Tag: The Gambia

LAWMA’s Head of Procurement Excels at Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Awards 2023

The Director of Procurement at Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mrs. Bolanle Riskat Adeniran stood in the
spotlight at the 5th Africa Procurement and Supply Chain Awards 2023. The event took place at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, celebrating the best in procurement across Africa.

Mrs. Adeniran, since assuming office as the head of the Procurement Department, has worked assiduously to ensure that LAWMA aligns with outlined procurement principles in the state, with the overall aim of achieving the mandate of making Lagos cleaner and livable for all.

Adeniran’s recognition serves as a shining example of dedication, expertise and professionalism in procurement, as her accomplishment not only boosts LAWMA’s reputation but also sets a benchmark for procurement professionals all over Africa.

She expressed appreciation to the organisers of the event for the recognition, as “a professional with exemplary performance in
procurement”, with the commitment to keep discharging her duties, to ensure the Authority achieve its procurement goals.

One of the highlights of the event was Lagos State’s win as the Best State in Procurement Compliance, underscoring the state’s commitment to transparent and responsible procurement practices.

Mr. Fatai Idowu Onafowote, the Director-General of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, also secured a top honor as he was named Public Sector Procurement Personality of the Year.

Mr. Emem James Kanico, National President of the Association of Public Procurement Professionals of Nigeria (APPON) spoke on the theme of the event, “Celebrating the Achievements of Africa’s Supply Chain and Procurement Sector”, stressing the importance of proper procurement practices for good governance and urged governments at all levels to support transparent and effective public procurement.

The event gathered professionals from different parts of Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, the Gambia, and Tanzania, all celebrating
excellence in procurement and supply chain management.

August 8, 2023
2023 West Africa Economic Outlook: region’s economic growth falls but medium-term forecast suggests return to level above 4%

…report notes that adapting to climate change and the depletion of the region’s natural resources present an opening for businesses

West Africa experienced slower economic growth over the past year except for Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, and Niger, according to the African Development Bank’s 2023 West Africa Economic Outlook report.

Launched on Thursday 27 July, the report assessed the economic performance of 15 West African countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Titled Mobilising Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in West Africa, the report provides key economic trends in 2022 as well as medium-term (2023-2024) economic forecasts for the region. It also evaluates strategies to accelerate the mobilisation of private sector financing for climate and green growth in West Africa.

The report notes that West Africa’s average gross domestic product decelerated to 3.8% in 2022 from 4.4% in 2021, implying that the growth recovery from the 2020 downturn had slowed.

The report attributes decelerating growth to, among other factors, such successive shocks as the resurgence of Covid-19 in China, a major trade partner for the region’s countries. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also spurred inflationary pressures on the cost of food, fuel and fertiliser in many West Africa region countries.

The report further reveals that advanced economies have also tightened monetary policy, which has heightened aversion to risk globally and increased exchange rate pressures.

Still, it notes, the region’s GDP growth outlook is positive, and projected to pick up slightly, hitting 3.9% in 2023 and 4.2% in 2024.

Transition to green growth will require greater resources

The 2023 West Africa Economic Outlook report notes that adapting to climate change and the depletion of the region’s natural resources present an opening for businesses and governments to embrace sustainable and green growth.

According to the report, “West Africa has enormous potential to achieve green growth, green industrialisation being the most obvious pathway. The rationale for green growth across the region is quite comprehensive: climate change impacts and risks, natural capital depletion, poverty, and food insecurity, as well as limited employment creation and many capital-intensive enclaves.”

Speaking during the launch, African Development Bank Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, Professor Kevin Urama, said multiple challenges had led to rising interest rates and were compounding debt service payments to African countries.

He explained that these included climate change, inflation driven by higher prices of energy, commodities, and disruption of supply chains, as well as the tightening of monetary policy in the United States and Europe.

Urama added that greater effort will be needed in Africa to mobilise domestic resources and private sector financing to help countries achieve climate and green growth transitions.

“Africa is being short-changed [in] climate financing. The continent will need between $235 billion and $250 billion annually through 2030 to meet investments under its nationally determined contributions. Yet, Africa received only about $29.5 billion in climate financing between 2019 and 2020,” Professor Urama said.

Private sector financing to support climate adaptation and mitigation in Africa is estimated at just $4.2 billion from 2019-2020, the lowest of any region of the world.

Africa’s private-sector climate financing gap is estimated to reach $213.4 billion annually between 2020 and 2030.

Quoting from the report, Urama said: “Africa can accelerate its green development transitions by optimising its natural capital, estimated at about $6.2 trillion in 2018.”

He noted that the continent, however, was not getting the best out of its natural resources because of poor valuation, degradation, illicit capital flows and losses from royalties and taxes.

Also speaking at the report launch, African Development Bank lead economist, Guy Blaise Nkamleu, said four of the region’s fifteen countries— Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Liberia, and Niger— were ranked among the ten most vulnerable countries to climate change and environmental hazards worldwide.

“To boost private sector financing for climate change and green growth, innovative instruments and mechanisms need to be deployed by West African governments to attract private sector financing,” Nkamleu said.

The entire report can be downloaded here(https://apo-opa.info/3Qlu6yU)

August 1, 2023
West African Monetary Institute to receive $8 million from African Development Fund to support enhanced banking identification and financial sector efficiency

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved $8 million in funding toward the establishment of a digitally interoperable unique bank identification system and harmonised customer identification framework for The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Implementation of the project will commence in July 2023, led by the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), working with central banks of the participating countries and in close collaboration with banking and non-banking financial service providers.

The project is expected to enhance financial sector efficiency within the participating countries, leading to increased access to finance and further regional integration efforts. Approval of funding from the Bank’s concessional lending window was made on 29^th March.

The new bank identification system will link banking accounts of individuals across different financial service providers.

Over 53 financial service providers across the participating countries will be included in the project. This will allow them to verify their clients’ identities on an on-going basis (Know-Your-Customer or KYC), combat fraud, discourage loan defaulting and strengthen correspondent banking relationships. On the part of customers, KYC-compliant finance sectors will bolster trust and confidence and ultimately, encourage access and usage of financial solutions.

Dr. Olorunsola E. Olowofeso, WAMI Director General, said: “The Unique Bank Identification (UBI) and Digital Interoperability project was borne from the success of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The BVN, an 11-digit unique identity for each individual across the Nigerian Banking industry, is tied to all bank accounts and has resulted in a drastic reduction in electronic banking fraud, non-performing loans and elimination of ghost names from the civil service payroll.“

Olowofeso further noted that the Unique Bank Identification will leverage existing national identification systems and help to strengthen financial integration in the West African Monetary Zone.

African Development Bank Director for the Financial Sector Development Department, Ahmed Attout, welcomed the Board approval, noting that it attested to the strong partnership between the Bank and WAMI. “Irrefutable and secure identification is fundamental to building financial consumer access and trust and overall development of the financial sector,” he observed.

April 8, 2023
Nigeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti others to attend the 2nd General Assembly of Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) in Riyadh

The 13 member states of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) are Nigeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, The Gambia, Ghana, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Oman, Rwanda, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia; alongside the private sector, academia, and NGO Observer Members will be attending the 2nd General Assembly of the organization scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the 5^th of February 2023.

It is expected that DCO Member States will discuss strategic directions and initiatives to enable digital prosperity for all nations. Ministers representing the 13 DCO member states, along with high-level delegations from DCO observers, as well as representatives from guest countries and international organizations will convene for the General Assembly, to discuss the state of the digital economy and the challenges facing all nations in achieving equitable global digital growth and development.

The 2nd Assembly will be the first-ever in-person meeting of the DCO Member States, marking two years of progress for the international organization founded to help achieve social prosperity and growth by unifying efforts to advance and promote interest in the digital economy.

The monumental event at the Fairmont Hotel in Riyadh will also reflect the qualitative leaps made by the member states in its shift toward a tech-powered economy.

Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the DCO said: “Digital technologies have immense potential to transform economies and empower groups including women and entrepreneurs with new opportunities, especially that 70% of the new value created in the global economy over the next decade will be based on digitally enabled platforms, so it is of critical importance that all nations have the same ability to leverage the power of digitalization to achieve their goals. The DCO was formed to accelerate digital transformation through collaboration and knowledge sharing among all stakeholders to empower nations to develop strategies and programs to drive their own digital development and equally participate in the global digital economy.”

“I am very pleased that the Ministers from DCO Member States will convene in Riyadh, the headquarters of the DCO, for the 2^nd General Assembly to mark two years of progress towards the DCO’s goals, and to continue the discussions on how we can achieve digital prosperity for all in collaboration with our international observers from the ecosystem stakeholders representing the private sector, academia, think tanks and civil society organizations,” AlYahya added.

Focused on empowering youth, women, and entrepreneurs, leveraging the accelerative power of the digital economy and leapfrogging with innovation. The DCO is a global multilateral organization founded in November 2020 that aims to enable digital prosperity for all by accelerating the inclusive growth of the digital economy.

February 3, 2023
2022 Africa Visa Openness Index Shows Improvement in Visa Policies Across Continent
Despite Covid-19 lockdowns and travel disruptions, 93% of African countries have maintained or improved their score relative to 2021; Two-thirds of African countries have adopted more liberal visa policies compared to six years ago

The 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) report shows African countries making progress in their freedom of travel policies, most of which had been severely curtailed by the Covid-19 crisis.

The annual publication, prepared by the African Development Bank Group in collaboration with the African Union Commission, is now in its 7^th edition and was launched on Sunday on the sidelines of the 2022 African Economic Conference in Mauritius.

The report tracks visa policies adopted by African governments on three main criteria: whether entry to citizens from other African countries is visa-free, if a visa on arrival can be obtained, and whether travellers are required to obtain visas ahead of traveling to other African countries.

This year’s report underlines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years (2020 and 2021) during which most countries restricted movement, both domestically and for international travel. Restrictions on international travel ranged from closing entire borders to quarantines, screening measures, and bans on visitors from countries deemed “high risk.”

Domestic restrictions included a gamut of measures such as prohibitions on travelling between provinces, bans on non-essential movement, curfews, and rules that limited gatherings.

The 2022 report reflects on renewed signs of progress: 10 countries have improved their visa openness score over the past year, and visa openness on the continent now exceeds that recorded during the year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and is in line with the peak score achieved in 2020.

Progressive visa policies that increase visa-free entry or to visa on arrival policies, will ensure that this positive trend continues. The use of technology and greater adoption of e-Visa systems will help fast-track the ease at which travellers can cross borders.

Highlights of the 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index:

African travel has become more open to African citizens in 2022, with fewer restrictions overall. There is now an even split between travel that is visa free, and travel where a visa may be obtained on arrival at the destination country.
- Three countries—Benin, The Gambia and the Seychelles—offer visa-free entry to Africans of all other countries. In 2016 and 2017, only one country did so.
- 24 African countries offer an eVisa—5 more than five years ago.
- 36 countries have improved or maintained their Visa Openness Index score since 2016.
- 50 countries have maintained or improved their Visa Openness Index score relative to 2021, usually after removing some of the visa policy restrictions implemented during the pandemic.
- 48 countries out of 54—the vast majority of African countries—now offer visa-free travel to the nationals of at least one other African country.
- 42 countries offer visa-free travel to the nationals of at least 5 other African countries.
Interestingly, lower-income countries account for a large share of the countries that make up the top-20 ranked countries in 2022 with liberal visa policies: 45% of countries in the top-20 on the index are classified as low-income countries, while a further 45% of countries are classified as lower middle-income.

EVisas allow prospective travelers to apply for a visa from the comfort of their home or workplace ahead of travel, streamline the application process reduce time at borders, provide a greater measure of certainty ahead of travel, reduce the need to submit a passport for processing to consular offices, and make travel safer and more secure.

African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, Dr. Monique Nsazabaganwa, said: “This edition links free movement to the development of regional value chains, investments, trade in services and the AfCFTA. There is greater recognition that human mobility is key to Africa’s integration efforts.”

African Development Bank Group Acting Vice President in charge of Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, remarked: “The Africa Visa Openness Index has been tracking visa openness as a measure of the freedom of movement since 2016. This year’s edition—the seventh—shows many African countries having greatly simplified their visa regime over the past year.”

The 2022 edition of the Report showcases three countries that have made the most progress in their visa openness, namely Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Ethiopia in particular has risen several places on the index to retain her position in the continent’s top 20 performers after removing the temporary measures instituted in 2021.

In an innovation, the report provides an analysis of free movement of persons at regional economic community level in Africa. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community are the most open communities, with ECOWAS hosting eight of the top ten countries.

Commenting on the report, African Development Bank Group Acting Director in charge of the Regional Integration Coordination Office, Jean-Guy Afrika, said: “The Africa Visa Openness Index has tracked the evolution of visa regimes on the African continent from before the pandemic to today. As the 2022 report shows, African countries are dismantling many of the measures imposed during the pandemic. Indeed, on the whole, the continent has returned to a level of visa openness last seen just before the pandemic began.”

Some key statistics:
- For 27% of intra-Africa* travel, African citizens do not need a visa, up from 25% in 202.
- For 27% of intra-Africa* travel, African citizens can obtain a visa on arrival, up from 24% in 2021.
- For 47% of intra-Africa* travel, African citizens are still required to obtain a visa before travelling, an improvement of the 51% in 2021.
*Intra-Africa travel refers to travel by African citizens between African countries.
December 12, 2022
Danbatta Pledges Support to New WATRA Leadership

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has promised the new leadership of the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) of the unflinching support of the Commission towards advancing the socio-economic agenda of the Assembly for the sub-region.

Danbatta gave the pledge during a recent courtesy visit of the new executives of WATRA, led by its new Chairman, Sekou Oumar Barry of the Republic of Guinea. Barry came to vist Danbatta in company of the first and second Vice Chairmen of the Assembly, representing Mali and Sierra Leone respectively; as well as the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Aliyu Aboki, among others.

“In my capacity as the immediate past Chairman of WATRA, I promise my commitment to always share ideas with the new leadership of WATRA towards consolidating the successes so far recorded by WATRA under my leadership. I will give advice that will make you succeed as a friend and not the one that will undermine your authority,” Danbatta said, while welcoming the WATRA team in his office.

Speaking further, the EVC urged the new WATRA chairman to ensure diligent implementation of the new Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2022-2024 developed for WATRA. The EVC also emphasized that the strategic vision plan is expected to guide the activities of the Assembly over the next years.

According to Danbatta, the past one year of his tenure as former chair of WATRA has been eventful with a lot measures put in place towards deploying the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for advancing socio-economic development of the sub-region.

Danbatta acknowledged the important role WATRA has been playing in creating policy, legal and regulatory frameworks in the sub-region since the mid-1990s and commended the synergy among member states that has resulted in significant growth to the ICT ecosystem.

“I would like to congratulate my dear brother, Sekou Oumar Barry, on your emergence as the new WATRA chairman and to express, in very clear terms, our commitment as NCC and in my capacity as immediate past Chairman of WATRA to support your leadership to succeed in consolidating on existing achievements of the Assembly towards taking WATRA to a greater height,” he said.

Reinforcing his delight, Danbatta said, “This is an action in the right direction because we cannot deny the fact that successes are needed and financial and human resources are crucial to achieving success in any organization and WATRA with 16 member countries is not different. The expectation of our citizens is very high, especially in the area of ICT and we must strive to meet and surpass their yearnings.”

He further tasked the new WATRA executives to roll their sleeves and deepen the work they had started towards achieving the mandate, vision and mission of the Assembly. “If we work together as a team, I believe we would make a lot of difference in a manner that will result in the socio-economic transformation of our sub-region in order to improve the standard of living of our people as we have seen this done successfully in many countries. So, we can repeat the same feat here in Africa,” he said.

In his response, Barry, who thanked Danbatta for making giant strides during his one-year tenure as Chairman of WATRA, assured of his readiness to work closely with member states and the EVC for valuable advice and guidance to collectively take WATRA to the next level over the next one year.

He pointed out that his leadership will focus on four key areas of priorities. These, according to him, include ensuring that the SMP is finalized and fully becomes operational, ensuring that member fees contribution is revised upward so that WATRA will have adequate resources to run its operation, build its permanent structure, and ensuring that the regional roaming policy for the sub-region becomes a reality.

“We want to ensure that the plan you started is not going to stop. We understand that the time left for us is short. We know we cannot do everything and that is why we are going to be focusing on the four key priorities areas as itemized above so that at the end of the tenure we can say we have succeeded on those priorities,” Barry said.

Danbatta handed over to Barry as the new WATRA Chairman during the 19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Assembly which took place from March 29-31, 2022, in Conakry, Republic of Guinea. The Assembly currently has 16 members states including Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Ghana and Liberia.

WATRA, among other objectives, serves as a platform through which telecommunications regulators work together to broaden access to ICT services in the sub region. It also promotes the adoption of best global practices that stimulate investment in telecommunications infrastructure and services, deliver cheaper services to more citizens and connects people, societies and economies across West Africa and beyond.

June 7, 2022
NCC Boss hands over WATRA Chairmanship to the Republic of Guinea

…Tasks member states on increased collaboration

Having successfully piloted the affairs of the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) as Chairman in the last one year, Nigeria has handed over the mantle of leadership of the Assembly to the Republic of Guinea.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who served Nigeria’s tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s national telecommunications regulatory authority, handed over to the newly elected Chairman of the Assembly, Sekou Oumar Barry, of the Republic of Guinea.

The handover ceremony was one of the major highlights of the recently-concluded 19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of WATRA which took place in Conakry, Republic of Guinea. The AGM equally approved WATRA’s new Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2022-2024.

Barry, the new chairman, who will preside over the affairs of the Executive Council of WATRA for the next one year, is the Director-General of the Telecommunication and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARPT) of the Republic of Guinea. The Assembly also elected the representatives of Mali and Sierra-Leone as 1st and 2nd Vice Chairmen respectively.

In his address at the event, Danbatta acknowledged the important role WATRA has been playing in creating policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the sub-region since the mid-1990s and commended the synergy among member states, which he noted has continued to provide an economic defense for member countries against global shocks, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Nigeria, Danbatta said ICT currently contributes 17 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with ambitious target of 20 percent contribution over the next three years, stating that if one big regional market in which ICT policies and regulations are aligned is created, WATRA members can drive ICT investment and growth faster in their respective countries and collectively in the sub-region.

Danbatta recalled that he had worked closely with the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Aliu Aboki, and his team in the last 12 months to achieve a lot in the re-organisation of WATRA’s internal governance and processes to make them more efficient and transparent. The EVC, thus, thanked the Executive Secretary and his team for the energy with which they had pursued the re-positioning task just as he commended the Executive Committee for the clarity of purpose with which they have spelt out these priorities.

Danbatta said some of his achievements as WATRA Chairman, include the delivery of a draft four-year strategic plan in line with 18th AGM resolution, partial payment of long-outstanding membership dues by some member states after long periods of inactivity, deployment of the new WATRA automated Asset Management System, successful organization of various high-quality capacity building programs for members, optimization of WATRA accounting, finance, and budgeting process, as well as the institution of procedures for improved accountability, marked by the weekly financial dashboard.

The achievements recorded under Danbatta’s one-year chairmanship also include the deployment of an automatic external phone answer and routing system, completion of front-end and back-end development of the redesigned WATRA website, a joint development by WATRA, the Coordination Team, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission of a new organizational framework for roaming regulation implementation, reactivation of Niger participation in ECOWAS roaming regulation implementation through WATRA-ECOWAS Commission collaboration.

Others achievements of WATRA under Danbatta’s leadership include the re-translation of WATRA constitution drafted and under review by Executive Committee, renewed engagements with ECOWAS on World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) 2023 collaboration, joint conduct of the 2nd WRC2023 prep meeting, successful organisation of 2-day technical physical meeting in Abuja on fraud and roaming tariffs for ECOWAS regional roaming in collaboration with ECOWAS Commission, kick-off of Digital Transformation of WATRA Operations and WATRA Operating Model review service being part of a $300,000 grant from the Nigerian government through NCC, Nigeria.

While congratulating Barry, as the new WATRA Chairman, Danbatta expressed the conviction that the new leadership will build on the modest achievements of the last one year. “When members see the unique role that WATRA plays in easing the task of national regulators to adopt or fine-tune regulations through mutual learning and capacity building, they see more reason to engage and be active within WATRA. So, if we build on the modest achievements of the Assembly, the benefits will be with the region for decades,” he said.

He also stated that both at home or in the diaspora, West Africa has the talent to study the most efficient ICT regulations in the world and adapt them for the region’s purposes so that it can attract greater investment into the regions and transform the economy of member states. “What we have to do is to continue the work of building WATRA into a platform that seamlessly deploys these talents and capacity to the 16 member states. The gains to us are enormous,” Danbatta stated with patent conviction.

The EVC further assured his colleagues in WATRA of his commitment to supporting the new leadership in all ways possible. “As I hand over to the incoming Chairman, please be assured of my continued support and that of the Nigerian Communications Commission and, indeed, the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to WATRA,” Danbatta said.

In his acceptance speech, Barry, who thanked Danbatta for making giant strides in the last 12 months, promised to work with the Executive Committee team and the Management Team to consolidate the achievements of the Assembly, and to ensure greater success of the Assembly for the future.

The 19th AGM was attended by the following 14 of the 16 WATRA member states: Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic. Ghana and Liberia were absent at the meeting.

April 6, 2022
2021 Verdant Zeal ‘Innovention’ Series sets Circular Economy on the Front Burner

The 9^th edition of the Verdant Zeal ‘Innovention’ Series is set to enlighten, address and proffer solutions to how circular economy can be achieved in Nigeria through innovation.

An initiative of one of the nation’s leading Marketing Communications Group, the ‘Innovention Series’ is a platform designed to bring both public and private interest owners together to deliberate on issues affecting the nation’s economics and development with a view to charting agendas towards moving it forward.

Scheduled for 2^nd of November, 2021 with the theme, “Brand, Innovation and Circular Economy”, this year’s event which is designed to hold virtually plans to bring both local and international focus on the current global discus on circular economy.

Speaking about the event, the convener and Executive Vice-Chairman, Verdant Zeal Group, Dr. Tunji Olugbodi, noted that, “As a multi-disciplinary marketing and communications Organisation, one key element we have always leveraged and traded is the strategic importance of ideas and how it pushes the frontiers of creativity and innovation.”

“Innovention is all about ideas ruling the world, which is why we have built the Innovention Series on five pillars; Development Accelerators, Youth Empowerment, Technology for Growth, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership. And we aim to affect a lot of lives with this benchmark”, he added.

Unveiling the speakers for this year’s event, Olugbodi stated that “This year’s event will have a touch of difference as various speakers from across the world will be speaking on the theme and encouraging others to imbibe the Circularity in every aspect of existence”.

Some of the invited speakers are Soren Bouer, President, Revolve Circular; Fela Akinse, Founder, Salubata; Joanna Bingham, Chief Executive Officer, Footprints Africa, and Oluwaseun Fasuhanmi, Head, Sustainability, Mottainai Africa amongst others.

The theme will focus on how to fuse innovation and integration between natural ecosystems, businesses, our daily lives, waste management technology, entrepreneurship, and development in Africa. The discuss will attempt to provide practical ways of harnessing the power of African sustainability and circular economy to generate revenue streams from across the world.

Invited dignitaries and patrons for the event will be drawn from corporate and social Nigeria to stimulate the pragmatic conversation. Other participants for the series are CEOs, Business Leads, Functional Directors, and Senior Managers across Marketing, Media, Creative Arts, and Communication whose functions require the making and implementation of business development decisions that influence business growth and profitability in the immediate and long term.

Instituted in 2012 by Verdant Zeal, the Innovention Series is a Corporate Social Responsibility Event Series that examines the development of Africa, discusses the Nigerian project as well as pinpoints opportunities for development and growth within the continent. Patrons from both the public and private sectors have found it a strong route to engage in stimulating but pragmatic conversations and discourse that challenge that status quo.

Verdant Zeal Marketing Communications Group, a multidisciplinary business solutions provider in Nigeria, Ghana, and The Gambia, and with specializations in Branding, Consultancy, PR Management, Media Consulting, Digital Marketing, and Events Activation, has been in operation for over a decade.

For registration, click on the link below- bit.ly/Vzinnovention9

October 25, 2021
FirstBank ranked Second Most Admired Financial Services Brand in Africa

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider, has been ranked the second ‘most admired financial services brand’ in Africa – for the second straight year – at the 2021 Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands Event, held on Africa day, 25th May 2021.

Brand Africa is an intergenerational movement to inspire a great Africa through promoting a positive image of Africa, celebrating its diversity and driving its competitiveness. It is a brand-led movement which recognizes that in the 21st century, brands are an asset and a vector of image, reputation and competitiveness of nations.

With over 127 years of being woven into the fabric of society, FirstBank has been at the forefront of promoting growth and development in the country, extending its financial services footprints – through its subsidiaries – to over half a dozen countries across 3 continents. The Bank’s international business presence includes FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.

Through the years, the Bank’s leading digital banking services and innovative products like FirstMobile, USSD, Firstmonie Agent amongst many others, have been essential to promoting cashless transactions in today’s digital age. FirstBank’s digital savviness extends to the social media platforms where it has been ranked by Financial Brand as the number one on Instagram in Nigeria and second globally based on the highest number of fan base/followers and it’s clearly poised to reclaim number 1 position across all parameters

Appreciating the recognition on behalf of the Bank, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, said, “we are grateful to Brand Africa for the back-to-back recognition as the ‘Second Most Admired Financial Services Brand in Africa’. This is a testament to the impactful role we are playing in promoting socio-economic development in Africa, which includes being at the forefront of bridging the financial inclusion gap as well as our commitment to supporting Small and Medium Enterprises because of the critical role they play in economic growth and development”. He further noted that FirstBank has created a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive through various value adding solutions and value propositions.

Only recently, First Bank of Nigeria Limited was awarded the 2021 ‘’Retail Banking CEO of the Year Nigeria’’, ‘’Most innovative Retail Banking App Nigeria’’ and ‘’Best CSR Bank Nigeria’’ awards by Global Banking and Finance magazine.

June 3, 2021
ICT Development: Nigeria Seeks Increased Regional Collaboration among West African States

Nigerian government has called for increased regional collaboration for the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem in West Africa as a potential digital hub on the global ICT map.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made the call at the two-day 18th Annual General Meeting of the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), which commenced in Abuja on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.

Addressing WATRA representatives, Pantami said the time has come for African countries to come up with innovative ideas to fast-track the development of the ICT ecosystem in the sub-region.

He said Nigeria, as the largest ICT market in West Africa and the most populous African country, has taken policy and regulatory initiatives in making ICT/telecoms a major contributor to its economic growth.

Citing a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Minister said ICT/telecoms has become a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), far higher than what oil and gas, agriculture, construction, and other major sectors contribute to the economy.

Pantami acknowledged the role of NCC in spearheading the implementation of critical ICT policies, such as the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025 and the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria (2020-2030).

While commending the leading role of NCC, as Nigeria’s representative in WATRA, the Minister emphasised the readiness of Nigeria to continue to share ideas with other member states of WATRA and support the Assembly for the overall goal of collectively developing the ICT ecosystem in the sub-region.

Corroborating the Minister, Danbatta stressed the need for all member states to “come together and see our differences as strengths because at the end of the day, we all want to have a safe and thriving society devoid of poverty and strife.”

He said while the Nigerian government, as a member of WATRA, envisions societies with necessary infrastructure and services that will ensure prosperity for all our people, ICT is key to this vision, adding that “WATRA is the best platform to pool together our huge natural and human resources to achieve exponential ICT growth which will, in turn, drive our economies”.

Chairman, WATRA Exco, Charles Tontoma Milogo of Burkina Faso, commended the leadership role of NCC, especially in equipping the Assembly headquarters in Abuja. He added that this has ensured the smooth running of the daily operations of WATRA as the key regional ICT body.

Also, Commissioner for Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr. Zouli Bonkoungou, said through the kind of collaboration exemplified by WATRA, ECOWAS members would be able to encourage the establishment of modern legal and regulatory structures for telecommunications service delivery for driving socio-economic development in all states in the sub-region.

Meanwhile, ICT Ministers from Liberia, Cooper Kruah; Sierra Leone, Mamadi Gobeh-Kamara, The Gambia, Ebrima Sillah, among other participants at the annual conference, have commended Nigeria for its impressive ICT development. They expressed readiness to emulate Nigeria in the area of innovative policy implementation and regulations to make ICT/telecoms a major economic contributor in their respective countries.

March 12, 2021