Ericsson slashes 3,900 jobs

Swedish telecom equipment maker, Ericsson, announced on Tuesday plans to slash 3,000 jobs in production, research and development and sales and some 900 consultants in Sweden.
Ericsson said, in a statement, the slash was due to a tough global market.

Hajj: Medview Airline rounds off operations with 772 pilgrims

Medview Airline completed the airlift of Pilgrims for the 2016 Hajj back to Nigeria yesterday with a successful airlift of about 772 pilgrims.
The airline last two flights for the NAHCON assignment arrived Port Harcourt International airport and Kaduna International airport respectively on Monday.
The flight to Port Harcourt had 452 pilgrims from Rivers, Edo, Delta , Abia, Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi and Cross River states while that of Kaduna had 320 pilgrims on board.
While giving praise to Allah for a successful Hajj operations, the Managing Director/CEO of the airline Alhaji Muneer Bankole commended NAHCON and the Federal Government for the necessary structures put in place to ensure a hitch-free Hajj exercise.
He also commended the Federal Government for all the efforts it is making to bring about peace and stability in all parts of the country.
Medview airline deployed 3 wide body aircraft – B747-300, B777-200 and B767-300 for the hajj operations.

Industrialisation, as leeway out of recession – Olagunju

The Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Waheed Olagunju, has said that the industrialisation is the best way to diversify the economy.
Speaking at the 32nd Omolayole Management Lecture in Lagos, he emphasised that industrialisation, value-addition and processing will foster a higher quality of life for Nigerians.
Giving an analysis of the economy in the past 56 years, he said Nigeria is not occupying its rightful position compared with other countries with fewer natural resources.
Comparing the economy of Mexico with the Nigerian economy, he said that between the mid-70s and 2014, Mexico had diversified its economy away from oil with 80 per cent of its revenue coming from the manufacturing sector in 2014, against 20 per cent it generated from the sector in the mid-70s.
For Nigeria, he stated that its dependence on crude oil exported which accounted for 90 per cent of it revenue in the mid- 70s had remained the same till 2014.

Ride-sharing company Juno looks to raise $50m in biggest fundraising round

Juno Inc, a startup looking to attract drivers from bigger ride-sharing rivals such as Uber Technologies Inc by offering them its own stock, is seeking $50 million in its biggest fundraising round to date, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Investors have poured more than $28 billion into the ride services sector over the past decade, propelling growth at Uber, Lyft Inc, China’s Didi Chuxing Technology Co and a host of smaller upstarts, such as Gett.
Economists have said there may be scope for even more competition, because ride-sharing services are relatively cheap to start, depend on contract labor with no inherent loyalty or specialized skills, and have free apps that can be downloaded in seconds.
Juno is working with investment bank Mizuho Financial Group Inc to find investors, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
The person said Juno had previously raised $30 million from companies such as Japan’s Rakuten Inc and angel investors.

I’m not interested in buying NLNG, other national assets even on credit – Dangote

Following the outcry that has trailed the advocacy for the sale of the country’s national assets as a quick measure to fund the 2016 budget and boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves, the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has dismissed insinuations that his advocacy for the sale of the assets was self-serving, saying he was not interested in any of the assets.
Dangote, who spoke in an interview, stressed that if the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company or any other national asset was offered to him, even on credit, he would not be interested in acquiring them.
Dangote, who is Africa’s richest man, said his advocacy for the government to sell some of its interest in some of the national assets was to help boost the economy as well as to stabilise the naira exchange rate, which has been under attack in the past few days.
According to him, he offered his proposal as a way out of Nigeria’s present economic recession because he is “a true Nigerian who really wants the issues about the economy to be sorted out”.
He added: “You know the issue, once your reserves are low, the banks, entrepreneurs, including external forces, would definitely attack your currency. They would speculate on your currency.