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Abuja, April 2, 2026 – President Bola Tinubu has appointed Prof. Shu’aibu Shehu Aliyu as the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). He is to replace Ahmed Galadima Aminu, who recently resigned to participate in the 2027 governorship election in Adamawa State. The president has also renewed the tenure of Sule Abdulaziz as the Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for a second and final term. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the Presidenton Information & Strategy, disclosed this in a statement on …

Washington, April 2, 2026 – The World Bank has approved a $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit for the Nigeria. The facility is for Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth (AGROW) Project aimed at increasing smallholder farmers productivity, strengthening agricultural value chains, and creating jobs while improving food and nutrition security. According to a statement by the Work Bank, agriculture remains Nigeria’s largest source of employment, yet low productivity, limited access to quality inputs, climate shocks, and weak market linkages for smallholder farmers have constrained its potential to generate better jobs …

Washington, April 2, 2026 – President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age has sharply raised stakes in a war now ​in its fifth week and crushed investors’ hopes for a swift end to a conflict that is squeezing oil supplies and fanning inflation. Global markets recoiled on ‌Thursday as war jitters over Iran deepened, with stocks and bonds sliding, oil surging and the dollar firming after Trump dashed hopes for clarity on when the Middle East conflict might end. Trump said that the U.S. military …

Washington, April 2, 2026 – President Trump declared Wednesday night that other countries should “take the lead” on the Strait of Hormuz in yet another signal that the US may aim to depart Iran with that economically vital issue unresolved. The latest message on the crucial waterway came during Trump’s address to the nation from the White House that was billed as “an important update on Iran.” The president reiterated plans to leave Iran in two to three weeks but offered little sense of how he will end the war. …

Abuja, April 2, 2026 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that 33 banks have meet its new minimum capital requirements The apex bank gave the confirmation on Wednesday in a statement jointly signed by Olubukola Akinwunmi, the CBN Director of Banking Supervision, and Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, the Acting CBN Director of Corporate Communications. It the programme, which began in March 2024, was successfully concluded on March 31, 2026, with the 33 banks raising N4.65 trillion in new equity funds. The CBN said the programme recorded strong …

Washington/Cairo, April 2, 2026 – Hopes for a swift end to the Middle East war faded on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran, in an eagerly anticipated address that disappointed investors hoping for clearer signals of a way out. Stocks slid and oil prices surged after Trump said military operations would be intensified in the next two to three weeks, offering no concrete timeline ‌for ending a conflict that sparked global energy supply chaos and has threatened to send the world economy into a tailspin. “I can …

Cotonou, April 1, 2026 – Ahead of Benin’s April 12 presidential election, the ECOWAS Long-Term Observation Mission has continued to observe pre-election activities in the country’s 12 administrative Districts and hold consultations with political stakeholders as a confidence-building mechanism and preventive diplomacy to ensure a peaceful and credible electoral process. In Cotonou, the Observers met with officials of the Union des Professionnels des Médias du Bénin (UPMB), the umbrella body that groups 15 media associations. The Union’s third Vice-President Achille Yonconfoun, and Secretary General Toussaint Kinninkpo, said that journalists in …

Lagos, April 1, 2026 – Nigeria’s digital banking revolution is raising the stakes for consumer trust. The question is whether the industry is rising to meet them. Nigeria’s relationship with digital banking has changed almost beyond recognition in a decade.  Where cash once dominated every transaction, from the roadside market to the corporate boardroom, mobile apps, instant transfers and USSD codes have reshaped how tens of millions of Nigerians interact with their money every single day. The figures speak for themselves: point-of-sale transactions surged to a record N18 trillion in …

Washington, April 1, 2026 – As President Donald Trump looked on during an unprecedented visit to the Supreme Court, a majority of justices appeared skeptical of his administration’s bid to end birthright citizenship during arguments in the landmark case Wednesday. Most of the court’s conservatives and all three liberal members raised doubts about the constitutionality of Trump’s Day 1 executive order that would limit American citizenship at birth only to those born to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. It would also impose sweeping changes for all new parents and current …

Brasilia/Sao Paulo, April 1, 2026 – After struggling for years to track and punish deforestation across the world’s largest rainforest, Brazil is recruiting new allies in the battle to protect the Amazon: bank managers. A new rule taking effect on Wednesday requires banks to check if rural loan applicants have any deforestation on their farms using government tools that ​provide data about them based on satellite imagery. If bank managers detect any clearing since 2019 in the Amazon or woodlands, farmers applying for government-funded rural credit ‌must show proof of …