234Finance locked down some serious banking muscle for their Mentor Matchup Challenge 7.0 event, getting Zenith Bank to anchor the whole thing with Providus Bank, VFD Group, Fidelity Bank, and Access Bank jumping on board. The platform is pushing this continental free trade agenda by connecting African startups with actual money people who can write checks, and the banks are showing up to talk about credit facilities and investment strategies that work for the African market.
The two-day conference is happening at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, and it's basically set up so entrepreneurs can pitch directly to financial institutions while getting mentorship on the side. The whole point is fixing the capital access problem that keeps...
Dangote Refinery is cranking out 50 million liters of gas per day through the holidays to make sure nobody gets stranded at the pump. Aliko Dangote said they're sitting on decent stockpiles and pumping out 40 to 45 million liters daily, and they want regulators to swing by and verify the numbers because people keep saying local refineries can't handle the demand. The company invited NMDPRA officials to camp out at the facility and check the production stats, and they're even down to publish daily output figures online.
The refinery boss mentioned they're working with petroleum distributors to beef up delivery systems with more CNG trucks, and the whole operation is getting expanded to handle 1.4 million barrels per day with over...
House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas rolled through Zaria and basically told the old Congress for Progressive Change crew they need to get their act together for the 2027 presidential run. He was there launching a Tinubu support group for Northern Kaduna, and he kept hyping up how the former CPC people are still pulling weight in government with governors, around 30 House reps, and seven ministers currently in office.
Abbas swore in a bunch of officials like Abubakar Hayatu as chairman and Umar Tsaibu as secretary, and he promised the group he would back them up however they needed. He mentioned that similar groups for the other Kaduna districts are getting set up pretty soon.
Wole Soyinka dropped by his old school and told the government they need to lock down campus security because kids are getting snatched left and right. The Nobel Prize winner said this whole mess has gotten bad enough that security awareness should become an actual class students take, and he thinks regular people need to pitch in rather than just leaving it to government agencies.
The literary legend pointed out that everyone from farmers to teachers to traditional chiefs is getting hit by this wave of violence, and the constant fear is messing with students' ability to learn anything. Meanwhile, the alumni association president praised the state governor for letting old boys take over management of the school, which apparently helped...
OPEC locked Nigeria into the same 1.5 million barrels per day production cap through the end of 2026, basically keeping things frozen for another two years. The oil cartel made the call at their ministerial meetup and said they'll keep monitoring market conditions through their joint committee while using a new mechanism to figure out sustainable production levels for 2027 baselines.
Meanwhile, eight OPEC+ countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to pause their planned output bumps for the first quarter of 2026 because of seasonal demand patterns, though they might gradually bring back up to 1.65 million barrels per day if market conditions improve. The group is meeting monthly to review how everyone's doing with their quotas and...
Nigeria's airline scene is about to get pretty chaotic as three new carriers are jumping in right before the holidays. Binani Airlines is kicking things off this week and apparently their flights are already sold out on the website. The other two startups are Pioneer Airlines, backed by Bayelsa State and K-Impex Airlines from some business people up north.
The new competition should drive ticket prices down since there'll be way more seats available, and passengers are hyped because they can finally shop around for better deals. Binani is the first Nigerian airline with a woman owner and a female CEO, while K-Impex just picked up four Embraer jets that seat 98 people each. Pioneer Airlines is targeting oil communities in the Niger...
Nigeria's 5G rollout has been kind of a flop despite all the buzz, with only three percent of internet users actually on it. The Nigerian Communications Commission says most people are still stuck on 4G and 2G networks, and globally, the situation isn't much better for poorer nations, where just four percent have access compared to 84 percent in wealthy countries.
The government raked in over $820 million from selling spectrum licenses to MTN, Mafab Communications, and Airtel between late 2021 and early 2023. Around 6 billion people worldwide are online as of this year, but the International Telecommunication Union points out that someone in a rich country burns through nearly eight times more mobile data than someone in a poor one...
Saudi Arabia wants to team up with Nigerian and African startups to pump up food production and drive innovation across the region. Abdulaziz Alsaif, who serves as Vice Chairman at Entrepreneurship Vision, said the Kingdom is opening doors for African founders who need venture capital to break into Middle Eastern markets. He pointed out that Saudi authorities see massive potential in African entrepreneurs, especially those working on agriculture tech, and they're ready to back ventures that can scale up with proper funding and market access.
The country has been transforming its own startup scene under Vision 2030, and Alsaif mentioned they're down to share what they've learned with Nigerian innovators through knowledge swaps, joint...
Energy & LLP just bought into Falcon Corporation after BKM & S Konsult bailed on their stake, and the deal apparently signals that someone still believes Nigeria's gas infrastructure can actually work. Deputy managing director Audrey Joe-Ezigbo said the cash injection helps Falcon push ahead with pipeline expansion for industrial clients, plus a big LPG storage facility down in Rivers State that has been in the works.
Founder Joe Ezigbo called it more than just money changing hands because the partnership backs Nigeria's push to burn more domestic gas instead of flaring it or exporting everything. CFO Nelson Walter confirmed regulatory approvals came through from NMDPRA and the competition watchdog, and EverCorp's strategy guy, Tsola...
