cutting edge literary awareness campaigns in their domains as learnt in the capacity building workshop held in Ilorin in 2018  .

Yusuf Ali, who in 2015 promised to sustain the annual grant to ANA for life, is a Nigerian lawyer who received the highest honour available to practicing lawyers in 1997 when he was called to the inner bar as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He attended the University of Ife [now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife] and is the Principal Partner at the Law Firm of Yusuf O. Ali & Co in Ilorin. His reputation in the Bar has been balanced by a deep interest in literature which has seen him supporting the Kwara State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors as well as serve as an Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Bar Journal. He is also an associate lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ilorin.

Yusuf Ali in 2017 presented a book “ Anatomy of Corruption in Nigeria” to the public in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja . He has also been consistently hosting the National Executive Council members of ANA and chairmen and secretaries of chapters in his office during their annual meeting in Ilorin since 2012.

We thank Yusuf Ali (SAN) for his consistent and yet-to-be matched generosity in supporting literary awareness in the country and we call on other well meaning Nigerians to emulate his gesture of support for the literary arts.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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SPDC JV’s Afam VI power plant secures licensee for another 10 years

ITREALMS:

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has renewed the power generation licence for Afam VI Power Plant, a 650MW-capacity facility that has delivered over 25.97 million Megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity into the Nigerian grid since inception in 2008, reports ITRealms.

Afam VI is owned by The Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture (SPDC JV) and located in Afam in Oyigbo Local Government area of Rivers State.

Presenting the renewed licence to the leadership of SPDC at the Commission’s office in Abuja on Tuesday, the Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Mr. Dafe Akpeneye, described SPDC JV as a committed partner in the Nigerian power sector adding that the company’s belief in the sector and its resolve to help it develop were remarkable.

“We hope for greater efficiency and improved operations from Afam VI in the next 10-year phase of your operations just as we look forward to working together to resolve some of the challenging issues in the power sector,” he said.

Receiving the licence, the General Manager, Gas of SPDC, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, described the Afam VI as a model worthy of emulation by government and other players in the power sector. “Here’s a power plant with a dedicated gas plant operating with high uptime generating clean and efficient power from the combined cycle of three gas and one steam turbines.”

He lamented the challenges of debt, power evacuation and off-take which he said prevented the plant from delivering optimally at 15 percent of the total national grid-connected electricity.

Afam VI uses combined cycle gas turbine technology that burns 40 percent less gas than plants using older open cycle technologies. This also contributes significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2016, Afam VI power plant supplied approximately 12% of the nation’s grid-electricity.

Built with the most efficient technology in the industry and utilising waste heat energy from the gas turbine exhaust, the plant generates an additional 200MW from the steam turbine without consuming any additional gas, thereby considerably reducing its carbon footprint.

As a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the United Nations Executive Board for Climate Change, Afam VI Power Plant eliminates over 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, while also maintaining excellent safety standards.

The operations at Afam VI have generated subcontract opportunities and employment for over 150 people from the 16 host communities. It also provided hands-on and offshore training for 30 youths in Electrical, Mechanical and Instrumentation engineering on Combined Cycle Power Plant operations and maintenance. All the trainees are already employed in the Nigerian power industry.

The power plant also won SPDC the Best Company in Climate Action Award in the 2016 edition of Sustainability, Enterprise, Responsibility Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility (SERAs–CSR), an annual event to celebrate organisations that invest resources to improve the socioeconomic living conditions of people in Nigeria and Africa.

Ayo Midele/GEE 

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Pix; L-R: Commercial Manager, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), John Kadiri; General Manager, Business and Government Relations, Bashir Bello; General Manager, Gas, Philip Mshelbila; Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dafe Akpeneye; and the General Manager, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Olufunke Dinneh, at the presentation of power generation licence for SPDC Joint Venture’s Afam VI Power Plant, in Abuja… on Tuesday.

Danbatta, NCC boss, secures MTN N221m waiver in Kano

ITRealms:

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has intervened in a case between MTN Nigeria and the Kano State government, resulting in a waiver of N221m, ITRealms reports.

Lately, Danbatta, ITRealms recalls had in Ogun State last year, intervened which resulted in unsealing of 47 base stations  under lock and key,  while the state governor, Mr Ibikunle Amosun,  also reduced ground rent fee owed by IHS Towers from N370 million to N120 million.

ITRealms gathered that some staff of Huawei, working on telecommunication infrastructure expansion in Kano state on behalf of the MTN Nigeria, were arrested by the officials of government’s agency, Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KANUPDA), a development which put a full stop to the project.

In addition, ITRealms reports that the situation could have adverse effects on Quality of Service experience among millions of service subscribers in the state and beyond before it was swiftly nipped in the bud.

ITRealms further gathered that Danbatta’s unscheduled visit to the state governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje led to the government generously waiving the permit fee of Two Hundred and Twenty One Million Naira (N221,000,000) for deployment of fibre infrastructure in that state.

Danbatta, was said to have convinced the governor about the economic advantages that the state stands to gain from deployment of more telecommunication infrastructure as well the potential quality of service concern that millions of service subscribers would face if the work was further delayed.

In a letter signed by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Arch Bashir Mudi Adamu, and addressed to MTN, the agency, however, said the waiver of permit fees was granted in respect of two federal roads, Zaria Road and Maiduguri Road in the state.

ITRealms reports that the intervention was a strategic collaboration and partnership with other relevant agencies and stakeholders form key component of the 8-point agenda of the NCC boss unveiled last year.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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