Continuing with the latest trend of enterprises focused on capitalizing the massive interest in blockchain, IBM recently opened a tech garage in Soho New York dedicated to the development of blockchain tech. Cloud providers – Amazon, Microsoft and now IBM are deploying blockchain environments for both developers and SMEs. This is great news for the expansion of blockchain and making it “mainstream”, but is this more beneficial for the large enterprises or for the developers themselves?

Earlier this month, IBM announced the massive Watson Centre at Marina Boy in Singapore. Designed to house 5,000 computer scientists in the Asian-Pacific region, the location also included a new IBM Garage. Then, just last week IBM announced that Mizuho Financial had successfully tested a digital currency-based blockchain settlement system created at the newly opened IBM Garage in Tokyo.

Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced today that it has disbursed the second and final tranche of a R250 million ($16.6 million) expansion capital facility to Vumatel. The funds will be used for the on-going expansion of Vumatel’s fibre-to-the-home (“FTTH”) network in a growing number of Johannesburg and Cape Town suburbs.

The Vantage mezzanine facility was structured in two equal tranches of R125 million ($8.3 million), to be drawn by Vumatel upon the achievement of certain operational and financial milestones by the company. Since concluding the transaction in April this year, Vumatel has rapidly expanded its network and has exceeded the milestones required to drawdown both tranches of the R250 million facility from Vantage.

Vumatel was established in 2014 to supply affordable high-speed fibre optic network connectivity to homes in South Africa. Vumatel began deploying its open access FTTH network in October 2014 in Parkhurst, a Johannesburg suburb. Since then, the company has rapidly expanded its network to cover 22 suburbs, reaching more than 33,000 homes. Driven by strong customer demand for reliable high speed internet, Vumatel has a robust pipeline of additional suburbs for further network deployment.

Despite having one of the highest GDP per capita ratios in Africa, South Africa’s average broadband speed is one of the lowest on the continent. Vumatel was founded to address this large deficit in high-speed broadband services for residential users in South Africa. The company contributes to greater high-speed broadband adoption through the deployment of an open access fibre optic network. “Open access” means that the Vumatel network can be used as a platform by multiple internet service providers, such that customers can benefit from a variety of choices to suit their needs.

Vumatel’s founding shareholders include Niel Schoeman, Johan Pretorius and Richard Came – successful industry veterans who have been key players in establishing and operating several well-known telecommunications and technology businesses including Dimension Data, Dark Fibre Africa, Conduct Telecom and the Birchman Group. Together, the team is especially well suited to scale the Vumatel network and to meet the growing demand for access to high-speed residential broadband in South Africa.

Google just closed on a deal to buy a significant amount of clean energy from two new wind farms that will be built in Norway and Sweden to help power its data centers in Europe.

With this latest deal, Google now has purchased over 2.5 gigawatts of clean energy from around the world to help power its infrastructure that runs its computing services like search, advertising, and cloud computing. That’s the same amount of energy as that produced by two large nuclear plants.

That shows why Nigeria is so far in the curve. Google needs 2.5GW alone, Nigeria runs on 4GW total energy.

This is the roll call of the ten richest Nigerians.
CHECKOUT:

TOP 10 RICHEST PEOPLE IN NIGERIA 2016

10] ORJI UZOR KALU

AGE: 56

OCCUPATION: Diversified

CURRENT NET WORTH: $330 Million (2016)

NET WORTH IN 2014: $1 Billion

The bussiness tycoon dropped drastically in just too years 1billon to 330million dollars
Orji Uzor Kalu is the chairman of SLOK Holding and the Daily Sun and New Telegraph newspapers in Nigeria, who served as the governor of Abia State, Nigeria from May 29, 1999, to May 29, 2007. Prior to his election, he served as the chairman of the Borno Water Board and the chairman of the Cooperative and Commerce Bank Limited. Kalu was also a member of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and the chairman of the PPA Board of Trustees. He was the party’s candidate for president in the April 2007 general election.

9] MOHAMMED INDIMI

AGE: 67

OCCUPATION: Oil Business
CURRENT NET WORTH: $500 Million (2016)
NET WORTH 2015: $670 Million

Mohammed Indimi is the founder and chairman of Oriental Energy Resources, Limited. This
company has interest in the oil sector, especially in the Nigerian Upstream Oil and Gas sector. Mohammed Indimi founded his company in 1990 and has expanded the company’s portfolio that it now has assets in Offshore Nigeria. These assets include the Ebok Field (OML 67), Okwok Field (OML 67, and OML 115).
In the year 2014, Forbes listed Mohammed Indimi as the Africa’s number 37th richest man.

8] JIM OVIA

AGE: 62

OCCUPATION: Banking
CURRENT NET WORTH: $550 Million (2014)
NET WORTH IN 2015: $850 Million

Jim Ovia is the founder of Zenith Bank Group, a bank he is the largest individual shareholder with about 9.3% stake. He is also an investor in real estate across Nigeria. His other assets include Visafone, a mobile telecommunication outfit.
In August 2014, Jim Ovia commenced the construction of $1.5 billion petrochemical complex in Akwa-Ibom State Nigeria.Forbes listed Jim Ovia as the 30th richest man in Africa in the year 2014.

7] TONY .O ELUMELU

AGE: 53

OCCUPATION: Bussines tycoon: Investments

CURRENT NET WORTH: $700 Million (2016)

NET WORTH 2015: $1 Billion

The popular businessman dropped in worth this year due to the economic situation.
Tony O. Elumelu is an economist by training, a visionary entrepreneur and a philanthropist. Tony is the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, the
United Bank for Africa, Transcorp and founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. Elumelu holds the Nigerian national honours, the Commander of the Order of Nigeria (CON) andMember of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR). In 2011

6] THEOPHILUS DANJUMA

AGE: 73

OCCUPATION: Bussiness tycoon: oil

CURRENT NET WORTH: $750 Million (June 2016)

NET WORTH JUNE 2015: $1.8 Billion

The General dropped a lot in worth within the last 12 months from 1.8bilion to 750million
Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma GCON FSS psc is a Nigerian Jukun soldier, politician andmulti-millionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was Nigerian Army Chief of Army Staff from July 1975 to October 1979. He was also Minister of Defence under Olusegun Obasanjo. Danjuma is chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO).

5] ABDULSAMAD RABIU

AGE: 55

OCCUPATION: Business tycoon: cement, sugar, flour

CURRENT NET WORTH: $1.1 Billion(June 2016)

NET WORTH JUNE 2015: $1 Billion

He was ranked the 1577 richest person in the world with a net worth of $1.1billion.
AbdulSamad Isyaku Rabiu CON is a Nigerian businessman. His father, Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu was one of Nigeria’s foremost industrialists in the 1970s and 1980s. Abdul Samad is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests in manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture with a revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. He is also the chairman of Nigerian Bank of Industry.
In 2013, Forbes estimated Abdul Samad’s wealth at $1.2 billion, bringing him to the global billionaire’s club.

4] FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA

AGE: 65

OCCUPATION: Business tycoon: oil and printing industries

CURRENT NET WORTH: $1.75 billion(June 2016)

NET WORTH JUNE 2015: $2.2 billion

She was ranked 1121 on the list of the richest in the world with a net worth of $1.75billion.
Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian businesswoman who has replaced Isabel dos Santos as the richest African woman, and also is the richest woman of African descent in the world. She is a business tycoon involved in the fashion, oil and printing industries. She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited and Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited. Alakija is ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion As of 2015.

3] FEMI OTEDOLA

AGE: 53

OCCUPATION: Chairman of Forte Oil Plc

CURRENT NET WORTH: $1.8 Billion (June 2016)

NET WORTH JUNE 2015: $1.06 Billion

He was 1011 on the list of the richest in the world with a net worth of $1.8billion.
Femi Otedola is a Nigerian businessman. He is Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, and appeared as one of only two Nigerians (alongside Aliko Dangote) to appear on the 2009 Forbes list of 793 dollar-denominated billionaires in the world, with an estimated net worth of over US$1.2 billion. Femi Otedola is the Nigerian President and Chief Executive Officer of Zenon Petroleum and Gas limited.

2] MIKE ADENUGA

AGE: 63

OCCUPATION: Founder of Globacom, Chairman of Conoil

CURRENT NET WORTH: $7.4 billion (June 2016)

NET WORTH JUNE 2015: $4.1 billion

He was ranked 103 on the list of the richest in the world with a net worth of $10billion as at January 2016 but dropped to 7billion as at June.
Mike is a Nigerian business tycoon, and one of the richest black people in the world. His company Globacom controls Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator, he also owns stakes in theEquitorial Trust Bank and oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company). Forbes has estimated his net worth at $4.6 billion as of March 2013 which makes him second wealthiest Nigerian behind Aliko Dangote.

1] ALIKO DANGOTE

AGE: 59

OCCUPATION: Chairman & CEO of Dangote Group

CURRENT NET WORTH: US$14.5 billion (June 2016)

NET WORTH JUNE 2015: US$17.3 billion

He retained his number one position as the richest man in Africa. He was ranked 51 in the world with a net worth of $14.5 billion.
Dangote is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities. The company operates in Nigeria and other African countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Togo and Zambia. As of June 2015, he had an estimated net worth of 17 billion dollars.

Source:  T.I.N MAGAZINE, 2016

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today issued the Certificate of Return to Uche Ogah of the Peoples Democratic Party as the new Governor of Abia State.

Mr. Ogah received the certificate in Abuja from the Director of Publicity of INEC, Oluwole Osaze-Uzi.

On Monday a Federal High Court judge, Okon Abang,  ordered INEC and the Chief Judge of Abia state to ensure Ogah be made the new governor of the state after sacking the governor, Okezie Ikpeazu for presenting a forged tax clearance certificate at the PDP primaries in 2014. The judge ruled that Gov. Ikpeazu has been disqualified for willfully presenting fake documents to win the primaries.

The present governor responds

I have received with concern, report of the purported issuance of Certificate of Return to Mr. Uche Ogah by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as governor of Abia State, despite dependency of a notice of appeal and motion for stay of the orders made by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Our laws are clear on this matter. No one may be issued with a certificate of return let alone be sworn in as governor, when there is a subsisting appeal and application for stay.
I want to appeal to Abians to remain calm and law abiding in the face of this provocation, unless and until the appellant courts have conclusively resolve the appeal, the status remains, I am still the Governor of Abia State.

Dr Okezie Ikpeazu
Governor, Abia State