All Posts in "Day: March 15, 2023"

FG, World Bank partner to train technical teachers on innovative skills

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

 

The Federal Government and the World Bank have collaborated to improve the knowledge of teachers in the federal technical colleges in the country with the 21st century skills that will digitilise the students.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Andrew David Adejo disclosed this while declaring open a workshop on the development of a Structure for the in-service training of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teachers and instructors on Wednesday in Abuja.

Adejo, who was represented by the Director of Technology and Science Education, Mrs. Grace Jakko, said there is the utmost importance to strengthen the technical schools with the aim to increase the availability of competent and motivated technical teachers and instructors.

He explained that the workshop come on the heels of the realisation that the 21st century presents a radically different economy and society, which is having profound implications generally on education and more specifically on skills development in Technical and Vocational Education.

He said that the skills development system in Nigeria must therefore, adapt to the emerging trends of globalisation for economic viability especially in our relevant skills for the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

According to him, “All the federal technical teachers in the 27 technical schools across the federation will be trained and captured in this component and the five states that are participating in the IDEAS Project, each of the state has three technical colleges and all the teachers in these technical colleges will be captured.

“I’m very certain that we except so much from the teachers, the administrators and the project implementors.”

National Project Coordinator, IDEAS Project, Blessing Ehi Ogwu said the purpose of the project is to development a comprehensive structure for training technical teachers in Nigeria.

Mrs. Ogwu expressed confidence that collective knowledge and expertise of the participants will help create a framework that can effectively prepare technical teachers to meet the challenges of the future.

She also disclosed that they target to equip about 5000 people with technical skills to meet up with the market demand, adding that technical education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our society.

She said it’s imperative that we have well-trained teachers who can effectively impart technical knowledge to our students.

She, however, noted that designing an effective training program for technical teachers is not an easy task, saying it requires careful planning, coordination and collaboration among various stakeholders.

On her part, a World Bank consultant, Dr Mistura Rufai, disclosed that the entire IDEAS Project is about $200 million and that teachers training is one of the components of that project with about $25 million to $30 million will be spent on training teachers in Nigeria.

Dr Rufai however said though the teachers training has not started but they want to put in place some structure to ensure that when they start, they kickoff the training this year.

The project is for TVET teachers in Nigeria wether it’s being implemented in the state or not, it’s going to cover all the six geopolitical zones, all the states in the country.

“Already we have 38 technical colleges that have been equipped with workshops across the country this is one of the things we are going to leverage on.

“These schools are going to be used as training centres for teachers, we are also looking at boosting the capacity of tertiary institutions that are already providing training for teachers, look at how we can up skill and digitalize their training. There is also plan to up skilled these tertiary institutions providing training to teachers.

“We work with the institution to ensure that the equipment they are getting are 21st century equipment that are market relevant.”

The World Bank consultant said that they wanted the teachers to be trained with the skill demand in the market so that when the students graduatee with their skills for them to be market relevant and provide the skills that the market wants.”

Ben Akpan, a facilitator at the workshop, said the essence of the world bank is to enable the federal government to take ownership of the project so they would have acquired the know-how and continue the project.

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2023 in Education 0
Nigeria, Israel tightens partnership in entrepreneurship, others

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

 

Nigeria and Israel have commenced collaborative moves to deepen partnership in innovation, entrepreneurship and production with the aim of harnessing Nigeria’s huge potentials for its technological development.

The two nations agreed on these when the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Michael Freeman, paid a working visit to the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund,TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono ,at the Fund’s Headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking during the visit, Ambassador Freeman expressed Israel’s desire to work with Nigeria in the area of technology and entrepreneurship development, describing Nigeria as a country of huge potentials due to its teeming youth population.

While describing Israel as a leading country in technology and innovation, Ambassador Freeman disclosed that 45% of Israel’s GDP comes from innovation and entrepreneurship start-ups, as the country’s major economic sectors are involved in high technology and industrial manufacturing.

He stated that with Nigeria’s huge potential, if same could be achieved, or even a 30% GDP addition to Nigeria coming from technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, it would hasten Nigeria’s economic development.

The Israeli Ambassador further stated that Nigeria possesses the potential to be a destination for businesses if innovative developments are harnessed, particularly through innovation incubation hubs.

This, he said, would provide young Nigerians who have entrepreneurship potentials but lacked expertise an avenue to be mentored and guided in the right direction.

Mr. Freeman also spoke about the Innovation Fellowship for Aspiring Inventors and Researchers (i-Fair) programme, an initiative borne out of the need to raise a generation of innovators, inventors and researchers in Nigeria; especially among the youths. He noted that the Embassy has worked closely with the office of the Vice President on the programme, which has spanned across two editions and also called for stronger partnership with the Fund in the upcoming Third Edition.

In his remarks, Arc. Sonny S.T Echono expressed appreciation to the Israeli Ambassador for his visit and commitment towards strengthening ties with TETFund in Nigeria’s quest for technological and economic development.

While expressing excitement at the numerous benefits derivable from the partnership, he stated that “If innovation and entrepreneurship can provide 45% of Israel GDP, one can only imagine what 10 0r 20% will do to Nigeria’s GDP with our population”.

According to Echono, there is a global consensus that Nigerians are hardworking and intelligent if provided with the right incentives, and one can envision what can be unlocked through technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2023 in Foreign 0
Googles introduces ‘Generative AI’ features to over 3bn users

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

 

Search engine platform Google has  introduced a new artificial intelligent, AI-based capabilities to Nigerian users and the rest of three hundred billion users across the world.

Vice President, Product, Google Workspace, Mr. Johanna Wright, who disclosed this on Wednesday, stated that the new features which will start with Generative AI will enable users to work smartly.

Wright said: “As we embark on this next journey, we will be bringing these new generative-AI experiences to trusted testers on a rolling basis throughout the year, before making them available publicly.

With these features, you’ll be able to: draft, reply, summarize, and prioritize your Gmail; brainstorm, proofread, write, and rewrite in Docs and bring your creative vision to life with auto-generated images, audio, and video in Slides.

“You can go from raw data to insights and analysis via auto completion, formula generation, and contextual categorization in Sheets, then generate new backgrounds and capture notes in Meet and it also enables workflows for getting things done in chat.”

He explained that the first set of AI features will include: embedding generative AI in Docs and Gmail to help people get started writing.

He said: “Whether you are a busy human resource, HR professional who needs to create customized job descriptions, or a parent drafting the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party, Workspace saves you the time and effort of writing that first version.

“Simply type a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated for you. With your collaborative AI partner, you can continue to refine and edit, getting more suggestions as needed.

“Generative AI in Docs helping to write a job description. Finding the right tone and style can also be tricky at times. Perhaps you’re applying for a new job, or writing to a new supplier in a more traditional industry, and you need to adopt a more formal tone in your email.

“Or you’ve jotted down a few bullets on your phone from a recent meeting and want to transform them into a more polished summary to share with your team. For these common scenarios and many more, we’re adding new generative AI capabilities to help you rewrite.

“And if you’re in the mood to let AI try out a new playful voice altogether, you’ll be able to hit the “I’m feeling lucky” option in Gmail. Generative AI in Gmail formalizing notes into a polished email.

“It Keeps users in control. As we have experimented with generative AI ourselves, one thing is clear: AI is no replacement for the ingenuity, creativity, and smarts of real people. Sometimes the AI gets things wrong, sometimes it delights you with something offbeat, and oftentimes it requires guidance.

“With all this in mind, we’re designing our products in accordance with Google’s AI Principles that keep the user in control, letting AI make suggestions that you’re able to accept, edit, and change. We’ll also deliver the corresponding administrative controls so that IT is able to set the right policies for their organization,” Wright added.

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2023 in News 0
Inflation rate high by 21.91% in February -NBS

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said inflation rate rose by 0.09 percentage point to 21.91 percent in February 2023 from 21.82 percent in January 2023.

This represents the second consecutive monthly rise in headline inflation rate this year since December 2022.

NBS disclosed this today in its Consumers Price Index, CPI report for February 2023 saying that the food inflation index also increased slightly to 24.35 percent in February 2023 from 24.32 percent in January 2023 due to increase in the prices of some food items.

The bureau said:”In February 2023, the headline inflation rate rose to 21.91 percent compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate which was 21.82 percent.

“Looking at the trend, the February 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.09 percentage points when compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate.

“Similarly, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.21 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2022, which was 15.7 percent .

“This shows that the headline
inflation rate (YoY basis) increased in February 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., February 2022).

“The contributions of items on a class basis to the increase in the headline index are presented, thus: bread and cereal (21.67 per cent), actual and imputed rent (7.74 percent), potatoes, yam and Other tubers (6.06 percent), vegetable. (5.44 percent) and meat (4.78 percent).

“On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the percentage change in the All-Items Index in February 2023 was 1.71 percent, which was 0.16 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in January 2023 (1.87 percent). “This means that in February 2023, on average, the general price level was 0.16 percent lower relative to January 2023.

“The increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yielded the headline index.”
On food inflation, the bureau said: “The food inflation rate in February 2023 was 24.35 percent on YoY basis; which was
7.24 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2022 (17.1 percent).

“The rise in food inflation was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, fruits, meat, vegetable, and food products.
“On MoM basis, the food inflation rate in February 2023 was 1.9 percent, which was
0.18% points lower compared to the rate recorded in January 2023 (2.08 percent). “

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2023 in News 0
Merger & Acquistion deal increase by 23℅ in 2022

By Favour Nnabugwu
A total of Merger & Acquistion, M&A, 242 deals were concluded globally by the end of June 2022 against 197 a year earlier, increasing by 23 per cent. After a slowdown in 2021 according to Atlas Magazine
M&A operations have also picked up in the Middle East and Africa with 16 deals signed in the first half of 2022 compared to 12 in the same period of 202.
 In Africa, most buyers are from the continent: four from Côte d’Ivoire, three from South Africa and two from Kenya. In Asia Pacific, the number of completed transactions jumped from 24 to 27 during the same period.
According to Clyde & Co, insurers have focused on external growth opportunities to address the severe economic pressures of inflation, rising energy costs and recession.
The number of deals valued at more than $1 billion remained relatively stable at 13 in the first half of 2022 compared to 14 a year earlier.
With a value of $7.7 billion, the acquisition of the US insurer Athene Holding by Apollo Global Management is considered the largest transaction of the year so far. At the beginning of 2022, the M&A market seemed to be building on the momentum of 2021.
The continuation of a favorable environment should logically lead to the same results: significant resources, high level of available capital, good financial health, still low debt costs, willingness of strategic players to accelerate their transformation and search for new growth levers.
Unfortunately, the outbreak of a serious geopolitical crisis in February 2022 has strained the entire global economic sphere. As a result, the M&A market sustained a sharp 29 per cent drop in total deal value in the first quarter of 2022.
According to Dealogic’s data, M&A transactions account for a volume of $1.010 billion compared to $1.430 billion, at the end of March 2021. The decline is due to market volatility related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and disruption of supply chains. Notwithstanding this difficult environment, specialists expect M&A activity in the insurance market to keep up the momentum in 2022, with the number of transactions expected to exceed 420 worldwide.
Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2023 in Insurance 0
Speech Delivered by Dr. Akinwumi A Adesina President, African Development Bank Group At the Official Launch of the Investment in Digital and Creative Industries (I-DICE) – State House Conference Center, Abuja – Tuesday, 14 March 2023.

Your Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

Your Excellencies, State Governors,

Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed

Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo

Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami

Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed

Honourable Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Adeleke Mamora

Your Excellencies, Ambassadors

The President of the Islamic Development Bank, Muhammed Al Jasser

The Chief Executive Officer of the Agence Francaise de Developpement, Remy Rioux,

The Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry, Nigeria, Olukayode Pitan

Director Generals, Executive Secretaries, and heads of government agencies,

Young business leaders of Nigeria,

Youth entrepreneurs,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

I am delighted to join you today for the official launch of the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (I-DICE). I wish to commend the Federal Government for this initiative. The initiative is timely, strategic, and transformative as it will build the ecosystems to support more competitive entrepreneurs powered by digital technologies.

I am very proud of the African Development Bank Group’s leading role in this initiative, which has the potential to generate millions of jobs for Nigeria’s youths. The urgency of leveraging the implementation of i-DICE for sustainable job creation, and economic transformation, is now.

With over 70% of Nigeria’s population under the age of 30, Nigeria has one of the greatest assets in the world. Some would call this a challenge to be managed. I call it an opportunity to be unleashed. It’s time to do things differently.

Yes, we gather to launch the initiative, but what we are really launching is more than this initiative. We are launching hope for the youth. We are launching platforms that will enhance the ability and capacity of Nigeria’s youth to thrive. We are launching the creation of millions of jobs. We are retooling Nigeria to be more competitive in an increasingly digital world. We are creating hope for a new Nigeria, driven by the power of the youth.

What Nigeria does with its youthful population will determine the future of Nigeria. Its future in terms of first-rate education to make them competitive. Its future in terms of skills to fill jobs today and create jobs of tomorrow. Its future in turning its dynamic, talented, and entrepreneurial youths into revenue assets.

It is time to create youth-based wealth for Nigeria. Youth-based wealth will rapidly expand the creation of jobs, expand the fiscal space with new sources of taxes, and support a more inclusive Nigerian economy, now and well into the future.

That is why, shortly after I was elected President of the African Development Bank, we launched the Jobs for Youth in Africa strategy. We project that the program will create 25 million new jobs by 2026 that focus on practical and high-impact solutions.

We are making great strides.

From 2016 to 2021, the African Development Bank supported the creation of over 12 million jobs, 3.1 million of which were direct and nine million indirect. This has been made possible through our high employment impact operations and special initiatives in key sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and financial sectors, as well as in the digital and creative industries.

Additionally, the Bank’s Coding for Employment program has provided onsite centres and digital training platforms that have equipped 23,200 youth from 45 countries with the skills needed to succeed in the digital job market.

We have invested $2 billion in 37 tech projects to improve national and regional broadband infrastructure, foster private investment, and support digital enterprises.

And the African Development Bank is currently designing and will soon roll out Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks, new financial institutions that will build robust financial ecosystems around the businesses of young people across Africa.

That is why we like I-DICE: it is visionary, sees the future and prepares Nigeria for it.

That future is here. Every aspect of life is being transformed digitally. Think of digital financial services for money transfers, payments, banking, and insurance.

Think of e-health with rapid growth of digital platforms that aggregate services of medical doctors, pharmacists, and diagnostic service providers.

Think of e-government for better and more accessible service delivery to citizens.

Think of education, with digital platforms that connect teachers, tutors, and delivers open digital curriculum for enhanced and easily accessible learning for students.

When you think digital, think global.

It is estimated that the size of digital global health will expand from $217 billion in 2022 to over $1 trillion by 2031, an incredible growth.

The size of Africa’s digital economy will rise from $115 billion today to $712 billion by 2050. Most of this growth is already being driven by four countries, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt.

The expansion of the digital economy is driven by several factors including the rapid growth in the youth population, the ubiquitous nature of access to mobile phones especially smart phones, increasing investments in supportive digital infrastructure, and the spark in digital entrepreneurship and innovations during the economic challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

These digital trends hold great promise to help create massive number of jobs. For example, estimates by Endeavor (2022) show that expanding digital infrastructure by 10% will lead to a 2.5% annual growth in GDP in Africa. Furthermore, expanding access to the internet in Africa from the current 33% to 75% can help create 44 million jobs, including 3 million jobs in online services by 2025.

We are already witnessing in Nigeria the power of digital technologies, tools, and platforms. Nigeria currently has 5 out of the 11 digital companies that have reached the status of unicorn with market valuation of $1 billion. Names that come to mind include Jumia, Interswitch, Opay, Flutterwave and Andela, mainly in the fintech space.

Nigeria’s poor and fragmented cargo transport system is getting transformed gradually, thanks to Kobo 360 a digital logistics platform launched by two young Nigerians, Obi Ozor, and Ife Oyedele. It is incredible that between 2018 and 2020 the Kobo360 platform has connected 50,000 trucks and truck drivers and helped to move freight worth $200 billion (Source: Endeavor, 2022).

The creative industry in Nigeria is growing rapidly, in line with similar trend in Africa. The creative industry in Africa generated over $14 billion in revenue annually between 2015 and 2018 and is projected to help create close to 3 million jobs by 2025. Nigeria has yet to fully tap into and unleash the power of its creative industry which still needs efforts to promote content creators, supportive infrastructure, and access to financing for the film, media, fashion, visual arts, tourism, hospitality, and entertainment industries.

The I-DICE program will help to fill some of these critical gaps by supporting enterprise and skills development, access to demand-driven digital and creative skills, entrepreneurship skills, ICT enabled infrastructure, as well as expanding access to finance.

The African Development Bank is pleased to be a partner with the Federal Government of Nigeria on the $618 million I-DICE program. The African Development Bank is providing $170 million in financing to the program.

I am delighted that we have been able to mobilize additional co-financing of $217 million towards the program. I wish to thank our partners, the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) that is providing $100 million; and the Islamic Development Bank that is providing $70 million. I also thank the Bank of Industry and the Federal Government of Nigeria for providing $45 million in counterpart funding. Through the independent fund managers for I-DICE, the program will raise an additional capital of between $131 million and $262 million.

The I-DICE program is set to be a real game changer.

It will help to create 6.1 million direct and indirect jobs and equip more than 175,000 young people with the technology and creative skills needed to drive innovation and foster entrepreneurship.

To start with, I-DICE will support 451 digital technology start-ups, 226 creative enterprises and 75 enterprise support organisations.

The benefits of the program to Nigeria’s economy are projected to be worth $6.4 billion.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to express my profound appreciation for the Federal Government of Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to the I-DICE program. H.E. President Buhari’s personal endorsement of the Program in June 2022 is a great manifestation of the high political ownership of Nigeria’s innovation agenda.

I also highly commend the dynamic leadership of the Steering Committee of the Advisory Council on Innovation and Creativity chaired by H.E. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that has spearheaded the design of I-DICE. The enactment of the Start-up Act in October 2022 provides a strong boost to the Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts to enhance the enabling environment for the development of start-ups, as well as position Nigeria as Africa’s leading digital technology centre.

Thank you, Your Excellency Mr. Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo for your exceptional leadership and foresight in shaping the design of the I-DICE Program. There are many things you will be remembered for, but I can tell you that nothing will be more than your unrelenting passion for the youth and your drive to ensure that you prepare them for the digital world. Thank for your outstanding leadership and service for our nation.

With the I-DICE, H.E. President Buhari, yourself, Mr. Vice President, and the Federal Government would leave behind a legacy for the future growth and dominance of Nigeria in the digital and creative industries, in Africa, and globally.

Together, let us use I-DICE to unleash an ecosystem that will drive the emergence of more dynamic and competitive youth entrepreneurs from Nigeria.

Let us unleash the wealth creating potential of the digital and creative industries.

Let us foster the emergence of a stronger Nigeria.

A Nigeria, built on the dynamism and creativity of its young people.

Let us bring the future of the youth into the present.

May God Bless Nigeria!

Patoma Admin by — March 15, 2023 in Banking & Finance 0