Global Realty Portal

You may have heard people urging you to switch your website to the HTTPS security encryption. They cite Google’s announcement that HTTPS is a ranking signal and that failure to switch could mean your ranking will take a hit. And that would mean less traffic and less business. But, can a product that costs around $100 per year really make that much of a difference? And if so, how straightforward is it to make the switch? Let’s face it, until recently, HTTPS was really used only by ecommerce sites for their payment pages. Things can get confusing, and the question many business owners face is whether or not the hassle of switching to HTTPS is worth it. So, let’s look at the arguments for and against. But first of all, what exactly is HTTPS? What is HTTPS, and why do you need it? HTTP stands for hypertext transfer protocol. It’s a protocol that allows communication between different systems. Most commonly, it is used for transferring data from a web server to

• Traders, analysts optimistic • Parallel market rate crashes to N310 • New regime to increase stocks’ investment The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday executed over $4 billion in foreign exchange transactions as the new exchange rate regime begins, while the defied all forecasts and traded at between N253 and N281.5 to the dollar. The transactions, which were made up of $3.5 billion in forward sales and about $530 million at the interbank market, were targeted at clearing up the huge backlog of demands that have remained unmet. Forwards market, which forms part of the new policy regime, is a trading window where people can buy forex at present price for future use.The development, by extension, has aided CBN to sterilise no less than N1 trillion in one fell swoop, paving the way to curb liquidity-induced speculation, as buyers back up their purchase by immediate naira value. The Acting Director Corporate Communications of the Bank, Isaac Okorafor, said

Worried by the inconsistency in the continent’s agricultural practice, especially in relation to investment in large-scale commercial farms, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan and other stakeholders have decried neglect of smallholder farmers, stating that more than 80 per cent of African agricultural production come from them. According to the stakeholders, Africa’s smallholders are more than capable of feeding the continent—so long as they boost their yields by using the latest agronomic practices in combination with appropriately adapted seeds and fertilizer. Although investors in Nigeria’s agricultural value-chain may have found appeal in out-grower schemes, the stakeholders noted that allocating large blocks of land to foreign investors, reserving water for industrial-sized operations, and concentrating research and development on a few cash crops doesn’t help most farmers. Similarly, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has ide

Investors from the United States and China have indicated interest in the proposed industrial parks to be created across the six geopolitical zones in the country. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, said this at an ongoing two-day retreat at the Free Trade Zone, Onne, Rivers State. The retreat which was organised by the United Nations Industrial Developemnt Organisation, had the theme: ‘Addressing unemployment and poverty through the development of Small and Medium Scale Entreprises’. Enelamah said, “The Federal Government has concluded talks with some foreign investors from the United States and China, who have indicated interest to invest in the regional economic parks to be built across the six geopolitical zones. “These parks are designed to enhance industrialisation and therefore boost the nation’s non-oil export base.” He said the creation of the proposed industrial parks was in response to the huge infrastructural gap i

The Federal Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah and the Governor of Lagos State, Akinwumi Ambode are among bigwigs listed to unveil a 70,000 units motorcycle assembly plant built by CFAO Yamaha Motor Nigeria Limited in collaboration with Yamaha Motor Corporation, Japan. The grand opening of the plant and a showroom, which is coming after the company has conducted a testing and full activation of the assembly line, targets to roll out 70,000 units of motorbikes by 2018. Managing Director of the company Olivier Levigne, said in a statement that “the assembly plant had been built with the capacity for uninterrupted daily production and a target of 70,000 units by 2018. The showroom showcases other Yamaha products such as Outboard Engines, Wave Runner (Personal Water Craft), All Terrain Vehicles (ATV), Generators and the Yamalube lubricants.” The company said the opening would be led by the President of Yamaha Motor Corporation, Japan, Hiroyuki Yanag

The management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on Monday announced that beginning from May 3, there will be power rationing in Lekki, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and some parts of Ajah. This is contained in a statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communications Unit of EKEDC, Mr Godwin Idemudia, a copy of which was made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. According to the statement, this is to enable the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to upgrade both Line 1 and Line 2 of Ajah-Alagbon transmission line from 132kv to 330kv. It stated that during the upgrade operation which would last between three to four weeks, the Lekki transmission injection sub-station which served those areas would be completely shut down. “To ensure that the areas are not completely out of supply during the duration of the upgrade operation, alternative power supply arrangement would be made through back-feeding operation to the areas from Alagbon Transmi