Gridlocked in Gidi 🚘

Mar 04, 2022

Hello Venturer,

Thank God it’s Friday 💃. Who else is anxious about stepping out of the house today? I don’t know about you, but I live in a city where a simple grocery run can have you stuck on the road for hours. Does this place sound familiar?

Don’t get me wrong, Lagos sweet, but na traffic spoil am. The annoying gridlocks in this city, especially on Fridays, forces you to binge-watch TV shows at home instead of hanging out with your friends?

Because:

Workers' exhaustion? Blame it on traffic. Late e-commerce delivery? Traffic. Increased vehicle operating costs? Traffic. It's a long list of social and economic costs of traffic in Lagos. And to top it all off, we are currently dealing with fuel scarcity and inflation.😩

Given these issues, it's funny that the government believes we need more cars to serve the city's teeming population. What can be done to solve Lagos' transportation problems? How can the government better serve the increasing population? Find out in this issue of VA Weekly.

Amoo Zainab

Social Media Executive, Ventures Africa

Does Lagos need a thousand more cars to serve its teeming population?

Last week, a roadshow of 1000 GAC blue and white SUVs and saloon cars was held on the Lagos 3rd Mainland bridge to mark the launch of the new LagRide initiative, one meant to “ensure a seamless transportation system for the teeming commuting populace in the state.” The intent is great, but does Lagos need a thousand more cars to serve its growing population? Read more.

How Russia's invasion of Ukraine can affect African countries.

Both Russia and Ukraine play significant roles in the global agricultural market and have been among the key drivers of global food prices since 2020. In 2020, African countries imported agricultural products worth $4 billion from Russia and $2.9 billion from Ukraine, most of which were wheat and sunflower oil. Read more.

My Pivot Journal: How a tutor's passion for art turned her into a product designer.

Flourish Nwoko did not set out to work in tech, but she’s become part of the rapidly growing sector. Like many of her peers, she traversed the valley of career options before passion knighted her a tech sis. Flourish tried her hands on a number of things, including working as an IT assistant and a private tutor, before becoming a product designer. Read more.

Web3: Should you be worried about the future of internet?

The Great Depression was the aftermath of a stock market bubble that grew massive until it popped. The straight line that connects the current frenzy to that period is that most people were too blinded by greed and euphoria to understand what they were getting into. As far as they were concerned, it was easy, smart money. It’s technically the same today. Read more.

Pfizer announces plans to bring breakthrough to more patients in MEA.

Pfizer is working towards placing affordability at the heart of its business. Last year, the company supported over 4,500 patients suffering from various oncology, inflammatory, and rare diseases through its 30 access programs in 11 countries across the region. Read more.

Our Weekly Collectables

If you have interesting ideas but have trouble improving the quality of these ideas, this Twitter thread is a must-read for you.
Do you know the ground is home to more life than any other place on Earth? Why the soil is a surprisingly noisy place shares the experience of a man eavesdropping on creatures that live in the ground.
The third world war already happened but it isn't referred to as that. The African world war tells the story of a war that lasted five years with one of the most convoluted webs of alliances in history.
In a world where billionaires are often seen as exploiters Icahn: the restless billionaire is regarded as an activist shareholder.

VA Weekly