Qatar Airways is to launch a fabulous three-day sale tomorrow, offering savings of up to 25 per cent on fares from cities across Africa to destinations around the world.

The Federal Government is indebted to Lagos State to the tune of N59 billion, being the money the state government said it had spent so far on rehabilitation of federal roads in the state.

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai yesterday described as false and fairy tales, reports by Wikileaks that he influenced the award of contracts worth $50m to the brother of Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Nigeria’s connectivity index score card went all-time low to 1.09 per cent, according to a recent study, known as Connectivity Scorecard, by a Fellow of the London Business School, Professor Leonard Waverman.

South African retailer Woolworths said it plans to enter into partnership with some Nigerian investors in its bid to invest in Nigeria. It said it will open 16 new stores in other Africa countries this fiscal year as part of the group’s plan to expand further on the fast-growing continent. Woolworths, which sells high-end food and some clothing, already operates 44 stores in 10 countries that include Botswana and Kenya.

Another factor that must be overcome is the fact that most entrepreneurs in the country reside within the city of Abuja. Business enterprise needs to be spread about the country rather than in just the city. When starting a technology-based business an entrepreneur can reside anywhere in the country that there is an internet connection and operate a business. However, other sectors are in need of entrepreneurs as well.

The on-going privatisation programme of the federal government has come under criticisms in recent times, particularly, since the decision of the Senate to probe the process that led to the sale of public stakes in some of the enterprises that have failed to meet the objectives of privatisation.

By Emma Ujah
The Joint Managing Director of Delta Steel Company Limited, DSC, Ovwian- Aladja Dr. Sam Nwabuokei has said that its privatisation followed due process and warned that moves by interests groups to reverse the privatisation of the company would hurt its workers and the host community, in particular and the nation’s economy in general.

In line with the federal government economic transformation agenda through promotion of maximum utilisation of abundant mineral resources in the country, mining operators under the aegis of Progressive Miners Empowerment Association has said the mining sector would require capital injection of N200 billion to tap the potentials in the sector.

It was obvious from the beginning. Only just that the regulators and operators were not humble enough to accept it, that the framework for microfinance banking in Nigeria is faulty and cannot achieve its objectives. This reality was made the more and undeniably obvious last week by the revealing and moving presentation of Professor Mohammad Yunus, the founder of the first microfinance bank called Grameen Bank.