Thursday, February 04, 2021
Access Bank Partners American Express to Expand Card Acceptance
Access Bank and American Express have launched a partnership to broaden the acceptance and usage of American Express Cards in Nigeria. The announcement places Access Bank as the first full-service bank to acquire merchants who will accept American Express Card payments in the country. Read more
‘Growth in Mobile Phones Will Enhance Telemedicine, e-Health’
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said rapid growth in the use of mobile phones in Nigeria will support telemedicine and enhance e-Health delivery system in the country. Lagos State Coordinator for WHO, Dr. Sam Yenyi, who gave the Information while delivering a keynote address during the launch of DoktorConnect and Lifepro in Lagos recently by Josmol Group, a health technology company, said information and communications technology (ICT) would have great potential in developing and providing quality healthcare services through telemedicine. Read more
Amazon to Pay $61.7m Settlement Fee
Amazon is expected to pay more than $61.7 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it didn’t pay its Amazon Flex drivers the full amount of tips owed to them, the agency has said. The FTC said the money represents the, “full amount that Amazon allegedly withheld from drivers” over a two-and-a-half-year period. Read more
FG, World Bank begin process to rebase Nigeria’s GDP
The Federal Government in collaboration with the World Bank have commenced the process to rebase Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product. Experts describe GDP as the final value of the goods and services that are produced within a nation’s geographic boundaries during a specified period of time, normally within a year. Read more
Oil price nears $59, OPEC+ optimistic about recovery
The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, rose further on Wednesday, trading near $59 per barrel. Oil prices were boosted by a drawdown in the United States crude and petrol stocks that added to demand recovery hopes fueled by the forecast by major producers of a deficit in the market this year, according to Reuters. It said the market was also bolstered by that Democrats in the US Congress took the first steps towards advancing President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9tn coronavirus aid plan without Republican support. Read more
Reps grill DPR, summon NNPC, CBN over $20bn oil theft
The House of Representatives has continued its investigation of diverted and stolen crude oil in Nigeria valued at $20m, with its Ad Hoc Committee on Oil Theft grilling top officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources. While the committee hosted the DPR at its investigative hearing in Abuja on Wednesday, it announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Central Bank of Nigeria had been summoned to appear before it on Thursday and Friday respectively. Read more
Operators renew call for IPOs in capital market
With the gradual return of bulls to the stock market, operators have renewed call for the government to develop focused strategies targeted at boosting operations of listed firms, to stimulate investments and sustain the current rally in the market. Read more
IMF reviews debt sustainability framework to address COVID-19 economic impacts
Following concern over sovereign debts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has reviewed its debt sustainability framework for Market Access Countries (MAC). The new structure will help countries identify risk in ‘sovereign stress’ and align with IMF’s lending framework, the Fund has announced yesterday. Read more
Medical workers threaten strike over health bill, professional discrimination
Industrial crisis is brewing in the health sector once again as medical workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) are threatening to down tools over amendment of five health bills and alleged professional discrimination by Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman Senate Committee on health. Read more
