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BoI Partners AfDB On Funding For Women-Owned Businesses

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The Bank of Industry says it is currently collaborating with the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the launch and implementation of the 300 million dollars Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA).
Managing Director, BoI, Mr Olukayode Pitan, made this known at the Bank’s webinar themed:” Recognising Wom-en’s Leadership In Enhancing Nigeria’s Covid-19 Recovery” to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Pitan said the AFAWA fund was expected to unlock three billion dollars in private sector financing to empower female entrepreneurs through capacity building development.
He added that the fund would grant women access to finance as well as spearhead legal policy and regulatory reforms to support enterprises led by women.
Pitan said that the bank was also partnering with Islamic Development Bank to implement the Business Resilience Assistance for Value-adding Enterprise (BRAVE) Women Nigeria project.
“BRAVE Nigeria is part of a larger 32.2 million dollars five-year initiative coordinated by the Islamic Development Bank.
“The project combines training and grant-matching to support the growth and resilience of women-led enterprises in spite of their challenging operating environment.
“Furthermore, BOI invest-ed 10 million dollars in the Alitheia Fund, also toward supporting Nigerian women-led businesses, some of which will be export-oriented.
“In addition, the Nigerian Content Intervention (NCI) Fund, a partnership between the BOI and Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has allo-cated 20 million dollars as an intervention fund to women businesses in the oil and gas sector.
“These are just a few of the initiatives the Bank of Industry is engaged in to promote female gender equality, especially as it relates to business financing and support.
“We believe that our support to female entrepreneurship will not only revitalise their businesses during this pandemic, but will enable them to thrive beyond it and close the inequality gap.
“BOI remains committed in our drive to support women; and I encourage other organisations to do the same, because when women win, the society wins,” he said.
The BoI managing director said that the International Women Day (IWD) the-me: ”Choose To Challenge”, highlighted the importance of challenging biases, stereotypes and misconceptions in the interest of creating a more inclusive and gender-equal world.
He said that establishment of the bank’s gender business desk, which catered specifically for female entrepreneurs had successfully disbursed close to N100 billion to over 1,500 women-led enterprises.
“In addition to financial support, the gender desk also provides much needed business advisory and capacity building services, leveraging our strategic partnerships with more than 300 Business Development Service Providers (BDSP) nationwide.
“It is believed that if Nigeria enhances gender equality in the labour market, politics, legal system, education and healthcare, it could add 1.25 percent points to the eco-nomy.
“Despite what we know now, the representation of women at decision making level is still minimal as today, he said.
“There are only 25 countries that have elected women as Heads of State or Government – just about 11 per cent of all countries and territories in the world.
“Beyond participation in the political space, representation of women in the corporate sphere is very much skewed as only eight per cent of Fortune 500 companies are led by females.
“Yes, it is safe to say that we have made progress over the years, yet, it is far from acceptable and insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goal Five to ‘Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls’.
“The female gender have also been marginalised when it comes to access to finance.
“The gender financing gap in Africa is believed to be 42 billion dollars between men and women.
“This is a worrisome statistic and at the Bank of Industry, we continue to take deliberate steps to address issues around gender equality in entrepreneurship,” he said.
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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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2 days ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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2 days ago

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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2 days ago

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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