News
UK-Africa Investment Summit to showcase Investment in both Nigeria & UK

The United Kingdom Government will on Monday, 20 January 2020, host the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit in London geared towards a long-term partnerships that will deliver more investment and jobs in people and business in both Nigeria and the UK.
This Summit will bring together British and African businesses to harness the huge potential of the continent when it comes to trade – including through infrastructure, agriculture, enterprise and technology. It will create new lasting partnerships to deliver more investment, jobs and growth to benefit people and businesses across Africa and the UK.
Hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Summit is a great opportunity to highlight and discuss trade and investment relations for both the UK and Nigeria. Other African countries will also be looking to promote their investment offers.
Nigeria will play a critical role in the success of the Summit. President Buhari is set to head the Nigerian delegation and will receive special treatment, befitting his status as President of Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy.
At the Summit, the Nigerian delegation will have the chance to engage investors on business environment issues and to emphasise Nigeria’s commitment to continuing to improve conditions for doing business, as recognised in its steady climb up the World Bank’s Doing Business index from 146th to 131st in last October’s report.
The British Prime Minister will meet with President Buhari, who will also attend a reception hosted by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
In advance of the Summit, the UK Government through the Department for International Development worked with the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to develop a new Nigeria Investment Guide, which will be launched at the Summit. The guide, trailed today, will help investors understand the opportunities and find out about the organisations, processes and services in place to help make the most of them.
Harriet Thompson – British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, “The UK-Africa Investment Summit is a major opportunity to support growth, development and job creation in Nigeria, including HE President Buhari’s commitment to expanding agriculture and manufacturing.”
“Nigeria will be highly visible: the only country to participate in every AIS event, and Nigeria’s companies will be out in force: one in seven of the African companies attending will be Nigerian.
“Every session of the Summit will feature Nigerian participants. We want them to come back with new partnerships that will boost investment and create jobs and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.
“This is a prime opportunity for Nigeria to make its pitch to quality British companies and investors, demonstrating not only the scale and breadth of commercial opportunities here in Nigeria, but also Government’s commitment to improving the business environment. Global competition for investment is fierce. Nigeria will need to compete for its share, addressing those areas that businesses still find a challenge, such as customs and tax procedures.
“The UK Government stands ready to assist, and to bring our companies here to be part of the growth story we want to see. That’s ultimately the goal of the Summit: to attract investors for the mutual benefit of Nigeria and the UK.”
Chris Pycroft – Head of Department for International Development in Nigeria, “This is the time for Nigeria – All eyes are on the Summit. Bringing together British and African businesses, governments, entrepreneurs and innovators is a massive step in unlocking Africa’s potential.
“We can create new lasting partnerships that will deliver more investment, more jobs and more growth – that’s good for people and businesses – and good for Nigeria”
Yewande Sadiku- Executive Secretary/CEO Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, “The UK is a country of strategic investments and we consider the relationship of utmost importance, and our delegation to the UK-Africa Investment Summit reflects that much. The summit will be an opportunity for UK businesses to get a sense of the opportunities in the Nigerian market.
The Nigerian Investment Guide will give investors the feel of what matters in setting up a business in Nigeria. We hope this will encourage even more British businesses to invest here – creating jobs for Nigerians and supporting both our economies”
Speaking on his visit to Kenya last weekend, the International Development Secretary, Alok Sharma
said: “I am in Africa to see how British and African businesses are working together to drive jobs and growth across the continent.
“Africa has eight of the 15 fastest growing economies in the world but currently receives less than 4% of foreign direct investment. There are fantastic opportunities for UK businesses to work alongside, invest in and partner with African nations.
“My visit comes ahead of the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London on January 20, where we will bring together UK and African businesses, African leaders, international institutions and young entrepreneurs to drive the investment Africa needs to flourish.I look forward to seeing many of you there.”
News
INTERPOL Report Shows Cybercrime is West, East African Most Dominant Security Concern

Cybercrime has emerged as a dominant security concern across Africa, with more than 30 percent of all reported crimes in Western and Eastern regions linked to cyber activity, according to the newly released 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report by INTERPOL.
The report, based on data from African member states and private sector partners, reveals that two-thirds of surveyed countries describe cybercrime as constituting a medium to high share of total criminal cases.
This highlights how cyber-enabled criminal activity is evolving rapidly across the continent. The report identified alarming spikes in scam attempts, with some countries witnessing a 3,000 percent increase in suspected scam notifications in the past year.
Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Cyber Crime Director, warned that the threat landscape is evolving faster than enforcement responses.
“This fourth edition of the INTERPOL African Cyber Threat Assessment provides a vital snapshot of the current situation, informed by operational intelligence, extensive law enforcement engagement, and strategic private-sector collaboration.
“It paints a clear picture of a threat landscape in flux, with emerging dangers like AI-driven fraud that demand urgent attention. No single agency or country can face these challenges alone,” Jetton stated.
In the past year, suspected scam notifications rose by up to 3,000 per cent in some African countries, according to data from Kaspersky, one of several private sector partners that work with INTERPOL’s cybercrime directorate
Online scams, particularly through phishing, are the most frequently reported cybercrimes across the continent. Ransomware attacks and Business Email Compromise (BEC) incidents are also increasing, particularly in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt.
“Ransomware detections in Africa also rose in 2024, with South Africa and Egypt suffering the highest number, at 17,849 and 12,281 detections respectively, according to data from Trend Micro, followed by other highly digitised economies such as Nigeria (3,459) and Kenya (3,030),” it stated.
Incidents included attacks on critical infrastructure, such as a breach at Kenya’s Urban Roads Authority (KURA), and on government databases, such as hacks of Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the report stated.
News
GSK to Slash Cost of Malaria Jab to Less than $5

The manufacturers of the world’s first malaria vaccine are set to slash the price by more than half by 2028 to less than$5 per dose.
The manufacturers of the shot, known as RTS,S, said a phased reduction in cost would begin immediately, with an ultimate aim to reduce the price to less than $5.
The announcement could hardly come at a more critical moment.
Gavi, a major vaccination initiative which funds immunisations in the world’s poorest countries, is facing a major budget crunch.
In Brussels on Wednesday, Gavi’s replenishment event raised $9 billion to fund immunisation programmes over the next five years. While this sounds like a huge sum, it’s significantly less than the $11.9bn the group had been aiming for.
Governments around the world are cutting development spending dramatically.
The UK, for instance, cut its contribution to Gavi by 40 per cent in real terms, telling The Telegraph it was prioritising defence, while the US has pledged nothing at all.
Though America previously gave Gavi roughly $300m a year, the country’s new health secretary claimed without evidence that the organisation was ignoring vaccine safety.
The announcement from the British pharmaceutical giant GSK and Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech will therefore be a relief to those trying to balance the books.
In a statement the companies said the price reduction demonstrated their “commitment to Gavi”, and was “driven by process improvements, expanded production capacity, cost-effective manufacturing, and minimal profit margins”.
By the time the price has fallen to below $5 per dose, a technology transfer agreement means Bharat will have taken over production, though GSK will continue to supply the adjuvant piece of the shot.
“For us, this is more than a cooperation, it’s a promise,” said Dr Krishna Ella, executive chairman of Bharat Biotech International Limited.
“By joining forces with GSK, and working closely with Gavi, and the WHO [World Health Organization], we are taking a real step toward closing the gap between vaccine supply and the urgent needs of children at risk of malaria.”
Each year, malaria still kills 500,000 people – the vast majority of them children aged five and under in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to WHO estimates, cases and deaths fell significantly between 2000 and 2015, but progress has since stalled.
Some have high hopes that RTS,S, as well as another vaccine called R21 developed by Oxford University, could prove critical in efforts to turn the tide.
In clinical trials, RTS,S reduced hospitalisations for severe malaria by 30 per cent.
But critics say the shot is too expensive and not as effective as existing tools, such as bed nets and antimalarials.
The reduction in price will bring it more in line with the cost of R21, which is priced at around $4 per dose.
Yet the cost will still add up, as both jabs require multiple shots. For RTS,S, this means four doses – the first three doses are given monthly, starting around five months of age, while the fourth dose is administered 15-18 months later.
Both jabs “provide reasonable short term efficacy – over about a year – so are a useful addition to other measures,” said Professor Nick White, a professor at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit who specialises in malaria.
“In the past GSK had limited production capacity – one of the reasons the R21 was developed. So reducing the price will be good and the two comparable vaccines can fight it out in the market place.”
A spokesperson for Gavi said the alliance’s goal is to “create sustainable demand backed by predictable financing so that companies – like GSK and Bharat – can continue investing in technology transfer and other efficiencies that bring down costs, thus making critical vaccines more available and affordable.
GSK’s decision to lower its prices, the spokesperson added, is “an important step for the global malaria vaccination programme, and our ability to make this lifesaving tool more widely available to those who need it the most”.
Gavi plans to help fund RTS,S in 12 African countries by the end of this year.
Previously, GSK has said it will supply up to 18 million vaccine doses between 2023 and the end of this year.
The company plans to supply 15 million doses annually from 2026-2028, a spokesperson told Reuters.
News
Rack Centre Signs Collocation Deal with TelCables Nigeria

Rack Centre, West Africa’s Tier III carrier- and cloud-neutral data centre, has struck a collocation agreement with TelCables Nigeria, an Angola Cables subsidiary.
TelCables Nigeria is delivering its high-capacity network and cloud infrastructure, as well as four international subsea cable systems (SACS, MONET, SEBRAS, and EllaLink), directly into Rack Centre’s regional carrier ecosystem as part of the agreement.
According to Angola Cables, the move provides reliable, low-latency south-bound routes to Europe, the Americas, and Latin America, reducing the danger of future cable disruptions along West Africa’s coast and enabling next-generation cloud services across the continent.
“Our unique Africa – to – Latin America route via SACS, combined with MONET, SEBRAS and EllaLink, gives customers the lowest – latency paths to the Americas and Europe,” said Fernando Fernandes, CEO of TelCables Nigeria.
“Businesses in latency sensitive sectors: financial services, content delivery and real-time communications will experience faster transactions, reduced lag and an enhanced user experience.
“By hosting at Rack Centre we also localise Clouds2Africa resources, price them in naira, and remove expensive ingress/egress charges or FX exposure.”
Rack Centre said its 13.5MW data centre campus designed with its recently launched LGS2 facility that delivers a design PUE of 1.35 and powered from sustainable energy sources, already hosts 70+ carriers, ISPs and network operators.
Lars Johannisson, CEO of Rack Centre, commented: “Adding a global operator of Angola Cables’ calibre through TelCables Nigeria dramatically deepens our connectivity fabric.
“We can now offer 99.95 % SLA routes to more destinations, enabling enterprises, governments and cloud providers to meet performance and data-residency requirements while keeping traffic local.”
- E-Business2 days ago
AfCFTA Positions Africa to Tap into $712bn Digital Trade Market by 2035
- E-Financial2 days ago
Fidelity Bank Clears the Air: MD Not Linked to Woobs Case
- General News2 days ago
SEC Advocates for Advanced Financial Inclusion by 2030
- E-Business2 days ago
NFIU Credits AML/CFT Reforms behind Nigeria’s Nears Exit from FATF Greylist
- Broadcasting2 days ago
MultiChoice Nigeria Slashes Decoder Price by 50 Percent, Offers Free Upgrades
- General News1 day ago
AfDB Cuts Nigeria’s Growth Projection to 3.2%
- E-Financial2 days ago
Keystone Bank, Enterprise Devt Centre Sign MoU To Empower SMEs ln Nigeria
- E-Financial2 days ago
Fidelity Bank Boosts Staff Morale with Mass Promotions and 20% Pay Raise