Innovation Village Newsletter
Posts
🌱Dangote, Ethiopia Ink $2.5 Billion Fertilizer Deal

🌱Dangote, Ethiopia Ink $2.5 Billion Fertilizer Deal

Plus: 🤖 Bosun Tijani listed in TIME100 AI 2025

Innovation Village
August 29, 2025

In partnership with

Today’s Menu ☕️

🌱 Dangote, Ethiopia Ink $2.5 Billion Fertilizer Deal to Transform Agriculture
📲 Threads Tests Long-Form Text Sharing Feature
🤖 Nigerian Minister Bosun Tijani listed in TIME100 AI 2025
🏦Access Holdings Names Innocent Ike as Group CEO, Recognizes Agbede’s Leadership
🏆Savvy Media Africa Wins Prestigious 2025 EDGE Award
💵 Moody’s to Acquire Majority Stake in Egypt’s MERIS

If you haven't subscribed, join over 7,000 people curious about Innovation, New Products, New Technologies in Africa.

🌱 AGRICULTURE

Dangote, Ethiopia Ink $2.5 Billion Fertilizer Deal to Transform Agriculture

Aliko Dangote has signed a $2.5 billion deal with the Ethiopian government to build one of the world’s largest fertilizer plants in Gode, Somali region. Dangote Group will hold 60% of the project, while Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) will own 40%. The plant, expected to be completed in 40 months, will produce three million metric tons of urea annually, linked to Ethiopia’s natural gas fields through a dedicated pipeline.

The project is a major step toward Ethiopia’s food security, reducing the country’s $1 billion annual fertilizer imports and creating thousands of jobs. It also positions Ethiopia as a fertilizer hub for the Horn of Africa. For Dangote, the venture expands his pan-African industrial strategy, adding to his cement operations and fertilizer hub in Nigeria. Once operational, the Gode plant will rank among the world’s top five urea production complexes and boost Ethiopia’s role in regional agribusiness.....…continue reading

Where business gets interesting.

You won’t find business stories like this—especially told like this—anywhere else.

Welcome to Morning Brew: the free daily newsletter covering the biggest moves in business, the trends that actually matter, and the news shaping your job and your life.

We skip the fluff, get to the point, and bring a little personality while we’re at it.

Join 4 million+ professionals who start their morning with the newsletter that makes business news anything but boring.

Check it out

📲 APPS

Threads Tests Long-Form Text Sharing Feature

Meta’s Threads, often dubbed Instagram’s answer to Twitter (now X), is testing a feature that could reshape how users engage with the app: long-form text posts. The move signals Meta’s ambition to position Threads as more than a Twitter clone, blending quick social updates with deeper, blog-like writing.

So far, Threads has focused on short, conversational content. But long-form capability could make it a destination for creators, writers, and thought leaders who want more space for storytelling without leaving the app. This shift comes at a time when platforms like Substack, Medium, LinkedIn, and even X are embracing extended formats.

Whether the feature succeeds may depend on discovery and monetization. Creators will only invest their energy if their work is visible, shareable, and potentially profitable. Without that, long-form posts risk being overlooked, as happened with Twitter Notes.

If Threads leverages Instagram’s vast network and builds meaningful incentives for creators, it could establish itself as a true hub for conversation and expression — not just another social media experiment.…continue reading

🤖 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Nigerian Minister Bosun Tijani listed in TIME100 AI 2025

Bosun Tijani

Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, has been named to the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI for 2025, recognizing his role in shaping the country’s digital future. Tijani spearheaded Nigeria’s National AI Strategy with over 120 experts, focusing on practical applications in healthcare, agriculture, education, and financial inclusion.

He also launched the AI Collective, AI Trust, and an AI Scaling Hub with the Gates Foundation, positioning Nigeria as a leader in responsible AI. Through the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, nearly 300,000 Nigerians have been trained, with many digitizing government operations and building localized datasets.

Supported by a World Bank-backed 90,000km fiber rollout, Tijani’s initiatives aim to build a $1 trillion economy while driving inclusive digital growth..…..continue reading

🏦 BANKING

Access Holdings Names Innocent Ike as Group CEO, Recognizes Agbede’s Leadership

Access Holdings Plc has appointed Innocent Ike as its new Group Managing Director/CEO, effective August 29, 2025, following regulatory approval. His appointment comes shortly after the resignation of Roosevelt Ogbonna from Access Bank Plc and Access Holdings boards.

Ike succeeds Bolaji Agbede, who served as Acting Group CEO for 18 months after the passing of the former CEO. Under her leadership, Access Holdings executed a ₦351bn Rights Issue, hosted two successful AGMs, and maintained investor confidence. She now returns to her role as Executive Director, Business Support.

With over 30 years of banking experience, Ike is expected to strengthen Access Holdings’ transformation agenda and drive growth across its African markets..…..continue reading

💵 FINANCIAL SERVICES

Moody’s to Acquire Majority Stake in Egypt’s MERIS

Moody’s Corporation is set to acquire a majority stake in the Middle East Rating & Investors Service (MERIS), Egypt’s leading domestic credit rating agency. The move deepens a two-decade partnership and reflects Moody’s strategy to strengthen local capital markets across the Middle East and Africa.

While MERIS will continue operating independently, the deal combines Moody’s global expertise with MERIS’s trusted local insights to enhance credit transparency, boost investor confidence, and support the growth of Egypt’s financial system......continue reading