Gambia Celebrates Barrow's Inauguration

Gambian President Adama Barrow (L) takes an oath during the inauguration ceremony for the start of his presidency at the Independence Stadium in Bakau, west of the capital Banjul, on February 18, 2017

Thousands celebrated Saturday as new Gambian President Adama Barrow retook his oath of office, a month after he was sworn in across the border in neighbouring Senegal during a tense power struggle.

Gambian President Adama Barrow looks at the audience from the roof of a car as he arrives at the Independence Stadium in Bakau, west of the capital Banjul for his inauguration ceremony, on February 18, 2017

FOR THE RECORD: Nigeria’s Troubled Economy: What Osinbajo, Governors Discussed At NEC Meeting

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo with State Governors at the NEC meeting

A meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) held Thursday in Abuja with members discussing measures they said are planned to take the country out of recession.

Boards Of Nigerian Health Agencies Coming Soon — Minister

Professor Isaac Adewole, Minister of Health

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has dropped a hint that boards of federal health agencies would soon be announced.

FOR THE RECORD: Nadia Abdou Becomes Egypt’s First Ever Female Governor

Nadia Ahmed Abdou

Nadia Ahmed Abdou was sworn in on Thursday before president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as the new governor of Beheira, the first female to ever hold a governor post in Egypt.

Dubai Street Art Turns Urban Sprawl Into Open-Air Museum

Street art breathes new life into Dubai neighbourhood: Murals from the Karama Street Art Project

The streets of Dubai may be known for architectural superlatives like Burj Khalifa, the highest of the world's high-rises, and the Middle East's largest shopping centre Dubai Mall.

Murals from the Karama Street Art Project

FOR THE RECORD: Banking Giants 'Rigged' South Africa's Currency

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela's image is on some notes. BBC

Seventeen banks have been accused of rigging the price of South Africa’s currency, the rand.

President Jacob Zuma is pushing for reforms in the banking sector. Getty Images

JAMB Will Stop Use Of Scratch Card — Prof. Oloyede

Professor Is’haq Oloyede

 – Allegation against me over pension fraud insincere

The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is’haq Oloyede, says it is unwise to extend the validity period of UTME results and explains why the 2017/18 UTME registration is being delayed. He said contrary to a claim by ASUU, he was not involved in pension fraud.

Broad Institute Wins Gene-Editing Patent Case

The CRISPR-Cas9 process allows scientists to edit stretches of the genome by removing, adding or changing pieces of the DNA sequence

What many have described as the biotechnology trial of the century came to a close Wednesday, with the Broad Institute winning the patent to a popular gene-editing process known as CRISPR/Cas-9.

Bayern Munich Routs Arsenal 5-1 To Put Foot In Quarterfinals

Bayern's Thomas Mueller, centre, celebrates with his teammates Joshua Kimmich, right, and Arturo Vidal after scoring his side's fifth goal during the Champions League round of 16 first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Arsenal, in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bayern Munich answered its critics with a comprehensive 5-1 rout of Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League clash to move a step closer to the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Food, Transport Prices Rise As Inflation Surges By 0.17%

A Lagos market. AP

Economist blames high interest rates, cost of production, naira depreciation
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said that January inflation rate rose to 18.72%, indicating a year-on-year (Y-O-Y) rise pattern since 2016.

FG, Labour Agree To Review Minimum Wage

Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (C) after a meeting with the country’s labour leaders on February 9, 2016. Photo: Twitter/Yemi Osinbajo

The President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ayuba Wabba, says the Federal Government and the organized Labour movement in the country have reached a consensus to review the National Minimum Wage.

BBC Launches 2017 Komla Dumor Award

Komla Dumor died suddenly aged 41 in 2014. BBC

The BBC is seeking a future star of African journalism for the BBC World News Komla Dumor Award, now in its third year.

Knowing Real Owners Of Oil, Gas Firms Crucial To Curb Corruption — NEITI

Knowing the real owners of companies in the oil and gas sector is critical to checking corruption, money laundering, drug and terrorism financing, tax avoidance and evasion, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Waziri Adio, has said.

Sub-Saharan Africa Lags In Sustainable Energy Policies: Report

In a survey of 111 countries the World Bank found nearly 80 percent had begun to adopt policies to expand electrical grids, connecting to solar and wind generation

Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than a half billion people live without electricity, trails the world in government policies that promote sustainable energy, according to a new World Bank report Wednesday.

TSA: 20,000 Bank Accounts Closed, Accruals Hit ₦5.244trn

Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo

 ... Systemspecs, FG yet to agree on commission

About ₦5.244 trillion has accrued to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the Federal Government so far, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris, disclosed yesterday in Abuja at a 2-day retreat to review the TSA implementation in the country.

Fake Currency In Circulation Less Than 1%, CBN Says

Central Bank of Nigeria Headquarters, Abuja FCT

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted claim that about 20% of currency in circulation are fake.

Ex-CBN Staff Forfeits Property To EFCC For Operating Fake Polytechnic

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office, on Monday‎ executed the interim order granted by a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, in respect of the property of Teedek Polytechnic, Ilogbo- Ekiti.

Property Seized By EFCC from EX-CBN Staff

Nowhere To Go: Nigeria's Crowded Camps Fuel Disease Fears From Open Defecation

NOT REGULAR: NEMA truck supplying water to IDPs. Image source: naij.com

Every time she needs to go to the toilet, Shadima Irima recalls the moment Boko Haram militants stormed her home in northeast Nigeria and killed her cousin before her eyes.

Access to clean water is a problem for IDPs

FOR THE RECORD: 20 Percent Of The Currency In Circulation Is Fake, Says Ex-CBN Dep Gov

Obadiah Mailafia, Ex-CBN Dep Gov

Obadiah Mailafia, former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says 20 percent of the currency circulating in the country is fake.

32 Dead In Taiwan's Worst Highway Accident For Decades

A bus that crashed along a highway is lifted by cranes in Taipei on February 14, 2017 ©Sam Yeh (AFP)

A Taiwan bus taking elderly local tourists home from visiting seasonal cherry blossoms careered off a highway Monday night leaving 32 dead, in the island's worst road accident in decades.

Trump And Buhari In 'Cordial' Conversation

Mr Trump told Mr Buhari to "keep up the good work". Reuters

The phone call between Donald Trump and Muhammadu Buhari has taken place, the Nigerian government says.

Nigeria's Boko Haram 'Forces Girls To Blow Themselves Up'

Dr Fatima Akilu

Dr Fatima Akilu is the director of the Neem Foundation and formerly head of the Nigerian government's Countering Violent Extremism Programme.

Brutal Domestic Violence Shocks Mozambique

Gruesome crimes of violence at home over the past week have shocked Mozambicans.

Kenya Jails Union Reps Over Doctors Strike

Kenyan doctors are calling for better pay and working conditions. Reuters

A Kenyan court has jailed seven union officials for a month over a doctors’ strike that has crippled public hospitals for 10 weeks.

487 Federal Agencies To Guzzle ₦2 Trillion — Daily Trust Investigation

Steven Oronsaye-Led Presidential Committee in 2011 recommended the merger of agencies and commissions with overlapping roles.

Hundreds of federal agencies, many of them with duplicated roles, will consume nearly two trillion naira in running their bureaucracies this year.

Why Nigerian Airlines Are Failing — Operators

Arik Airline

The Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, on Sunday attributed the poor ‎performance of domestic airlines to multiple taxation by various agencies in the aviation sector.

FOR THE RECORD: Western Nations Can’t Solve Nigeria’s Problems — Oyedepo, Ambali, VCs

The Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo; the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali; the Vice-Chancellor of Summit University, Offa, Kwara State, Prof Hussein Oloyede; and the National President, Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association, Mr. Abdulwaheed Odeyinka, on Sunday said the nation’s problems could not be solved by Western nations.

FOR THE RECORD: ECOWAS Parliament’s Decision Now Binding On Sub-region — Speaker

ECOWAS Parliament Complex

Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Moustapha Cisse Lo, has said the views of the parliament was now binding, compulsory and will be taken into consideration by the sub-region.

Algeria Buckles Up For Homegrown Auto Drive

Facing up to a sharp drop in oil prices, its main revenue source, Algeria has launched a "new economic model" to reduce reliance on crude by developing its domestic car industry

Once one of Africa's biggest car buyers, Algeria is embarking on an ambitious programme aimed at replacing hundreds of thousands of foreign imports with domestically produced models to keep drivers on the road.

National Reserves 8,000 Tonnes Can’t Solve Food Crisis — Officials

Igbariam Grain Storage Silo facility, Anambra State. The Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO recommends that every country should have reserves of 20kg per person for 3 months at any point in time.

The quantity of food items stored in the 23 national reserves across the country are extremely low and cannot effectively address the rising prices of food in Nigeria, various officials at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and operators in the sector have said.

Rivers Toxic Emission: Govt. Seals Off Chinese Company, Two Others

Rivers State Toxic Smog (Twitter photo)

The Rivers State government on Saturday announced the sealing off of Chinese Govt Company, CGC, in Aluu, over “aggravated air pollution, and breach of environmental laws” in the state.