President Kagame and Tony Elumelu to headline Young Entrepreneurship Day at the Africa 2017 Forum

President Kagame and Tony Elumelu to headline Young Entrepreneurship Day at the Africa 2017 Forum
The Young Entrepreneurship Day will bring together some of Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs with investors and new partners to help them scale up their ideas and businesses and the most successful start-ups will gain access to a deal room and also a one week tailored course at Stanford

H. E. Paul Kagame President, Republic of Rwanda.

Tony O. Elumelu, CON. Chairman and Founder, Heirs Holdings and Tony Elumelu Foundation.

CAIRO, Egypt, November 8, 2017/APO Group/ -- HE Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and chairman of Smart Africa, and Tony Elumelu, Founder of the $100m Entrepreneurship Programme, will be headlining the Young Entrepreneurship Day (YED) at the Africa 2017 Forum (www.BusinessForAfricaForum.com).
The YED is a new addition to the Forum and will take place on the eve of Africa 2017, on the 7th December. It has been designed to connect some of Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs and also give them exposure to investors, incubators and accelerators as well as to partake in workshops that will give them the skills and tools to scale up their businesses.

World Bank’s Praise of Nigeria’s Economic Reforms

World Bank’s Praise of Nigeria’s Economic Reforms
Nigeria’s recent ranking by World Bank, evidence of productive collaboration anchored by FG's ease of doing business initiative

ABUJA, Nigeria, November 8, 2017/APO Group/ -- Remarks by the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo San at the Ease of Doing Business Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum at the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Hall, Abuja on November 7, 2017:
Protocols

I must congratulate the PEBEC team and the reform leaders in particular for this important milestone in the journey to making Nigeria one of the most attractive destinations for business in the world.

Nollywood and the French Connection

Nollywood and the French Connection

The emergence of Nollywood, the phenomenal Nigerian video film industry which is the largest in the world by the production of home videos has generated diverse interests and pursuits in many reports and studies since the New York Times coined the name “Nollywood” in 2002. But many people are ignorant of the important and significant role played by the French government before the support of other foreign governments and even before the financial support of the Nigerian government in the sustainable development of Nollywood.

The leading filmmakers whose films have contributed to the global phenomenon of Nollywood have been supported with grants from the Fonds Images Afrique of the Cooperation and Cultural Action Department in the French Embassy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France.
Majority of them are notable members of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN) when Monsieur Pierre Barrot was the Regional Cultural Attaché in charge of audiovisual media in the French Embassy in Nigeria (2002-2006). He had a good official rapport with the association and got the financial support of the French government. He saw the making of Nollywood which he gave his eyewitness accounts in Nollywood: The Video Phenomenon in Nigeria, one of the first books on Nollywood he coauthored and co edited, published by the Indiana University Press in February 16, 2009.

Monsieur Pierre Barrot.

“Excellent, attractive, and valuable . . . the phenomenon has become so huge and the videos have spread so widely in Africa and elsewhere that they have begun to attract a good deal of attention. This book is a superb introduction to the subject.”
~ Prof. Jonathan Haynes, Long Island University.

Aliko Dangote Foundation Pledges US$100 Million To Fight Malnutrition in Nigeria

PRESS RELEASE
Aliko Dangote Foundation Joins Global Leaders to Fight Malnutrition - Pledges US$100 Million for Nigeria

The Aliko Dangote Foundation is on a mission to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition by 60 percent in the most needy areas of Nigeria, specifically the North East and North West
LAGOS, Nigeria, November 6, 2017/ -- The recently concluded Global Nutrition Summit 2017 (http://APO.af/kpSRbS), held in Milan, Italy, convened governments, international agencies, foundations, civil society organisations and businesses to accelerate the global response to malnutrition, an underlying cause of nearly half of all global child deaths.

A major highlight of the Summit was the pledge by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to invest US$100 Million over five years to tackle malnutrition in the worst-affected parts of Nigeria. The Aliko Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic organization of Aliko Dangote, founder and Executive Chairman of the Dangote Group (http://Dangote.com), Africa’s largest homegrown conglomerate.

Nigerian Startups Among 20 Top African Start-Ups for World Bank Group Digital Acceleration Program

PRESS RELEASE
20 Top African Start-Ups Enter World Bank Group Digital Acceleration Program

Selected from a pool of over 900 applicants, these start-ups specialize in digital solutions for the African market, including fin-tech, transportation, health care, education, human resources, and B2B
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, November 6, 2017/ -- Twenty of the most promising African digital start-ups will take part in the XL Africa (www.XL-Africa.com) residency, the flagship initiative of the business accelerator launched last April by the World Bank Group’s (www.WorldBank.org) infoDev program. From Nov. 6-17 in Cape Town, the entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to learn from their mentors and peers, increase their regional visibility, and get access to potential corporate partners and investors.

The residency will conclude with the XL Africa Venture Showcase, a regional event organized in association with the African Angel Investor Summit, in which the entrepreneurs will present their business models to a select audience of corporations and investors. With support from African investment groups, XL Africa will help the start-ups attract early stage capital between US$250,000 and US$1.5 million.

​​Introducing the Cinema of Femi Odugbemi

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Introducing the Cinema of Femi Odugbemi at Northwestern University Block Theatre by Prof. Paul Ugor

INTRODUCING THE CINEMA OF FEMI ODUGBEMI

A presentation by Professor Paul Ugor at the Block Museum Theatre, Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois on Thursday 26th October, 2017.

Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank Wins the Business Leader of the Year Award

Mr. Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank Wins the Business Leader of the Year at the 7th All Africa Business Leaders Awards
(AABLA™)

7th All Africa Business Leader Awards Celebrate West African Winners VIP guests, media and stakeholders joined the West Africa finalists, as they went head to head for the sought-after AABLA™ regional trophy, in their individual categories The 7th All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA™) (www.AABLAwards.com) in Partnership with CNBC Africa announced the winners of the West Africa leg at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos. VIP guests, media and stakeholders joined the West Africa finalists, as they went head to head for the sought-after AABLA™ regional trophy, in their individual categories. Speaking on the occasion, Executive Director ABN group (http://ABNeventProductions.com) West Africa, Frederic Van de vyver noted: “Tonight is about celebrating these entrepreneurs and their great leadership. When one looks at the characteristics that is associated with leadership - such as vision, confidence, and determination…
Click here for the complete list of the winners.

African Development Bank Strongly Supports Nigerian Government’s Economic Recovery Efforts

African Development Bank Strongly Supports Nigerian Government’s Economic Recovery Efforts

The African Development Bank is in consultations with the Government on how best to continue its support for its laudable Economic and Growth Recovery Plan through investment projects
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, October 31, 2017/ -- The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) wishes to categorically refute the statement that it has “called off loans to Nigeria”, as reported in Reuters and credited to AfDB Vice-President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth Amadou Hott.

Nigeria: The Path To Recovery

Nigeria: The Path to Recovery 

WASHINGTON, 30 October 2017 / PRN Africa / -- A recovery in oil production and a good harvest in Nigeria, as well as the easing of tensions in the Niger Delta accounts for more than half of the additional growth.

The policy environment has started to improve. Fiscal deficits are stabilizing and current account deficits are narrowing, partly reflecting a slight rebound in commodity prices. The global environment has also been supportive, with strengthening growth momentum in the largest economies, commodity prices off their troughs, and improved access for sub-Saharan African economies to international capital markets.

Heineken Unveils its First Africa Inspired Fashion Collection at Lagos Fashion and Design Week

Heineken® Unveils its First Africa Inspired Fashion Collection Co-created with Talented African Designers at Lagos Fashion and Design Week

The initiative is the next chapter in Heineken’s ‘Open Design Explorations’, a global co- creation programme that connects emerging creatives and gives them a platform to showcase their talent

LAGOS, Nigeria, October 30, 2017/ -- In collaboration with Africa’s hottest emerging design talent, Lulu Mutuli and Azra Walji, global beer brand, Heineken® (www.TheHeinekenCompany.com) has launched its first-ever African fashion collection, unveiled on the catwalk of the closing show at Lagos Fashion and Design Week on Saturday 28 October 2017.

The initiative is the next chapter in Heineken’s ‘Open Design Explorations’, a global co- creation programme that connects emerging creatives and gives them a platform to showcase their talent. The Heineken® Africa Inspired Collection is a fusion of the two designers’ concepts and is the first of many design apprenticeships that the brand will roll out across the world, going next to Asia.