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Google Announces $4m Black Founders Fund for 60 African Startups

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

Google is committed to its entrepreneur-focused programmes in Africa, this time with Black-focused initiative designed to help startups – Google for Start-up Black Founders Fund (BFF).

On Tuesday, the web search giant said that 60 eligible Black-founded start-ups would receive a total of $4 million in the second  cohort  of BFF, NAN reports.

Mr Folarin Aiyegbusi, Google’s Head of Start-up Ecosystem, Africa, made this known in a statement announcing opening of applications for Google for Start-up Black Founders Fund for Africa.

Aiyegbusi said that following the success of the first cohort in 2021, Google increased its commitment in 2022 with additional one million dollars in funding, and support for 10 more founders.

He said that it would result in a commitment of four million dollars to 60 eligible Black-founded start-ups across Africa.

According to him, BFF Africa is open to start-ups in Nigeria, Botswana, Cameroun, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

He said that while the 13 countries were the prime focus due to their active tech and start-up ecosystems, strong applications from other African countries would be considered.

‘’The Black Founders Fund Africa demonstrates our commitment to supporting innovations in underserved areas.

‘’Black-led tech start-ups face an unfair venture capital funding environment; that is why we are committed to helping them thrive to be better and ensure the success of communities and economies in our region.

‘’The fund will provide cash awards and hands-on support to 60 Black-led start-ups in Africa, which we hope will aid in developing affordable solutions to fundamental challenges affecting those at the base of the socio-economic pyramid in Africa.

‘’We are hopeful that the support received by the Black founders will enable them to grow their businesses and, in turn, drive economic growth in Africa as they create solutions and give back to their communities,” he said.

He said selected start-ups will receive between $50,000 and $100,000 non-dilutive cash awards and up to $200,000 per start up in Google Cloud credits.

Aiyegbusi further said that support in the form of training and access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges unique to each start-up, would be provided and that early-stage start-ups with black founders or diverse founding teams were eligible for selection for BFF.

According to him, start-ups which are benefitting Black community and those operating and headquartered in Africa as well as those with diverse founding team, with at least one Black founding member, were also eligible.

He said that those having legal presence on the continent and building technology solutions for Africa and the global market and those with potential to raise more funding and create jobs were equally eligible.

Google for Start-ups Black Founders Fund was launched in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement as part of Google’s racial equality commitment.

The initiative is aimed at driving economic opportunities for Black business owners.

Interested applicants can find more information at  http://goo.gle/BFFAfrica.  Application closes on May 31, while winners will be announced on July 29.

Google had in 2021 doled out $1 billion for multi-faceted investment fund in Africa. Entrepreneurs and startups have begun to benefit from the fund which covers a range of initiatives – from improved connectivity to investments in startups for a period of five years.

Gokada Announces Strategic G-Partner Investment Opportunity For Logistics Companies

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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One of the biggest logistics and courier delivery solutions in Nigeria, Gokada has announced its strategic G-partner investment initiative which allows other logistics companies and private entities to increase their earnings through access to thousands of customers daily.

Due to the difficulty faced with running a logistics company in Nigeria, out of a sheer passion to help other logistics companies alleviate their plight and ensure swift delivery of parcels, Gokada’s head of growth and Marketing Mr. Laolu disclosed why the company decided to share its customer base.

In his words, “The G-partner program is directed to ensuring swift delivery of parcels, enabling third-party logistics entities to scale via access to Gokada’s vast customer base and providing a cover for entities who have not been opportune to possess the required licenses. The mutually beneficial partnership will pivot around the increased earnings for partners, reduced operational cost, increased safety of customers’ delivery through Gokada’s good-in-transit insurance, and meeting the increasing customer demand through a seamless app. 

Gokada already boasts of having a robust technology network capacity to properly handle and manage the influx of customer orders on its app. According to the company’s head of growth and marketing manager, Mr. Laolu, he disclosed that already, the company has partnered with active brands like Max. ng, Climax Logistics, Faybazaar Limited, Tolex press logistics, Laffab integrated service, Adel’s logistics, and many other individuals who are already benefiting from the Gartner initiative.

According to Gokada, all that is required for intending partners to do is to ensure that they provide a minimum of 200 bikes and ensure that all riders must possess a riders card or class A driver’s license, a 4G mobile phone, and a guarantor, necessary bike documents which include (stage carriage, roadworthiness, Lagos state approval letter (MOT), OK paper, LASAA, vehicle license, and hackney permit.

Recall last year that a lot of logistics companies had to fold up, with some on hold due to issues of getting a license which doesn’t come so easy. NIPOST had to clamp down on so many logistics companies operating without any license. Currently, the law has already been implemented that any courier company found operating without a license is illegal, because the license confers legitimacy on the business.

Well, Logistics companies do not have to worry anymore about going through the cumbersome process of getting a license. Once intending partners have all these requirements needed, all they need to do is just register with the Gokada G-partnership initiative and enjoy a free operating business under Gokada’s NIPOST operating License. Gokada already has unrestricted access to thousands of customers which implies that any individual or company that partners with them, will be rest assured of increased daily earnings and a large customer reach.

This is indeed an excellent initiative set up by Gokada as it will aid those who are faced with difficulties in running a logistics company to leverage Gokada’s G-partner initiative. A lot of people and businesses who intend to run a logistics company have been faced with issues like possessing the required licenses, but with this G-partner program, it is a huge sigh of relief as they do not need to worry about all that while still running their logistics business.

Nigeria Collaborates With States, Plans Tech-driven Transportation System In The Country

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

The federal government of Nigeria in collaboration with the 36 States in the country is gathering experts in technology and transportation for a two-day natural discourse that will drive policies towards a tech-driven transportation system in the country.

Lagos state commissioner for transportation, Mr. Frederic Oladeinde recently disclosed that the conference will feature the exhibition of the latest transportation technologies which will take place on June 7 and 8, 2022 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Conference would feature transportation technology and investment opportunities in line with global best practices. It will also have the presence of decision-makers, experts, and operators from the road, rail, water, and air transportation sectors who will discuss the current trends in smart transportation infrastructure, to adopt and implement these emerging trends in the Nigerian transportation space.

No doubt, the Nigerian government is making steady progress in curbing the challenge faced with transportation in the country. Unfortunately, the transportation industry in the country remains one of the sectors to test the emergence of technological advancement and innovations.

It is a known fact that the transport sector is one of the most important sectors in the country, which is driving the nation’s economy, albeit moving at a slow pace due to lack of digitization and technological implementations. This initiative set up by the government is of great importance because, with proper implementation of tech-driven transportation, it will help eradicate the problems faced in the transportation sector that has also affected the country’s economy.

A case study of Lagos State, which is Nigeria’s largest and busiest commercial city, has over the years been challenging in the commuting of humans and goods and services from one point to another. The large population in the state has made the road congested where citizens are often faced with the challenges of waiting long hours at bus stops and sitting hours in traffic jam, which not only wastes a lot of time but also reduces productivity.

The implementation of technology in the transport system will shape the future of mobility of humans and goods. One ideal technological implementation that would be effective in the transport system is the need to replace cash-based payment systems with digital-based payment systems.

This will limit the long waiting hours on queues for those who want to purchase tickets using government public buses, for example, the BRT buses in Lagos state. It will also limit road congestion and ease the collection of payments.

Already, Africa-oriented technology-driven company focused on payments, Interswitch has invested in technology infrastructure that will ensure seamless and contactless booking for transport and reduce time wasting for commuters at bus stops, ports, or train stations.

No doubt, the poor performance of the nation’s economy is connected to the poor transport system, which poses a lot of challenges to businesses in the area of distribution of goods and services. There is a strong need for the government to bring in technical experts to develop the transportation sector with technological tools because the transport industry is one of the key essential industries that makes a country’s economy blossom.

On The Move To Make Nigeria Vaccine Production Hub

By
Fred Nwaozor
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Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora has called on the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) to work with the Federal Government (FG) towards making Nigeria a regional hub for vaccine manufacturing in Africa.

He stressed the need to make Nigeria self-sufficient in the production of finished pharmaceuticals and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

Speaking at the inauguration of the new President, Prof Cyril Usifoh and investiture of 112 new fellows of the Society in Abuja, recently, Dr Mamora observed that the COVID-19 pandemic had shown that the country could not continue to rely on the importation of about 70 percent of her gross domestic need of finished pharmaceuticals and APIs.

The medical doctor insisted that Nigerians must collectively change this narrative by making the country self-sufficient in the production of finished pharmaceuticals and APIs, stressing the Ministry was determined to achieve this and looks forward to partnering with the PSN.

The minister disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Health was seriously working to acquire capacity for local vaccines manufacturing and appealed to the PSN to partner with the Ministry to ensure it realizes this objective.

Dr Mamora informed that the ministry was currently partnering with May & Baker Nigeria PLC in a Public Private Partnership (PPP), which birthed the Biovaccines Nigeria Limited (BVNL) – a special purpose vehicle towards local vaccines manufacturing.

He said the pharmaceutical sector was a critical component of the national security architecture, promising the FG must do its best to bequeath a viable and competitive pharmaceutical sector to the generations unborn.

He stated that in keeping with this desire, the Federal Ministry of Health ensured the creation of the new pharmacists’ consultant cadre for public and civil servants, adding the cadre confirms the place of specialization in pharmacy, especially in the clinical settings.

According to the minister, the pharmacists cadre would lead to better patient management outcomes and contribute to the improvement of the nation’s health indices while the ministry ensured the training of community pharmacists in order to prepare them for the emerging roles of pharmacists and pharmacies in national immunization programme and primary healthcare services in line with global trends.

He said, “Medicine remains the bedrock of healthcare delivery services. Without medicines, most diseases are untreatable. This is why the pharmacy profession is such an important human resource for health, and the government will continue to create a conducive working environment for the practice of pharmacy regardless of the field of pharmacy one chooses to practice whether hospital, administrative, academics, industry or community.

“To our celebrants, the new fellows of the PSN, I wish to assure you that the Federal Ministry of Health stands shoulder to shoulder with you to advance the pharmacy profession for the health and social welfare of Nigerians. Through its appropriate agencies, the Ministry will continue to support your efforts toward encouraging pharmacy education, research and scholarship, and promote high ethical standards of the pharmacy profession. Let me assure you of the Government’s readiness to partner with the PSN as always, to further the course of pharmacy practice and the pharmaceutical sector in Nigeria.”

The minister urged the pharmacists to actively engage in search of new methods and systems to improve the use of medicines, acquire needed skills and knowledge in order to remain relevant with advancing technology as it relates to the pharmacy sector and taking the pharmacy profession to even greater heights.

“This event is particularly significant because it’s the celebration of the emergence of an erudite scholar and an outstanding achiever as well as the rewarding of the efforts of pharmacists who have rendered meritorious services to the profession of pharmacy in Nigeria and across the globe.

“Without a shadow of doubt, the emergence of Prof. Cyril Odianose Usifoh as the new President of the PSN is a clear indication of the readiness of pharmacists all over the country to consolidate the gains of the past presidents of the Society and open new frontiers toward developing the pharmaceutical sector.” he added.

In her keynote address, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University of Benin, Prof. Lilian Salami, opined that pharmacists were not just the custodians and fabricators of drugs, but also great administrators, saying a nation is as strong as its medicine security.

She said, “In many ways, pharmacists secure their nations and contribute to developing the economy. Pharmacists are the experts in drugs, they discover them, manufacture them and are the repository of knowledge on how they should be handled and used. Pharmacists counsel on the adverse effects of drugs and play clinical interventional roles that bring huge positive outcomes to patient treatment.”

The VC observed that Nigeria could achieve reasonable self-sufficiency in drug production, stressing the drug distribution channels needed to be sanitized to remove the presence of fake and expired medicines.

Prof Salami stated, “As a profession, PSN will have to play her part. Nigerian society desperately needs the spark from PSN. Every Nigerian needs to feel the impact of pharmacists the more. The future of a society rests on the quality and orientation of the coming generation.

“As it is often said, the youths are the leaders of tomorrow. It follows that we must pay more attention to them. We have to train them well. Being young and impressionable, they are bound to make mistakes but it is our responsibility to correct them. We have to be stern when we should but we should show them love nevertheless.”

The VC lamented that the burnt-out light in the pharmaceutical sector is a reflection of what is happening in other sectors, noting things had fallen very short of their expectations.

In his remarks, the new PSN President, Prof.  Usifoh, pledged to provide a purpose-driven leadership for all technical and interest groups of PSN with the cooperation of his colleagues in National Executive Committee (NEC) and Council in order to change pharmacy and indeed the ‘Pharmaspace’ positively for the patient, pharmacist, healthcare team and indeed Nigeria.

He therefore urged all pharmacists to embrace genuine dialogue, listen to each other and forgive one another despite their differences, adding his leadership would always listen and act appropriately.

The bitter fact remains that, to truly make Nigeria a regional hub for vaccine production in the entire Africa as being stated, the relevant authorities must be willing to tell themselves the gospel truth.

Hence, the approach of knowing the actual remedies but insisting on the wrong ones, must be jettisoned. It suffices to say that the country must embrace a new era. Since Nigeria possesses all it takes to achieve the aforementioned objective, then as a people, we need to concentrate on how to wear the political will like clothing.

This is unequivocally the only way the needed policies can be duly and aptly implemented.

Reviewing Ogbonnaya Onu’s Avowal On Methanol Fuel Production in Nigeria

By
Fred Nwaozor
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0

Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, on 24th August 2021 in Abuja, organized a road-show to sensitize Nigerians on the imperative of boosting methanol fuel production technology in the country.

Dr Onu who spoke during the sensitization outing, disclosed that developed countries were gradually reducing their reliance on crude oil and placing much emphasis on cleaner and renewable sources of energy.

The clamour for cleaner energy sources, Onu noted, was in line with the “Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of countries, of which Nigeria is a part, under the 2015 Climate Change Paris Agreement.

“The immediate impact of these initiatives is a reduction in the global demand for crude oil.’’

The minister who harped on value addition to abundant natural resources in order to strengthen the economy through revenue generation pointed out that Nigeria was more of a gas nation with huge deposits.

He stated that methanol, which remained useful and applicable in more than 1,000 different products used by people every day in various places of work, homes, factories, schools, hospitals and virtually everywhere, involved value addition.

The minister explained that methane which forms the bulk of natural gas could be converted into a new very useful chemical called methanol.

He said, “We can now see that methanol is the only way that we are going to use our gas by adding value, changing its state and converting it into something that is very useful and finds application in virtually all aspects of our economy.

“Innovation is at the heart of our ability to find a solution that is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable, that is why methanol-driven economy is beneficial in many areas.’’

Dr Onu listed these areas to include job creation, technology development and domestication, as well as electricity generation, clean household energy services, chemical industry value chain, and reduction in pulmonary diseases, among women and children.

Others were, efficient transportation services, stoppage of gas flaring and achieving environmental sustainability.

The STI minister opined that the benefits of introducing methanol fuel in the country were enormous as it would create over 40 million new jobs, made possible because methanol had a very extensive value chain.

“Every part of this nation will benefit, every segment of the society will benefit whether you are young or old, male or female.

“This is why it is important for us to find a technology which when we introduce into our economy, will help us solve the problem of unemployment in the country.’’

Dr Onu maintained that the technology would help Nigeria employ all those trained in the sciences, humanities, management and others to have jobs to do, saying all these and many more would be achieved while the environment remains protected and managed.

According to him, “Captains of chemical industries are aware that the chemical industry is one of the least developed in the country, as virtually all the chemicals used in our factories are currently imported from other countries.

“With the introduction of methanol, manufacturers will use it as a feedstock for several product lines. As a fuel in the transportation sector, it is cheaper than PMS (Petrol). It is more friendly to the environment, has higher octane rating and enhances the performance of vehicles.

“Furthermore, methanol can be blended with PMS at 15 per cent methanol and 85 per cent PMS and this blend can be used in all vehicles without requiring any significant modification.’’

He clarified that cooking with wood, charcoal and kerosene to a large extent constituted a serious threat to human health, forests and vegetation leading to deforestation, adding that methanol, being a cheaper and a cleaner fuel, would help solve these problems.

In view of all these benefits, the minister called on entrepreneurs and investors in the private sector to invest in methanol production, as other stakeholders agreed with him, stating that methanol could be an alternative to conventional transportation fuels.

They stated that the benefits of methanol include lower production costs, as methanol was cheap to produce relative to other alternative fuels.

According to them, methanol possessed improved safety since it had a lower risk of flammability compared to gasoline, therefore consenting that methanol production was important because pure methanol was an essential material in chemical synthesis.

They opined that its derivatives were being used in great quantities for building up a vast number of compounds, among them, many important synthetic dyestuffs, resins, pharmaceuticals, and perfumes.

It’s noteworthy that many researchers and scientists across the globe have argued that though hydrogen has been proposed as a clean alternative fuel source because it could be produced from water, a methanol economy presents several advantages over a hydrogen economy.

Methane, unlike hydrogen gas, is an abundant natural energy source. Hydrogen gas is dangerously more volatile than methanol at 64.7 degree Centigrade, with a boiling point of -253 degree Centigrade.

As a result, hydrogen is much more costly and complicated to store and transport, but importantly, methanol as a liquid can be seamlessly incorporated into present infrastructure.’’

This was possible because methanol could even be mixed into gasoline and dispensed from present gas stations into flex-vehicles. It is a particularly attractive alternative for conventional transportation fuels due to its low cost of implementation, low risk of flammability and toxicity, and potential to reduce pollution emissions and dependence.’’

One could wonder why after many months of this campaign by the STI minister, the government is yet to invest heavily in methanol fuel production, even when all the needed resources are readily available in the country.

The bane of Nigeria’s economic plight is inability of the governments to overcome glaring challenges while the remedies are obviously smiling at them on a daily basis.

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