News
AfDB Approves $15M Equity Investment to Boost SME in Nigeria, Others

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a US$ 15 million equity investment in Verod Capital Growth Fund III, a private equity fund that will make investments in high growth middle market companies in Anglophone West Africa including Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
The Fund’s investments will be in companies in consumer driven sectors including light industrials, fast moving consumer goods, education, financial services and agro processing. The ticket size for each investment will be between US$ 5 million and US$ 20 million.
“The Fund will help accelerate investments in small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the West African region. This is key to job and wealth creation, knowledge transfer and scaling up of local businesses,” said Abdu Mukhtar, the African Development Bank’s Director of Industrial and Trade Development.
He also added: “The Fund will provide an important vehicle to growing SMEs in Africa, which are a key pillar to the continent’s industrialization drive”.
The Fund Manager, Verod Capital Partners, is an experienced indigenous private equity firm with extensive knowledge of the Anglophone West Africa market. It also possesses a strong record of accomplishment in SME investments.
Since 2008, Verod Capital Partners has invested in 16 SME companies in the region. The Fund’s target size is US$150 million.
Verod Capital Growth Fund III will have a direct and measurable impact on individual businesses in West Africa while improving their ability to expand thereby providing benefits in terms of government revenue and job creation to the countries’ domestic economies.
This is in line with the Bank’s Private Sector Strategy of supporting projects that have a strong impact on job creation, economic growth and poverty alleviation.
News
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira

National Reading Culture (NRC), an online investment platform targeting Nigerians has collapsed, resulting in the loss of billions of Naira for investors.

The website unexpectedly shut down, blocking users from withdrawing their funds and locking in their investments.
Just like all other investment scams, victims were lured with promises of doubling their money in few weeks.
When National Reading Culture eventually crashed, the operators vanished with users’ funds, leaving investors devastated.
How the Platform WorkedTask-Based Earning:
According findings, National Reading Culture lured users with promises of making money by completing simple daily tasks like reading articles, clicking links, or inviting friends.
They also offered investment tiers to earn higher daily profits, where users had to deposit their own money into the platform.
Evidence showed the website previously operated as a Chinese job search platform before rebranding into an “earning” scheme.
News
NSITF Partners South African Insurer on Digital Transformation

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) to collaborate on digital transformation aimed at strengthening worker protection systems and support economic growth.

According to RMA, the agreement was concluded during a visit by its delegation to Abuja.
The partnership will focus on institutional capability development, modernising operating models, improving service delivery and sharing knowledge between the two organisations.
Through the partnership, RMA and NSITF will collaborate to strengthen institutional capability, modernise operating models, accelerate digital transformation and improve services for workers and employers.
The organisations will also explore opportunities for knowledge exchange and the adoption of best practices in social security administration.
RMA said the agreement forms part of its broader engagement with governments, regulators and social security institutions across Africa to support improvements in governance, operational resilience and service delivery.
“Our partnership with NSITF reflects much more than the signing of an agreement,” said Mandla Shezi, group chief executive officer of RMA. “This partnership is not simply about sharing knowledge. It is about co-creating the next generation of African social security systems.”
He added: “By combining our respective strengths, we can help build institutions that are more resilient, more responsive and better equipped to protect workers while supporting national development.”
Shezi said the future of social security depends on integrated systems where prevention, insurance, healthcare, rehabilitation, technology, investment management and institutional capability work together.
News
Microsoft to Lay Off 4,800 Workers

Microsoft has announced plans to cut about 4,800 jobs, representing roughly 2.1 percent of its global workforce, with Xbox, its gaming division, expected to bear the largest share of the layoffs.

The company said more than 1,600 positions at Xbox would be eliminated immediately, while another 1,600 jobs would be phased out over the next year as part of a major restructuring of the gaming business.
In a memo to employees, Amy Coleman, executive vice president, Microsoft, said the company was streamlining its operations to focus on areas that deliver greater value to customers in a rapidly changing technology industry.
Asha Sharma, chief executive officer, Xbox, described the move as “the most significant restructure in Xbox history,” saying the changes are intended to position the gaming business for long-term growth rather than downsizing.
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