Cote d’Ivoire
NNPC selects 26 firms to lift Nigeria’s crude oil
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has picked 26 foreign and local companies as well as 12 countries to lift the country’s crude oil for the next two years. The crude term contracts, expected to run from 2021 through 2023, would see the firms and the selected nations, which would operate on a Government-to-Government (G2G) basis to purchase the commodity from the national oil company. The deal is coming less than a week after the corporation chose 16 oil and gas consortia for its new crude-for-fuel swap contracts for one year starting in August. The contracts, known as Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) are high-stakes agreements used to supply nearly all of Nigeria’s petrol needs as well as cover some of its diesel and jet fuel consumption. However, in the fresh crude oil...
Facebook Joins Forces with Eutelsat to Expand WiFi Connectivity Across Sub-Saharan Africa
Eutelsat Communications is expanding its use of the Express WiFi platform in partnership with Facebook to provide broadband services via satellite across several regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. With Express Wi-Fi, Eutelsat aims to connect thousands of people in rural and underserved communities spanning the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Express Wi-Fi is a platform developed by Facebook Connectivity that enables partners to build, grow and monetize their WiFi businesses in a scalable way while providing their customers with fast, affordable, and reliable internet access. Express Wi-Fi is used in more than 30 countries, including in multiple Asian, South American and African ...
West African health ministers in joint fight against Ebola
Ministers of Health from Guinea – which is combating a new Ebola outbreak – and neighbouring countries have agreed on a unified front to combat the virus that re-emerged about three weeks ago. A UN statement on Wednesday said this was at a meeting held in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, on 2 March. Ministers and government representatives from Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone attended the inter-ministerial meeting. “If in 2014 Guinea and the neighbouring countries were victims of Ebola, this time around Guinea and the region are resolutely facing up to Ebola,” said the Guinean Prime Minister, Dr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana. The statement said the ministers agreed in a final declaration to set up a coordination mechanism, enhance cross-border collaboration, incl...
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets group for U-17 AFCON revealed by CAF
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have been drawn in Group B of the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by Morocco. Five-time world champions are one of three top seeds for today’s draw along with host nations Morocco and defending champions Cameroon. CAF revealed the draw via their Twitter handle as Golden Eaglets avoided the Group of Death after pitted alongside Tanzania, Algeria and Congo. Hosts Morocco head Group A along with Uganda, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire, while defending champions Cameroon will battle it out with Senegal, Mali and South Africa in Group C. The overall winners of the three groups, as well as the best runners-up from all three groups, will advance to the semifinals of the competition. The competition will start in Morocco on March 13. Nigeria may have conquered the wo...
Golden Eaglets qualify for WAFU U17 Cup semi finals
Nigeria reached the semi finals of the WAFU U17 Cup Tournament ongoing in Lome, Togo on Tuesday evening after Group B pacesetters Cote d’Ivoire hammered the Black Starlets of Ghana 3-1 at the city’s Stade Municipal. Five-time world champions Nigeria, who lost by the odd goal to the Ivorians on the opening day of the competition and were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Starlets at the weekend, needed a favour from the Ivorians to progress to the knockout stage. And the Ivorians obliged. The Baby Elephants raced into the lead after only nine minutes and consolidated at 2-0 as the match wore on. But the Starlets, themselves two-time champions of the world, pegged back their neighbours to leave Nigeria’s chances on the wire. The Eaglets and their Ghanaian counterparts had both scored through penal...
AFCON: Golden Eaglets fail MRI test three weeks to kick-off
In another embarrassing age-related moment for Nigerian football, 40 out of the 60 boys pencilled down as part of the Golden Eaglets contingent to prosecute the Under-17 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in Benin Republic failed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) age test. Coming just three weeks to the qualifiers, this means the coaching crew will have to race against the clock to pick a squad qualified enough to represent the country at the West African Football Union (WAFU) Group B qualifiers billed to kick-off on Tuesday, January 5. Out of the 20 players who passed the tests, only five of them are part of the main squad and just two of the five are included in coach Fatai Amoo’s preferred starting lineup for the competition. Most of the players the coach banked on d...
Flying Eagles: WAFU B Zonal U-20 qualifiers postponed due to virus
The WAFU B Zonal qualifiers which will feature the Flying Eagles of Nigeria and six other West African countries billed for Lome, Togo, has been shifted to a later date due to coronavirus. The Togolese Football Federation (FTF) confirmed the postponement of the tournament in a communique published on their Twitter handle on Thursday. The WAFU B Zonal qualifiers which will be the qualifiers for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Mauritania, was originally scheduled for November 18 to December 2. According to FTF they will engage WAFU and CAF to find a new date for the competition. “The Togolese Football Federation is announcing to the sporting world that the WAFU Zone B tournament scheduled for Lome between November 18 and December has been postponed to a future date following a decisio...
Andrey Arshavin: Moses is a strong character for Russian championship
Former Russian attacking midfielder Andrey Arshavin says Victor Moses’ arrival has strengthened Spartak Moscow and expects him to help the club this season. Moses scored his first goal in Russian football as Spartak Moscow thrashed their hosts Krasnodar 3 – 0 last weekend. The former Nigerian international was also involved in the Moscow derby against CSKA eight days ago. Speaking on the impact of Moses on Spartak Moscow since his arrival, Arshavin who also played for the club during his days, said Moses is a strong character for the Russian championship and has improved the team. “I think it was clear that this is a strong footballer for our championship. Moses has strengthened the necessary position for Spartak.” Andrey Arshavin said “I remember how he played for Wigan against us. He pla...
Nigeria star leads Club Brugge past FC Zenit St. Petersburg
Club Brugge began their 2020-21 Champions League campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Zenit St. Petersburg. Goals from Nigeria’s Emmanuel Dennis and Charles De Ketelaere scored the goals as Philippe Clement’s men silenced the Russian Premier League title holders at Krestovsky Stadium. The Belgians went into the encounter without goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, Cote d’Ivoire’s Odilon Kossounou and Michael Krmencik, who are in isolation after contracting Covid-19, while Simon Deli was unavailable due to suspension. In a tight first-half that saw Dennis, Mats Rits, Clinton Mata getting cautioned by referee Benoit Bastien, both teams were unable to find the net as they adopted a cautious approach. Club Brugge’s first chance at goal came in the 30th minute when Dennis found his way in the hosts’ goal ar...
Presidential elections in Ghana, others top agenda at ECOWAS meeting
The 44th Ordinary Meeting of the Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States has called attention to the ongoing insurgency in Nigeria, Gambia and Guinea Bissau as well as the political crisis in Mali. The Council at its meeting in Niamey, Niger, on Friday, also focused on forthcoming presidential elections in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger. The meeting was presided over by the Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Mediation and Security Council, Kalla Ankourao. Ankourao recalled the challenges COVID-19 has brought upon the region coupled with the breakdown in democratic governance in Mali. He urged the ECOWAS body to take the necessary steps for the preparation and smooth conduct of the upcoming presidential electi...
President Buhari presides over virtual FEC meeting
Expectedly, President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday presided over his 10th virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) which also had in attendance his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and eight ministers physically present. The meeting holding at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, is also being attended by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (retd). The ministers who are present are the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, Informatoon and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Interior, Rauf Aregbesola...
Facebook Launches “My Digital World” Across Sub-Saharan Africa
Facebook has launched “My Digital World” – a programme designed to equip the youth and general public across Sub-Saharan Africa with digital skills needed to navigate the digital world. My Digital World is a consolidation of all Facebook digital literacy programmes including Safe Online with Facebook, Ilizwe Lam, and eZibo and will be offered virtually this year to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook has over the years trained thousands of people on digital literacy skills and is this year preparing to train close to 20,000 participants across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire and Ethiopia on safe, responsible and beneficial usage of the digital platforms. “We remain committed to equipping young people and the general public across Sub-Saharan Africa with th...
