Fearless Freedom, a bold new global advocacy initiative focused on ending economic inequality and expanding economic opportunity, officially launches today, 2nd August, 2025.

Backed by the founder of Fearless Fund,  the first venture capital fund in the U.S. built by women of color for women of color,  this new chapter builds on a legacy of breaking barriers and driving inclusive progress.

The launch of Fearless Freedom comes nearly one year after the dismissal of a federal lawsuit that challenged the organization’s efforts to empower underrepresented communities. The case, which drew national attention, was filed on August 2, 2023, and dismissed permanently on September 11, 2024.

Fearless Freedom is not just an advocacy; it is a global movement for visibility, justice, and financial equity. Through storytelling, policy conversations, and creative programming, Fearless Freedom is reclaiming space, spotlighting the real challenges, and championing the people building powerful solutions.

“Fearless Freedom is our global declaration, a refusal to be silenced, erased, or sidelined,“ said HM Queen Wa Arian Simone, CEO of Fearless Fund. “We’re not just funding change anymore, we’re amplifying the voices that have always driven it. This initiative is about power, presence, and rewriting the rules of who gets seen, supported, and heard.”

“August 2nd was once about legal resistance. From now on, it marks something else: a day of fearless expression and global visibility,” she added.

As a global advocacy initiative, Fearless Freedom will spark meaningful dialogue around economic inclusion, inviting communities to reflect, learn, and speak out against financial inequality, all through creative expression and powerful storytelling.

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first listed company on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to reach a market capitalization of ₦10 trillion, as its share price closed at ₦480 on Friday, August 1, 2025.

The telecommunications giant’s shares gained ₦8 or 1.69% during Friday’s trading session, pushing the company’s market value past the ₦10 trillion threshold.

This remarkable achievement comes just two days after MTN Nigeria released its stellar half-year 2025 financial results on Wednesday, which showed exceptional performance across all key metrics.

The timing is not surprising based on what was said in the company’s H1 results, which revealed a dramatic turnaround from losses to profitability.

The telecoms operator reported service revenue growth of 54.6% to ₦2.4 trillion, while EBITDA surged by 119.5% to ₦1.2 trillion with margins expanding significantly to 50.6%.

Most importantly, the company achieved a profit after tax of ₦414.9 billion, marking a stunning recovery from the loss of ₦519.1 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Speaking on the H1 2025 results that have driven investor confidence, Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria, said: “We are excited by the progress made in the first half of 2025, reflecting the successful execution of the strategic priorities we previously communicated to the market.”

Toriola emphasized the company’s strong operational momentum, stating: “Building on the momentum from the first quarter, we delivered strong growth in service revenue for the period under review. This was driven by robust demand for our services, proactive customer value management and price adjustments, mainly in Q2.”

The CEO’s confidence in the company’s trajectory was evident in his commentary about future prospects.

“In light of the strong momentum in our business, we have upgraded our FY 2025 and medium-term guidance and we remain firmly on track to restore our balance sheet to a positive net asset position by the end of Q3,” Toriola declared.

This optimistic outlook, backed by upgraded financial guidance targeting service revenue growth of “at least low-50%” and EBITDA margin of “at least low-50%” for FY 2025, has clearly resonated with investors.

Toriola highlighted improving operating conditions that have supported the company’s performance: “The macroeconomic conditions in Nigeria showed notable improvements in the period under review, including a relatively stable naira, improved foreign exchange (forex) liquidity and easing inflationary pressures.”

He noted that “this backdrop helped to enable our improved business performance and set a more supportive context for increased long-term investments.”

The ₦10 trillion market cap milestone represents extraordinary value creation for shareholders.

National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) said that Nigeria participated National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA’s) Crew-11 Mission, which launched yesterday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the United States.

According to NASRDA, the NASA’s Crew-11 Mission had on board six indigenous Nigerian crop seeds: melon (otherwise Egusi), okra, cowpea, guinea corn (sorghum), amaranth and maize.

NASRDA said that the seeds were chosen for their nutritional and agricultural significance.

NASA  is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States’s civil space program, aeronautics research and space research.

The agency said, “The mission, which features the World Seeds Payload, is a pioneering international agricultural experiment led by Jaguar Space, with contributions from 11 countries, including Nigeria.

“The seeds will be studied aboard the International Space Station, ISS, under microgravity conditions to explore their behaviour, resilience, and potential in future space-based farming, critical research aimed at addressing climate resilience, global food security, and agricultural innovation beyond Earth.

“Representing Nigeria at the launch is Olayinka Fagbemiro, assistant director, nternational Cooperation, NASRDA, and Linkages and project lead on the initiative.

“She oversaw every stage of Nigeria’s participation, from seed selection to logistics and formal international engagement.

“This is our first biological payload aboard a crewed NASA mission to the ISS.

“It not only validates years of local research on plant life in simulated space environments but also underscores NASRDA’s growing role in global scientific collaboration. This mission exemplifies inclusive, culturally grounded space research, and highlights the leadership role that emerging space nations such as Nigeria can play in shaping humanity’s future beyond Earth.”

yond Earth.”