Author: News Room

…let us retire the annual ritual of outrage over the ₦17.45 billion. We should note properly: it is a modest service charge on a trade that Nigeria disciplined and guaranteed years ago, not evidence that our neighbours are fleecing us. The more useful truth is that Nigeria already has a model that works; direct, guaranteed, bilateral contracts, proven with international customers and with our own industry. The neighbours’ ‘debt’ is a residual service charge on a trade that Nigeria disciplined and guaranteed back in 2019. The real opportunity is to scale the commercial model that already works. Every few months,…

The Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital Management, Adesuwa Okunbo-Rhodes, has revealed that she landed her first job in investment banking at the age of 18 with Lehman Brothers, saying the experience laid the foundation for her career in private equity and impact investing. PUNCH Online reports that Okunbo-Rhodes went viral two weeks ago following her interview with a popular US-based content creator. Speaking on the Nigerian Audacity podcast published on YouTube on Tuesday, Okunbo-Rhodes said she later joined J.P. Morgan at the age of 20 before moving into private equity, where she discovered the potential of investing in African businesses.…

Berachain is preparing a hard fork that will replace its dual-token incentive model with one centered on its main BERA token.Set for Wednesday at 4 pm UTC, the hard fork will end Bera Governance Token (BGT) emissions and shift the network’s incentive system to Wrapped BERA (WBERA), the Berachain Foundation announced in a Tuesday X post.Following the upgrade, the network will distribute fixed amounts of WBERA instead of BGT as block rewards. The change replaces Berachain’s previous dual-token model, which split the network’s functions between the transferable BERA token and the non-transferable governance token BGT.Berachain said annual percentage rates (APR)…

TikTok lifestyle influencer Gabriela de los Ángeles Sanarrusia Chavarría has reportedly died. According to Argentina-based news outlet La Nación, who cited Costa Rican authorities, Chavarría was shot dead on Saturday, July 4, while sleeping beside her boyfriend inside their La Cruz, Costa Rica, home. She was 28 years old. The outlet reported that the boyfriend of the social media star, who amassed more than 100,000 fans across Instagram and TikTok, was also killed, with multiple intruders allegedly breaking into the couple’s home before firing bullets at both Chavarría and Jose Isaac Agüero, 30. Per a report by People, published on…

The Plateau State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised a bill before the Plateau State House of Assembly seeking life pensions for state lawmakers. In a statement issued on Wednesday by its Publicity Secretary, Choji Felix, the opposition party described the proposed legislation as “self-serving,” arguing that it would place an additional financial burden on the state at a time of economic and security challenges. The PDP alleged that the bill, pending before the All Progressives Congress (APC)-dominated House of Assembly, was aimed at providing lifelong financial benefits for lawmakers rather than addressing the needs of residents.…

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday the ceasefire with Iran was “over” after the two sides traded fire, but added that negotiators could keep talking to Tehran. Trump blasted Iran as “scum” and “cuckoo” after Washington launched strikes on the Islamic Republic overnight and Iran’s Guards said they had targeted US bases in the Gulf. Oil prices jumped five percent after Trump’s remarks. “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them any more, they’re scum,” Trump said at a NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara when asked if the truce with Iran was now finished. “They’re…

Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 network Base is set to activate its B20 token standard on mainnet, introducing a native framework for stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and other fungible tokens. According to Base documentation, B20 is scheduled to go live at 6 pm UTC on the mainnet, enabling developers to begin creating tokens under the new standard.The activation will enable developers to use Base’s native token standard to create stablecoins, RWAs, tokenized equities and other fungible tokens without requiring them to build and audit custom ERC-20 contracts.The standard supports two variants: asset and stablecoin. The asset variant has configurable decimals between six…

Us Weekly has affiliate partnerships. We receive compensation when you click on a link and make a purchase. Learn more! Olivia Wilde’s street style has always been unparalleled, and it’s evolved with her through every era of her life. No matter what trend she’s embodying, though — whether it be boho, quiet luxury or casual model-off-duty vibes — she always seems to be sporting one specific pair of penny loafers. Most recently, Wilde was spotted running errands in New York wearing the comfortable and stylish Reformation Ani Ruched Penny Loafers. The shoes complemented her oversized white trousers and plain black…

An ally of former Sokoto governor and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Aminu Tambuwal, has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Sa’idu Ubandoma, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defected after losing the ADC ticket to Manir Dan’Iya – Mr Tambuwal’s former deputy. He announced his defection at the Asokoro, Abuja residence of Aliyu Wamakko, the senator representing Sokoto North District and leader of the APC in Sokoto. Mr Ubandoma—a former banker turned seasoned public servant—previously served as the Commissioner for Finance and later as the Secretary to the…

The neighbours’ ‘debt’ is a residual service charge on a trade that Nigeria disciplined and guaranteed back in 2019. The real opportunity is to scale the commercial model that already works. Every few months, the same headline returns: Benin, Togo and Niger owe Nigeria billions of naira for electricity. This quarter it is about ₦17.45 billion. It arrives with the same wave of indignation, that we are keeping our neighbours in light while our own citizens sit in darkness. It makes for a good headline. It is also, on the numbers, a non-story, and it distracts from a far more…