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Dangote Foundation Engages 54gene Laboratory to Conduct 1,000 COVID-19 Test per day in Kano

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The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), a philanthropic endeavour of Aliko Dangote, has contracted 54Gene, a molecular diagnostics company specialized in research, and diagnostics, to immediately set up a 400 test/day capacity laboratory in Kano State.

54Gene is accredited by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and has already set up labs in Lagos and in Ogun States.

The lab, which was inaugurated yesterday – May 3rd in Kano, will start with a testing capacity of 400 tests a day, increasing to 1,000 tests a day by May 10th.

The lab will be set up at Muhammadu Buhari Hospital in Kano, where an isolation center is currently operational.

The President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote said the foundation is directly supporting the Nigerian government’s COVID-19 containment efforts in Kano State.

According to Dangote, this new investment in support of increasing nation-wide testing, comes in addition to ADF’s support through the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID).

He explained: “CACOVID is already setting up a 310 bed isolation center at Sani Abacha stadium in Kano. We are extending that capacity by another 150 beds at the Abubakar Imam Urology Centre in Kano, which is being converted into an isolation center now. These two centers will be operational pending the final validation by the Infection Prevention and Control team, which we expect will be completed in the coming days.”

Dangote pledged the Foundation’s commitment to reduce the number of lives lost to diseases, such as COVID-19, Ebola and other deadly viruses in the State.

He said the foundation would not relent in using its investments in health, education, and economic empowerment to help lift people out of sickness and poverty.

Speaking on the efforts of the Foundation to assist the Federal Government in curtailing the spread of COVID-19, Zouera Youssoufou, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of ADF, added that ADF is also supporting the Rapid Response Teams in their work to identify suspected covid-19 cases across the healthcare centers in Kano.

“ADF will immediately handover to the Kano RRT, 10 new ambulances (4 that ae immediately available and 6 over the next week), two vehicles and PPEs to support the transportation of patients from different parts of the state”, she said.

She said that the Foundation is also supporting the Kano State Covid-19 contact call center that responds to citizen queries and concerns around Covid-19 and refers people to the proper place for follow up, by providing extra phone lines and ICT infrastructure as well as training for the call center staff.

On training, she disclosed: “We are supporting training and incentives for covid-19 health workers.  We will provide hazard incentives and protections for the healthcare and lab workers who are working on the covid-19 response.

“We are also providing training to them, initially online and via distance learning, and will complement his with in-person training in Kano under strict IPC protocols developed in conjunction with the NCDC.

“ADF will continue to provide PPEs to the Kano State Covid-19 Taskforce, which will then be distributed to the hospitals as appropriate. Items already supplied include coveralls, gloves, masks, respirators, goggles, boots and sanitizers.

“We are expanding the CACOVID communications strategy in Kano by adding more communications and advocacy around Covid-19 prevention across radio, TV and traditional and community leaders.”

Commending ADF, Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje stated: “There’s no doubt we started on a shaky foundation, with assistance of ADF, we can see that a friend in deed is a friend in need. We are very grateful for the mobile testing Centre witch will launch with 400 samples per day and after a week, increase to 1,000 tests  per day.

“It is now left for us to intensify efforts to collect samples. We will ensure that all that 44 Local Government Council have collection centres.

“Here in the metropolitan local government, we will have 100s of collection centres because this is where the majority of the population is”.

The governor added that the state has intensify efforts to create awareness about the reality of coronavirus.

He commended the Dangote Foundation for always occupying the forefront of helping in critical times like this.

Speaking on the collaboration, Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong, founder and Chief Executive Officer of 54gene, the 40ft structure built with container technology, provides a unique plug-and-play solution.

Ene-Obong explained that the mobile laboratory is also fully kitted with vital instruments including an autoclave, bio-safety cabinet, centrifuge, heating blocks, vortexes, pipettes, and PCR machines to support COVID-19 testing.

He stated: “Our mobile lab is fully equipped with all the vital instruments required for COVID-19 testing, and allows us to quickly offer our services to multiple states due to the ease of transport.

“Its unique plug and play feature eliminates the logistics of shipping samples to another location for the processing which reduces turnaround times for test results and allows clinicians to manage and treat patients accurately, sooner rather than later.”

Ene-Obong said the company has also helped build capacity by equipping molecular scientists with the necessary skill set required to handle the instruments in the mobile lab as they would in regular molecular testing laboratories.

“Our mobile lab removes the restriction imposed by permanent buildings and allows us to quickly offer our services to multiple states due to the ease of transport and the mobile capability it provides”, he added.


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PalmPay Unveils First Set of Winners in Eid Mobile Bonanza

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PalmPay has announced the first set of winners in its ongoing Eid campaign tagged PalmPay Eid Bonanza, which kicked off on April 10th and will run until April 30th, 2024.

Since the start of the bonanza on April 10th, 5 lucky winners have been emerging daily simply by performing tasks on the PalmPay App such as transferring funds, airtime and data purchases, bill payments, and savings.

Comfort Udoh from Lagos, one of the proud recipients of an iPhone 15 Pro, expressed her sheer delight. “I simply won by recharging my phone with airtime on the PalmPay app. I received the exciting news via a call from PalmPay Nigeria. I thank them for the generous reward of a brand new iPhone 15 pro”

Also, Mr. Abegurin Patrick Segun’s winning entry came about when he placed a N100 bet using his PalmPay app. It was a delightful surprise for him to receive a call from PalmPay Nigeria, informing him of his victory in the daily raffle draw, and he’s now the proud owner of an Infinix Hot 40i.

To participate in the remaining weeks of the campaign, download the PalmPay App from Google Play or App Store. Sign up for an account and include your BVN or NIN to complete the process and click on the  Eid Bonanza Feature.

There are still numerous phones to be won daily, along with the added bonus of daily free transfers to any bank via the PalmPay App.

Enakeno Umuteme, the Head of Marketing and Communications at PalmPay Nigeria, notes that “Our primary objective is to reward and acknowledge our loyal customers. This campaign stays true to its promise of appreciating Nigerians who are PalmPay users”

PalmPay offers an array of services including money transfers, bill payments, credit services, and savings on its app and via its mobile money agents. Since its inception in Nigeria in 2019 under a Mobile Money Operator license, the platform has amassed over 30 million app users as part of its cashless payment ecosystem.


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Kaspersky Warns of Data Stealers Hunting for User Credentials

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As the malware development market continues to flourish with new stealers such as Lumma, for the last three years Redline still remains the dominant data-stealing malware used by cybercriminals.

More than half of every device (55%) targeted by password-stealer attacks in 2023 has been infected with the Redline malware, Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence finds.

Infostealers infiltrate devices to illicitly obtain sensitive credentials such as logins and passwords, which are then peddled on the shadow market, posing significant cybersecurity threats to personal and corporate systems.

According to information gleaned from log-files traded or distributed freely on the dark web, Redline was used in 51% of infostealer infections from 2020 to 2023. Other notable malware families included Vidar (17%) and Raccoon (nearly 12%).

In total, around 100 distinct infostealer types were identified by Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence between 2020 and 2023 using metadata from log-files.

The underground market for data-stealing malware development is expanding, evident from the rising popularity of new stealers.

Between 2021 and 2023, the portion of infections caused by new stealers grew from 4% to 28%. Specifically, in 2023, the new “Lumma” stealer alone was responsible for more than 6% of all infections.

“Lumma emerged in 2022 and gained popularity in 2023, through a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) distribution model.

This means any criminal, even those without advanced technical skills, can purchase a subscription for a pre-made malicious solution and use this stealer to carry out cyberattacks.

“Lumma is primarily designed for stealing credentials and other information from cryptocurrency wallets, commonly spread through email, YouTube, and Discord spam campaigns,” says Sergey Shcherbel, expert at Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence.

To guard against data-stealing malware, individuals are advised to use a comprehensive security solution for any device. This will help prevent infections and alert them to dangers, such as suspicious sites or phishing emails that can be an initial vector for infection. Companies can help their users, employees and partners protect themselves from the threat by proactively monitoring leaks and prompting users to change leaked passwords immediately.


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World Energy Conferencing

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By Okoko Chidozie Christian

[email protected]; 09025179984.

In an increasing world, the effectiveness of meaningful human interaction becomes ever important.

World Energy Conferencing

The significance of networking remains at the very core of what we do; and to support this we strive to offer more opportunities through digital platforms to engage online year round.

Conferences as indispensable part of business could be a vital opportunity that is certain to reap one’s time, organizational commitment and lots more.

Research proven creditably reveals that conferencing provides a rare opportunity for key individuals within field specialism to come together collaboratively all over the world, in the same place, at the same time.

Such environment provides the perfect platform to network,

form partnership and exchange knowledge with both peers, and people from connected industries with whom one may not have previously connected.

A prospect such as this is sure to serve well both now and in the future.

Having known that conferences attract a unique and incredible mix of thinkers, leaders, experts and emerging talents with an existing predisposition to develop skills; it also stimulates industry progress and contribute to important global conversations.

World energy conferencing are energy-focused events set to draw in the world’s top businesses and their leaders to put the wheels of actions in motion against climate crisis and other major threats to the energy sectors and wider world as a result.

The later part of last year saw one of the world’s most pivotal sustainability events to date, COP28 reported in my previous article “Sustainability of Clean and Renewable Energy” on April 1st, 2024. The event saw world’s leaders take urgent actions and decisions on the transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable and energy efficiency.

Undoubtedly, conference brings a wealth of forums, events, programmes which unite leaders about energy and industry’s interest topics, insights, guidance and tackling of some of the most pressing challenges.

These energy events will help in bringing together leading companies and talented people to provide business professional with high quality trade shows, digital solutions and connections, research reveals.

Some of the anticipated World energy events include World Utilities Conference Abu Dhabi, UAE (May 8-10,2024); International Conference in Energy Paris, France (14-15 May, 2024); Reuters Global Energy Transition New York, USA (7-8 June, 2024); Energy Tech Summit, Bilbao, Spain (10-11 April, 2024 ); Offshore Technology Conference, OTC in Houston Texas (6-9 May 2024), and many more.

World Energy Conferencing help companies and individuals to gain access to official media partnering and news publications for the world’s largest energy events thereby increasing their brand visibility through a variety of compelling content platforms helping to share latest innovations which are shaping the future of energy.

Also, connect industry leaders and passionate individuals from across the globe all committed to advancing the future of the energy industry in a path towards sustainable, renewable and affordable energy.

Technology expositions has helped a wide range of industry-leading companies to present energy-efficient products, energy management services and solutions.

Also, creates an environment for global think tank, powered by global innovation, pioneering minds and groundbreaking insights. As creating a new energy future require bold and different thinking, majority of these conferences regarded as the foremost events get accelerated global transition to clean energy, and bring leaders, policy-makers, investment incubators, corporate partners and world-class start-ups to work towards a greener tomorrow.

However, apart from being at the frontier of discovery on a global platform, conferencing witnesses the solution, ideas and game changers that matters amongst the world’s leading energy brands. It opens way for stakeholders to a unique occasion in examining critical insights, global drivers of energy prices and to network with energy specialists from other international companies of the world.

World energy conference platforms showcase advances in energy and a highly interactive experience that inspire progressive leadership thinking, collaborative and constructive actions. Regarding the concept of its most vital meetings, reflects its present and dedicated future to the entire society.

So, as we look ahead to the next 100years of energy mix; it is critical we consider not just the future of our energy technology, but also how we increase society’s energy literacy and create more inclusive bottom-up energy communities.


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