Author: Elan

Joël Sikam Interview with Joël SikamFOUNDER and CEO, FISCO INDUSTRIES Lives in: Douala, Cameroon Joël Sikam is the founder and CEO of Fisco Industries, a manufacturer of home and personal cleaning products in Cameroon. His ambition is to build Africa’s equivalent of Procter & Gamble, the American multinational behind household staples such as Ariel, Pampers and Gillette. Today, Fisco produces about four million litres of cleaning products a year and sells over 40 items across two brands: Simad, for homecare products like laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, bleach and floor cleaner; and SimPharma, for personal cleaning products such as hand sanitiser,…

National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has vowed to champion new labour laws aimed at ensuring fair pay for factory and plantation workers, saying many labourers in Buikwe District are enduring rampant exploitation. Speaking during his rally at Butema Playground in Njeru Municipality on Wednesday, Bobi told supporters that a significant portion of Buikwe’s population works in factories and sugarcane plantations but continues to survive on meagre wages, with some labourers reportedly earning as little as Shs 3,000 per day. He promised that a future NUP-led government would prioritise workers’ rights and…

Crypto’s chronic insider trading problem is expanding from token launches to digital asset treasuries (DATs), as investors exploit early knowledge of upcoming corporate coin purchases.The issue runs deeper than a few bad actors, according to Shane Molidor, founder and CEO of the blockchain advisory firm Forgd. He described insider-style behavior as a structural feature of crypto markets, where prices often detach from fair value.A veteran of both Western and Asian trading desks, Molidor told Cointelegraph that many of crypto’s early institutions still treat regulation as an afterthought. “In the West, it’s ask permission rather than forgiveness,” he said. “In the…

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) under Minister Nyesom Wike has reaffirmed its ban on smartphones for certain staff during working hours. The new rule, which mandates only the use of basic “torch-light phones,” will come into effect by Monday, 1 December 2025.  In a circular signed by Amaka Ezike, Assistant Director (Administration), with reference number FCT/DLA/259/III, dated 28 November 2025, the new rule targets workers on Grade Level 14 and below in the Department of Land Administration (DLA) and the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS). It warned them against using smartphones, smartwatches, smart gadgets or any other smart device…

Google Drive is quite reliable for backing up data, keeping desktops and, especially, phones’ storage free, and ensuring your files are accessible wherever you go. But it has one major flaw: the 15GB storage in its free plan. Unless you are a power user, it makes no sense to opt for even the cheaper paid Drive storage plan. However, at the same time, the 15GB storage is not something that can be used without worrying about it running out soon. However, these workarounds allow you to have more storage, even with the free plan. OS Android, iOS, macOS, Windows Developer…

Africa’s engagement with Artificial Intelligence (AI) should go beyond technological adoption to include reshaping global narratives around inclusion, innovation, and equity. The  continent must take the opportunities presented by AI to leapfrog its development challenges and reimagine key sectors such as education, healthcare, governance, industry, and food security. This was the  thrust of the presentation of Vice Chancellor University of Lagos(UNILAG) at the opening ceremony of the university’s fifth International Week, with the theme: “Equitable Partnerships and the Future of AI in Africa.” She said: “Artificial Intelligence is not the future; it is the present. For Africa, AI represents something…

Experts at Africa Startup Festival have positioned that for African startups to scale sustainably, storytelling and trust must become core building blocks and not afterthoughts. During a panel session, the ecosystem leaders, speakers emphasised how narrative, transparency, and close-knit collaboration can make or break early-stage companies. While speaking about storytelling as a growth engine, Chidi Iwuchukwu, Executive Director at Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria, highlighted how compelling narratives drive early investor confidence. Read also: Equity surge lifts African Startup funding to $442m in October He cited the evolution of CBOX, now Octavia, where he explained how the company’s simple value proposition grew…

Motorcades swept along Luanda’s neon-lit waterfront at dusk, past idle cargo cranes and half-finished glass towers, before veering uphill toward the Salão Protocolar da Presidência – the angular concrete pavilion perched above the bay that hosted the seventh African Union-European Union Summit. Inside, beneath banners urging “effective multilateralism”, dozens of leaders converged to revive one of Africa’s most strategically significant partnerships.The Summit delivered more than a routine communiqué. Europe backed African value-addition in critical minerals for the first time, recognised the blue economy as a strategic sector, and committed to building regional green-industrial hubs.Together, the announcements mark a notable shift…

Spiro electric bikes were never meant to be sleek showroom toys. They were designed as workhorses for riders who burn through 150 kilometres a day and cannot afford breakdowns. That blunt reality has shaped the company’s engineering choices more than any global EV trend. That’s the crux of my conversation with Rahul Gaur, Director for the West African region at Spiro: the firm’s edge is not in radical invention but in ruthless localisation. Its current range includes the Ekon series, the Alpha+ and the Davido Collectible for the elites. They target commercial riders first. Okada operators. Delivery fleets. The people…

On Thursday, November 27, 2025, far from the usual long windy queues of the banking halls to the slow banking servers, and the numerous cases of wrong transactions that have plagued the banking sector, a new and promising chapter in the banking landscape is unfolding. Bank78 MFB, officially announced its entrance into the banking sector in grand style. The exclusive launch event, which was held in Lagos, brought together top industry players, financial institutions, and regulatory bodies, including representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Dubbed Nigeria’s first fully private digital bank, Bank78 MFB is set to be Nigeria’s…