Is this a blast from the past?🗳️

Issue #141 : Nigeria's latest attempt at electoral transparency was a disappointing setback.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [Open in app]( or [online]() [Is this a blast from the past?🗳️]( Issue #141 : Nigeria's latest attempt at electoral transparency was a disappointing setback. [VENTURES AFRICA]( Mar 3   [Save](   Photo by [Element5 Digital]( on [Unsplash]( Hello Venturer, Are you familiar with the story of Nigeria's June 12, 1993, presidential election? It's a moment in history that's well-known to Nigerian baby boomers, Gen X, and anyone who lived through that era. Tagged as the freest and fairest election Nigeria has ever had, the election was the first to use the open ballot system, which meant that the results were known very quickly after voting. It was a hopeful moment for Nigeria's democracy, one that was short-lived. But that’s a story for another day.   Since Nigeria's return to democracy in 1999, the country's electoral process has been a progressive experiment by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the electoral body in charge of conducting elections. Each election cycle has seen the electoral body introduce new technological elements to improve its ability to conduct free, fair, and credible elections. In 2011, the permanent voter’s card and electronic voter’s register were introduced in another attempt to introduce transparency. This time, it was the millennials who got their first experience with the electoral body’s subpar experiments. Fast forward to 2023, and the electoral body has once again promised a transparent election after introducing the Bimodal Voter Registration System, designed to prevent all forms of electoral irregularity. Yet, nearly 48 hours after voting for the 2023 presidential election ended, most results were not seen on its portal. According to a press release from the body, they had faced technical hitches uploading results. And once again, Nigerian Gen Zs got to experience the disappointing truth of Nigeria’s electoral system. This week, we look at Nigeria's unconvincing attempt at innovative elections.  Suotunimi Orufa Staff writer, Ventures Africa [Share VA's Newsletter]( What’s new? [Nigeria had an unconvincing attempt at innovative elections]( Nigeria’s electoral system has undergone a series of transformations from the open ballot system used before 2007 to the permanent voter’s card and electronic voter’s register introduced in 2011. While these changes have helped improve the integrity of the electoral process, they pale in comparison to the transformative potential of the Electoral Act of 2022. [Read more.]( [Weekly Economic Index: Angola’s $89 million cloud project, M-Pesa global remittance market exploration and more tech layoffs in Africa.]( In another move to transform its digital economy, the government of Angola recently announced a new [$89 million project]( to construct a unified national cloud that offers several services. [Read more.]( [South Africa might lose $13 billion to load shedding this year]( South Africa’s persistent power crisis has taken a significant toll on the country’s economic growth and stability. Recent estimates from the Reserve Bank suggest that the daily cost of load shedding, a common practice of scheduled power outages, amounts to a staggering $51 million, draining the country’s GDP and undermining its potential for sustained development. [Read more.]( [Nigeria’s next president is in for a tough job.]( In the past few weeks, the Nigeria election has been the talk of people, organizations, and countries far and wide. The seventh general election, held on the 25th of February 2023, was particularly anticipated and observed by many for diverse reasons. Most importantly, Nigeria is the continent’s most populous country, and because of its size, its election could have significant implications for the continent and beyond. [Read more](. [Leave a comment]( [Top African countries with best property value in 2023]( When it comes to investing in property, Africa offers many attractive opportunities. With a growing economy, rising middle class, and increasing demand for housing, many African countries are becoming popular destinations for real estate investment. [Read more.]( [Can M-Pesa take on the global remittance market?]( One of Africa’s most popular fintech companies, M-Pesa, is eyeing the global remittance market. And data shows it might not be the wrong target. Forecasts from the United Nations predict a $5.4 trillion industry by 2030, and companies want a slice of this cake. [Read more.]( [5 ongoing Lithium projects in Africa]( Africa is home to some of the world’s largest lithium reserves and notably, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali have this resource in commercial quantities. [Read more.]( [Pledge your support]( [My Pivot Journal: How Ifeoma Nwobu’s dynamic interests led her from modeling to Tech]( Ifeoma B. Nwobu is the COO of Sendstack, a mobility tech startup, in Lagos, Nigeria. But before this tech sis started pitching to investors, she was once the face of Vogue online, a model who walked the runway for top designers like Laquan Smith, Lisa Folawiyo, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi to mention a few at top fashion week events. [Read more.]( [Nigerians spent less on foreign education in 2022. Here’s why.]( Nigerians have had to leave the country through different means, but the most treaded is the educational route, and the reason for this is not far-fetched. A recent Central Bank of Nigeria report shows that Nigerians spent $1.38 billion on international education expenses between January to September 2022. [Read more.]( [How did Kenya become the dumping ground for EU fashion?]( As a result of the fashion industry’s ever-changing trends, many fashion brands produce large quantities of clothes that are meant to be sold at a low cost and quickly replaced with the next trend. Unfortunately, this practice known as fast fashion also produces an enormous amount of waste. According to a report by Clean up Kenya and Wildlight for the changing markets foundation, Europe’s fashion industry dumps 37 million fast fashion items in Kenya yearly. [Read more.]( [Ogun state’s agro-cargo airport will herald a new era of agricultural prosperity]( In 2013, the federal government, through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), designated 13 airports as perishable cargo airports in a bid to transform the aviation sector into a major revenue earner. Last week, a new airport, the Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport in Ikenne, Ogun state, was added to the list and received its first commercial flight on its runway. [Read more](. [Share VA's Newsletter]( Holiday Jollof Read our special holiday issue on the events, businesses, people, and policies that impacted Africa in 2022. [Click]( read. Our weekly collectibles - Being relentlessly and randomly curious about everything around us is something that each of us can push ourselves to do. Discover [the perks of being relentlessly curious](. - Curious about Nigerian colloquial? Learn English the Nigerian way in [the advanced English dictionary of Nigeria ]( - In 1986, a New York zoning activist made a startling discovery: A newly constructed building was over a dozen floors too high. Find out how [The Manhattan high-rise that shrunk itself down]( one of the strangest outcomes in the history of big-city housing. [#VANUGGET]( Thank you for reading VA's Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. [Share]( VA's Newsletter is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell VA's Newsletter that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. [Pledge your support](   [Like]( [Comment]( [Share](   Read VA's Newsletter in the app Listen to posts, join subscriber chats, and never miss an update from VENTURES AFRICA. [Get the iOS app]( the Android app]( © 2023 VENTURES AFRICA 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 [Unsubscribe]() [Start writing]()