New Post Africa

Category: Technology

  • Enugu Govt, Haier Group Launch $20m Factory, Eyes $30m Expansion

    Enugu Govt, Haier Group Launch $20m Factory, Eyes $30m Expansion

    ENUGU, NIGERIA: The Enugu State Government has inaugurated the Enugu Haier Factory, a $20 million Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project by China’s Haier Global Business Group in partnership with the state. The facility, located in Enugu city, positions the state as a hub for the production of smartphones, tablets, computers, smart boards, Android televisions, education and health technologies, and renewable energy solutions for electricity, agriculture, and transportation.

    Under the partnership, the state provided land for the factory’s infrastructure and will serve as its largest customer, purchasing 25,000 all-in-one desktops and 300,000 tablets to power its 260 Smart Green Schools. Governor Peter Mbah described the investment as a milestone in his administration’s drive to reposition Enugu as a premier destination for industry and innovation, with a vision to grow the state’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion.

    “This partnership represents the convergence of vision, innovation, and opportunity—to generate Made in Enugu technologies that compete globally, while enabling us to support key local sector developments,” Mbah said. He added that the initiative reduces import dependence, lowers costs, ensures sustainability, and builds local capacity. He also praised President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, noting that steady inflows of FDIs reflect improved macroeconomic stability, a stronger naira, rising foreign reserves, and easing inflationary pressures.

    Haier Group Vice President Sun Yongle announced that the factory will produce 200,000 units annually across ICT, medical equipment, and new energy product lines, employing about 100 workers initially, with plans to expand to over 200 employees. He emphasised that this is only the first stage of Haier’s investment in Enugu, with future cooperation expected in agriculture, mining, and transportation. Total investment is projected to exceed $30 million. “Our goal is for our products to be not only Made in Enugu, but also Designed in Enugu, with management and technical teams mainly composed of local professionals,” Yongle stated.

  • Dangote Group Unveils Vision 2030, Signs $400m Agreement with China’s XCMG

    Dangote Group Unveils Vision 2030, Signs $400m Agreement with China’s XCMG

    LAGOS, NIGERIA: The Dangote Group has unveiled its Vision 2030 strategy, outlining plans to transform into a $100 billion pan-African industrial powerhouse by the end of the decade. In a statement released Monday, the conglomerate emphasised its commitment to “deepening investments across the continent, strengthening human capital, reducing import dependence, creating jobs, and advancing sustainable industrialisation.”

    Demonstrating its resolve, the Group announced the signing of a $400 million agreement with China’s XCMG Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. to acquire advanced construction equipment. The deal is expected to accelerate the expansion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, which recently achieved recognition as the world’s largest oil refinery. The current output of 650,000 barrels per day is projected to rise to 1.4 million barrels per day under the expansion plan.

    Beyond crude refining, the agreement will boost production of key byproducts. Polypropylene output is expected to increase from 900,000 metric tonnes per year to 2.4 million, while Nigeria’s urea production capacity will scale from 3 million to 9 million metric tonnes annually. The Group described these milestones as central to its broader industrial vision, positioning Nigeria as a global hub for energy and petrochemicals.

  • SpaceX’s Starlink gets nod for satellite internet in Vietnam

    SpaceX’s Starlink gets nod for satellite internet in Vietnam

    Vietnam’s government has allowed SpaceX to launch its Starlink satellite internet service in the country, state media reported on Saturday.

    The report said the Ministry of Science and Technology granted Starlink’s local unit a license to provide both fixed and mobile satellite internet services. The company was also granted a license to use radio frequencies and radio equipment. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation outside business hours.

    The approval came ahead of an expected visit next week of Vietnam’s top leader To Lam to the United States to attend the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative to address global conflicts. The trip has not been officially announced.

    Last year, Vietnam’s government said it would allow SpaceX to operate its internet service on a trial basis.

    Local media said it was not clear when Starlink would launch its services in Vietnam. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a weekend. Vietnam and the U.S. are negotiating a trade deal after Washington imposed 20% tariffs on Vietnamese goods in August. The two sides held their sixth round of talks earlier this month, but have not announced an agreement.

  • Bitcoin Jumps To Record As Trump’s Election Turbocharges Cryptocurrencies

    Bitcoin Jumps To Record As Trump’s Election Turbocharges Cryptocurrencies

    Bitcoin soared to a record high above $82,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favourable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and of pro-crypto candidates to Congress.

    The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency , has now more than doubled from the year’s low of $38,505 and was last at $82,236, having earlier touched a record high of $82,527.

    Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

    “Bitcoin’s Trump-pump is alive and well… with Republicans on the cusp of taking the house to confirm a red wave in Congress, it seems the crypto crowd are betting on digital-currency deregulation,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, referring to Republican control of both houses.

    While Simpson warned that Trump’s near-term priorities are likely to lie elsewhere, crypto investors see an end to stepped-up scrutiny under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler whom Trump has said he will fire.

    The cryptocurrency industry spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates, many of whom won their races.

    In Ohio, one of the crypto industry’s biggest foes in Congress – Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown – was ousted, while pro-crypto candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties won in Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, Alabama and North Carolina.

    REUTERS/Ankur Banerjee and Samuel Indyk