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Tag: West Africa

  • Burna Boy is 10th most streamed artise in Nigeria – Spotify

    Burna Boy is 10th most streamed artise in Nigeria – Spotify

    Ebunoluwa Ogulu simply known on stage as Burna Boy is among the 10 most streamed male artists in Nigeria, according to Spotify online streaming platform.

    Spotify’s Artiste & Label Partnerships Manager in West Africa, Victor Okpala, made the statement on Wednesday.

    He noted that it  was observed by Spotify and published as “Wrapped”.

    The other artists listed in the top 10, included Asake, Wizkid, BNXN fka Buju, Davido, Drake, Fireboy DML, Omah Lay, Rema and Kizz Daniel.

    Okpala said that the top most streamed female artistes in Nigeria were Ayra Starr, Tems, Rihanna, Asa, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Fave, Billie Eilish, Simi and Beyoncé.

    He also listed the top 10 most streamed tracks in Nigeria in 2022 as Last Last by Burna Boy; Peace Be Unto You by Asake; Bandana by Fireboy DML; Finesse by Pheelz; Omo Ope by Asake; Terminator by Asake; Overloading (OVERDOSE) by Mavins; PALAZZO by SPINALL; Calm Down by Rema and It is Plenty by Burna Boy.

    “2022 ushered us into an era of cultural overdrive and we are excited for fans and artistes alike to share these insights on the music they created and listened to this year.

    “Spotify announced this year’s edition of Wrapped, its hotly anticipated annual round up of the top artistes and music of the year as streamed by users around the world.

    “And this year’s data paints a picture of how Nigerian music captured hearts, both at home and around the world.

    “In 2022, Nigerian music has continued to hoist its flag in different global territories claiming its space on the world stage.

    “The year in Afrobeats was defined by the emergence of a hybrid Amapiano sound, an endless pipeline of hits, and new heights for a generation of pop royalty who are questioning our ideas of what’s popular in style and sound,” he said.

    Okpala noted that Nigerians listened more to local music in 2022 with a 291 per cent Year-on-Year increase in local music consumption when compared with 2021.

    “2022 is the year that Burna Boy set the world on fire- claiming the number one spot as the most streamed artist in Nigeria.

    “The love affair was not only local, he is also the most globally streamed artiste from sub-Saharan Africa.

    “His track Last Last takes the crown for the most streamed song and also the most hearted song in Nigeria.

    “Spotify RADAR alumnus, Ayra Starr, is the most streamed female artiste in Nigeria while Tems has the leading vibe among Nigeria’s musical exports in 2022.

    “Wait For You, the singer’s collaboration with Future & Drake, was the top Nigerian song export of the year,” he said.

    Okpala listed the most streamed albums as Love, Damini by Burna Boy; Mr Money With The Vibe by Asake; Playboy by Fireboy DML; Boy Alone by Omah Lay; Rave & Roses by Rema and Made In Lagos.

    “The most hearted songs in Nigeria are: Last Last by Burna Boy; Bandana by Fireboy DML; Calm Down by Rema; Finesse by Pheelz and Peace Be Unto You by Asake.

    The list included, Terminator by Asake; Omo Ope by Asake; Overloading (OVERDOSE) by Mavins; Buga (Lo Lo Lo) by Kizz Daniel and For My Hand (feat. Ed Sheeran) by Burna Boy.

    “The most streamed playlists in Nigeria are: Hot Hits Naija, African Heat, Gbedu, Traffic Jams Naija, Bubblin, Afro Hits, Afropop, Today’s Top Hits, Party Dey and New Music Friday Naija,” he said.

  • ECOWAS Court re-elects president, vice for another 2 years

    ECOWAS Court re-elects president, vice for another 2 years

    President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Asante has been re-elected by his peers for an initial two years following an election by the Court’s five-member college of judges.

    The President of the ECOWAS Court was re-elected on Oct. 13 alongside the Vice President of the Court, Justice Gberi be-Ouattara, the Communications Directorate of the Court disclosed in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

    The re-election followed the assumption of duty of the two new judges of the Court; Justices Claudio Monteiro Goncalves from Cape Verde and Sengu Mohammed Koroma from Sierra Leone.

    It stated that the two new Justices of the court were sworn in on Oct. 6 in Bissau by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Community, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau.

    Justice Asante, who was among three judges of the court whose tenures were extended by the Heads of State and Government of the Community, said his re-election showed the confidence his colleagues reposed in him.

    Asante said that the re-election will afford him the opportunity to improve on the performance of the previous college in order to strengthen the court’s role in the delivery of justice.

    He also pledged to deepen the court’s enviable jurisprudence which has made it a global brand, particularly in the area of human rights which has become its signature mandate.

    He welcomed the two new judges to the Court’s family and expressed confidence that with their pedigree, they would contribute immensely to furthering the work of the Court.

    Asante assured the new judges of the Court’s determination to provide the necessary tools to ensure that they functioned optimally.

    Justice Asante also commended the outgoing judges of the Court- Justices Keikura Bangura from Sierra Leone and Januaria Tavares Silva Moreira Costa from Cape Verde, who just completed their tenure.

    He assured them that they will continue to be a valuable resource for the Court.

    The new judges, who were appointed for a four–year term, were later taken through some administrative issues related to their tenure as statutory appointees of the Community.

    They were later introduced to the staff during a meeting attended by the new college of judges and their outgoing colleagues.

    Among the three judges whose tenure was renewed by the Heads of State and Government of the Community, was Justice Dupe Atoki from Nigeria.

  • Ndume, ECOWAS lawmakers regret subdued powers of Parliament by Commission

    Ndume, ECOWAS lawmakers regret subdued powers of Parliament by Commission

    Some Members of the ECOWAS Parliament have bemoaned the restriction of its powers by the ECOWAS Commission which have limited them to exercising their mandates.

    They made this known on Friday during Parliament’s High-level Seminar in Lome, Togo with the theme “Application of the power of the Parliament in light of the restructuring of the ECOWAS Commission”.

    This is also as experts charged Parliament on exercising its Parliamentary Powers.

    The Member of Parliament insisted it was imperative for the Parliament to start executing its powers as enshrined in its Supplementary Act which indicates the powers of the ECOWAS Parliament to include a law-making role among other functions.

    Sen. Ali Ndume, representing Nigeria at the ECOWAS Parliament said that it is worrisome to discuss the enhancement of Parliament’s power when these powers have been overly restricted.

    “It is odd to discuss the powers of the parliament at this point, I think we need to look at the whole process and ensure that it is worth it.

    “The powers of the Parliament have been overly subdued, and if we are going to be what we are then we should be what we are.

    “The ECOWAS Parliament is so much important now most especially as we have a lot of challenges bedevilling the sub-region, hence we need to start working and not to start talking of power enhancement;

    “We should do the right thing, and doing the right thing should not be personal, we can be in the position today and tomorrow someone else take over.

    “Going forward, this seminar should provide an opportunity for us to look at the document that we are currently using, it is not the issue of enhancement, but the issue of amendment;

    “One of our problems is the Commission, and we can’t expect them to correct it, the Parliament Legal Director should be made to handle this Acts, and then we should have other MPs to look at the law and jointly amend it”, Ndume said.

    Mr Stephen Zargo a lawmaker from Liberia said that Articles 7 and 9 of the ECOWAS Parliament Acts give parliament an enhanced power, but the power has not been well utilised.

    “We are arguing because you need leadership to make it happen if the Act gives us the power, we are crying because we have a leadership deficit,” Zargo said.

    Hon. Fatoumatta Njai from the Gambia however called for the strengthening of the legal department of the ECOWAS Parliament.

    “As a Parliament, our Legal Department must be strengthened, it should be a directorate and not a department.

    “We should have started on the implementation on how to use our enhanced power and without a strong directorate, we cannot achieve this course” Njai said said.

    Preceding the reactions from the lawmakers were presentations and recommendations by experts which includes; the ECOWAS Commission’s Legal Director, Daniel Lago, and the Legal Adviser of the ECOWAS Parliament, Isatou Njia.

    The experts spoke on the operationalisation of the new institutional Reforms and on Exercising Parliamentary Powers.

    Bodo in his presentation charged Parliament with the establishment of a Committee/Working Groups in other to deepen their powers.

    Isatou in her presentation noted that it is left to Parliament to take control and fully implement the provisions of the Supplementary Act.

    This she said can be achieved by developing necessary guidelines in conjunction with implementing institutions and agencies of the Community.

    Concluding the session, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Tunis agreed to the call of the MPs and added that their concerns have long been pondered by individuals and he feels more pain over these issues raised.

    “Listening to what we have all been yearning for, I think this is the beginning, now we have an opportunity to come up with an outcome document with the support of the Director of Legal Affairs.

    “Because at the end of the day even in the Commission he is the one to respond to this issue.

    “The Director of Legal affairs is for all institutions, now that we have him here working with our own legal adviser, I really hope we can come up with a document at the end of this seminar .

    “Because it is so timely with everything that is happening in this region, trust me it is the MPs that can do the job, not technocrats, but those MPs must have the powers,” Tunis said.

  • Google announces 6 new features on search

    Google announces 6 new features on search

    Google has announced six new features and developments on search to help people gather and explore information in new ways.

    Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, the Head, Communication, West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, said this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that the new features leveraging machine learning would help people gather information in new ways.

    He highlighted the six new features as multisearch, multisearch near me, translation in the blink of an eye, Google for iOS updates, even faster ways to find what you are looking for and new ways to explore information.

    Kola-Ogunlade disclosed that people use lens to answer over eight billion questions monthly.

    He noted that Google introduced multisearch, a major milestone, to help people search for information earlier this year.

    ‘’With multisearch, you can take a picture or use a screenshot and then add text to it — similar to the way you might naturally point at something and ask a question about it.

    ‘’Multisearch is available in English globally, and will now be rolling out in 70 languages in the next few months.

    ‘’Multisearch near me allows you to take a screenshot or a photo of an item, and then find it nearby.

    ‘’So, if you have a hankering for your favourite local dish, all you need to do is screenshot it, and Google will connect you with nearby restaurants serving it,” he said.

    According to him, in translation, in the blink of an eye, one of the most powerful aspects of visual understanding, is its ability to breakdown language barriers.

    “Google has gone beyond translating text to translating pictures – with Google translating text in images over one billion times montly in more than 100 languages,” Kola-Ogunlade said.

    He said with major advancements in machine learning, Google is now able to blend translated text into complex images.

    “Google has also optimised their machine learning models to do all this in just 100 milliseconds — shorter than the blink of an eye,” Kola-Ogunlade added.

    He said that this uses generative adversarial networks (GAN models) which powers the technology behind the Magic Eraser on Pixel.

    “Google is working to make it possible to ask questions with fewer words- or even none at all- and still help you find what you are looking for.

    “For those who do not know exactly what they are looking for until they see it, Google will help you to specify your question.

    “Google is reinventing the way it displays search results to better reflect the ways people explore topics to see the most relevant content,” Kola-Ogunlade said.

  • LASU aims to become best varsity in West Africa – VC

    LASU aims to become best varsity in West Africa – VC

    The Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, says one of the set goals of the institution is to become the best university in West Africa.

    Olatunji-Bello said this at an event organised by the university to mark International Museum Day (IMD) 2022, in Lagos.

    The Day is celebrated annually globally on May 18, and gives the chance for professionals to meet people and inform them about the challenges museums face.

    The theme of this year’s celebration is : “The Future of Museums: Recovery and Imagine”.

    Olatunji-Bello said that the importance of a museum to any society could not be underestimated.

    She spoke as the university’s Centre For Museum and African Heritage (LASU-CEMAH), Ojo, as part of the celebration, inaugurated its renovated Museum located in Agege and reopened it to the public.

    Olatunji-Bello said that the university was determined to position the museum to showcase knowledge and address key social issues.

    This, she said, would help transform how people see the future, learn from the past and enrich history.

    “One of the ways to achieve that is to introduce technology in our service, with the rise in technology usage over the last two decades.

    “Modern technology is transforming museums from spaces of looking and learning to modern centres of interaction, participation and engagement.

    “We are determined as a team to initiate the necessary steps towards digitisation and innovation with the use of technology.

    “This is very critical towards attaining our set goal of becoming the Best University in West Africa,” she said.

    Olatunji-Bello said that according to the American Alliance of Museums, in the United States of America, about 80 per cent of the museums provided educational programmes for children.

    “The museum has the power to reflect and shape our society.

    “The LASU museum is one of the research missions of the university and established to collect cultural artifact for preservation, conservation, exhibition, display, research and documentation.

    “Despite the setback of losing a portion of our museum land to the general interest of the Lagos State, the LASU Museum is not discouraged in any way in the pursuit of her mandate,” she said.

    Olatunji-Bello promised that the management would provide modern facilities and state-of-the-art equipment for cutting edge scientific and technological researches, to make LASU museum more functional.

    The Director, LASU Museum, Dr Maruf Animashaun said it was a glorious achievement for the university and an advantage for the renovated museum to be opened to the public.

    “Museum day is an occasion to raise awareness on the importance of museums in the preservation of the universal heritage for global cultural integration and peace.

    “LASU Museum was established in the year 2002 as arts craft collection centre under the administration of the then vice-chancellor, Prof. Abisogun Leigh.

    “LASU Museum is the first university museum to reproduce antiquities of 2000 years of Nigerian history, namely NOK, Ife, Benin and other culture in Nigeria.

    “At the museum, we now have adequate space for development, office accommodation for staff and functional facilities,” he said.

    Animashaun urged Nigerians to make good use of the museum.

  • Secrets of the richest man who has ever lived

    Secrets of the richest man who has ever lived

    With an estimated net worth of $400 billion during the 14th century, African King Mansa Musa of the Kingdom of Mali, may have been the richest man who has ever lived.

     

    Musa was not just a rich man and sultan, he was a famous Hajj pilgrimage.

     

    He came to throne in 1312 and expanded the Kingdom of Mali massively in his 25-year reign.

     

    This expansion include the current day nations of Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.

     

    During that time, he extended the reach of his trade ports significantly and became one of the most powerful rulers of his day.

     

    It is believed that tales of his enormous convoy and generosity continued to be passed on long after his death.
    Musa’s pilgrimage, generosity and reputation awakened the world to the immense wealth of Africa, and in particular, Mali.

     

    The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five main pillars of Islam, and Musa decided to embark on Hajj in 1324-1325.

    It was not like any other journey ever witnessed, Musa quite literally paved his path to Mecca with gold and put his kingdom on the map. He was famous for his generosity and piety.

    Musa built a mosque every Friday during his journey and gave away so much gold that it destabilised the economy in parts of the region for twelve years – as well as deflating the value of gold.

     

    How Musa acquired such unimaginable wealth?

    One of the greatest caravans to ever cross the Sahara was led by Musa, the legendary ruler of the vast West African empire of Mali.

    In 1324 Musa embarked on a hajj, a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, travelling with an entourage that included 8,000 courtiers, 12,000 servants and 100 camel loads of pure gold.

    Musa was born in 1280, and Mansa means ‘Sultan’ in the native language of Mandinka spoken in the region.

     

    How was Mansa Musa so rich?
    As the king of the Mali Empire in West Africa, Musa first came to power in 1312. At that point, the kingdom was already prosperous. But under the rule of Musa, Mali became even more wealthy.

    Taking advantage of the region’s natural resources – like gold and salt, Musa expanded his empire throughout several territories and made a big impression along the way.

     

    Mansa Musa’s net worth
    Some historians believe that with an inflation-adjusted fortune, his wealth amounts to around $400 billion today.

     

     

    The richest and largest empire in West Africa:

    ‘The Mali Empire was one of the largest empires in West Africa. The spread of its language, laws and customs have played an important role in determining the culture of West Africa today.

    One of the Mali Empire’s most famous rulers (Musa) was celebrated for his piety and fair judgement.
    His wealth vastly surpassed any living person today, and in the middle ages.

     

    Lasting contributions of Mansa Musa’s wealth:
    So what did Musa do with all the money, aside from giving away gold to random people on the street and using it to buy souvenirs?

    Musa used most of it to build a great number of the most famous of which is the Djinguereber Mosque.

    He also commissioned several universities throughout the kingdom. Many of these historic buildings both the schools and the mosques are still standing today.

    When Musa was alive, his investment in Islamic education in Mali drew scores of Muslim scholars, poets, and artisans to his empire. They congregated in Timbuktu, which quickly became known as one of the most prominent cities in the Islamic world.

  • Nigeria to help evacuate Africans in Ukraine -Bolaji Akinyemi

    Nigeria to help evacuate Africans in Ukraine -Bolaji Akinyemi

    The federal government of Nigeria is right about now concluding plans to evacuate over 2000 persons from Nigeria and other west African countries who are studying and living in crisis ridden European country of Ukraine.

    The Director, Consular and Legal Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinremi, has hinted during a chat with pressmen.

    Akinremi said the Nigerian government had the capacity to evacuate all 8,000 Nigerians and another 2,000 Africans with primary focus on citizens of West Africa.

    He added that once these Africans arrive in Nigeria, they will have to make their way to their respective countries. All these, he said, would be done free of charge.

    “We are making provisions to evacuate citizens of Ghana, Togo and mainly West African countries. It is open to all African countries. He said

    “We have provisions for about 2,000 of them as long as they can find their way from here.”

    Akinremi added that the evacuation would begin on Thursday and not Wednesday as expected.

    He said the planes that would evacuate those stranded would arrive in the countries bordering Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday.

    When asked why the evacuation will no longer happen on Wednesday, he said, “We cannot do it without authorisation of the host country. So, it will be Wednesday night into Thursday.”

    Speaking on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria programme, Akinremi said contrary to some reports, the Nigerian government had been assisting some Nigerians to flee Ukraine even before the war began.

    He said at least 200 Nigerians had returned home, many of whom were given free tickets by the Nigerian government.

    He added, “The aspect we are not focusing on is those that have already arrived in Nigeria. There are a large number of people that have returned on their own. Over 200 people have arrived in the last one week and they were assisted by the government. Most of them had their tickets but we procured tickets for many of them.

    “Also at the state level, governors are also making arrangements along with the private sector.”

    He added that the government would assist them with COVID-19 protocols and other requirements.

    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Gabriel Aduda, said Nigeria would give emergency travel certificates to those who have no papers, adding that the government was in touch with all ambassadors in the affected countries, including Poland and Hungary.

  • Ford Foundation appoints new Regional Director for West Africa

    Ford Foundation appoints new Regional Director for West Africa

    An American foundation, the Ford Foundation, on Thursday announced the appointment of Catherine Chinedum Aniagolu-Okoye as its new Regional Director for its office serving West Africa.

    The foundation, in a statement said Aniagolu-Okoye would lead the foundation’s office of West Africa and oversee its grantmaking, external relations and local operations based in Lagos.

    Aniagolu-Okoye succeeds the late Innocent Chukwuma who served as regional director from 2013 to 2021, and helped the foundation to build its brand in the region and to establish solid partnerships with donors, civil society, public and private sector leaders.

    With over 20 years in the social change sector, Aniagolu-Okoye is a respected leader on the African continent and brings many years of extensive experience leading diverse international development organisations, managing country programmes, donor projects and country strategies in West Africa and across Africa.

    As regional director, she will oversee the foundation’s local team, external relations and administrative operations in West Africa.

    She will also lead on programme strategy development and implementation in the region, with a focus on advancing democracy, human rights and social inclusion for all, especially youths, women and people with disabilities.

    “I am delighted to welcome Aniagolu-Okoye to the foundation. Her international experience and leadership, and her expertise in navigating civil society circles will be invaluable as our work in West Africa grows,” said Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation.

    “Aniagolu-Okoye’s reputation as a strong operational leader and an African feminist will bring a critical perspective to our work to help address some of the region’s most pressing opportunities and challenges.”

    Throughout her career, the new regional director has designed and implemented strategies at regional and global organisations on key social issues such as improving governance.

    She has also implemented strategies on reducing poverty, advancing transparency in the extractives sector, and furthering women and girl’s empowerment – all through engaging civil society as well as the public and private sectors.

    Before Ford, Aniagolu-Okoye was most recently the Country Director of Technoserve, an international NGO that provides business solutions to poverty with women at the heart of the work.

    Prior, she was the Country Director for WaterAid in Nigeria where she provided grants to civil society organisations advocating for improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, and strengthening civil society networks, including one focused on journalists dedicated to telling more accurate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) stories.

    Before WaterAid, she led Girl Effect, an initiative of the Nike Foundation focused on girls’ empowerment, and also served as Country Director for Oxfam/Nigeria.

    At Oxfam, she led strategies on reducing inequalities through initiatives on tax and gender justice, including the VOICE programme that addressed gender-based violence and transparency in the extractives sector.

    Earlier in her career, Aniagolu-Okoye was Deputy Programme Director of a European Union project focused on reforming public sector service delivery with more efficient management of public finances, budget reform and accountability in six Nigerian states.

    Prior to that, she was the West Africa Director for ASHOKA Innovators for the Public, focusing on advancing social entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali.

    “I am very excited to be joining a team and a foundation so passionately focused on building a world where everyone has the power to shape their own lives and live with dignity,” says Aniagolu-Okoye.

    “The Ford Foundation successfully promotes social justice and reducing inequality in West Africa – a vision I am fully aligned with and honoured to help shepherd and grow in the regional office.”

    Aniagolu-Okoye holds a Ph.D in Sociology specialising in Gender and Development from University College Cork in Ireland, and a B.Sc in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Nigeria Nsukka.

    She is a founder of the South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO), a member of the Advisory Board of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and an Africa Policy Advisory board member of The One Campaign.

    The Ford Foundation is an independent, non-profit grant-making organisation.

    For more than 80 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement.

    With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

  • Pantami, Danbatta push for speedy growth of ICT across West Africa

    Pantami, Danbatta push for speedy growth of ICT across West Africa

    Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, and the Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, have urged ICT experts across West Africa to be ambitious towards its growth in the area.

    The duo gave the push on Wednesday at the 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the West African Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), currently holding in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.

    They both believed that increased regional collaboration would speed up the development of a seamless telecommunications network and infrastructure across West Africa.

    They said it could be achieved through the formulation and implementation of sound regulatory policies, programmes and initiatives, thereby achieving the objectives of WATRA.

    In his opening remarks, Pantami described WATRA as a strong union having 16 countries in the region.

    He said that there was a tremendous advancement in the development of the telecommunications sector in West Africa with its liberalisation through the establishment of modern legal and regulatory structures for telecommunications delivery in the region.

    He stated that Nigeria was the largest mobile telecommunications market in Africa, largely based on rapid development following the successful auction of Digital Mobile Licences (DML) in 2001.

    He said that as at July 2020 the market served over 199 million Mobile lines, with over 150 million of those lines connected to Internet services by January 2021, which attributed to the development of policies and strategies for the Nigerian Digital Economy sector.

    He noted that in recognition of the tremendous economic growth opportunities afforded by the deployment of broadband technologies and to accelerate telecommunications service delivery in Nigeria, the government through the Ministry developed the National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria.

    He, however, said that the Plan was aimed at the significant reduction of access gaps through the expansion of broadband access across the country.

    “The Policy is based on eight key pillars, one of which is the development of solid infrastructure through the deployment of fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure to deepen broadband penetration in the country.

    “As at the time we commenced the process of drafting the Broadband Plan, our broadband penetration in the country was just over 33 per cent.

    “As a result of the implementation of the new plan, this broadband penetration significantly increased to 45.07 per cent by November 2020.

    “It is noteworthy to also mention that the Nigerian telecommunications sector grew by 15.9 per cent in year 2020 from 11.41 per cent in 2019 and 11.33 per cent in 2018.

    ”This is making it the highest growth rate in the last 10 years. Much as these figures are impressive, we remain committed to keep implementing initiatives to increase the delivery of telecommunication services in Nigeria,” Pantami said.

    Also, in his remarks, the host, Prof. Danbatta said WATRA’s potential in driving socio-economic development in the region was inestimable.

    He said that the time had come for all to come together and propel WATRA to achieve its true potential in putting the region at the forefront of ICT development within the continent and engender a truly digitised regional society.

    “To this end, we must 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.

    “We envision societies with necessary infrastructure and services that will ensure prosperity for all our people.

    “The key is “ICT” and 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,” he said.

    The EVC, who had invited the members for a tour to the WATRA Headquarters, also expressed optimism that the provision of a befitting office for the secretariat would galvanise the assembly towards the attainment of its collective mandate.

    He appreciated the efforts of the outgoing Executive Secretary, Mr El-haji Laminou, and members of the outgoing Executive Committee.

    On his part, the Chairman, WATRA Exco, Charles Tontoma Milogo, from Burkina Faso, thanked the Nigerian government, through the EVC, NCC, for hosting the meeting, adding that West African countries would rise to champion ICT development in the region.

    Dignitaries present at the two-day event were: The Minister of Post and Telecommunications for Liberia, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications for Sierra Leone, ECOWAS representatives and other stakeholders from West African Countries.

  • Nigeria committed to sustaining democracy in West Africa – Buhari

    Nigeria committed to sustaining democracy in West Africa – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has promised Nigeria’s commitment to help West African countries in consolidating democracy within the sub-region.

    The President spoke Thursday at State House, Abuja, while playing host to President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso, who was on a one-day official visit to Nigeria.

    According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, President Buhari said Nigeria will always support countries preparing for elections.

    “We are keeping tabs on situations in countries that have elections ahead. We know the countries that are calm and the ones where there have been unfortunate casualties. We will always support those who have elections ahead so that things can go smoothly,” President Buhari said.

    Burkina Faso holds legislative elections in November, this year.

    President Kabore, who chairs the Economic, Trade, and Liberalization Scheme of ECOWAS, said he was in Nigeria to discuss crucial sub-regional issues with President Buhari.

    These include the convening of a joint commission meeting between Nigeria and Burkina Faso, reported trade difficulties among Nigeria, Ghana, Republic of Benin, and the Niger Republic, and the way forward.

    President Kabore commended President Buhari for what he called “strong leadership and support” displayed by the Nigerian leader in his capacity as Chairman of COVID-19 response in West Africa.

    “I must also applaud your strong leadership against terrorism in the sub-region,” the Burkinabe Leader said.

    On the situation in Mali, he expressed hope that the summit held in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, would yield positive results, stressing: “We need cohesion all over West Africa.”