Author: PositiveNaija

2017 BusinessDay States Competitiveness And Good Governance Awards

Winners have emerged in the 2017 BusinessDay States Competitiveness and Good Governance Awards held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

  • Fastest Growing State economy award – Kano State

Based on noticeable increase in its IGR, expanding business opportunities and rising confidence among investors across the state.

  • Best State in Tourism Award – Osun State

Based on its consistent successes in hosting the annual Osun Osogbo festival.

  • The most improved in healthcare development – Ebonyi State

Governor David Umahi’s administration was commended for channeling the resources of the state to build the first virology centre for the entire south eastern region.

  • Transparency in Governance award – Jigawa State

The Award Committee based its decision on full disclosure of the contracts awarded, their costs, contractors and the level of performance of each project.

  • The most improved state in rural and urban development – Enugu and Edo states
  • Best state promoting made in Nigeria goods and SME development award – Abia State

This campaign earned entrepreneurs in Abia state about ₦1 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was highly commended for promoting made in Nigeria goods.

  • The most improved state in ease of doing business – Kaduna State

Since he assumed office, Mallam El Rufai introduced a number of measures that have seen all the government agencies improved remarkably in addressing investors’ concerns and this has led to a number of new investments being injected into the state.

  • Agricultural development award – Benue State
  • Housing development award – Ogun State
  • The most improved states in education development for the southern and northern regions respectively – Imo and Sokoto states

Apart from being the state with the highest enrolments into tertiary institutions in the country, Imo State has maintained the top five positions by WAEC ranking among the states of the federation. On its part, Sokoto State has embarked on massive reforms of the education sector, starting with the highest budgetary allocation to that sector.

  • The most improved states in peace and security – Gombe and Plateau states

According to Frank Aigbogun, publisher/CEO BusinessDay:

“As the leading business and financial newspaper in West Africa, our aim is to encourage state governments and public officials generally, to see governance as a serious business, so that our scarce resources can be judiciously used with a view to making Nigeria a better place for all.

There is no doubt that since the good governance awards debuted, we have seen a lot of improvements in governance across the states. Starting with increasing internally generated revenue (IGR), robust official websites that help public officials disseminate information better; timely disclosures of government finances, especially with regards to the awards of contracts, and so on.”

Access Bank & BoI Win 2017 Karlsruhe Sustainable Awards

For the second consecutive year in a row, Access Bank Plc has been awarded the Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement Award 2017 at the 2017 Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Held on July 13, 2017 and attended by CEOs of leading international financial institutions, senior executives of other winning institutions and top German government officials, the award was presented to Access Bank CEO, Mr Herbert Wigwe.

Continue reading Access Bank & BoI Win 2017 Karlsruhe Sustainable Awards

Nigerians Emerge Accra Weizo Winners [2017]

Accra Weizo is an annual Tourism event for the ECOWAS region which is organised by Akwaaba African Travel Market and it is held in Accra, Ghana.

Stella Obinwa, the Director of International Operations in charge of Africa for Dubai Tourism won the Travel Personality of the Year for West Africa.

SAHCOL was voted as the Best Handling company in West Africa.

The Top 100 Travel and Tourism Personalities in West Africa were also honoured at the event.

Mr Frank Nneji the CEO of ABC Transport won the award in recognition of his trail blazing effort which has transformed land transportation across West Africa and in the process linking several countries conveniently through the gesture.
Leading travel promoters in Nigeria and Ghana equally emerged winners of the award, among whom are Mrs Uloma Egbuna, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Tour Brokers International; Mr Simon Grindrod, the General Manager of The Wheatbaker Lagos; Dr Michael Pinder, Group General Manager, Sun Heaven Hotels and Resorts, and Mr Lehlohonolo Hloni Pitso, the Regional Manager West Africa for South African Tourism’s regional Africa office based in Lagos, Nigeria.

According to Mr Ikechi Uko, organiser of the awards:

“The Top 100 Tourism Personalities was set up to recognise individuals who have distinguished themselves and through their efforts or that of their organisations have impacted positively on the travel and tourism sector across the West African sub region.
Also the personalities whose efforts have stimulated and helped to achieve their individual country’s tourism goals and forging interactions among stakeholders and customers across the region.”

Vicfold Recyclers Wins 2017 #youforG20 Competition

Vicfold Recyclers project in Nigeria has won the #youforG20 competition. The initiative champions recycling plastic waste. At the same time, it creates job opportunities. In the federal state of Kwara, Vicfold Recyclers has established a network of deposit points and plastic collectors; engaging unemployed women and young people to gather empty bottles and other waste products and in this way, they earn a little money. As a result, countless families have now managed to improve their incomes.

The concept won over the six-person jury consisting of representatives of the German Foreign Office and the editorial desk of deutschland.de as well as the testimonials of the campaign. Vicfold Recyclers will receive financial support totalling 15,000 Euro to help move the project forward.

More than 220 initiatives from all over the world competed in the #youforG20 competition. The call was for projects that in a very emphatic manner tackled a social or economic issue, or a matter of environmental policy and help improve people’s living conditions.

Chioma Ukonu Emerge 2nd At 2017 Chivas Venture Competition

Chioma Ukonu, co-founder and COO of RecyclePoints has won 2nd place and a prize of US$ 200,000 at the 2017 Chivas Venture Competition. Chioma Ukonu emerged victorious after a rigorous voting and pitching process involving inspirational social entrepreneurs from 32 countries, with the grand final in Los Angeles.

RecyclePoints is enabling individuals, particularly from low-income households, to create value from their everyday waste. It operates an incentive-based model which collects recyclable waste materials from registered households, and in turn rewards them with points, which they can accumulate and redeem for cash or other useful items offered through their iRecycle Store. The company employs young ‘Wastebusters’ to ride its electric tricycles and collect door-to-door recyclable waste such as plastic bottles, aluminum cans, newspapers, or cartons. These items are then processed at the company’s Collection & Sorting Hub by unemployed women within the community, and sold on to recycling plants to use as raw materials for new products. RecyclePoints supports environmental sustainability, and engages the community to be part of the solution. With additional funds the company is hoping to expand its operations and impact, within its current city and to other states, purchasing new equipment and replicating its solution in a franchise model.

The global competition staged by Chivas Regal, was launched with a mission to find promising, up-and-coming startups that also have a positive impact on the world.

The Chivas Venture Competition was open to startups that have a working business model and at the same time, create social good with their endeavors. With 32 countries taking part, each region held its regional round, with winners eventually being selected to participate in the grand finals for a chance to win and share a stake from the US$1 million social entrepreneurship fund. The ultimate aim of The Venture is to find and support the most promising startups with the potential to succeed financially and make a positive impact on the lives of others.

Nigeria Wins 9 Awards At 2017 AMAA

Nigeria has won nine (9) awards at the 13th African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held at the EKO Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

  1. Best animation: Got Flowers (Nigeria)
  2. Achievement in production design: ’76‬ (Nigeria)
  3. Achievement in makeup: Oloibiri (Nigeria)
  4. Best production: ’76 (Nigeria)
  5. Lagos state award for best Nigerian film: ’76 (Nigeria)
  6. Tony Elumelu award for best comedy: 3 Wise Men (Nigeria)
  7. Best actress in a supporting role: Angelique Kidjo (CEO: Nigeria)
  8. AMAA lifetime achievement award: Nkem Owoh (Nigeria)
  9. Best director: Akin Omotosho (Vaya: South Africa)

 

Team Nigeria Emerge Victorious At 2017 FIRST Global Robotics Olympiad

A team of seven students, who represented Nigeria (Team Nigeria) in the maiden edition of the FIRST Global Robotics Olympiad (GRO) in Washington DC, U.S. have emerged victorious with their impressive performance.

The team sponsored by Faysal Jarmakani came third out of 41 African countries that participated in the competition and ranked 25th out of 162 countries. They also got two other awards.

FIRST is the acronym of ‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’ and the goal of the competition is to expose students to collaborate on techniques to solve global problems.

Continue reading Team Nigeria Emerge Victorious At 2017 FIRST Global Robotics Olympiad