Electron Native

Google is celebrating one of Nigeria and indeed Africa's female leaders 119 birthday. She is none other than Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. A Doodle is on the home page of the home page of the global search engine. The former Iyalode of Egbaland was a dedicated teacher, diplomat,  political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat. Google, Doodle for Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti The Doodle, illustrated by Nigerian-Italian guest artist, Diana Ejaita, celebrates a formidable leader who founded what many refer to as one of the most important social movements of the twentieth century. Diana Ejaita weaves together Ransome-Kuti’s likeness with women whose lives she changed. The Berlin-based artist’s style of combining dramatic blacks and soft colours to show “the strength of femininity” aligns well with Ransome-Kuti’s powerful story. Born on this day in 1900 in Abeokuta, the current capital of Nigeria’s Ogun state, the former Frances Abigail Ol...

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South African business confidence improved in the month of September. It recovered from a 34-year low with exports and vehicle sales increasing while economic activity picked-up. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) in its monthly business confidence index (BCI) explained the above. The SACCI adds BCI rose to 92.4 in September from 89.1 in August. Furthermore, seven sub-indices of the index improved but three remained unchanged between September and August. “Positive annual contributions in September came from the higher U.S. dollar price of precious metals, energy supply – the latter mainly owing to a decline in the crude oil price,” SACCI said in a statement. “There are indications that the economy may have hit a trough and could obtain some stability which could auger well for growth prospects,” the business body said. Africa’s most industrialised economy expanded 3.1percent in the second quarter of 2019 after contracting by the same margin in the...

The Nigerian government is seeking $62 billion from oil companies. This is an old regulations that allow the government to revisit revenue-sharing deals on petroleum sales if crude prices exceed $20 a barrel, according to the attorney general Abubakar Malami. A law dating back to the 1990s that governs oil production sharing contracts allows the government to review revenue sharing once the oil price rises above $20 per barrel. Malami, adds that Nigeria had been “short-changed” under the law and is pursuing a case for recovery if it is established that the oil companies had under-paid the government. Earlier this year, industry and government sources told Reuters that Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Eni, were each asked to pay the central government between $2.5 billion and $5 billion. The oil companies were not immediately available for comment. President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday presented a record 10.33 trillion naira ($33.8 billion) budget for 20...

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, on Monday 7th October presided over the launch of a phone manufacturing plant, in Kigali. He says this will improve access to digital services. Maraphone Source : Mara Group The factory, the first of its kind in Africa, assembles smartphones in Rwanda and is operated by the Mara Group. The smartphone, dubbed the ‘Maraphone’, is the first high specification, smartphone manufactured in Africa. According to the Mara Group, the phone will produce high quality and affordable smartphones to primarily serve the population of Africa and also with the aim to export to other continents such as Europe.  The first “Made-in-Rwanda” smartphones rolled off the assembly line last week. Kagame hails the plant as another milestone in Rwanda’s journey to becoming a high-tech “made-in-Rwanda” industry. The African Development Bank (estimates that the value of Africa’s mobile money industry is projected to reach $14 billion b...

A not so used means of moving about in Lagos is getting more patronage soon. Boat Taxi in Lagos Source : guardian.ng As such, water transportation in Lagos is expected to accommodate between 500,000 to 1million passengers per day when fully operational and it is expected to decongest the roads. Commissioner for transport, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde stated the above during a tour of a facility in Ikoyi, Lagos. Olaseinde adds that at the moment the waterways carries only between 70,000 to 100,000 passengers which the commissioner said is quite low. Lagos Ferry Service Source: tribuneonlineng.com He assured that the state government is currently making a lot of investment in the sector to provide all the needed facilities and equipment and make it as safe as possible. The Managing Director of LASWA, Oluwadamilola Emmanuel,   mentioned some of the challenges confronting the agency. Such as, an emergency and rescue system, ...