Broadband infrastructure company, MainOne in collaboration with social media giant, Facebook has expended $20 million to develop terrestrial fibre technology in Edo state, Nigeria. The disclosure was made by the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, during an interview after the ninth edition of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai.
According to the governor, his administration decided to work with tech companies because global economic growth now comes from the digital transactions of digital economies.
“Today, we have an innovation hub, and we are partnering with technology companies … We are constructing about 400 kilometres of fibre in Edo as we speak,” Governor Obaseki said. He also revealed that the project will be ready for commissioning in the next couple of months.
According to Nairametrics, two states in Nigeria – Edo and Ogun – will be recipients of the metro fibre infrastructure project by MainOne and Facebook. The project is meant to deepen broadband penetration in Nigeria and accelerate the digital transformation in these parts of the country.
“With our partnership with Facebook, we have invested in building new infrastructure in states like Ogun and Edo that is open-access and can be used by all operators,” MainOne CEO, Funke Opeke said. Read more here.
Below is the Ventures Africa Weekly Economic Index, for the week ending 18th of April, 2019. This economic index gives you a glimpse into other recent activities in Nigeria’s economy as well as changes and prices that could affect the economy:
Nigerian Stock Exchange
Data released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as of 18th April 2019, showed that the All-Share Index appreciated by 1.78 percent from the previous week ending 12th April 2019. Market capitalization at the close of trading during the week under review was N11.301 trillion, a 1.78 percent increase from N11.103 trillion recorded the previous week. The All Share-Index for the week under review closed at 30,086.31
Top five price gainers and decliners in the week under review:
Top five price gainers
Chams Plc.
First Aluminium Nigeria Plc.
Dangote Flour Mills Plc.
Access Bank Plc.
AIICO Insurance Plc.
Top five price decliners
Associated Bus Company Plc.
Royal Exchange Plc.
United Capital Plc.
C & I Leasing Plc.
A.G. Leventis Nigeria Plc.
How did the Naira fare?
The Naira remained unchanged against the dollar last week as it sat at 359 Naira per dollar on the 18th of April 2019, the same value it had recorded a week before.
How did the price of oil fare?
Brent oil prices closed out the week on the 18th of April 2019 at $70.45 per barrel, slowing down on gains it had made in the past few weeks. However, there’s been a development following speculations today that the US government is removing sanction waivers for countries importing Iranian oil. Oil prices are over $74 per barrel, the highest since November 2018.
