The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), a philanthropic endeavor of Aliko Dangote,  has contracted 54Gene, a molecular diagnostics company specialised in research, and diagnostics, to immediately set up a 400 test/day capacity laboratory in Kano State.   54Gene is accredited by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and has already set up labs in Lagos and in Ogun states.   The lab, which was inaugurated on May 3 in Kano, will start with a testing capacity of 400 tests a day, increasing to 1,000 tests a day by…

    Despite the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the global market, demand for black sesame seed produced in Nigeria is expected to be on the increase in the Asian market because of its medicinal value.   It was learnt that Nigeria, which accounts for 12.22 per cent of the global production and the second largest producer after Sudan in Africa, has the capacity to produce 550,000 metric tonnes valued at N465.3billion ($990million).   However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, some export containers are yet to be processed…

  Data income rises to N74bn   Nigeria’s largest telecommunications operator, MTN, has expressed worry over a decline in its voice revenue as subscribers made fewer calls in the first quarter of this year.   The telco blamed this on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, noting that subscribers’ earning capacity had reduced.   The company, however, recorded a sharp increase in data usage over the same period as the pandemic forced many to work from home using data.   The telco’s data revenue jumped by 59.2 per cent to…