By Sani Idris

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter, on Tuesday presented cheques of N100, 000 each to eight students of the institution as token for scholarship.

Presenting the cheques to the eight students at the university in Kaduna, the Chairman of ASUU, KASU chapter, Comrade. Peter Adamu, said the union has always placed emphasis on the role of education and human capacity development to the progress of Nigeria.

He said the scholarships given to the students were part of the areas ASUU give support to its students at every chapter to encourage diligence in academics.

Adamu noted that at the national secretariat of the union, they issue about 80 scholarships yearly to one indigent student from every branch of the union.

"There are branches that gives scholarships to even up to 50 students in their various branchs, depending on their financial strengths and the reason is our believe as a union that education is a 'human right' of every citizen as enshrined in the UN human rights.

"The UN also placed emphasis on non discrimination of people who are seeking education in the country". he said.

Adamu, while calling on indigent students who ignore applying for scholarships when ever there is opening, also noted that there were more of them who take it as scam and surprisingly became amassed as it comes to reality.

He urged the beneficiaries to be more hardworking in their academics and to use the moneys for the purpose which it was given to them for.

Shu'aibu Simon, a 400 level student of pharmacy, thanking ASUU on behalf of other beneficiaries, pledged to make judicious use of the money.

"We promise to work harder, we assure ASUU that we will put more efforts towards ensuring success in the course of our studies," he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that four of the beneficiaries were from pharmacy department of the institution, while two from Christian Religious Studies, and each from economics and microbiology department.

NAN also reports that committee set up for the scholarship placed a criteria for applicants to have minimum of not less than 3:00 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Dangote maintains rank as Forbes’ richest man in Africa

NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

January 25, 2022 12:30 PM

Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the richest man in Africa, with a net worth of $12.1 billion, according to the 2022 edition of the Forbes’ Top 10 Africa’s Billionaires List.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote

This is contained in a post on their verified Twitter account @Forbes.

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According to the report, for 11th year in a row, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is the continent’s richest person, worth an estimated $13.9 billion, up from $12.1 billion in 2021.

This according to the magazine, followed a 30 per cent increase in the stock price of Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset.

A surge in housing developments in Nigeria and growth in government infrastructure spending drove higher demand in the first nine months of 2021, analysts found.

The report added that Africa’s billionaires were richer than they had been in years, despite the global pandemic.

As a group, the continent’s 18 billionaires were worth an estimated $84.9 billion – a 15 per cent increase from twelve months ago and the most since 2014, when a larger number of billionaires–28–were worth a combined $96.5 billion.

On average, the continent’s billionaires were worth $4.7 billion now, worth $3.4 billion in 2014 with soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe lifted the fortunes of these tycoons, as demand for products from cement to luxury goods ticked up.

Jumping into the the number two from the list, spot–up from number four last year–was luxury goods magnate, Johann Rupert of South Africa.

More than 60 per cent surge in the share price of his Compagnie Financiere Richemont–maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens–pushed his fortune to $11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest dollar gainer on the list.

South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American a decade ago, ranked number three, worth an estimated $8.7 billion.

The biggest gainer in percentage terms–up 125 per cent was Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year.

Shares of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune.

Another gainer: Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu, who is $1.5 billion richer after taking yet another of his companies’ public.

In early January 2022, Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the Nigerian stock exchange.

He and his son retained a 96% stake in the company, which recently had a market capitalisation of nearly $2.8 billion. (Forbesdiscounts the values of stakes when the public float is less than 5 per cent).

BUA Cement, in which he and his son had a 96% stake, listed in January 2020.

According to the release, only two of the 18 billionaires are worth less than in 2021: Koos Bekker of South Africa, who dropped to $2.7 billion from $2.8 billion as the share prices of consumer Internet firms Naspers and Prosus fell more than 20per cent each.

Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania, whose fortune declined to an estimated $1.5 billion from $1.6 billion a year ago, due to lower multiples for publicly traded competitors.

The 18 billionaires from Africa, who were not new to the ranks, also hailed from seven different countries, South Africa and Egypt each had five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two.

All of the continent’s billionaires were men; the last woman to appear in the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola, fell off the Forbes list in January 2021.

Forbes noted that they list tracked the wealth of African billionaires who resided in Africa or had their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen.

The billionaire London resident, Mohamed Al-Fayed, an Egyptian citizen. Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident, appeared on the list due to his telecom holdings in Africa.

It added that the Net worth were calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Wednesday, Jan.19.

“To value privately held businesses, we start with estimates of revenues or profits and apply prevailing price-to-sale or price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies.

“Some list members grow richer or poorer within weeks-or days-of our measurement date,” Forbes said.

Forbes is owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family and it features original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics.

It also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics, and law.

NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA