General News
Emirates Begins Abuja – Dubai Daily Direct Flight
Emirates, a global connector of people and places has now connected Abuja, the Nigerian capital, to its worldwide network. Abuja is Emirates 26th destination in Africa and its 144th worldwide.
Emirates flight EK785 landed at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on 1st August, marking the start of the airline’s daily service to its second destination in Nigeria. Services to Lagos were launched just over 10 years ago.
“This new daily flight provides a convenient point to point service for our customers between Abuja and Dubai, and it will meet and further stimulate a vibrant market demand between the two cities. It will also serve our customers in Nigeria and around the network with additional connectivity and daily frequency. Our leisure and business passengers from Nigeria can now better connect to the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Asia via our hub in Dubai. Customers in Abuja can experience our A380 flagship aircraft to 29 destinations around the world, including popular ones like Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, New York, Jeddah and London,” said Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates vice president commercial operations, Northern and Western Africa.
“With a fast growing economy, Nigeria is a key market for Emirates. We started operations to Nigeria on 2nd January 2004, with four flights a week from Dubai to Lagos. Since then, our operations have steadily grown with increases in both frequency and capacity between Lagos and Dubai. Today, we fly twice daily to Lagos and now we have added Abuja, giving us a total of more than 12,200 seats a week, which will further stimulate business and leisure travel, as well as trade,” he added.
Emirates’ Dubai-Abuja route is served by an Airbus A340-300 which offers 267 seats in a three-class configuration – 12 First Class, 42 Business Class and 213 Economy Class seats.
The Airline said that customers on the route experience Emirates’ award-winning hospitality – from multi-national cabin crew and gourmet cuisine to the ice entertainment system, which offers hundreds of channels of audio and visual entertainment. Customers also enjoy Emirates’ generous baggage allowance of 30kg in Economy Class, 40kg in Business and 50kg in First.
Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of the airline, offers over 180 tonnes of cargo capacity a week on the route.
The main imports into Abuja are expected to be machinery, chemicals, transport equipment and manufactured goods, while exports include leather, vegetables and foodstuffs.
The additional cargo capacity on the new service will see a further strengthening of the bilateral trade between Nigeria and the UAE.
According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, the value of bilateral trade stood at US$ 106 million at the start of Emirates’ services in 2004. This increased to US$ 857 million in 2009 – a 710 % increase in a five-year period.
Emirates flight EK 785 departs Dubai daily at 1050hrs and arrives in Abuja at 1510hrs.
The return flight, EK 786 departs Abuja at 1935hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0550hrs the next morning.
Federal government has announced it will impose a new 5 percent refined fossil fuel tax from January.
The surcharge, which has been signed into law by President Bola Tinubu to encourage clean energy use, could raise more than half a billion dollars annually.
The fee will apply to petrol and diesel, while cooking gas and compressed natural gas — which the government has tried to promote — are exempted.
Nonprofit group ActionAid Nigeria said the policy will “disproportionately impact the poor” and deepen inequality, noting that Nigerians have not recovered from the inflationary effect of the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023.
General News
FintechNGR Announces DevTribe 2025, Focuses on Empowering Nigeria’s Software Developer Ecosystem
The Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) has announced DevTribe 2025, its flagship software developer-focused conference, set to hold on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at The Zone, Gbagada, Lagos.
With the theme “Trends, Tools & Tech Stacks for Modern Developers,” the conference aims to convene Nigeria’s growing community of software developers, tech professionals, founders, and ecosystem enablers for a day of technical exchange, innovation, and collaboration.
DevTribe 2025 is part of FintechNGR’s broader strategy to strengthen the software development pipeline in Nigeria and bridge critical gaps in mentorship, tooling, and visibility for local tech talent. This year’s event promises an immersive and community-driven experience, with a strong emphasis on emerging technologies, practical skills, and inclusive opportunities for developers at all levels.
“The DevTribe platform reflects our commitment to supporting the people building Nigeria’s digital future not just by acknowledging their role, but by actively investing in their growth,” said the organisers. “We’re bringing the right people, tools, and ideas into one room to shape the next phase of innovation.”
The event will feature keynote addresses, lightning talks, community-led sessions, and a career fair designed to help software developers connect with hiring partners and growth opportunities. It also offers a space for collaboration among startups, corporates, regulators, and talent platforms working to drive inclusive digital transformation.
FintechNGR welcomes software developers, companies, and ecosystem partners to be a part of DevTribe 2025.
NBA Africa, the local affiliate of the NBA basketball brand in the US, has announced the second edition of Triple-Double: NBA Africa Start-up Accelerator, which aims to promote the continent’s technology ecosystem and the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The NBA Africa Startup Accelerator will strengthen Africa’s technology ecosystem by providing mentorship and investment to the next generation of African tech entrepreneurs.
The organisation announced the initiative would once again be administered by ALX Ventures, a technological incubator that equips the continent’s innovators in technology with the knowledge and tools they need to develop and scale their enterprises.
Furthermore, NBA Africa named ServiceNow, an AI platform for business transformation whose Now Assist and AI agents help organisations in delivering ‘faster and smarter experiences’ at scale, as an official program partner.
The organisation stated that startups can apply to participate at tripledoubleaccelerator.nba.com until Friday, August 29, following which the applications will be filtered down to a top 10 list.
The shortlisted startups will then participate in a 10-week mentorship program, where they will be paired with mentors from NBA Africa, ServiceNow, and ALX leadership, as well as other corporate stakeholders, who will advise the companies on product development, business growth, and go-to-market strategy.
The finalists will next present their technologies to international industry professionals at the program’s second Demo Day in December, when the top five prize-winning companies will be chosen to receive financial assistance and mentorship.
“Last year’s inaugural Triple-Double Accelerator program showed how much talent, passion and creativity there is among African entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of the continent’s rapidly growing sport and entertainment industries,” said NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi. “We look forward to reviewing this year’s submissions and to helping another round of promising startups take the next step in their development.”
Last year, almost 700 early-stage African entrepreneurs applied to the program.
Ten finalists were then chosen to pitch their products to a panel of international industry leaders at the program’s first Demo Day, which took place at the NBA headquarters in New York City.
Four prize-winning companies – Festival Coins (Nigeria), Salubata (Nigeria), HustleSasa (Kenya), and UBR VR (Egypt) – were awarded financial support and mentorship.
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