Business News
Dangote discloses N25 billion loss to Apapa road network
Aliko Dangote has lamented the loss his company recorded as a result of the bad state of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has disclosed that his company lost N25billion to the poor state of Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
While speaking during the road inspection in the company of Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Dangote who has secured the Federal Government’s nod to reconstruct the road for N72.9 billion, stated that the state of road network was responsible for the Apapa ports congestion.
According to him, the congestion, which was caused by the gridlock in the area, made the company recorded the loss between 2017 and 2019, The Nation reported.
“This road will actually open up the economy. It will bring a lot of jobs and a lot of factories that have moved out will be able to move back.
“What I can also assure you is that this road will be finished before the end of next year.”
Meanwhile, as reported by Nairametrics, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, one of the subsidiaries of Dangote Industries Limited, had moved some of its operations away from Apapa to Oregun and Port Harcourt.
While disclosing the development, the company’s Managing Director, Paul Farrer, said the decision to move its operations was in response to the lingering gridlock in Apapa.
Farrer said the Apapa gridlock was one of the key risks to the company’s business last year. He added that the Apapa gridlock affected the movement of raw materials to Oregun, timely delivery of finished goods to customers, and increased turn-around time of the company’s trucks.
The Apapa gridlock controversy: Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, located to the west of Lagos Island. It has a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Complex (LPC).
Apapa has ports and terminals for various commodities such as containers and bulk cargo, houses, offices and a small old disused railway station (Apapa North).
It also houses companies such as BUA Group, as well as the commercial offices of many shipping, clearing, and transportation companies.
Business
Twitter to establish its first African presence in Ghana
Twitter has announced Ghana as headquarter of its operations in Africa.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter Inc has announced today in a tweet that the company is establishing a presence in Africa.
“Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you, Ghana and Nana Akufo-Addo,” Dorsey tweeted.
As part of its mission to serve the public conversation, Twitter is making it easier for everyone to join in and provide more relevant experiences for people across the world.
Why Ghana as a choice…
Twitter stated that it chose to expand to Ghana first because the country is an advocate of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet.
In a blog post the company said, “In line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana. To truly serve the public conversation, we must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent.”
“Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host The Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.
“Whenever we enter new markets, we work hard to ensure that we are not just investing in the talent that we hire, but also investing in local communities and the social fabric that supports them. We have already laid foundations through partnerships with Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Afrochella in Ghana, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) in Nigeria, and The HackLab Foundation in Ghana. As part of our long-term commitment to the region, we’ll continue to explore compelling ways we can use the positive power of Twitter to strengthen our communities through employee engagement, platform activation, and corporate giving,” Twitter stated.
The company is also looking to hire specialists to join several teams to operate in product, design, engineering, marketing and communications.
The choice of Ghana as HQ for Twitter’s Africa operations is EXCELLENT news. Gov’t and Ghanaians welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country. 1/3 #TwitterInGhana #TwitterGhana https://t.co/HdCqFgXK0x
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) April 12, 2021
Reacting to Dorsey’s announcement, Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, in a tweet said that the government and people of Ghana welcome welcomed the micro-blogging site.
“The choice of Ghana as HQ for Twitter’s Africa operations is excellent news. Government and Ghanaians welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country,” President Akufo-Addo tweeted.
Business
Youths need critical skills to strengthen Nigerian economy – Bankers Committee’s FITC
Nigerian youths need to embrace adequate skills and create a pool of well-engaged workforce to directly strengthen the nation’s economy.
Bankers Committee’s FITC has called on Nigerian youths to embrace adequate skills and create a pool of well-engaged workforce to directly strengthen the nation’s economy.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director, FITC, Chizor Malize, during the launch of its Future of Work Academy for Youths on Monday.
According to her, the initiative is to continuously bridge the knowledge gap in the country and Africa at large, as it is expected to equip the youths for the peculiar needs of the Future of Work.
It also seeks to solve the prevalent issue of producing university graduates with degrees and skills that have limited practical use in the current global job market, as well as the requirements for the Future of Work.
She said, “The world of work is changing rapidly, and competition for the right talent is fierce. Graduate talents have for decades been primarily identified and employed based on academic excellence, however, in the emerging world of work, creativity, innovation, and work-ready skills have become the non-negotiable indicators for competitive advantage, and to evaluate capabilities.
“It is therefore important for youths to build critical skills, that will equip them for the requirements of the Future of Work in the ever-evolving business landscape. The value FITC FOWA is bringing to corporations at this time cannot be overemphasized. By equipping youths and creating a pool of well-engaged workforce for organizations, FITC FOWA will be directly strengthening the economy and the society in general.”
Malize added that the initiative offers essential courses in Data Science, Data Analytics, Coding, Digital Marketing, Graphics Designs, MS Excel & Analytics, Digital Marketing, Use of PowerPoint, and other key areas that have been strategically packaged to educate, enlighten, and upskill undergraduates and graduates with the vital skills for the Future of Work.
What you should know
Owned by the Bankers Committee (CBN, NDIC and all Nigerian deposit money banks), FITC was established in 1981 as a non-profit organisation limited by guarantee to provide capacity building and serve as a knowledge hub for the Nigerian Financial Services Sector.
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