…Shareholders optimistic about future earnings prospects
l-r: Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka and Group Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu, at the 59th Annual General Meeting of United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc, held in Lagos on Thursday
Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has assured its teeming shareholders and investors of even greater returns in the coming months, with the bank having established a diversified business model that ensures impressive performance even in periods of uncertainty, across its geographical network.
UBA Group Chairman, Tony O. Elumelu, who gave this assurance to shareholders at the 59th Annual General Meeting at the UBA Head Office, on Thursday April 1, 2021, explained that the bank has made strategic decisions that will strengthen its resolve to earn the industry leadership that it has envisioned in Nigeria, Africa and globally.
“We spearheaded strategic investments in our digital banking and technology platforms to further promote self-service banking; we have also focused on enhancing the capabilities of our people through various online capacity development programmes,” Elumelu added, “Our African operations (ex-Nigeria) have contributed approximately 55% of our profits for the year, illustrating that we are truly a pan-African bank.”
He further explained that the bank remains committed to ensuring its viability amid an ever-changing business environment and to continue be a role model for African businesses by showcasing the best of Africa to the world. “The work we have done in strengthening our governance structures Group-wide and in improving our business and operating models in 2020 positions our bank to benefit from these recovery trends and to achieve significant market share gains across our operations,” he noted.
At the end of the 2020 financial year, UBA’s profits grew remarkably by 27.7 percent to N113.8 billion, compared to N89.1 billion recorded at the end of the 2019 financial year, whilst profit before tax was impressive at N131.9 billion, compared toN111.3 billion at the end of the 2019 financial year.
Gross earnings grew by 10.8 percent to N620.4 billion, compared to N559.8 billion recorded in the same period of 2019 whilst total assets also grew by 5.6 percent to an unprecedented N7.7 trillion for the year under review.
In its usual tradition of rewarding shareholders, the bank proposed a final dividend of N0.35 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo, bringing the total dividend for the year to N0.52 kobo as the bank had paid an interim dividend of N0.17 kobo earlier in the year.
Shareholders at the meeting commended the bank’s decision to plough-back some of its profits into business consolidation, adding that these times call for prudent and effective management of financial resources for all businesses especially those with high shareholding rate such as UBA.
One of the shareholders, Sir Sunny Nwosu, who spoke at the meeting, commended the board and management of the bank company for keeping up with its activities despite the Covid-19 pandemic and its resultant effect on major businesses.
Whilst advising the company to gear up efforts to increase dividends in the next financial year, Nwosu praised UBA’s for ensuring that the African subsidiaries performed well by contributing 55% to the Group’s business.
Another shareholder, Nonah Awoh, who agreed with the improvement recorded from the bank’s Ex-Nigeria’s subsidiaries, encouraged the management to boost other subsidiaries with the needed resources to help them perform even better in the current financial year.
UBA’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka, who responded to shareholders’ comments at the meeting spoke on the reduced dividend pay-out this year, explaining that the bank had decided to be conservative to further strengthen the business.
He said, “As an institution that has been in operations for 72 uninterrupted years, UBA wants to continue to perform optimally. In line with this, we have used most of our funds to prepare for unforeseen challenges. Given the trajectory and the resilience of our business, we can assure you that we will meet and surpass the expectation of you our shareholders.”
Continuing, he said, “We have recalibrated our business structure, starting from Lagos and extending to the South-South. We have bolstered them with the necessary leadership to achieve our aim. We believe that with these measures we have put in place, our Nigerian business will give the rest of Africa a good fight,” Uzoka said.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-one million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points. Operating in 20 African countries with presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.
Polaris Bank savings customers are gearing up for the grand finale of the ongoing nationwide ‘ Save & Win’ promo, which is scheduled to hold in April 2021.
At the end of the ‘Save & Win’ Millionaire promo, a total of N26,000,000 would have been won by 188 Polaris Bank customers nationwide. The promo has so far recorded two draws in February and March with the Grande-finale scheduled for April 2021.
The grand finale draw will see Six millionaires emerge from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and 60 other customers will go home with a consolation sum of N100,000 each. All winners will emerge through a transparent, electronically-generated process that regulatory institutions will supervise.
The ‘Save & Win’ promo aims to make millionaires of Nigerians by encouraging current and new customers to save a minimum of N10,000 monthly. The ‘Save & Win’ promo was launched in November 2020, and so far, two millionaires: Lucky Okunzuwa, a customer of Akpakpava branch in Benin City, Edo State and Ikechukwu Bartholomew Obiefuna, a customer of Okeke Street Branch, Awka, Anambra State, have emerged. In addition, 120 customers have also walked away with N100,000 each across the previous two draws which took place on the 9th of February and 9th of March, bringing the total amount won to N14,000,000 so far.
Commenting on their win, both the first and second millionaire, Lucky and Ikechukwu expressed immense appreciation to the Bank and had positive things to say on the Save & Win promo cash prize.
‘‘I am very delighted about winning one million naira in the Polaris Bank Save & Win Promo. It was like a dream when I was told but this is a reality. The money will go a long way in supporting my small business to grow. I also commit to continue to save more. I sincerely thank Polaris Bank for this novel initiative,’’ lucky remarked.
Representatives from relevant regulatory bodies have also attested to the free, fair and transparent process of the draw used in selecting the winners. They also commended the Bank for keeping its promise to the winners.
Giving a background to what informed the Promo, Polaris Bank’s Acting Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Innocent C. Ike, said, “it is a reward for our customers, who despite the challenging times, can put aside some money as savings. He reiterated that in not-so-pleasant economic times, there is a compelling need to save – not only to win a prize – but also to plan for the rainy day. He disclosed that “both existing and new savings account customers of the Bank are eligible to participate in the promo.”
Savings Account accessibility is swift and straightforward in Polaris Bank. Prospective customers can dial *833*0# on their phones to follow the prompt to create or reactivate their savings account from their devices by visiting https://accounts.polarisbanklimited.com/opening/ or any of the Bank’s branches across the country.
Polaris Bank is a future-determining bank committed to delivering industry-defining products and services across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command on Tuesday 30th March, 2021, nabbed 6 notorious traffic robbery kingpins at different locations in Lagos State.
This is contained in a statement signed by CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Police Public Relations Officer,Lagos State Command and made available to NAOSRE.
In the statement, Adejobi stated that the operational squad led by the Commander of the RRS, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, nabbed the 6 traffic robbery kingpins around Iddo Bridge, Ijora Olopa, Ojota and Ketu.
While briefing the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, on the operation, CSP Yinka Egbeyemi confirmed the arrest and recovery of a toy gun from one of the suspected traffic robbers, Toheeb Isiaka, on top of Iddo Bridge.
Other 5 traffic robbery kingpins, Tunde Raman, 25, Olamilekan Adeyemi, 20, Segun Sulaiman 33, Idris Mohammed, 25, and Uche Nwankwo, 25, were apprehended at Ijora Olopa, Ketu and Ojota.
Toheeb Isiaka, who was caught with a toy gun confessed that he had snatched more than twenty (20) phones from innocent motorists in the last 2 weeks at different spots in the area. He also confessed that once he pulled out his toy gun, motorists became jilttery and immediately surrendered their valuables like Phones, wallets and jeweleries, willingly without any resistance or confrontation.
In another development, barely 24 hours after his resumption the newly appointed DPO Festac, CSP Femi Iwasokun, has burst a robbery syndicate at Aboju Round About of Festac and recovered one locally-made pistol from them.
The Anti Crime Squad despatched by the Divisional Police Officer, while on patrol, intercepted some suspected armed robbers on a motorcycle around Aboju Round About, along Badagry Expressway, Lagos State, on Tuesday 30th March, 2021 at about 9am. One Adewale Sadiq, m, 37, of no fixed addresss, was arrested with a locally-made pistol, while others fled.
The Commissioner of Police,Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered that the suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, for proper investigation, while he directed that the fleeing suspected members of the armed robbery syndicate and traffic robbers in many parts of the state be tracked and arrested as all hands must be on deck to get Lagos State rid of criminals and hoodlums.
CP Hakeem Odumosu however reiterated his zero tolerance for crimes and social vices in the state and urged criminals and hoodlums to steer clear of the state as the command will leave no stone unturned to suppress them and their antics.
Insecurity and Anambra State November guber election, which have become worrisome, are the focus of the Research and Intelligence Unit of National Association of Online Security Reporters, NAOSRE’s Week 12 Security Review
The height of brazen attacks on Police Stations and killing of personnel was experienced after the hijack of peaceful #EndSARS protest by hoodlums in October 2020.
Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, said that no fewer than 22 police officers were killed by youth protesting police brutality while hundreds of police stations and formations across the country were damaged.
But long after the end of the violent protests when the wounds were healing and Police pulling out of the onslaught with rebuilding of its formations, Policemen seem to have become endangered species especially in South East.
The attacks on Police which has assumed a worrisome dimension has resulted to loss of personnel, destruction of vehicle and police stations have been reported in Abia State, Anambra State, Ebonyi State and Imo states all in South East Nigeria as well as Cross Rivers
On December 24, a Police team at Amannachi on the Orlu-Ihiala Road was attacked by gunmen who killed two personnel instantly and later set their patrol vehicle ablaze.
Civilian victims were also recorded on the day of the including a promising youth popularly called ‘Soludo’ whose vehicle was also snatched in the process.
On January 10, three Police officers including two male and one female were killed when unidentified gunmen invaded Onueke Police Station in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi state and carted away two Ak riffles.
Loveth Odah, Police Public Relations Officer in Ebonyi state confirmed the attack and death of personnel.
According to her, “Yes, three policemen were killed in the attack. We don’t know the identity of the attackers yet. We are calling on the general public to provide information to the police in order to hunt down the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” she said.
The tales of deaths of Policemen in the hands of gunmen reverberated in Cross River State on Feb 24 when four of them on patrol were gunned down.
It was bloody recently in Calabar, Cross River State South South Nigeria as unknown gunmen gunned four police officers at a check point at about 12:30 am.
The policemen comprising two inspectors and two sergeants, were killed in the early hours of Thursday at a check point along MCC – Idundung road in Calabar
According to a local eyewitness, their dead bodies were seen on the floor in their pool of blood as a team of police men recovered the two ruffles that were left behind.
Miss Irene Ugbo, PPRO in Cross River said that the Command has been thrown into grief and is very bitter about the ugly incident.
“It is quite unfortunate and we feel really sad and in mourning mood about the death of the four officers who lost their lives.
“We are investigating the matter and will surely root out the culprits no matter how far they run or hide, we must get them that I can assure you,” she said.
In Abia state, gunmen struck at Omoba Police station in Isiala Ngwa South and Abayi Station in Aba on Feb. 2 and Feb. 23 killing a total of three personnel.
Police in the state confirmed that the assailants gained access into the armoury and carted away a number of AK 47 rifles and ammunitions.
The source wondered why the police should be the target of those responsible such that able bodied responsible personnel who were fathers, brothers, sons, mothers, sisters and likely breadwinners of family would be mowed down so wickedly.
Mr Chucks Ezeh, a resident of one of the communities where Police were killed says they are living in fear because those who should protect them from criminals are murdered in cold blood.
Ezeh said though there had not been report of violent crime in the area, the possible disappearance of Police from the roads could lead to increased insecurity. “We don’t understand what the new Police Commissioner is doing,” he lamented.
Mr Osita Obijiofor, an activist, condemned the attacks saying it is not the solution to any problem.
Obi said the killings are not good for the security of the area as Police personnel would now operate with utmost caution and fear.
The activist called on governors in the region to harmonise and come up with a strategic regional plan to curb insecurity in the area.
“Though I did not support EndSAR, I have always called for reform of police towards creating a more robust relationship between between the Police and the people.
“The attacks on Policemen and police formations are unfortunate because the Police still remain the closest security outfit to the people. Moreover, killing them will not end corruption or injustice because they are part of the society.
“Though, there is need for the Police to work on their relationship with the people.
“As a way forward, governors of states in the affected regions should see the development as a problem and come together to discuss the common problem bedeviling their states.
“Certainly, these are youths, the governors should have a way of reaching the youth and convincing them that they are for their interest, it should worry them why Police in their states are being attacked,” he said.
A security expert, Colonel Chuba Ikeagwu (Rrtd) said there is need for more intelligence gathering in order to address the brewing arms buildup in Southern Nigeria.
Ikeagwu said attack on Police is an institutional challenge for which the police must examine itself to discover at which point they have become endangered in the society. He admonished heads of Police formations like the Commissioner to undergo internal reassessment to be able to fight crime.
He condemned the transfer of arms to people without licenses which happens on the basis of corruption and blamed it on the inability to provide adequate security for Nigerians.
According to him, there is no smoke without fire, something is wrong somewhere and only the police can explain better what has happened it is not usual for police to be under this type of attack.
“Again, it could be a possible arms build up in response to what is happening in the North where herdsmen display alarming volume of arms and efforts are not being made to mop them up.
“Federal government should not only condemn activities of herdsmen who as threatening peace of this country, it should deal with them ruthlessly and unapologetically.
“This will send a clear signal about how government view lawlessness and discourage people from going away with illegal arms,” he said.
In all of this however, is the case of Anambra State and the heightened security situation occasioned by the November governorship contest that is billed to be a battle of the titans.
First, Anambra State parades the highest number of billionaires in Nigeria and ostensibly, the most richest in the country on individual account.
Therefore, any election in Anambra State is often more of do or die where money is not a problem to arm the young ones with sophisticated arms for electoral operations.
This has technically become a source of worry to stakeholders and residents of the State who are of the view that the newly transferred Commissioner of Police to the State, Monday Bala Kuryas, has not demonstrated the required dexterity to curb crimes in the commercially activated State.
Speaking to NAOSRE Intelligent and Research Unit, Chief Okafor Mbadinuju {Not related to the former governor} who resides in the state said:
“I have not seen any action by the new CP to curtail the excesses of these young criminals. We are all afraid because this is an election year. There is governor ship election and lots of arms are entering Anambra like a never end stream,” he said.
Only recently, four Anambra policemen in two patrol teams lost their lives in Mkpologwu and Omogho in Aguata and Orumba North Local Government Areas on Feb. 25.
CSP Haruna Mohammed, then PPRO in Anambra who confirmed the attack said the Commissioner of Police had visited the scene of incident.
“The gunmen who drove in a saloon car and a black Mercedes Benz 4Matic SUV opened fire on the policemen deployed to patrol the two locations,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the CP has ordered for a discreet investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident and bring perpetrators of the dastardly act to book” he said.
In spite the open condemnations that trail the attacks, perpetrators of these killings have neither been arrested nor prosecuted.
According to various accounts, the attacks exhibit peculiar but similar characteristics going for the lives of policemen and making away with their riffles.
They go unsuspectingly, execute their mission and flee most times not resisted and without trail. No government or security agencies have been able unmask the identities of theses gunmen and it has not been established if the perpetrators are members of the same ring.
However, sources under pleaded anonymity suspect that they could be members of Eastern Security Network (ESN) a vigilance group created by outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
A 300 level student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Akwa who simply gave his name as Desmond corroborated the fears of Mbadinuju saying “We are told Commissioner Monday Bala Kuryas has served as Area Commander in Nsukka, Enugu State which means he should understand the terrain but nothing has changed and this is election years. We don’t even see the police chasing criminals. The ones we see are sent to the roads to collect money and that is all,” he volunteered.
Reacting, the new Command spokesman, DSP Nkenga Tochukwu to NAOSRE on Tuesday afternoon that those who complain that they are not seeing uniformed officers on the roads are right “Because the Command does more of convert operations {Deployment of intelligent officers on towns and villages} and we have been making success,”
Tochukwu added that it will not be correct to single out Anambra State as security pruned saying that “This is a trying period to every one. No state is totally free from insecurity. But at the Anambra State Command, I can tell you that we are doing our best,” the DSP submitted.
Commissioner Monday Bala Kuryas who hails from Kurya Dadu in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State assumed duty as the 29th Commissioner of Police (CP) in Anambra.
He replaced Mr John Abang who has been elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Jack Ma, the Ant and Alibaba founder is no longer the richest man in China and neither is he the second richest. He has been surpassed by two businessmen and currently sits in the third position. Jack Ma’s position was snatched by a man who at age 30, was working as a local reporter in the Zhejiang Province of China.
His name is still largely unheard, unlike his counterparts. Zhong Shanshan is the current richest man in China and was recently the richest man in Asia. He is currently worth $62.3 billion, according to Bloomberg. This means that he is $10bn richer than the famous Jack Ma of Alibaba Group.
Zhong Shanshan is also in a rare class of modern-day billionaires. He belongs to the very few multi-billionaires in today’s world with no ties to the technology sector.
The story of Zhong Shanshan is your typical grass to grace story. Zhong was born into a poor family and had to drop out of school during the Cultural Revolution. He worked in construction sites and even sold prawns in the streets as a teenager.
After failing to pass the exams of a proper school, he enrolled into the Zhejiang Radio & TV University where he completed his degree and worked at the same time. At age 30, he was working as a local reporter in Zhejiang Radio and TV Station. He attributed his business drive and success to his work here as a reporter, where he interviewed over 500 self-made millionaires.
He went on to work as a beverage salesman before starting his own company.
According to fortune, 1n 1996 Zhong launched a bottling water business in his hometown Hangzhou. His business sold water bottled from a nearby reservoir to local vendors.
Zhong Shanshan’s water product came at a time when China had a serious drinking water challenge. Most of the country’s tap water was undrinkable and the Ministry of Water Resources confirmed that 80% of the country’s tap water was unsafe for drinking.
Zhong Shanshan was able to convince the Chinese people that natural water, which still contained minerals, was safe and better than traditional distilled water. His bottled water was known to have a little bit of taste from the natural minerals that were not removed from it. The Chinese people bought the idea. Zhong Shanshan also deployed brilliant marketing tactics with a product slogan that said, “Nongfu tastes a bit sweet.”
The idea struck gold!
Zhong Shanshan’s Nongfu Springs went on to become the leading bottled water product in the massive Chinese market. His company controls 28% of the Chinese bottled water market. It added energy drinks and vitamins to its catalogue and went public at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Zhong Shanshan’s Nongfu Springs was listed at a market valuation of $48bn. The number now stands at $95bn according to fortune.
Zhong Shansan’s second-largest company, Beijing Wantai Biological, a vaccine maker went public in 2020 with a market capitalization of $17bn.
Zhong Shanshan is currently the richest man in China with a net worth of $62.3b according to Bloomberg.
Jack Ma’s financial woes began when he openly criticized the Chinese Communist Party for its overbearing regulations on Chinese businesses. This led to the suspension of his Ant Group’s $37 billion IPO according to Reuters.
Zhong Shanshan is succeeded by Ma Huateng, the multi-billionaire founder of Tencent, a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company. Ma Huateng is worth $61.5bn according to
Bloomberg index. He is the second richest man in China.
Zhong Shanshan is nicknamed, “The Lone Wolf” because of his very low-key lifestyle and alienation from business circles.
It is no longer news that the world’s most powerful and richest individuals in finance are dominated by men that include Ray Dalio (net worth of $17 billion), the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund; and Stephen Schwarzman (net worth of $24 billion), the man that leads Blackstone, the world’s most influential private equity firm.
However, Abigail Johnson, an American born billionaire is presently the world’s richest person in finance with a net valuation of $26.2 billion.
She leads Fidelity Investments, the world’s leading investment firm which was founded by her grandfather Edward C. Johnson II.
Fidelity Investments was established in 1946 and is one of the biggest and most influential asset managers in the world with $4.9 trillion in assets under management as of June 2020, and a combined total customer asset value of about $8.3 trillion.
Abigail Johnson, the Harvard and Cambridge-trained business executive at the time of writing this report presently owns about 24.5% of FMR, which handles about $5 trillion in assets under management.
Her father, brother Ned IV and sister Elizabeth own almost 50% of Fidelity’s parent company, FMR LLC, and have served as leaders of Fidelity Investment since 2014, pushing the company’s influence in key financial markets that include crypto.
Her family’s investments include Impresa Management, a top-notch hedge fund according to a March 2020 Form ADV filing. It holds about $9 billion in assets.
Recall that some days ago, Fidelity Investments revealed plans to launch its own Bitcoin exchange-traded fund as the $5 trillion asset management company strengthens its position in the world’s leading financial asset class.
FD Funds Management, a subsidiary of Fidelity, some days ago revealed it had come up with a strategy in creating an exchange-traded fund called the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust.
Abigail Johnson’s current net valuation of $26.2 billion would be about 15.2 million troy ounces of gold or 406 million barrels of crude oil.
That being said, Abigail Johnson is known for being intensely private, despite ranking among the world’s wealthiest.
Access Bank Plc has announced that it received approval from South African and Nigerian regulatory authorities to acquire South African-based Grobank Limited. The bank’s expectation of 30% profit outside its Nigerian base, through a series of acquisitions in East and West Africa, is coming to fruition.
According to the announcement, the approvals constitute a significant milestone in achieving completion of the transaction by the second quarter of 2021. This milestone further solidifies Access Bank Plc’s outside revenue plan especially after the announcement that its Zambian subsidiary (Access Bank Zambia) has finalized the acquisition of Cavmont Bank Limited.
According to the CEO of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, “Today’s announcement represents significant progress in delivering on our strategic intent of becoming Africa’s Gateway to the World in pursuit of our vision to be the World’s Most Respected African Bank.”
Nigeria’s biggest banks such as Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc are diversifying outside their core operations or expanding across Africa in an attempt to increase revenue after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The approved acquisition would enable the bank to further pursue its objectives of business diversification, enhanced operational efficiencies, talent retention, and robust governance.
Grobank in South Africa and Cavmont Bank in Zambia are further indicators of the bank’s presence in the SADC region.
In Nigeria, the bank is looking to transition to a holding financial institution this year which will enable it to open subsidiaries in insurance brokerage and payments.
Is it a coincidence that the two wealthiest individuals on the planet are both nursing space transport dreams? Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are both front runners in the two foremost and advanced space programs on the planet at the moment.
Although their motive, which is to kickstart some sort of backup civilization for human beings, align, both billionaires disagree on how to go about it. Before we dive into the disparity in Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ space visions, let us quickly examine their space programs.
Space Exploration Technology Corps (SPACE X)
Space X was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 and is headquartered at Hawthorn California. The goal of the company is to make Space travel affordable to ordinary people. It hopes to kickstart human colonization and inhabitation of planet Mars.
Space X manufactures two of its foremost space vessels the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. It also manufactures other components that make space travel easy and affordable.
Space X is by far the more advanced of the two space programs. It has already put 700 Starlink satellites in space with over 120 being manufactured every month.
According to Business Insider, Space X is worth $33bn dollars
Blue Origin
Blue origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos and is headquartered in Kent, Washington DC. Blue Origin aims to make access to space cheaper and more reliable through reusable launch vehicles. It believes it can put 1 trillion people in space making use of hanging colonies on space. Blue Origin is the less successful of the two programs having failed to launch a single satellite into space.
Elon Musk’s Vision
Elon Musk envisions a life outside the planet Earth. He strongly believes human beings can inhabit Mars in Mega Cities and it can serve as a backup to earth should World War 3 or any major global disaster occur.
According to Business Insider, Elon Musk hopes to create the first sustainable city in Mars by 2050. The Company hopes to commence launching cargoes with building equipment in 2024 and hopefully, a permanent city would begin to take shape by the 2030s.
Elon Musk’s space company is valued at $33bn with its initial funding coming from his big payout from selling PayPal. He funds his SpaceX by getting contracts and investors for it.
Jeff Bezos’ Vision
Jeff Bezos’ vision for his space program is slightly different from that of Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos does not agree with the Mass Inhabitation of Mars by Elon Musk. He rather believes his Blue Origin company can come up with “floating cities” on space that can house 1 trillion people. Jeff Bezos funds his Blue Origin project by allocating a certain percentage of his Amazon shares for it. Last year he allocated a whopping $3.1bn to his Blue Origin project.
Billionaires at play
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are the two richest individuals on the planet. Little wonder they can afford to pursue these ambitions. Elon Musk is clearly leading the space race with a more Robust SpaceX and cutting-edge drive, while Jeff Bezos, the older and richer of the duo seems to be taking his time. Jeff Bezos puts in more funds into his blue Origin Project while Elon Musk struggles a bit with funding Space X, relying on contracts and investors to get by.
Elon Musk is the younger of the two billionaires and exudes a youthful aura which sort of gives him an edge over Jeff Bezos. He is seen as the exciting youthful tech billionaire who was once smoking pot on live TV.
Both Space X and Blue Origin enjoy subtle help from NASA, America’s authoritative Space Body.
Before her appointment, Aiboni was the company’s first Bonga Asset Operations Manager.
With over 13 years experience in the Oil and Gas sector, she had worked on Project to Asset Handover, Operations of Oil and Gas facilities with HSE, cross-discipline, cross-functional units and multi-operating unit exposure with great interpersonal skills.
The race for the manufacture and sales of the Covid-19 vaccines which is arguably the most sought after product in 2021 has been on for a while. Many countries have produced their versions of the vaccine and presented it for evaluation.
One of the leading Covid-19 vaccines in the race is the AstraZeneca vaccine which has been approved in over 50 countries and mostly used in Europe.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and a host of other European countries.
HALIX, a corporate venture and spin-off of HAL Allergy, is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), based in Leiden (The Netherlands). The company is licensed for the contract manufacturing of clinical and commercial medicines according to GMP standards.
Halix B.V is a subsidiary of Halix Allergy which is under the Droege Group, an independent advisory and Investment Company founded in 1988 and under full family ownership. According to Reuters, Halix B.V was contracted to manufacture AstraZeneca vaccines. The company is managed by 35-years Old Dr Ernest Droege. His father, Walter Droege started the family business in 1988 and is the 37th richest man in Germany according to Manager Magazine. Forbes lists Walter Droege as worth $4bn.
Dr Ernest Droege took over the reins of the business from his father, Walter P. Droege in 2018. According to Bloomberg, he first studied industrial engineering at the University of Karlsruhe before eventually earning a doctorate in economics at RWTH Aachen University. He worked at Goldman Sachs for a while before joining the family business. He started as co-head of operations on the management team and worked his way up the chain.
According to Forbes, the Droege Group is active in 30 countries and generates around $12 billion in annual revenue.
