Bharti Airtel is moving to strengthen its control over its African operations with a proposed $2.9 billion stake consolidation in Airtel Africa, as the group positions itself ahead of a planned mobile-money initial public offering (IPO). The plan, disclosed by Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal, seeks to raise the company’s ownership in its African unit to as much as 90% through a share swap arrangement, according to reports cited by Bloomberg. The move underscores growing confidence in Airtel Africa’s long-term prospects as mobile connectivity and digital financial services continue to expand rapidly across 14 African markets. Mittal described Africa…
Author: Elvis Eromosele
Facebook has launched the sixth edition of its pan-African “Made by Africa, Loved by the World” campaign, with this year’s spotlight focused on African cinema and storytelling ahead of Africa Day on May 25. The 2026 campaign, themed “Where Stories Spark Community,” features a five-part vodcast series highlighting internationally recognised actors and filmmakers from Nigeria and South Africa. According to Meta, the series will be hosted by popular African podcast platforms I Said What I Said from Nigeria and Because We Said So from South Africa. Speaking on the campaign, Kezia Anim-Addo, Communications Director for Africa, Middle East and Turkey…
The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos State Chapter, has announced a strategic collaboration with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) aimed at strengthening professional development, ethical communication and capacity building within Nigeria’s organised private sector. The framework for the partnership was established during a courtesy visit by the leadership of the NIPR Lagos Chapter, led by Samuel Ayetutu, PhD, fnipr, its Chairman, to the President and Leye Kupoluyi, Chairman of Council of LCCI. The collaboration will focus on organising specialised training programmes, workshops and professional engagements designed to enhance the communication competencies of entrepreneurs, corporate executives,…
The National Pension Commission has granted Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) a special regulatory waiver to invest pension assets in the planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals. The approval, contained in a circular dated May 13, 2026, temporarily relaxes some of the investment restrictions that normally guide pension fund investments in equities. PenCom described the decision as a one-off exception granted because of the refinery’s strategic importance to Nigeria’s economy and its strong investment outlook. Under existing pension investment rules, PFAs are typically required to invest only in companies with established profitability and dividend payment history.…
By Anthony Ubani There is a difference between preparing for rain and building your house inside a flood. What the Tinubu administration has done with the 2026 budget is the latter. It has set aside ₦135.22 billion for post-election litigation. Not for roads. Not for hospitals. Not for the 20 million out-of-school children roaming our streets. But for lawsuits. For courtroom battles. For the legal chaos that follows a broken election. Let that number sit with you for a moment. ₦135.22 billion. That is not a typo. It is a confession. This allocation, buried like a shameful secret inside the…
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate is projected to rise to 16.42 per cent year-on-year in April 2026 as persistent increases in food and energy prices continue to pressure consumer costs, according to a new report by the Financial Market Dealers Association. The forecast, released on May 13, is based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization. FMDA also projected month-on-month inflation at 2.78 per cent in April, lower than the 4.18 per cent recorded in March but still elevated compared to the broader disinflation trend seen since the second half of…
Nigeria is set to complete its long-delayed transition from analogue to digital broadcasting as the Federal Government has scheduled June 17, 2026, for the official nationwide launch of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project. Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, disclosed this during a visit to the facilities of NIGCOMSAT at the Obasanjo Space Centre in Abuja. He said the DSO platform is now fully ready for commissioning, describing the milestone as a key achievement under President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda for the broadcast industry. Idris said the completion of the digital migration marks a turning point…
A major push to expand electricity access in Nigeria has been unveiled, as the Rural Electrification Agency, in partnership with First City Monument Bank, UK PACT, Barton Heyman Limited, and ARM Harith Infrastructure Investment Limited, announced a $188 million financing initiative targeting 191 megawatts (MW) of distributed solar energy. The initiative is anchored on the newly launched Green Finance Investment Facility (GFiF), a blended finance platform designed to mobilise private and institutional capital into Nigeria’s distributed renewable energy sector. It also supports the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) programme, a national effort to expand electricity access through mini-grids…
Nigeria recorded about $112 billion in foreign exchange (FX) inflows over the past 12 months, according to a report by the Financial Markets Dealers Association, showing a major shift in the structure of dollar inflows into the economy. The report revealed that autonomous inflows, FX sourced from private capital flows outside the direct control of the Central Bank of Nigeria, accounted for 64.94 per cent of total inflows, cementing their dominance in Nigeria’s FX market. Autonomous inflows rose to $72.91 billion in 2025, compared to $59.29 billion in 2024 and $41.80 billion in 2023, reflecting a near doubling in just…
Mr Olufemi Otedola, First HoldCo Plc Chairman, has deepened his investment in the financial services group after acquiring additional shares worth about N43.41 billion on the Nigerian Exchange. The transaction, executed on May 13, 2026, involved the purchase of 549,535,653 shares at an average price of N79 per unit. Following the deal, Otedola’s shareholding in First HoldCo rose from 8,055,314,486 units to 8,604,850,139 units, increasing his stake from 18.12 per cent to 19.35 per cent of the company’s 44.45 billion outstanding shares. He now ranks as the second-largest shareholder in the group, behind RC Investment Management Ltd, which holds a…