Artificial intelligence is transforming industries around the world, from agriculture to healthcare, driving innovation and economic growth. In Nigeria, one young entrepreneur is embracing that future by founding a university dedicated entirely to AI, aiming to equip the next generation with the skills to lead the digital revolution.
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Video - Nigeria’s AI pioneer builds a university for the future
Artificial intelligence is transforming industries around the world, from agriculture to healthcare, driving innovation and economic growth. In Nigeria, one young entrepreneur is embracing that future by founding a university dedicated entirely to AI, aiming to equip the next generation with the skills to lead the digital revolution.
Nigeria launches $500 million agriculture fund to transform oil-rich Niger Delta
Nigeria has unveiled a $500 million Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund, marking one of its biggest agriculture-focused investment initiatives as the government looks to diversify the economy beyond oil and strengthen food security.
Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the fund on Wednesday at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit in Abuja, describing agriculture as a critical pillar of Nigeria's long-term economic transformation. The initiative is designed to increase food production, unlock private capital and position the oil-producing Niger Delta as a major agribusiness hub.
Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the fund on Wednesday at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit in Abuja, describing agriculture as a critical pillar of Nigeria's long-term economic transformation. The initiative is designed to increase food production, unlock private capital and position the oil-producing Niger Delta as a major agribusiness hub.
A commercial investment model
Unlike traditional government intervention programmes, the fund will operate as a commercial, returns-driven investment vehicle, financing projects across the agricultural value chain.
Investment will target high-potential sectors including aquaculture, palm oil, livestock, fisheries, marine resources and crop production. According to Shettima, financing will come from a mix of multilateral development institutions—including the World Bank, African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank—alongside private investors. He did not disclose how much each institution would contribute or the fund's ownership structure.
Nigeria has been ramping up mechanisation efforts, including plans to deploy 10,000 tractors over five years to improve productivity. The government has also pursued international partnerships, including a $1 billion agriculture cooperation agreement with Brazil, aimed at expanding mechanised farming and agricultural infrastructure.
Unlike traditional government intervention programmes, the fund will operate as a commercial, returns-driven investment vehicle, financing projects across the agricultural value chain.
Investment will target high-potential sectors including aquaculture, palm oil, livestock, fisheries, marine resources and crop production. According to Shettima, financing will come from a mix of multilateral development institutions—including the World Bank, African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank—alongside private investors. He did not disclose how much each institution would contribute or the fund's ownership structure.
Nigeria has been ramping up mechanisation efforts, including plans to deploy 10,000 tractors over five years to improve productivity. The government has also pursued international partnerships, including a $1 billion agriculture cooperation agreement with Brazil, aimed at expanding mechanised farming and agricultural infrastructure.
Why the Niger Delta matters
Although the Niger Delta has long powered Nigeria's economy through crude oil production, its vast agricultural potential has remained largely underdeveloped.
By attracting institutional investors and commercial capital into the region, the government hopes to create jobs, expand agricultural exports and reduce Nigeria's dependence on food imports. If successfully executed, the initiative could help reposition the Niger Delta from an oil-dependent economy to one of the country's most important food-production and agribusiness centres.
Although the Niger Delta has long powered Nigeria's economy through crude oil production, its vast agricultural potential has remained largely underdeveloped.
By attracting institutional investors and commercial capital into the region, the government hopes to create jobs, expand agricultural exports and reduce Nigeria's dependence on food imports. If successfully executed, the initiative could help reposition the Niger Delta from an oil-dependent economy to one of the country's most important food-production and agribusiness centres.
By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa
Dozens of abducted schoolchildren and teachers rescued in Nigeria
Two months after they were abducted in southwestern Nigeria, dozens of students and teachers have been rescued, the presidency says.
In a statement on Friday, President Bola Tinubu said he was “profoundly happy” that Nigeria’s security agencies had rescued the students and teachers, 56 days after they were kidnapped from three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo.
Eight of the assailants have been arrested and an unspecified number have been killed, Tinubu added.
On May 15, 46 students and staff were kidnapped from two primary schools and one secondary school. The government has blamed the kidnappings on Boko Haram.
The youngest child taken was aged two, while the oldest was 16. One of the teachers was killed shortly after the abduction.
In a post on X, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said all of the students and teachers had been rescued.
School kidnappings have become common in Nigeria, as armed groups seek large ransoms from the government and citizens.
The situation has been worsened by a security crisis, partly fuelled by the Boko Haram rebellion in the country’s northeast. In 2024, gunmen earned more than $1.6m in ransom payments, according to SBM Intelligence.
“This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular,” Tinubu said in his statement.
“On behalf of the country, I express my gratitude to the officers and men of our armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the police for the safe rescue of the children and their teachers.”
Prior to the May 15 attack, the majority of school kidnappings had taken place in northern Nigeria. The abductions in Oyo, in the southwest, have prompted concerns that the security crisis could be worsening.
It is not clear exactly how the students and staff were rescued, but Onanuga said there “was no quid pro quo in the rescue”.
Earlier this week, Defence Minister Christopher Musa said the assailants planned to use the hostages as leverage to pressure the government to release some of their commanders from prison.
In a statement on Friday, President Bola Tinubu said he was “profoundly happy” that Nigeria’s security agencies had rescued the students and teachers, 56 days after they were kidnapped from three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo.
Eight of the assailants have been arrested and an unspecified number have been killed, Tinubu added.
On May 15, 46 students and staff were kidnapped from two primary schools and one secondary school. The government has blamed the kidnappings on Boko Haram.
The youngest child taken was aged two, while the oldest was 16. One of the teachers was killed shortly after the abduction.
In a post on X, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said all of the students and teachers had been rescued.
School kidnappings have become common in Nigeria, as armed groups seek large ransoms from the government and citizens.
The situation has been worsened by a security crisis, partly fuelled by the Boko Haram rebellion in the country’s northeast. In 2024, gunmen earned more than $1.6m in ransom payments, according to SBM Intelligence.
“This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular,” Tinubu said in his statement.
“On behalf of the country, I express my gratitude to the officers and men of our armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the police for the safe rescue of the children and their teachers.”
Prior to the May 15 attack, the majority of school kidnappings had taken place in northern Nigeria. The abductions in Oyo, in the southwest, have prompted concerns that the security crisis could be worsening.
It is not clear exactly how the students and staff were rescued, but Onanuga said there “was no quid pro quo in the rescue”.
Earlier this week, Defence Minister Christopher Musa said the assailants planned to use the hostages as leverage to pressure the government to release some of their commanders from prison.
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Dangote begins pricing local fuel sales in dollars, citing crude supply constraints
Nigeria's Dangote Petroleum Refinery has begun pricing fuel products for the local market in U.S. dollars, with a company spokesperson on Tuesday citing difficulties securing sufficient crude under the government's naira-for-crude programme and rising global oil prices.
The naira-for-crude programme, launched in October 2024, allowed domestic refiners to purchase crude in the local currency and reduced pressure on the foreign exchange market.
Africa's largest refinery, with a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, has set the ex-depot price of petrol at $0.779 per litre, diesel at $1.087 per litre and aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre, according to a pricing template circulated to marketers.
Edwin Devakumar, vice president of the Dangote Group, said the refinery had been absorbing a currency mismatch by selling products in naira while sourcing crude in dollars, but limited crude supply under the naira-for-crude programme had undermined the arrangement's viability.
Although state-owned oil company NNPC increased Dangote's allocation to seven cargoes in May from about five previously, the refiner has said it requires 13 to 15 cargoes a month and has been forced to import the remainder at international prices.
The decision could boost demand for dollars among fuel marketers and make domestic fuel prices more sensitive to exchange-rate fluctuations.
The sector regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dangote has become a major local petrol supplier, helping to reduce the country's dependence on fuel imports, but has struggled to secure sufficient volumes in Nigeria.
By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters
The naira-for-crude programme, launched in October 2024, allowed domestic refiners to purchase crude in the local currency and reduced pressure on the foreign exchange market.
Africa's largest refinery, with a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, has set the ex-depot price of petrol at $0.779 per litre, diesel at $1.087 per litre and aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre, according to a pricing template circulated to marketers.
Edwin Devakumar, vice president of the Dangote Group, said the refinery had been absorbing a currency mismatch by selling products in naira while sourcing crude in dollars, but limited crude supply under the naira-for-crude programme had undermined the arrangement's viability.
Although state-owned oil company NNPC increased Dangote's allocation to seven cargoes in May from about five previously, the refiner has said it requires 13 to 15 cargoes a month and has been forced to import the remainder at international prices.
The decision could boost demand for dollars among fuel marketers and make domestic fuel prices more sensitive to exchange-rate fluctuations.
The sector regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dangote has become a major local petrol supplier, helping to reduce the country's dependence on fuel imports, but has struggled to secure sufficient volumes in Nigeria.
Nigeria to lead humanitarian response as UN support evolves
Nigeria plans to take on a bigger role in coordinating humanitarian responses inside the country, as it shifts away from a system led largely by international donors and U.N. agencies, officials said on Tuesday.
The move was outlined at a joint transition workshop in the capital of Abuja, where the Nigerian government and the United Nations began talks on transferring greater responsibility for planning, coordination, and financing of operations to national institutions.
Nigeria's humanitarian minister Bernard Doro said the move was not a withdrawal of international support but a transition to government-led coordination that would continue to receive technical backing from the U.N. and other partners.
U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall said the decision was not about reducing support, but to shift to a new model that takes advantage of more government and private-sector funding to drive humanitarian response.
Donor funding has been under growing pressure globally, while Nigeria wants to strengthen its ability to respond to conflict, displacement, food insecurity, flooding, climate shocks and public health emergencies.
The U.N. has said nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year following the collapse of global aid budgets.
Doro said his ministry would work with federal and state authorities, aid agencies and affected communities to coordinate humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery efforts nationwide.
He said Nigeria aims to take the lead in developing its 2027 humanitarian plan, with technical support from OCHA and the wider U.N. system.
By Camillus Eboh, Reuters
The move was outlined at a joint transition workshop in the capital of Abuja, where the Nigerian government and the United Nations began talks on transferring greater responsibility for planning, coordination, and financing of operations to national institutions.
Nigeria's humanitarian minister Bernard Doro said the move was not a withdrawal of international support but a transition to government-led coordination that would continue to receive technical backing from the U.N. and other partners.
U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall said the decision was not about reducing support, but to shift to a new model that takes advantage of more government and private-sector funding to drive humanitarian response.
Donor funding has been under growing pressure globally, while Nigeria wants to strengthen its ability to respond to conflict, displacement, food insecurity, flooding, climate shocks and public health emergencies.
The U.N. has said nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year following the collapse of global aid budgets.
Doro said his ministry would work with federal and state authorities, aid agencies and affected communities to coordinate humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery efforts nationwide.
He said Nigeria aims to take the lead in developing its 2027 humanitarian plan, with technical support from OCHA and the wider U.N. system.
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