Nobody Can Islamise Nigeria

  The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has said there are no plans to turn Nigeria into an Islamic nation. Abubakar, who is also the President-General, Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI), made this known at the golden jubilee lecture of the JNI in Kaduna late Sunday. “Nobody can Islamise Nigeria, if Allah wanted he […]

African innovators vie for prestigious prize

  The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) has announced the 10 finalists of the prestigious Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) 2014. The ten African innovators have created practical solutions to some of the continent’s most intractable problems, from a domestic waste biogas system to a wafer matrix for paediatric antiretroviral (ARV) drug treatment. Chosen from almost 700 applications from […]

Nigeria becomes Africa’s biggest economy

Nigeria has “rebased” its gross domestic product (GDP) data, which has pushed it above South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy. Nigerian GDP now includes previously uncounted industries like telecoms, information technology, music, online sales, airlines, and film production. GDP for 2013 totalled 80.3 trillion naira (£307.6bn: $509.9bn), the Nigerian statistics office said. That compares […]

Lawyers display seized weapons in court

Liberian government lawyers last week presented a consignment of weapons in open court as evidence in their case against 18 Liberians on trial for cross-border attacks into neighboring Ivory Coast in 2011 and 2012. Of the 18 weapons presented in court, the lawyers said five belonged to the seven dead UN peacekeepers, killed as a result of those attacks […]

Africans keep on scoring goals in Sweden

The second round of the Swedish premiership (the Allsvenskan) last weekend saw African players continue their scoring form. Midfielder Rene Makondele Muzola hit the consolation in the 83rd minute as his side, BK Hacken went down 2-1 to Elfborg in a pulsating affair. This was the Congolese first strike in the new season. Atvidaberg’s Ghananian striker Mohammed Abubakari […]

The magic of Sweden’s personal ID number

  When I first moved to Sweden, I wondered how I’d ever survive the cold. But I knew little of the real struggle ahead – life in Sweden without a personnummer. Deepti Vashisht explains how a ten-digit number unlocks endless possibilities. Imagine my surprise when I got to Sweden, eager to take those ever-important first […]

Water is essential for growth- President Sirleaf

  Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says  water is an essential source for growth and development and called for sustained partnership to ensure access to clean water globally. She told a gathering of over six hundred participants at the 2014 Global Water Awards Ceremony in Paris, France that governments and investors need a dialogue that will […]

Nigerian finance minister bags Rockefeller award

Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was on Tuesday in New York, USA honored with the prestigious David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award alongside Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever and Simao Jatene, governor of the State of Para, Brazil in New York. Okonjo-Iweala and the two others joined a list of high profile personalities such […]

Central bank governor defends loan scheme

The executive governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Dr. Joseph Mills Jones says he holds no apologies for helping Liberians through the CBL’s  loan scheme. The scheme, he said, is meant to buttress the fight of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf‘s administration against poverty in the country. “What we are trying to do is to provide means whereby […]

Africa’s growth to reach 5.2 percent this year

Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to rise from 4.7 percent in 2013 to a forecasted 5.2 percent in 2014. This performance is boosted by rising investment in natural resources and infrastructure, and strong household spending, according to the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects. […]