Author: Vardiafrica

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has announced a $15 million grant to support 3,000 budding entrepreneurs from 52 African countries. TEF Founder, Mr Tony Elumelu, made this known on Sunday in Abuja during the unveiling of the 2025 cohort of the foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme. He stated that each beneficiary would receive a $5,000 seed grant to kick-start their businesses. Elumelu, who is also the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, and United Bank for Africa (UBA), reaffirmed his commitment to empowering African entrepreneurs and transforming the continent’s economic landscape. According to Elumelu, the foundation aims to democratise opportunity across the continent,…

A Nigerian lady, Ololade Ayelabola has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest catwalk by a model. Ololade who staged a fashion show in Lagos last October walked the longest distance on a catwalk by a model with a staggering total of 125.11 km (77.74 mi). But the 26-year-old wasn’t alone up there She was joined by an array of beautiful models that represented all different types of people, including those with albinism or vitiligo, those who had tribal marks, and plus size models. The Unilag graduate took over this title from Robert Brown and Lorraine McCourt, who…

The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, has announced the release of withheld local government allocations, assuring that necessary steps will be taken to ensure the prompt payment of workers’ salaries. Speaking during a meeting with Heads of Local Government Administrators in Port Harcourt, Ibas described the gathering as a pivotal moment in the collective effort to restore stability and progress in the state. The Sole Administrator lamented the economic hardship in the Niger Delta, noting that despite the region’s wealth of natural resources, its people continue to suffer. “This is unacceptable,” he stated, emphasizing the need for transformation…

Inspector-General Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the deployment of additional police officers and resources to Rivers State following the declaration of state of emergency by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The police boss said the effort, undertaken in collaboration with the Armed Forces and other security agencies, will bolster security, protect lives and property, and secure critical infrastructure. IGP Egbetokun emphasized that aggrieved individuals retain the right to seek legal redress through the appropriate judicial channels. In a statement issued last night by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), said his boss warned against any…

Visa Inc., an American multinational payment card services corporation, has updated Vice President Kashim Shettima on plans to site data centre infrastructure in Nigeria. This is in addition to its investments of over $1 billion in the country, including a substantial technological partnership with MoniePoint to foster digital payment solutions, a $200 million investment in Interswitch, and a partnership with ThriveAgric to empower smallholder farmers and enhance food security in Nigeria. Visa’s Regional President for Central, & Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA), Mr. Andrew Torre, disclosed this when he led a delegation of the company on a courtesy…

Namibia’s new president was sworn in on Friday to lead a country facing high rates of unemployment, inequality and poverty. And she will be dealing with it with the additional burden of being only Africa’s second-ever directly elected female president and Namibia’s first female head of state. “If things go well then it will be seen as a good example,” Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told BBC’s Africa Daily podcast. “But if anything then happens, like it can happen in any administration under men, there are also those who would rather say: ‘Look at women!'” The 72-year-old won November’s election with a 58%…

The Supreme Court has nullified the judgments of the Court of Appeal and Federal High Court, which sacked Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) A five-member panel of the apex court held that the issue of who is the National Secretary of the PDP borders on the internal affairs of a political party which is not justiciable. Justice Jamilu Tukur, who delivered the lead judgment of the Supreme Court, consequently struck out the judgment of the trial court delivered in October 2024 and also set aside the majority judgment of the court of appeal…

Britain’s Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest, was shut down early Friday after a major fire at neighbourhood electrical substation supplying power to the sprawling facility west of London, officials said Several flights were already being diverted, according to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, while airport authorities said they “expect significant disruption over the coming days”. “Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage,” the airport operator said in a statement on its website, adding it would be closed until just before midnight Friday (2359 GMT). “Passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.” London Fire Brigade said there has…

Sudan’s army said it recaptured the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Friday after a fierce battle. “Our forces completely destroyed the enemy’s fighters and equipment, and seized large quantities of equipment and weapons,” army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement broadcast on state television. Abdallah vowed the army would “continue to progress on all fronts until victory is complete and every inch of our country is purged of the militia and its supporters”. On social media, soldiers shared videos appearing to be inside the presidential palace, exchanging congratulations. AFP could not…

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with the Asagba of Asaba, Delta State, Obi Professor Epiphany Azinge at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The monarch came alongside some royal fathers believed to be members of the Obi-in-Council. The delegation did not immediately meet with the President. It was gathered that the traditional rulers were directed to meet with the President at his private residence, also in the State House, Abuja. The visit is coming on the heels of tension in some parts of the South-South geopolitical zone as a result of the recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers…