Nigeria Today: 10 News Reports You Shouldn’t Miss‏

  1.THISDAY has reported that Nigeria will continue to record a rise in food output as the country recorded a growth in the food production last year of eight million metric tonnes over 2012 figures. According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the figure “represents over 70 per cent growth of the target set for 2015 by government.” 2. Recently in Ndjamena, President Goodluck Jonathan called on all African countries to be more active participants in the digital revolution going on in the world.  Speaking at an international conference on information and communications technology in the Chadian capital, President Jonathan stated that “Africa and Africans must be active participants in the digital revolution that is taking place all around the world. We must in fact be at the forefront of that revolution, creating information societies and knowledge based economies.” 3. A mobile money platform tagged Glo Xchange is being launched to encourage Nigerians without bank accounts and help create employment opportunities for Nigerian youths in the labour market. The platform will enable Nigerians to use their mobile phones to send or receive money and pay for utilities such as electricity and water bills, airtime, goods and services, and TV subscriptions in different parts of the country. 4.The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), one of the concessionaires of the Second Niger Bridge yesterday revealed that construction work at the bridge would commence before the end of the year, reported THISDAY. 5. Vanguard reports that Dr. Wisdom Ogochukwu Ebeogu, a participant in the current Batch A National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, programme serving at the General Hospital Suleja took free eye care services to the community in Niger State. The project titled ‘The Niger Save Sight Project’ comprises of free eye screening, cataract surgery, distribution of eye glasses, blood sugar and high blood pressure tests for the community. Dr. Ebeogu, stated “I felt that through this project I could reach out and meet the eye care needs of the people.” 6. Nigeria’s financial services sector yesterday received a boost as investments totaling N16.2 billion (US $100m) from a new fund LeapFrog Investments would be invested in the sector.  “Nigeria is a highly appealing investment destination, with stable economic indicators and an increasingly welcoming business environment ” said Dominic Liber, LeapFrog partner. 7. An American market research organisation, Fast Market Research, has released a new insurance research report from Timetric entitled, “The Insurance Industry in Nigeria: Key Trends and Opportunities to 2018.” The report has predicted that the Nigerian insurance industry will grow at an average rate of 7.5 per cent per annum between 2014 and 2018. 8. According to the Daily Independent, after operating the contributory pension scheme in Nigeria for more than 10 years, the total value of pension industry assets presently stands at N4.4 trillion. To ensure it is used for national development, lawmakers at the National Assembly have included a provision in the Pension Reform Act 2014 to facilitate investment in the real sector of the economy. 9. In order to make its products and services available to people all over Nigeria, LASACO Assurance plc has now made its products available online in real-time. Additionally, the company’s customers can now obtain and pay premiums for their products online. Head of ICT, Deji Ogundele explained that the insurance firm is committed to ensuring its existing and potential customers enjoy seamless service satisfaction using the instrumentality of ICT. 10. Nigeria and seven other African oil producing countries could experience boom in the coming years, with Mozambique and Tanzania set to emerge as new frontiers, if they can attract enough investment, a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers has stated.