Good morning! Listed below are among the high tales you need to learn about at present.
1. Telecom Tariffs Replace: Minister Bosun Tijani has stated that telecom tariffs in Nigeria will enhance, however not by the proposed 100%, as initially proposed by telecom operators within the nation. The Nigerian Communications Fee is ready to supply tips to make sure a good stability between shopper safety and telecom business development.
2. Border Safety Challenges: Regardless of deploying multi-billion-naira surveillance methods since 2019, unlawful migrants linked to prison actions proceed to cross into Nigeria from neighboring nations like Benin, Chad, Niger, Mali, and Cameroon.
3. Startup Funding: In 2024, East Africa, led by Kenya, secured essentially the most startup funding in Africa, with Kenyan entrepreneurs drawing $638 million of the regional whole of $725 million. Total, African startups raised $2.2 billion, down considerably from earlier years. Nigeria contributed $410 million, dominating West Africa’s contributions. Funding was sluggish within the first half of the yr however rebounded within the second half, totaling $1.4 billion, buoyed by main offers involving Moniepoint and Tyme Group, which each reached unicorn standing. Learn extra right here.
4. Meals Import Waiver Debate: President Bola Tinubu faces stress from the personal sector to cancel a meals import waiver launched in July 2024. Critics argue it may harm native manufacturing and exacerbate unemployment.
5. Army Rating Decline: The Nigerian army has dropped to thirty ninth within the 2024 International Firepower rankings, persevering with a decline from thirty sixth in 2023 and thirty fifth in 2022, regardless of new army acquisitions and anti-terrorism efforts.
6. Safety Alert in Oyo State: Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has highlighted safety considerations as a result of migration of bandits from Nigeria’s Northwest, exacerbated by intensified army operations in that area.
7. World’s Richest: Elon Musk has regained his standing because the world’s richest particular person with a internet price of $421.2 billion, a considerable enhance of $91 billion since early December, largely as a result of surging worth of SpaceX. This rocket firm just lately achieved a valuation of $350 billion, surpassing ByteDance, Stripe, and OpenAI as essentially the most beneficial personal firm. Musk additionally has vital holdings in Tesla, social media platform X, AI agency xAI, and the Boring Co.
Jeff Bezos is the second richest, with a internet price of $233.5 billion, after Amazon’s inventory climbed by 5%, but he nonetheless trails Musk by $188 billion. Moreover, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang has damaged into the highest 10 wealthiest people, now ranked at No. 10 with a internet price of $118 billion, because of Nvidia’s inventory leaping by 171%.
8. Foreign money Depreciation: The Naira depreciated additional to N1,655 per greenback within the parallel market and to N1,545 per greenback within the official market.
9. Nollywood’s New Launch: Director Kemi Adetiba proclaims the discharge of a brand new “King of Boys” movie scheduled for December 25, 2025.
10. Nigerian Phrases in Dictionary: The Oxford English Dictionary has included new Nigerian English phrases equivalent to “Yahoo boy,” “japa,” and “suya,” showcasing the continued affect of Nigerian tradition on the English language.