The continent stands on the cusp of a tech explosion with several nations having achieved sustained growth in internet-driven GDP (iGDP)2 – in many cases doubling from 1.5% to more than 3% since 2012 As the digital transformation continues to stride across Africa, it is clearing the way and opening vast swathes of potential for its nations, businesses, and citizens. The continent stands on the cusp of a tech explosion with several nations having achieved sustained growth in internet-driven GDP (iGDP)2 – in many cases doubling from 1.5% to more than 3% since 2012 (https://accntu.re/3Cz3zY4). Some experts put the economic growth…
Author: TheStories
Moderna on Friday filed patent infringement lawsuits against Pfizer and BioNTech “for infringing patents central to (its) mRNA technology platform,” the company said in a news release Friday. “Moderna believes that Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering Moderna’s foundational mRNA technology. This groundbreaking technology was critical to the development of Moderna’s own mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax. Pfizer and BioNTech copied this technology, without Moderna’s permission, to make Comirnaty,” the news release said. CNN has reached out to Pfizer for comment. By CNN
Wishing General IBB a happy 81st birthday I was the keynote speaker at General Ibrahim Babangida’s Legacy Dialogue yesterday speaking on the theme of Africa’s democratic journey. I made two preliminary points. The first is that soldiers are soldiers and civilians are simply bloody civilians and the two blocs are sharply divided, or so we often think. The military ruled Nigeria for almost 30 years and impacted strongly on the country’s culture and institutions. Their rule impacted negatively on society by generalising authoritarian values, which are in essence anti-social and destructive of politics. Politics in this sense is understood as…
A 40-year-old man lost his life in an inferno at a general hospital at Badawa Layout in Nassarawa local government area of Kano state on Wednesday. Kano State Fire Service spokesperson, Saminu Abdullahi stated on Thursday that the service received an emergency call on Wednesday that there was a fire outbreak at the facility. “On arrival we found that the fire was in a generator room where two diesel tanks, four sets of generators had been completely razed, “The victim sustained some injuries and was taken out of the generator room unconscious. “He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Muhammad…
By Lizzy Carr, Bauchi Leading science writers and researchers have called on African countries to integrate triad of approaches to improve public understanding of science as a key factor for the continent’s development. The call was made at a webinar with a theme, “Beyond S/He Said: Basics of Reporting in the Context of Scientific Research” held recently. The panelists and participants at the webiner emphasised the need for journalists and media organisations to enhance the nexus between scientists and the general public to tackle policy implementation lapses at critical moments such as response to epidemics and other public health emergencies.…
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N954.085 billion to the three tiers of government, as federation allocation for July. This is according to a statement signed by Mr Phil Abiamuwe-Mowete, the Director (Information) on Wednesday in Abuja. From the amount, the Federal Government received N406.610 billion; the states received N281.342 billion; while the Local Government Councils got N210.617 billion. This was inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue and Value Added Tax (VAT), It said that the oil producing states received N55.515 billion as derivation (13 per cent of Mineral Revenue). The statement indicated that the Gross Revenue available from the…
As the National Communications Commission (NCC) sets aside the official date for the authorization for the rollout of the Fifth-Generation (5G) Internet connectivity service, Nigeria’s leading telecommunications service provider, MTN on Wednesday, switched on its service at 190 sites. The service though rolled out across the country, was switched on mainly in Lagos and Abuja. By October, it is expected that the MTN 5G service would be operating at 500-600 sites across the country. While MTN has launched the Fifth-Generation (5G) service, Mafab Communications then other winner of the 5G license has, however, been given a five-month extension for the…
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami has emphasised the need for government, private sector and individuals to prioritise digital access for economic benefits and development globally. Pantami said this at the one-day workshop organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday in Abuja. The workshop had the theme: ‘‘Building Capabilities for Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Transformation in Nigeria”. He urged governments and individuals to take the issue of prioritising digital access and skills seriously, adding that they were no…
Reputed to be Africa’s largest economy, with over 200 million people, Nigeria is noted to have a poor addressing system that allows only few persons receive their parcels at home especially in remote areas. The Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) has been working to advance e-commerce and improve its postal system to catch up with the changing business environment and competition posed by technological advancement. NIPOST is now set to introduce a digital postcode system where parcels and mails are properly addressed with the right postcodes thereby raising home deliveries within the next few years. The postal agency said the new…
“My vision is to create a friendly work environment, enhance staff capacity through training and welfare, as well as ensure that the DSS remains a democratically-complaint intelligence agency in Nigeria” – Yusuf Magaji Bichi. With the commencement of his second four-year tenure beckoning on September 14, 2022, Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi has been roundly described as a man of many parts given his versatility, and outstanding deliveries in many fields of covert actions as well as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Currently calling the shots as Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), popularly called the Department of State Service…