Special Reports

Friday, 24 May 2024 04:44

Mandela's vision of Black unity fades as South Africa closes door to migrants

Munera Mokgoko was just three when apartheid fell. She can barely remember, much less fathom, the swell of hope that accompanied Black liberation three decades ago, shaped by Nelson Mandela’s vision of social equality and pan-African solidarity. “South Africa doesn’t have any ubuntu,” the 33-year-old said, using a Zulu word meaning humanity, ahead of an election in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is pledging to crack down on undocumented migrants from the rest of the continent. “It’s like we don’t know how to welcome people.” Mokgoko’s Tanzanian husband is among many African migrants who have flocked here since…

Tuesday, 30 April 2024 04:48

Report reveals Nigeria's massive deforestation: Equivalent to losing Lagos, Enugu, and FCT

A recent study has unveiled that Nigeria has lost a staggering 17,400 km² of forest cover between 2000 and 2020 due to deforestation. This area is equivalent to the combined size of Lagos (3,577 km²), Enugu (7,161 km²), and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) (7,315 km²). The study, presented by Aliyu Salisu Barau, a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Bayero University Kano, during the Final Workshop of a Research Project on "Improving Access to Clean and Modern Energy for Cooking while Reducing Land Degradation and Biodiversity Loss in Nigeria," highlighted the alarming rate…

Sunday, 07 April 2024 04:54

Nasarawa gov set me up to establish militia group, Miyetti Allah leader confesses to investigators

President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, has alleged that the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, was behind the establishment of the ethnic militia group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya. Bodejo, who is facing terrorism charges, accused the governor of pressurising him to form the militia group. The Miyetti Allah leader was arrested by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency on January 23, 2024, at the group’s office in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State for allegedly unveiling a militia group and has been in custody since then. He was arraigned before Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High…

Monday, 01 April 2024 04:50

Despite FG’s promise to streamline tax waivers, beneficiaries increase across industries - Report

About 107 companies including Dangote and Mikano International are currently enjoying tax exemption from the Federal Government despite its insistence on discontinuing the programme and drastic steps to improve its revenue base. It also increased the number of beneficiaries enjoying Pioneer Status under the Industrial Development Income Tax Act by 24 from 83 in the first quarter of 2023 to 107 firms by the fourth quarter of 2023. This was disclosed in the latest Pioneer Status Incentive reports released by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and obtained by our correspondent on Sunday. An analysis of the PSI report showed that…

Friday, 22 March 2024 04:46

Nigeria’s high-cost oil industry is in decline - The Economist

A chief economist at Shell once described Nigeria as the “jewel in the crown” of the oil major’s empire. Yet in recent years the jewel has lost its lustre. Early this year Shell, which has been pumping oil in Nigeria for nearly seven decades, agreed to sell its onshore subsidiary to a consortium of mostly local companies. Other oil firms are packing up too. In February TotalEnergies, a French group, said it also planned to offload its own stake in Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary. It joined a long list of firms, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Eni and Equinor that have shed Nigerian…

Friday, 15 March 2024 04:48

Children drop out of schools, families torn apart as over 7,000 Nigerians get kidnapped in 9 months

Esther Joseph said she went "almost mad" with anguish when her 13-year-old daughter Precious Sim was kidnapped from a northern Nigeria high school along with other students on July 5, 2021. In the following days, she tried to go after the kidnappers in the surrounding forest, but soldiers - alerted by fellow community members - caught up with her and brought her back. In the end, she sold her meagre possessions - including pots, fans and a television set - and enlisted the help of her brothers and in-laws, as well as local church members, to pay a ransom of…

Tuesday, 12 March 2024 04:32

Hunger spreads as cost of living crisis deepens in Nigeria - Reuters

Blessing Joseph has been weaving bags, sandals and jewellery earning enough money to feed her son and send him to school. But since November, she has fallen on hard times as customers have stopped coming and she and her son routinely go to bed hungry. She is among millions in Africa's largest economy, grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades, that has deepened since President Bola Tinubu assumed office last May. Last year, Joseph could easily make 30,000 naira ($18.83) a week but now she will be lucky to get 5,000 naira, she said. "People used to…

Monday, 11 March 2024 04:41

Nigeria’s deepening cost-of-living crisis is turning deadly - Bloomberg

Nigeria, a country long used to hardship, is facing a crushing cost-of-living crisis. Prices for some vital food staples have doubled in a matter of months. Trucks hauling items like rice and pasta are being hijacked along rural highways. Protests have bubbled up in major cities and soldiers now stand guard to prevent grain warehouses from being ransacked by desperate citizens. At the heart of the upheaval in Africa’s most populous country are aggressive reforms by President Bola Tinubu, who scrapped a popular but costly fuel subsidy and eased foreign-exchange controls shortly after taking office in May. The moves were…

Thursday, 07 March 2024 04:50

Individuals, corporate organisations resort to used laptops, phones, others as FX crisis worsens tech adoption - Report

• Importation of devices drops by 45%, says player • Companies opt for fairly-used laptops as prices of new units rise by 300%• Importers express frustrations, lament banks’ indifference to their painsThe protracted foreign exchange (FX) crisis has found expression in computer hardware and software, cutting consumer electronics importation by as much as 45 per cent. Though there have been pockets of imports in the last four months, The Guardian learnt that the last time a container of computer and related devices were imported into the country was the last quarter of 2022. A major importer and vendor at the…

Saturday, 02 March 2024 04:44

Naira devaluation touted to attract foreign investments does the exact opposite as multinationals leave - Bloomberg

As Nigeria’s vice president cut the ribbon on Procter & Gamble Co.’s diaper production line in 2017, the $300 million facility near Lagos was hailed as a symbol of the country’s economic ambitions. In December, P&G said it was leaving the West African state. The US consumer goods giant is not alone. In recent months at least three other global conglomerates have announced they are exiting Africa’s most populous nation, and second biggest economy. Among them GSK Plc, Bayer AG and Sanofi SA. Last year Unilever Plc cut some of the products it was manufacturing in the country. Nestle SA…

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Tuesday, 27 February 2024 04:48

Standard Chartered Bank’s Naira trading gives glimpse of how banks make a killing in Nigeria’s FX market. This is what happened

Standard Chartered Plc had a wild 2023 with Nigeria’s volatile currency as the African nation struggled with foreign-exchange rules to attract investment from overseas and boost the supply of dollars. The London-based lender, in its corporate filings last week, said it made almost $120 million in a single day on June 1, in anticipation of new policies including an impending naira devaluation. By November, its position whipsawed as it made around $40 million only to lose more than $20 million later after the government announced a crackdown on the black market, where the US dollar at one point commanded a…

Saturday, 24 February 2024 04:27

Men and women's brains do work differently, scientists discover for first time

The brains of men and women operate differently, scientists have shown for the first time in a breakthrough that shows sex does matter in how people think and behave. ‌The issue of whether male and female brains are distinct has proven controversial, with some academics arguing it is society – rather than biology – that shapes divergence. ‌There has never been any definitive proof of difference in activity in the brains of men and women, but Stanford University has shown that it is possible to tell the sexes apart based on activity in “hotspot” areas. ‌They include the “default mode…

Thursday, 22 February 2024 05:06

Hardship spreads as Nigeria’s economy suffers from currency crisis, soaring inflation - CNBC

With inflation nearing 30% and its currency hitting an all-time low, Nigeria is facing one of its worst economic crises in years. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that the headline consumer price index (CPI) rose to 29.9% year-on-year in January, its highest level since 1996. The surging cost of living and economic hardship sparked protests across the country over the weekend. With annual inflation nearing 30% and a currency in freefall, Nigeria is facing one of its worst economic crises in years, provoking nationwide outrage and protests. The Nigerian naira hit a new…

Thursday, 15 February 2024 04:52

Cooking gas, diesel prices rise, as power generation dips - Report

Nigeria’s households and businesses are going through very difficult times as a result of the continued escalation of cooking gas, diesel and other resources. This becomes unbearable as their incomes have not experienced any meaningful increase in the past few years, which also recorded a significant drop in the value of the Naira, currently going for N1,515/$ at the official market. A market survey by Energy Vanguard, weekend, indicated that the price of cooking gas (12.5kg) that was N11, 250 in December 2023, has risen to N15, 000, indicating an increase of 33.3 per cent. Similarly, the price of diesel…

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