100 days in Gotham🦇♾
#169 - "The more things change, the more they stay the same." - Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
Hello Venturer,
I came across a viral X (Twitter) thread where the author said they want to live in Gotham City. The replies were hilarious. Not because Gotham is fictional, but because everyone seemed to have a clear idea of how dysfunctional that place is. The city relies on one man (Batman) to solve its problems, but even the hero’s attempts at saving the city add to the chaos. The sarcastic consensus was that nobody genuinely wanted to live in a place like that.
However, a similar script is playing out in Nigeria. On May 29th, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, (fondly called BAT by his supporters) became Nigeria’s president. And his administration has been action-packed from the onset. But after a gun-blazing streak of policy decisions to save the economy, Nigeria —his figurative Gotham— still needs saving.
This week, we reviewed Tinubu’s first 100 days in office to see what has changed, and what has remained the same.
Oluwatosin Ogunjuyigbe
Staff Writer, Ventures Africa.
What’s new?
How did Tinubu perform in his first 100 days as president?
On May 29th, Bola Ahmed Tinubu resumed office as Nigeria's president. And his first 100 days have been anything but uneventful. But what has changed? Read more
Nigeria’s central bank wants to quickly clear its backlogs but shows no roadmap.
The Central Bank of Nigeria said it is partnering with local banks to clear out forex backlogs —estimated at $10 billion— in two weeks. But there’s too little detail on how that will happen. Read more
Is the Nigerian box office starting to pick up?
The Nigerian film industry has been showing remarkable growth and resilience in the face of economic hardships that disrupted many sectors. Read more
Nigerians are finding love in today's digital age with Trueflutter
In a world of low attention and less community, the chances of bad dates are higher. But a Nigerian dating and matchmaking app might have found the secret to sparking up love stories. Read more.
My Pivot Journal: Victor Onyekere dropped a medical ambition to save businesses
Victor Onyekere is passionate about seeing people succeed. And he spends most of his time pushing them towards their goal. However, he didn’t dream of doing so in his early days. Read more.
Fred Swaniker discusses entrepreneurship and the selection of ABH finalists
In this exclusive interview, Fred Swaniker provides insights into the African entrepreneurial landscape, the role of an ABH judge, and the selection process for ABH finalists. Learn more.
Starlink's first year in Africa is a roller-coaster
Since Starlink entered the Nigerian market, its path has witnessed more roadblocks than expected. From regulatory hurdles to high prices, gaining the upper hand in the African market is a Herculean task. Read more
Three female-led startups make Africa’s Business Heroes Top 10 finalists in 2023
After two days of fierce competition among 2o Africa innovators and disruptors at the just concluded Africa’s Business Heroes Semi-Finals in the green city of Kigali, three female-led startups emerged among the top 10 finalists. Read more
Gabon's coup is different from others. What's at stake?
The military takeover in Gabon comes hard on the heels of last month's coup in much poorer Niger and follows seven other putsches in West and Central Africa in just three years, all in former French colonies. But this one seems different. Read more
Nigeria is going hard for the next wave of technology
According to Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, who announced it on X (formerly Twitter), the National Information Technology Development Agency has initiated the development of a National AI Strategy. Read more
ICYMI: Anonymous Sudan hacks X, MTN's new funding round, NGX is Africa's second-best
A group of hackers from Sudan disrupted X, MTN Nigeria raised ₦125 billion ($161 million) from commercial paper notes and the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) emerged as the second-best-performing stock market in Africa. Read more
The VA Pod
Nigeria is going through its toughest energy crisis in years. This could be a great time to explore renewable energy. This podcast, adapted from our LinkedIn audio event titled, “Seems like the right time for Nigeria to invest in renewable energy” digs into this conversation. Oluwatosin Ogunjuyigbe hosted industry experts, including Chibunna Ogbonna, co-founder and CEO of Kiru Energy Limited and Lolade Alonge, Business Communication officer and project manager at Koolbooks. Listen to the full podcast here.
Mini Issues
VivaTech 2023: Is AI truly limited?
Read the mini issue of our coverage of Viva Technology, Europe’s biggest technology conference, which was held in Paris, France, from June 14th to 17th, 2023.
Africa’s Business Heroes – Empowering Africa's next-gen entrepreneurs?
Since 2019, ABH, Jack Ma Foundation’s philanthropic program, has identified, showcased, and supported the next generation of African entrepreneurs through its inclusive and sector-agnostic prize competition.
Ventures Africa was in Kigali for Africa’s Business Heroes’ just-concluded Top 20 semi-final event.
Our weekly collectibles
People will soon be able to experience TikTok without its all-knowing, hyper-personalized algorithm. Will anything change? Find out how TikTok Is Opening a Parallel Dimension in Europe.
The most overrated metric in entertainment is erratic, reductive, and easily hacked, yet it has Hollywood in its grip. Find out how in The Decomposition of Rotten Tomatoes.
The Bongo family that controlled Gabon for 56 years, until the recent coup loved music so much that they likely spent millions of the oil-rich country’s dollars on courting international artists. find out When the (pop) music stopped in Gabon.
A Michigan real-estate broker was convinced he had cracked the lottery. Discover how he tricked his investors into financing his scheme in The $30 Million Lottery Scam.
#VANUGGET
