Digital Economy to Create over 3m Jobs, as Nigeria, Others Discuss Road Map in Geneva MyZA

APO News from Africa:

Digital Economy to Create over 3m Jobs, as Nigeria, Others Discuss Road Map in Geneva:

It has emerged that financial services within Nigeria’s digital economy could add US$ 88 billion and create over 3 million new jobs over the next 10 years.
This comes as Ministers from developing countries namely Nigeria, Mexico, Kenya, Argentina, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Pakistan under the auspices of Friends of E-Commerce for Development (FED) resolved to put forward a policy agenda to bridge the digital divide as well as provide development solutions in the long term, during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland today.
The job figures are in line with estimates of a study carried out by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Further studies indicate that potential gains of the digital economy will be manifest in digital accounts, payments, mobile money, health and educational services and other sectors of the economy.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (http://FMITI.gov.ng) Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah who led the Nigerian delegation to Geneva, explained that the Ministry is already developing the “Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project” and that the objective is to solve efficiency problems and create leap-frog opportunities in the economy, improve competitiveness and foster technology development and innovation more generally.
“The Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project is Nigeria’s response to an area of intense economic and technological activity by Nigerian youths, where there is a growing pool of talent”, he stated.
“It is a sector of the economy where the private sector already has ownership. The role of government would therefore be to ensure a sound pro-competitive regulatory environment and hardware infrastructure to foster rapid growth of this area,” Enelamah added.
The Minister also shared the fact that there are currently 150 million active mobile users in a country of 170m, of which over 60% are connected to the internet. There are some 17m Facebook users and new technology start ups and young people writing apps that solve problems and spur growth.
Lagos, the largest commercial city in Africa accommodates some of Africa’s well-known consumer tech businesses such as iRokotv, Hotels[dot]ng, Jobberman, Andela, Balogunmarket, and Truppr[dot]com.
Meanwhile, FED gathered for its first Ministerial Meeting in Geneva on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) E-Commerce week.
In a communiqué at the end of their meeting, the group said that the road map put together by member countries would form the foundation for sustainable economic development as well as pave the way for conversations at UNCTAD and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in advance of the Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Argentina later this year.
The communiqué noted that the “FEDs came together to build an inclusive and open space for discussion of e-commerce viewed from the development perspective. FEDs view e-commerce as an instrument that brings the digital, development and trade agenda together and as a tool for inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”
The FED is a diverse, non-negotiating, group of WTO Members and UN Member States at different levels of development, with an understanding of the impact of E-Commerce and its ability to create sustainable economic opportunities for all.
In light of Nigeria’s strong engagement in the fast developing area of digital economy of which e-commerce is a part, on 24^th April, Nigeria’s Chief Negotiator Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe was invited by the office of the UNCTAD Secretary-General to deliver the Keynote Address at the UNCTAD E-Commerce week session on E-commerce in Africa. In his address titled: “Trumping Timidity: The Importance of Audacity in the Digital Economy”, Ambassador Osakwe urged African countries to integrate digital economy strategies and action plans into domestic structural reforms for diversification, modernization and growth. “Africa needed to be offensive in this area, acting innovatively, purposefully and expeditiously” because the gains and development yields were considerable as evidenced by the Nigerian example.

Distributed by APO on behalf of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Nigeria.

Signed
Constance C. Ikokwu
Strategy and Communications Adviser to HM
Constance.Ikokwu@FMITI.gov.ng

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Image: Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah and Sec. Gen of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi at the e-Commerce week in Geneva
Image: Some of the Ministers of Friends of E-commerce for Development. The countries in the group are Nigeria, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uruguay

Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa

In drought-hit Somalia, children also face potentially deadly measles threat:

Almost 30,000 young children, many of them displaced by a searing drought, are being vaccinated against measles this week in an emergency campaign in Baidoa, a town at the heart of one of Somalia’s hardest-hit areas.

Many of the children have never been immunized before – they come from remote areas health workers often cannot reach because of a decades-old conflict that has ravaged the impoverished country in the Horn of Africa.

So far this year, almost 5,700 cases of suspected measles have been reported across the country, more than the total number of cases in 2016. Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement camps, which have mushroomed across the town and surrounding areas. More than 100,000 people have come to Baidoa in search of assistance, including at least 70,000 in March alone.

“Among vaccine-preventable diseases, none is more deadly than measles,” said Steven Lauwerier, UNICEF’s Representative in Somalia. “And we know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children.”

The threat of famine once again looms large over Somalia. Over half the population is acutely food insecure, water-borne and infectious diseases like cholera and measles are spreading, and up to a million children are, or will be acutely malnourished this year, with one in five requiring life-saving treatment.

“The only way to prevent sickness and death from measles is to make sure all children receive the vaccine. A child suffering from severe acute malnutrition is nine times more likely to die from a disease like measles than a healthy child. We have no time to lose,” Lauwerier said.

The Baidoa campaign is part of an effort to vaccinate about 110,000 displaced children below 5 years old in hotspots across south central Somalia, plus 250,000 children in Somaliland, against the deadly contagious disease, by the end of May. Conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Health, WHO, and several non-governmental organizations, it also includes a vitamin A supplement to boost immunity as well as de-worming tablets.

Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa

The Nigerian Stock Exchange X-Gen News Alert – Diamond Bank Plc:

Company Name: Diamond Bank Plc (www.DiamondBank.com)
Company Symbol: DIAMONDBNK
[DIAMONDBNK]>> Company Report
Diamond Bank Plc (Group)

31-Dec-16

Gross earnings: 31-12-16 N212.4b 31-12-15 N217.1b
Profit before tax: 31-12-16 N5.0b 31-12-15 N7.1b
Taxation: 31-12-16 (N1.5b) 31-12-15 (N1.3b)
Profit after tax: 31-12-16 N3.5b 31-12-15 N5.7b

Total assets: 31-12-16 N2,049.8b 31-12-15 N1,753.2b
Total liabilities: 31-12-16 N1,823.1b 31-12-15 N1,538.6b
Total equity: 31-12-16 N226.7b 31-12-15 N214.6b

Corporate action proposed dividend: Nil
Proposed bonus: Nil
AGM date: 19-05-2017
AGM venue: The Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Opposite 1004, Victoria Island Lagos

Distributed by APO on behalf of The Nigerian Stock Exchange Corporate News.

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