Lagos Water Regulatory Commission holds talks with Table Water Producers

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Lagos Water Regulatory Commission holds talks with Table Water Producers

The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission, Mrs. Funke Adepoju, on Thursday held a stakeholders’ meeting with the executive members of the Association of Table Water Producers (ATWAP) in Lagos State.

Speaking at the meeting tagged: “The Way Forward”, Adepoju acknowledged the importance of water to the health of all human beings, affirming the state government’s determination to ensure that the table water producers adhere to stipulated rules and regulations.

She decried the attitude of some unscrupulous individuals who neither abide with the necessary guidelines nor show concern about the implications of non-compliance on the health of consumers in the name of making profits.

The Executive Secretary implored the ATWAP members to see the Commission as a partner in progress in achieving its mandate to ensure that all consumable water producers strictly abide by all laid down rules guiding the production of table water.

While highlighting the various steps to be taken before the establishment of a table water factory in Lagos, Adepoju implored the producers to regularly pay their dues to the State Government.

Members of the Association present at the meeting include Mr. Adeoye Yisa, Chairman; Mr. Oluwasegun King, General Secretary; Mrs. Mary Michael, Taskforce Chairman; Mr. Adefehinti Olubunmi, Chairman Ikorodu; Mr. Jide Ogunjimi, Kosofe Secretary and Mr. Vincent Eze – Amalu, ATWAP State Provost.

Stanbic IBTC: Making Meaningful Impact Through CSI

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Stanbic IBTC: Making Meaningful Impact Through CSI

It is common practice for organizations to use money, gifts, employee manhours or resources for projects that improve the lives of people in the host communities where they operate in exchange for benefits of all sorts. The Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of Standard Bank Group, however, stands out in this regard.

The year 2019 marked the fifth edition of Stanbic IBTC’s flagship CSI activity, Together4ALimb. The number of beneficiaries for 2019 alone was increased to 10, which is the highest number since the programme kicked off in 2015. Dr Demola Sogunle, Stanbic IBTC Bank’s Chief Executive explained that the number was increased in commemoration of the Stanbic IBTC Group’s 30th anniversary. Together4ALimb Walk is an initiative through which the company provides prosthetic limbs to children from underserved communities suffering from limb loss. In 2019, each beneficiary was also awarded an Educational Trust worth N1.5 million to enable them further their education with ease.

L-R: Dr. Adeyemi Omobowale, Chief Executive Officer, Reddington Hospital Group; Mrs Ruth Adekoya, mother of the beneficiary; Iyanuoluwa Adekoya, Together4ALimb 2019 beneficiary and Yinka Sanni, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC; during the presentation of EduTrust funds to beneficiaries at the 2019 edition of the Together4alimb Walk, organized by Stanbic IBTC Holdings.

The employees of Stanbic IBTC also take the lead in terms of implementing CSI projects. The staff of the various business units/ departments commit their personal funds towards executing these projects. The Stanbic IBTC Holdings Group then matches the funds provided by the staff, in line with its commitment towards ensuring that it gives back to the societies it operates in. Stanbic IBTC’s CSI is hinged on three key pillars – Health, Education and Economic Empowerment.

In its usual practice, the leading Nigerian end-to-end financial service provider invested in several CSI projects across the country. It renovated schools and health centres/hospitals and donated items such as computers, sewing machines, wheelchairs, crutches, clippers, toiletries, food items and medical equipment, among others. Some communities also got fully functional borehole projects with overhead tanks and some teachers got paid their salary for one year.

With Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, corporate social investment is not-a-nice-to-have, it is a core of its commitment towards contributing to Nigeria’s socio-economic development and to help the nation to continue moving forward.  The firm seeks to establish community-based partnerships while encouraging its employees to participate voluntarily in life-changing initiatives.

The Unappreciated Legacy Of African-American Inventors

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The Unappreciated Legacy Of African-American Inventors

History-making black scientists and inventors should be honoured as much for the lives they lived as for the things they invented.

EACH FEBRUARY, IN observance of Black History Month in the United States, we revisit the stories of notable African Americans. Lists of these prominent individuals and their contributions serve as powerful testimonials to black ingenuity. And within this impressive group, African-American scientists and inventors hold a special place.

They are a particular interest of mine, as a scholar studying the intersection of African-American history and the history of science. They also were exceptional in their time. Succeeding in science and technology in 19th- and 20th-century America despite the long odds imposed by racial oppression, black inventors represented the epitome of intellectual achievement.

By the early 19th century, James Forten of Philadelphia is believed to have invented a device that improved sailing and was running his own prosperous sailmaking business. He used his wealth to campaign for the abolition of slavery. By the early 21st century, engineer Lonnie Johnson had worked for the Air Force on the stealth bomber program and for NASA on missions to Saturn and Jupiter and had obtained dozens of patents—including one for the Super Soaker water gun. In the decades bracketed by those two inventors, scientific discoveries by black Americans have helped make this nation and its people what we are today.

These trailblazers lived complex lives in complex times. Yet in our eagerness to honour them, too often we privilege their inventions over their humanity. Imagine how much more we might gain from knowing them as fully realized individuals, not just as the sum of their inventions. The emphasis on the latter took root—with only good intentions—in an early effort to honour African Americans’ achievements, about a century ago.

The early decades of the 1900s witnessed the close of the Great War, the greed and opulence of the Roaring Twenties, and the resurgence of vigilante violence targeting African Americans. D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film The Birth of a Nation stoked racial fears in the United States, even as it was screened twice in President Woodrow Wilson’s White House. The film fueled segregation and white supremacy efforts around the country; the Ku Klux Klan terrorized African-American communities and stirred savagery in which fires were set and black citizens killed.

Faced with subjugation and brutality, African Americans needed inspirational examples, models of achievement to follow. Black leaders wanted white Americans to see inspiring figures too, to counter the pernicious stereotypes popularized by the likes of Griffith. Taking on this mission was historian Carter G. Woodson, who in 1926 established Negro History Week, the precursor to today’s Black History Month.

By reclaiming a positive role for African Americans in U.S. history, Woodson thought, perceptions of racial inferiority could be challenged. And the effort would encourage African Americans to believe that they too could be productive and valuable in a society that had yet to cede the space for their success.

In the early iterations of Black History Month, successful African Americans were intentionally reduced to their accomplishments—patents, inventions, and contributions easily digested by a wider public. George Washington Carver is one example among many.

And so it is that a figure like Carver—who was born to slaves near the close of the Civil War, developed hundreds of uses for the peanut, sweet potato, and soybean; helped reshape the South’s agrarian economy; earned international acclaim for his work, and advised the nation’s leading politicians on agricultural matters—is perhaps best known as the man who invented peanut butter. (Contrary to popular belief, peanut butter was not among his innovations.) By reducing Carver to the sum of his inventions, we discard many of the lessons his life could teach us.

Likewise, the charismatic Madam C.J. Walker was known first for her hair products, and second, for the fortune, they made her. But by the time she died in 1919, she was gaining recognition for her philanthropy and political activism as well as her products and business acumen.

There are signs that, in the 21st century, popular representations of black inventors and scientists are beginning to shift. For instance, Carver has recently been embraced not only as a black historical icon but also as an LGBTQ icon (some biographies suggest he was bisexual)—bringing to light new questions about his legacy and broadening his inspirational appeal.

In a shift of another sort, historians now report that Granville Woods, long heralded as a great African-American inventor, was in fact a native of Australia and did not consider himself to be (in the parlance of the times) “a Negro American.” His legacy raises new questions about racial and ethnic identity and who we commemorate during Black History Month.

With The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, author Rebecca Skloot has drawn long-overdue attention to the black patient whose cancerous cervical cells were essential to the biotechnology boom and ensuing developments in the biomedical sciences. Margot Lee Shetterly’s popular book turned movie, Hidden Figures, highlighted the cadre of NASA’s black women “computers” essential to the United States’ Cold War pursuit of space exploration. And a Netflix miniseries is telling Madam Walker’s life story based on a book by her great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles.

Such popular works depart from the early mythmaking projects of black history. They tell black inventors’ success stories—but in the context of their wider lives and their hardships, from interpersonal racial and gender violence to the structural violence of segregation and scientific exploitation.

There is power in human stories. Humanizing our Black History Month icons doesn’t make them any less impressive—only more relatable. Once we do, we may find new historical uses for the black inventor, and breathe new life into human beings that history left behind.

Mothers of inventions

In the early 1900s, two African-American women inventors with both science and business acumen—Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone—developed products that made them fortunes. Though their rags-to-riches stories are similar, one name is widely recognized and the other is nearly forgotten.

Both were born to formerly enslaved parents. Both got their start in St. Louis, catering to underserved consumers. Skilled in chemistry, Annie Turnbo was in her 30s when she started experimenting with hair products, which led to a hair and scalp formula gentler than other products black women had been using. Sold door-to-door, her products were a hit; she expanded production, opened a school for black cosmetology, and franchised sales in other countries. She married and became known as Annie Turnbo Malone.

Sara Breedlove, a widow who had experimented with treatments for her own hair, got a job selling Malone’s products in St. Louis and then in Colorado. Out West, she developed her own hair product to sell under the new name she took: Madam C.J. Walker. The onetime mentor and mentee became market rivals.

A 1917 New York Times Magazine article labelled Walker the wealthiest Negro woman in the city. She’s often remembered as the first U.S. black woman millionaire—even though, at her death in 1919, her estate was valued at about $600,000. Today Madam C.J. Walker products are still sold.

In 1920 Malone was worth an estimated $14 million. Tax disputes, lawsuits, and divorce settlements took their toll, and her company fell to creditors in 1951. She died six years later.

New All-Time High For BMW Group Deliveries In 2019 Confirms Position As World’s Leading Premium Car Company

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New All-Time High For BMW Group Deliveries In 2019 Confirms Position As World’s Leading Premium Car Company

The BMW Group reported its ninth consecutive record year in 2019, with a total of 2,520,307 (+1.2%) BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles delivered to customers worldwide. The BMW, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad brands also posted new all-time highs for 2019. Sales of electrified BMW and MINI vehicles also increased compared to the previous year. By the end of 2019, the BMW Group had already half a million electrified vehicles worldwide on the road. The company confirmed its position as the world’s leading premium car company for the 16th consecutive year.

“Thanks to our major model offensive, we were once again able to increase our sales in 2019 and achieve another new all-time high,” underlined Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales. “This confirms our strategic approach, the “Power of Choice”, which allows our customers to choose the optimal drive train for their preferred model. In this way, we are able to meet our customers’ individual mobility needs worldwide,” added Nota.

Optimism for 2020: Targeting continued growth

The BMW Group expects to grow sales in the year 2020 through its model offensive. “I am confident we will be able to maintain our successful course and sustain our profitable growth. We are targeting a slight sales increase overall for the BMW Group in 2020,” said Pieter Nota.

Growth for BMW X vehicles and luxury segment

The BMW brand reported a new all-time high last year, with a total of 2,168,516 (+2.0%) vehicle deliveries worldwide. The new and revised BMW X models made a significant contribution to this positive development, with sales rising 21.0% to 958,732 vehicles. Thanks to the new BMW 8 Series, the new BMW 7 Series and the all-new BMW X7, sales in the luxury segment saw a significant year-on-year increase of 66.0% (105,331 vehicles) for the full year. The BMW Group plans to double sales in the luxury class between 2018 and 2020.

Electrified models in every vehicle segment

As an e-mobility pioneer, the BMW Group has already delivered half a million electrified vehicles to customers worldwide. A total of 145,815 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold worldwide in 2019 – an increase of 2.2% over the previous year. The BMW I brand continued its positive sales trend last year with the BMW i3 and the BMW i8 (42,073 units,  +12.1%). Sales of the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4* plug-in hybrid were up 28.1% in 2019. The introduction of the new BMW 330e*, the BMW X5 xDrive45e*, the BMW X3 plug-in hybrid* and the pure-electric Mini Electric* brings the total number of electrified vehicles in the BMW Group line-up to 12.

The BMW Group plans to expand its range of electrified vehicles to 25 models by 2023 – more than half of them fully electric. A quarter of the BMW Group vehicles sold in Europe are expected to be electrified by 2021; a third by 2025 and a half by 2030.

2019 best year ever for BMW M GmbH

With sales growth of 32.2% (135,826 deliveries), 2019 was also the most successful year in the almost fifty-year history of BMW M GmbH. More emotional M high-performance models were introduced last year than ever before: In addition to the BMW X models X3 M, X4 M, X5 M and X6 M, the M2 CS* and luxury sports cars M8 Coupé, M8 Convertible and M8 Gran Coupé also made their debuts.

MINI John Cooper Works models popular with customers; strong interest in MINI ELECTRIC

Focusing on profitable sales growth in a highly competitive segment, worldwide MINI brand deliveries totalled 346,639 units last year (-4.1% year-on-year). John Cooper Works models were once again especially popular in 2019, as well as the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4* plug-in hybrid, with a total of 16,932 delivered to customers. The fully-electric MINI ELECTRIC* joined the MINI line-up in late 2019. More than 90,000 prospective customers have registered so far – reflecting the strong interest in this pure-electric vehicle.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars posts all-time sales high

In 2019, with 5,152 units sold worldwide (+25.4%), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars reported the highest sales in the brand’s 116-year history. Strong sales growth was recorded in all regions worldwide. North America was once again the most important market. The past year was characterised by exceptional demand worldwide for the Cullinan and Black Badge models. The Phantom, Wraith and Dawn models were also in demand. In its 11th and final year, production of the current Ghost ended in late 2019. The new Ghost will be released onto the market in the fourth quarter of this year. 2019 also saw new all-time highs in bespoke custom personalisation orders, which is clearly reflected in Rolls-Royce’s position as a genuine luxury provider.

BMW Motorrad enjoys ninth consecutive record year

BMW Motorrad delivered more motorcycles and maxi-scooters to customers than ever before in 2019. Across the entire product range, the brand’s global sales were up 5.8%, reaching a total of 175,162 vehicles. The 2019 sales result is underpinned by BMW Motorrad’s successful growth strategy. Another record year was guaranteed by the market launch of seven new models, as well as the strong BMW Motorrad product portfolio.

BMW & MINI sales in the regions/markets

In China, the BMW Group delivered a total of 723,680 BMW and MINI vehicles to customers in 2019, a 13.1% increase compared with the previous year. This was the company’s best-ever sales result in China since entering the market in 1994.

With the growth of 1.8% and 360,918 units sold, the BMW Group also posted its highest-ever sales in the U.S. in 2019. The BMW brand led the premium segment in the U.S. market.

In Europe, total BMW and MINI sales were slightly lower than the previous year, reflecting the political and economic uncertainty in a number of markets. The BMW brand was nevertheless able to increase its market share in the UK. In its domestic market of Germany, the company delivered 331,370 vehicles to customers – an increase of 3.8% over the previous year. The BMW Group also continued to expand its market leadership in Germany in the field of electromobility** last year.

BMW Group sales in/YTD December 2019 at a glance

  December 2019 Compared with previous year % YTD

December 2019

 Compared with previous year %
BMW Group Automotive 224,127 -3.6 2,520,307 +1.2
BMW 196,116 -1.1 2,168,516 +2.0
  • BMW M GmbH
 15,662 +52.5 135,826 +32,2
MINI 27,514 -17.7 346,639 -4.1
BMW Group electrified* 17,611 +2.1 145,815 +2.2
Rolls-Royce 497 -26.7 5,152 +25.4
BMW Motorrad 13,794 +3.1 175,162 +5.8

*BMW I, BMW iPerformance, MINI Electric

BMW & MINI sales in the regions/markets

  December 2019 Compared with previous year % YTD December 2019 Compared with previous year %
Europe 95,808 -1.8 1,081,563 -1.5
  • Germany*
 32,622 +10.4 331,370 +3.8
Asia 79,023 -6.7 923,999 +5.6
  • China
 67,897 +8.0 723,680 +13.1
Americas 45,095 -0.2 457,932 +0.4
  • USA
 38,056 +2.4 360,918 +1.8

*Provisional registration figures

The sales outlook for 2020

The BMW Group is targeting a slight increase in global sales for the current year. It expects to see solid sales growth in Mainland China in 2020. Locally manufactured BMW vehicles will be the main growth drivers – especially the new BMW 3 Series and the two X models: the BMW X2, which has been locally produced in China since September 2019 and the BMW X3, which will also be available from 2020 with a pure-electric drive train.

Due to deterioration in the economic environment, the BMW Group expects sales growth in Europe to be on a par with the previous year.

The company anticipates a slight increase in U.S. sales this year – benefiting, in particular, from the new and revised BMW X vehicles.

 

Lagos Commissioner inaugurates Traditional Medicine Board Research Group

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Lagos Commissioner inaugurates Traditional Medicine Board Research Group

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi has inaugurated Traditional Medicine Board Research Group for the State Traditional Medicine Board, with a call on members of the group to ensure the protection and preservation of the State ecosystem.

The Commissioner, who observed that the state ecosystem is currently being threatened, warned that if conscious efforts are not made to address the trend, all efforts aimed at preserving and sustaining the practice of traditional medicine would end in futility.

Abayomi made this call on Wednesday at Alausa, Ikeja during the inauguration of members of the Traditional Medicine Board Research Group saddled with the responsibilities of developing practical solutions to problems associated with the practice of traditional medicine.

He said “I want members of this team to know that the task ahead of them is enormous considering the rate at which our biodiversity is being destroyed. You must make it a point of duty and ensure that the ecosystem does not die. Divert all your energy to restore the elements of the original ecosystem and work for hand in hand with neighbouring states to achieve this.”

He also challenged members of the research team to strive to produce evidence-based information at all time in order to help instil confidence of the potency of traditional medicine in the consciousness of members of the public.

“We want our practitioners to be accorded the same honour and respect given to the modern-day medicine practitioners like it is the situation in other developed climes like India, Cuba among others where patients could even choose to opt for traditional treatment against modern-day medical treatment because the two practices had proven to be very potent in healing processes.” the Commissioner stated.

He said that the state government cannot afford to undermine the contributions of traditional medicine practitioners to the health of its citizens considering the fact that traditional practitioners outnumber their modern-day medicine counterparts in the State and the country as a whole.

He disclosed that the practitioners are at a greater advantage because they are not threatened by brain drain unlike what obtains among medical doctors who usually leave their country of practice for greener pastures in other countries.

According to the Commissioner, the decision of the State Government to increase resources allocated to traditional medical practice in its 2020 budget and the inauguration of the research team further testify to the fact that the health sector occupies a key place in the administration of Governor Babajide Olusola SanwoOlu.

Addressing members of the research team, the Commissioner declared that “you are integral in my strategy to deliver universal health coverage for residents of this State and in bringing this into fruition, it is important that you operate within the ambit of the law and coordinate your activities in an orderly manner.”

He opined that with the constitution of the research group, Lagos State will be the first to start offering scientific and rational explanations for the use of herbal medicine in the management of human health challenges.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye said that the State Government is aware of the several challenges inhibiting the effectiveness of traditional medicine over the years, stressing that the Ministry of Health is at the forefront of championing efforts at addressing some of the problems.

In his words, “The field of Traditional Medicine is plagued by an implausible explanation of the efficacy of herbal products coupled with standardisation arising from dosage administration as well as multi -various claims associated with the effects of herbal products in the management of health Challenges.”

Represented at the inauguration by the Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health, Dr Moyosore Wuraola Adejumo, the Permanent Secretary described the inauguration of the Research team as first of its kind in the country, saying that it will open numerous opportunities in research in the field of traditional medicine, while also attracting international and global interests in addressing challenges confronting the Practice.

“This we believe will align with the international clamour for the conduct of research into the use of herbal products in the treatment of health challenges through integrative approach and facilitate the integration of traditional medicine into healthcare delivery systems,”

Also speaking at the event, one of the members of the research team inaugurated by the Commissioner, Prof. Kemi Odukoya, advocated for proper positioning of the traditional medicine, stressing that referring to the practitioners as alternative medicine practitioners were erroneous and should be corrected.

“We are advocating for proper recognition of traditional medicine as the original medicine, not an alternative medicine because healing processes started with the use of herbs and from nature.” She reaffirmed.

She commended the State government for standing tall among other states across the county in the promotion of traditional medicine, especially for the yearly celebration of traditional medicine day among several other recognitions accorded the practitioners.

FISH FARMING: Lagos Empowers 4O Youths With Cage Culture System

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FISH FARMING: Lagos Empowers 4O Youths With Cage Culture System

Forty youths, on Wednesday, benefited from the Lagos State Government’s empowerment programme that provided 40 cages stocked with 1,000 juvenile catfish respectively in the sea caging culture system at Afowo Community in Badagry.

Speaking during a facility tour of the Cage Culture Project, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal stated that the Cage Culture System of Fish Farming is one of the ways being championed by the State Government to maximise the benefits of the abundance of water resources which account for about 22 percent of the State’s landmass.

Describing the Cage Culture Project as economical use of open water to develop aquaculture and improve nutrition, Lawal said that the system is an environment-friendly way of increasing fish supply as well as reducing foreign exchange expenditure on fish importation.

He maintained that the cage culture would create employment opportunities both directly and indirectly, explaining that the system is a cheaper method of fish rearing in their natural habitat and projecting that no fewer than 40,000 fishes would be harvested at the Afowo Fish Farm, Badagry, at the end of the four-month rearing period.

“I am particularly happy and satisfied that the local community has shown her unflinching support for this initiative right from the installation stage. I am even more delighted that the cages were constructed with native material and the fish would be fed just like in concrete fish ponds,” the Commissioner averred.

Lawal further noted that the caging project will be a continuous one in farming sites along with the riverine areas of the State including Eti-Osa, Ikorodu, Ojo and Epe local government areas.

Commending the 40 beneficiaries, Lawal implored other fish farmers in the State to take advantage of the Cage Culture initiative and expressed the government’s readiness to support and partner with anyone or group willing to contribute to food security in the State.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs Grace Ladega said that the empowerment is proof of the State Government’s commitment to improving the standard of living of rural fishermen through the utilisation of natural endowments.

She applauded Governor Sanwo-Olu for approving the funds for the take-off of the fish cage and pen culture in Afowo, Badagry, assuring that each of the beneficiaries would take due advantage of the empowerment to increase fish production in the community.

LASG Set To Deliver 360 More Homes In Igbogbo, Ikorodu

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LASG Set To Deliver 360 More Homes In Igbogbo, Ikorodu

The Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Mr Moruf Akinderu-Fatai has revealed that 360 new housing units will soon be commissioned by the State government as part of efforts to tackle the challenge of housing deficit.

Akinderu-Fatai made the disclosure while conducting a validation and inspection visit to the Igbogbo Scheme 11b at Ikorodu Local Government area earlier today.

According to the Commissioner, the State Government has resolved to complete all outstanding housing schemes to speedily bring succour to Lagosians by providing decent accommodation for the increasing population of the State.

“Reducing the housing deficit and bringing more people on the home-ownership ladder through the provision of affordable and quality homes are tasks that are germane to building a 21st-century economy”, he said.

In his contribution, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Mr Wasiu Akewusola expressed satisfaction with the ongoing works at the site and encouraged contractors to keep up the good job in order to deliver at the targeted date.

He disclosed that about 3500 houses will be completed this year in Sangotedo, Idale in Badagry, Odo Onasa/Ayandelu, Ibeshe, Egan-Igando and Ajara in both government-owned schemes and joint ventures.

The Igbogbo Housing Estate is made up of 30 blocks of buildings with 120 units each of two-bedroom, three-bedroom and one-bedroom, making a total of 360 units of family apartments.

The entourage to the site included the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, ESV. Ayodele Amodu and management staff of the Ministry.

LASG Acquires New Vehicles, Motorbikes To Combat Traffic Gridlocks (Photos)

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LASG Acquires New Vehicles, Motorbikes To Combat Traffic Gridlocks (Photos)

The Lagos State Government today handed over 10 brand new vehicles and 26 motorbikes to the Traffic Enforcement Team assigned to unlock traffic gridlocks across the State.

During the handover ceremony at the Ministry of Transportation, Alausa Ikeja, the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde stated that the items were purchased to enable the combined Traffic Enforcement Team to carry out their enforcement operations, promising that more equipment and resources would be deployed by the State Government to enhance efficiency in traffic control around the metropolis.

Oladeinde stated that the combined team approach, comprising of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Lagos State Neighborhood Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), Nigerian Police Force and OPMESA, was adopted to tackle the hydra-headed challenge of the gridlocks and subsequently provide a holistic solution to the traffic situation in the transport sector.

The Commissioner posited that the traffic management would not stop at enforcement but extend to other areas such as reconfiguration and rehabilitation of road infrastructure, including the on-going junction improvement at critical areas to increase capacity for vehicular movements.

He lauded Governor Sanwo-Olu for his consistent support and drive towards combating traffic congestion in the metropolis, assuring that work would continue round the clock to ensure that the vision for efficient traffic management and transportation system is achieved in record time.

While expressing gratitude for the provision of the vehicles and bikes, the Special Adviser to Governor Sanwo-Olu on Transportation, Mr Oluwatoyin Fayinka promised that the Traffic Enforcement Team will ensure the appropriate use of the equipment for the desired purpose.

He explained that capable and responsible officers were carefully selected from all the enforcement agencies to achieve free flow of traffic, assuring that residents will notice traffic improvement within the next few weeks.

The Special Adviser appealed to officers to desist from excuses in the course of discharging their duties as monitoring teams have been set by the State Government to monitor their operational activities, warning that the vehicles and the motorbikes should be used strictly for enforcement.

The General Manager LASTMA, Mr Olayinde Oduyoye charged officials of the Traffic Enforcement Teams to uphold the confidence reposed in them by handling the vehicles responsibly, hinting that proper use would attract more equipment for their operations.

“We will do our utmost best in ensuring the free flow of traffic in the State, we won’t return to the dredges of yesterday”, Oduyoye assured.

SSA Output Growth in 2020: Overall Momentum To Remain Soft

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SSA Output Growth in 2020: Overall Momentum To Remain Soft
Recently, the World Bank published a forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economic growth to rise from 2.4% in 2019 to 2.9% in 2020. This was predicated on improving investor confidence in some large economies, a strengthening cyclical recovery among industrial commodity exporters along with a pickup in oil production, and robust growth among agricultural commodity exporters.
For us, we expect growth in South Africa to remain weak, as cases of load shedding or blackouts continue to drag industrial growth. Also, we expect growth to remain tepid in Nigeria and Angola as both economies remain exposed to the vagaries of the oil market. Election uncertainties may dampen fresh foreign investment in seven countries (Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Seychelles, Tanzania, and Togo) scheduled to hold Presidential elections in 2020.
Nonetheless, we expect growth in the smaller economies to continue to support the region’s growth. Specifically, we project that economic activity in Rwanda will remain supported by export growth (resulting from the Made in Rwanda policy) and continued public investments. Also, we opine that the recent removal of interest rate caps, which have constrained credit supply in Kenya for years, should spur new lending to the private sector and impact overall growth positively.
United Capital Research

Asoko Launches Department For International Trade (DIT) DealRoom At The Forthcoming UK-Africa Investment Summit

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Asoko Launches Department For International Trade (DIT) DealRoom At The Forthcoming UK-Africa Investment Summit

Asoko Insight, Africa’s leading corporate data provider, is pleased to announce its partnership with the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) to facilitate a digital DealRoom to support the ambition of the upcoming UK-Africa Investment Summit taking place in London on 20 January 2020, to increase UK investment in Africa.

The Summit will bring together businesses, governments and international institutions to showcase and promote the breadth and quality of investment opportunities across Africa. The Summit will further strengthen the UK’s partnership with African nations and mobilise new and substantial investment, to create jobs and boost mutual prosperity.

The digital DealRoom will take advantage of Asoko’s unique data acquisition model and unrivalled corporate database of over 100,000 private African companies to support the UK’s partnership with Africa to build a secure and prosperous future for all our citizens.

Asoko’s deal origination service brings a curated selection of the continent’s most promising firms directly into contact with the UK’s investor ecosystem, matching pre-qualified, high-growth companies to UK investment firms based on their pre-submitted criteria.

Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa at the Department for International Trade, Emma Wade-Smith OBE, said: “The UK-Africa Investment Summit will showcase the UK’s unique offer to Africa and the breadth of exciting investment opportunities that exist across the African continent. We want the UK to have the biggest positive impact of any foreign investor, in terms of creating and sustaining quality jobs, and supporting inclusive growth and sustainability.

“The launch of the digital DealRoom platform at the Summit will bring together bankable projects in Africa and the UK investment sector which would not otherwise have the opportunity to connect with each other. Our partnership with Asoko Insight marries the UK’s world-class financial services sector together with tangible African growth opportunities, which will serve as an excellent legacy resource post the Summit.”

Asoko’s co-founder and CEO, Rob Withagen, said of the upcoming DealRoom: “Sourcing deal flow in Africa is a challenge, despite the pressing need by private sector companies, especially in the mid-cap space. We’re pleased to be able to help UK investors cut the time and resources they spend searching for prospective deals and speed the pipeline of investment that is at the heart of the Summit and UK’s ambitions for its relationship with Africa.”

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