Paga Group has redomiciled from Mauritius to the United Kingdom (UK). The group is the holding company for its operations in Nigeria, México, Ethiopia, and the UK.

This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer and founder, Paga, Tayo Oviosu on Friday.

The Paga Group has redomiciled to the UK 🇬🇧!

The Paga Group is the holding company for our operations in all countries – Nigeria, México, Ethiopia, and the United Kingdom.

Very excited about this move and look forward to working with @tradegovuk to promote trade with the UK!

— Tayo Oviosu (@oviosu) September 25, 2020

Why it matters: The company took the decision due to bureaucratic challenges it faced last year.

He said, “The laws and courts of Mauritius are not very fast-moving, and the rules are difficult. I’ve had one court case that was eventually thrown out after a year.

“In the UK it would have been thrown out immediately, and the person would have had to pay us for our lawyer fees.

“Basically, not an easy place to do business. It is more painful than useful. I say stick to good ol’ America or UK or Netherlands or Luxemburg. Where you know there are professionals, and the legal system works.”

Oviosu said he is very excited about the move, looks forward to working with the UK government to promote trade with the UK.

The Paga Group has raised $34.7 million in funding so far, according to Crunchbase.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced the appointment of Mrs Sola David-Borha to its board as a Non-Executive Director, subject to the receipt of all required regulatory approvals.

In a statement issued by the company, signed by the company’s secretary Mr. Chidi Okezie and sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, stated that “Mrs. David- Borha is currently the Chief Executive, Standard Bank (Africa Regions). Prior to that, she served as Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC (2012-2017) as well as the Bank (2011-2012), after holding various executive positions in Corporate Banking; Corporate & Investment Banking; and Investment Banking Coverage for Africa (excluding South Africa). She is also an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of CocaCola Hellenic Bottling Company.”

She has a vast experience in the financial world and an astute board leader with a keen corporate governance. Sola has led and sat on various boards including being the former Vice Chairman for the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, subsidiaries of the Stanbic IBTC and Standard Bank Groups, Coca-Cola HBG A, and many others. She is also vastly educated having obtained MBA from the prestigious Manchester Business School and Bsc in Economics from the University of Ibadan. She is also an honorary fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Recall that Stanbic IBTC had earlier declared a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N45.2 billion for H1, 2020. Its gross earnings also increased by 7.8% to N126.57 billion with a basic earnings per share of 419 kobo and a proposed interim dividend payment of 40 kobo per share.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the plans by China to start administering experimental coronavirus vaccines to people while clinical trials are still underway.

This disclosure was made by a Chinese Health Commission official, Zheng Zhongwei, during a news conference on Friday, September 25, 2020.

Zheng recalled that China launched its emergency programme in July, having communicated with the WHO in late June. Hundreds of thousands essential workers and other limited groups of people considered at high risk of infection have been given the vaccine, even though its efficacy and safety had not been fully established as Phase 3 clinical trials have not yet been completed.

Zheng at the news conference said, “At End-June, China’s State Council approved a plan of COVID-19 vaccine emergency use program. After the approval, on June 29, we made a communication with the relevant representatives of the WHO Office in China, and obtained support and understanding from WHO.’’

Nairametrics had reported that Chinese Pharmaceutical firms have been quite aggressive about the development of a Covid-19 vaccine with the likes of Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm publicly displaying their vaccine candidate for the first time at a trade fair in Beijing earlier this month.

(READ MORE: COVID-19: European regulator ready to approve first successful vaccine this year)

It was pointed out that China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and the US-listed Sinovac Biotech SVA.O, are developing the three vaccines under the state’s emergency use program just as a fourth COVID-19 vaccine is being developed by CanSino Biologics 6185 HK, was approved for use by the Chinese military in June.

The WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, while describing it as a temporary solution, said earlier this month in Geneva that national regulatory authorities could approve use of medical products within their own jurisdictions in the current emergency situation.

He emphasized that the long-term solution in the successful development of a Covid-19 vaccine, lay in completion of Phase 3 trials, this is as China has not publicly released full details of its emergency use programme.

Zheng disclosed that China’s annual production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to reach 610 million doses by end-2020 and 1 billion doses by 2021. He said that the price of the vaccine will be affordable for the general public.