MTN Nigeria Launches 4G+ for Superior Customer Experience

27/06/2019

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has launched 4G+ in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt. The enhanced service is aimed at delivering a premium experience to more people across the country.

MTN 4G+ runs on 4G LTE Advanced Technology using a combination of the recently acquired 800 MHz spectrum and 2600 MHz. The added spectrum and advanced technology extend the reach and capacity of MTN’s data network in Nigeria and enables speeds of up to 200 Mbps. This means a 30-minute HD video could take as little as three minutes to download on 4G+, while the same video would take around eight minutes to download on standard 4G.

The service is immediately available and will deliver much higher broadband speeds, a more consistent connection and significant improvement in indoor coverage.

Commenting on the new service, Mazen Mroue, Chief Operating Officer, MTN Nigeria said: “It’s about the customer. We put the customer at the heart of everything that we do.”

Noting that the launch of 4G+ represents a natural evolution from MTN’s already fast and reliable 4G network and further demonstrates the company’s commitment to continued investment in technology that caters to the present and future needs of its customers and country.

“As MTN, we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. With this enhancement, our customers in covered locations can expect faster downloads and uploads, and better browsing and streaming experiences. The successful launch of our 4G+ network is a momentous occasion, which advances our quest to provide world-class service to our customers,” he concluded.

Arnergy Raises $9m for Reliable Energy Supply to Clients

Business Journal

25/06/2019

Nigerian distributed utility company, Arnergy, yesterday announced it has raised $9 million in a Series A round of funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), EDFI ElectriFI and All On.

“We are excited to enter this next phase in Arnergy’s development with investors that share our vision of tackling the most pressing energy challenges across emerging market economies, starting with Nigeria. We believe that energy needs in Nigeria have surpassed rudimentary requirements of low power utilization and our product offerings are solving for reliability and not just access,” said Femi Adeyemo, Founder and CEO of Arnergy. Arnergy’s distributed renewable energy systems harness the combination of solar power, superior storage solutions and proprietary remote management technologies to deliver scalable, reliable and affordable energy solutions that are tailored to tackle issues related to intermittency and grid unreliability.

Since launch, Arnergy has delivered over 2MW of installed capacity and over 5MWh of storage capacity to business and residential clients across Nigeria. Arnergy’s market scaling ambitions, fueled by the influx of new capital, will include new business models and partnership opportunities, as well as consumer financing and channel expansion activities.Targeted verticals for the company’s 5KW modular systems will include small businesses, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, agribusiness and education. “Arnergy inherently understands the West African market and its need for power reliability,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “Creating accessibility to reliable renewable energy sources is paramount to economic growth in this region. With Arnergy’s technology, we can significantly decrease carbon emissions and it’s a model that can be replicated all over the developing world.” “Access to clean and stable energy is a prerequisite for job creation and development. Norfund is proud to support the expansion of Arnergy which will provide Nigerian households and businesses on a weak-grid connection with a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power solution to meet their daily needs,” commented Mark Davis, EVP Clean Energy from Norfund. “ElectriFI, a EU-funded access to energy impact facility, is thrilled to join such a strong group of investors backing visionary entrepreneurs who will positively impact thousands of local businesses in Nigeria,” said Dominiek Deconinck, ElectriFI Fund Manager.

Speaking on the investment, Wiebe Boer, CEO of Shell funded All On, “This is a deal that is particularly exciting to us at All On as a Nigerian impact investor because it reinforces our belief that local energy companies like Arnergy with innovative Nigerian technology and business models can attract investments from global giants like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Norfund and ElectriFI, and are ready and able to compete on a global stage.” According to Damilola Ogunbiyi, the CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), “I am delighted that Arnergy, a home grown company and one of the market leaders for off grid energy in Nigeria, has reached this milestone to raise capital from such an impressive group of local and international investors. It is a validation of all the hard work the REA and all of our partners are doing to create an enabling environment for off grid development ”

About Arnergy
Arnergy is a distributed utility company that provides energy solutions tailored towards energy reliability in emerging markets. Our energy solutions empower businesses and residential customers through the design, sale and installation of affordable and reliable, distributed energy systems. Target business verticals include, but are not limited to healthcare, education, hospitality, agribusiness, financial services and micro businesses that are driving impact and producing positive economic outcomes in their local economies.

N229bn World Bank Windfall: States Refuse to Publish 2019 Budget

Business Journal

25/06/2019

Nigerian state governments have proved that the returns from the usual business of budget secrecy are much more fulfilling to them than the $750 million incentive provided by the World Bank to encourage public finance transparency in Nigeria, BudgIT research has shown.

An 8-month painstaking effort, the assessment of the availability of public finance documents in state government domains reveals that only twenty-five states’ approved budgets are available online, a few of which are summarized scanned documents.

Eleven states (Lagos, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Imo, Nasarawa, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara) are yet to publish the details of their 2019 budget online, as of June 3rd, 2019, while Kwara state budget went missing on its website immediately after the recent transition.

This contravenes the ideals of openness and transparency in the management of public resources, which is the requisite guideline for the World Bank’s State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme, a product of mutual agreement between the financial institution and the federal government to strengthen fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability in Nigerian states as a means to turbo-charge their revenue base, increase fiscal efficiency in public expenditure while reducing debt overhangs.

The project in which all the 36 state governments submitted written expressions of interest commenced late 2018 after the endorsement by the National Economic Council in March.

It is shocking that any state would jettison the offer of a programme that was informed by serious fiscal challenges faced by states, the majority of which are still unable to pay workers’ salaries and pensions.

We must emphasise that Imo, Zamfara and Sokoto states have not published their budget documents since 2017, whereas Lagos State, which provides only a thumbnail of it, has a history of notoriously resisting attempts to uncover its financial dealings, thus embedding corruption.

“This situation notwithstanding, BudgIT will not give in on its advocacy for transparency and accountability in Nigeria. We shall look more critically at the proactiveness in the disclosure of financial information by Nigerian states as well as their compliance with the Freedom of Information Act,” affirms Gabriel Okeowo, BudgIT’s Principal Lead.

According to him, it is commendable that many other states have released full budget documents to the public. However, those documents must always be published within a reasonable timeframe in an accessible format.

This is pivotal in enabling citizens to engage legislators during budget debates. States with partially detailed budget documents – in public domains – must provide details of capital projects being executed for the fiscal year.

Red Star Express Expands with GSA Services

Business Journal

25/06/2019

One of Nigeria’s leading logistics and cargo generating company, Red Star Express Plc, has ventured into the cargo General Sales Agent services (GSA) as part of its expansion drive. This was announced at an exclusive interview with some of the company’s top management staff recently.

This service which was introduced last Friday (June 14th), according to the company, will help connect passenger baggages and packages from one airport location to another at a faster rate.

According to the Group Managing Director, Red Star Express Plc, Dr. Olusola Obabori, the company is focused on growth.

“We are a company focused on growth, and part of our growth platform for the financial year is to work to a large extent with airlines on cargo consolidation both locally and internationally. With this in mind, we commenced a partnership with Aero Contractors, and we have ongoing discussions with other airlines which of course will start soon in the course of the business. We are aggressive in terms of expansion, and this is the reason we started operations in some West Africa offices few months ago, some of which are Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic. If we have to expand, we have to be able to connect shipments from Lagos to these countries. We are hopeful that we are going to open more offices around West Africa, as much as we do that, in the near future we are going into Aviation as a matter of fact, but for now, we are working with the operators of airlines in Nigeria to help them see how we can consolidate cargo since that’s our core business. We will consolidate locally to give to them, but we will also consolidate internationally for operators on International routes.”

“Our international business is principally done on the FedEx platform and we have Red Star Freight that does major cargo movement from here to the rest of the world and also bring in cargo into Nigeria. The GSA is a component of our expansion plan which we recently introduced. This will bring lots of help in the industry. We have opened international operations which are to show you that beyond the domestic market, there’s a lot we can do for Nigeria in the West Africa sub-region. This is why we also went into those markets. This means if you are a business man in Nigeria and need to drop shipments in those locations, it will be delivered the next day, as if you are delivering goods to Kano or Kaduna. More so, with the introduction of the GSA, we can ride behind the airline operators to get these goods delivered on time. It makes the whole process extremely seamless and of course business can go faster. Nigeria is not our only market, we have gone West African.”

Similarly, the Chief Operating Officer, Red Star Freight, Mr. Mudiaga Okumagba threw more light on the initiative. “Red Star Express is an indigenous Nigerian company owned by Nigeria and run by Nigerians. We are a licensee of FedEx, an American company. This enables us ship anything through the FedEx network. We got the GSA license about two years ago, but we just started operating with it. We have partnered with Aero Contractors, and we hope to work with other domestic airlines in a couple of months. Also for the International routes, we are hoping that before the end of the year, we will have something to do with Lufthansa Airline. Partnering with airlines, gives us an opportunity of dropping in our cargoes in spaces not occupied by passenger’s luggage. Red Star Freight also has Independent Network partners –RFLM and WCA.

These networks allow shipments to any part of the world either by air or by sea. We started as an air express delivery company, so we deal more with airlines. Red Star has a vision of not just handling cargoes on domestic and International routes; rather we are looking forward to flying our own aircraft. This is the opportunity that lies in the GSA business. Going into this will help us go deeper into the Aviation business because you cannot do GSA business if you are not operating in the Aviation territory. We have been moving our shipments through vendors to the airlines. We are looking forward to breaking the barrier and building a relationship directly with airlines.”

Okumagba who reiterated that Red Star had about 166 offices nationwide prides in the company’s capability to handle cargoes and parcels professionally, both in the number of staff and offices it has nationwide.

According to him, Red Star Freight also handle the perishable deliveries. “We also handle Red Star Agro which is merged with the Freight business. We have done lots of shipments in the perishable areas. Over time, we have successfully moved perishables (tomatoes and vegetables) to the US and UK. From time to time, we enlighten exporters on how they can overcome certain bottle necks that can hinder successful exports such as quality, price, packaging, and the proper certification of their representative at the receiving end.”

Red Star Freight is a subsidiary of Red Star Express. Red Star Express Plc is a Licensee of Federal Express (FedEx) Corporation, the world’s largest delivery solutions provider. The company has over 166 offices nationwide.

Linkage Assurance Pays N2.7bn Claims, Focuses on Profitability

Business Journal

21/06/2019

Capture — L-R: Mr. Daniel Braie, Managing Director; Chief Joshua Fumudoh, Chairman; Mr. Moses Omorogbe, Company Secretary and Mr. Bernard Griesel, Non-Executive Director, all of Linkage Assurance PLC during the 25th Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos.

Linkage Assurance Plc says it will take advantage of opportunities in the economy and expected stability to grow its portfolio for increased shareholder value, while focusing on profitability, customer intimacy and operational efficiency.

Chief Joshua Fumudoh, Chairman of the company made the disclosure at its 25^thAnnual General Meeting held in Lagos.

Fumudoh who reviewed the company’s performance during the meeting said the underwriter in the 2018 financial year achieved 31 percent growth in gross written premium to N5.391 billion from N4.102billion in 2017 despite the tough operating environment.

According to him, the company paid out a whopping N2.71 billion on claims in 2018, which were largely from oil and gas, aviation businesses, as against N1.04 billion the previous year.

He said that insurance companies are in business to pay claims, and being able to pay this huge amount clearly underscores the financial capability of the company to meet its obligations when they fall due.

Daniel Braie, Managing Director/CEO of the company said to enable the company achieve its set goals, management is driving strategic initiates, which include reinsurance optimisation; revenue growth, brand awareness, corporate excellence and strong financial solvency

Going into 2019, Braie said the focus of the company is profitability, and we would have this in mind from the point of acceptance of business from every market segment no matter the size and exposure.

“For this reason, we would ensure effective risk management and the essence of this is to ensure adequate risk management culture within our underwriting and claims processes, Braie said.

Braie told shareholders at the meeting that the company was already generating profit and making progress in its projection for the current year to meet shareholders expectation.

As at the end of first quarter 2019, Linkage Assurance Plc’s unaudited result shows 34 percent growth in profit before tax (PBT) to N627.52 million, as against N469.19 million in 2018, while the profit after tax during the same period stood at N439.26 million, from N375.36 million in 2018, indicating a 17 percent increase.

Insurers Launch ‘Live With Freedom’ Campaign to Grow Market

Business Journal

19/06/2019

Mr. Tope Smart Chairman Nigerian Insurers Association

The insurance industry in Nigeria has collectively launched ‘Live With Freedom’ project, a marketing campaign to showcase the advancements made in the insurance sector, and to encourage more Nigerians to take up insurance policies.

The core objective of the project is to redefine narratives about insurance in Nigeria and present insurance as an indispensable & desirable tool for risk mitigation.

The campaign which began effectively since June 2018 has seen several articles on the benefits of insurance published on the website and shared across various social media platforms. The educative features span the benefits of insurance, easy ways to purchase insurance and the compulsory insurance policies recognised by law in Nigeria.

The compulsory insurance policies include:

Motor Third Party Insurance
Employee Group Life Insurance
Health Care Professional Indemnity
Insurance of Public Buildings
Insurance of Buildings under Construction
Aviation Third Party Insurance
Marine Insurance (Cargo)
Mr. Tope Smart
Chairman
Nigerian Insurers Association

According to the campaign, ‘insurance serves an an anchor for both individuals and the economy. For the individual, insurance helps to safeguard treasured interests from loss and uncertainty, giving him/her the freedom to enjoy life to the fullest. Insurance ensures reduced risk of venture and provides succor during losses, hereby enabling businesses to thrive. It drives the key sectors of the economy. The wealth of the economy and its human and material resources are fortified when they are insured.’

Today, many Nigerians do not know that with N5, 000 they can purchase an insurance policy which proves that insurance has become affordable and easy to access in the country.

The “You are Insured” platform has also made it easy for users to access any insurance company of their choice with a simple click on their mobile devices. The platform also serves as a bank of knowledge and information for existing and prospective policyholders or buyers of insurance as it relates to insurance matters. Simply put, it is insurance made easy – a one-stop resource centre for everything insurance in Nigeria.

For instance, in its first three months, the campaign recorded a following of over 20,000 and a reach of about 8.8 million across its various social media platforms through a total of 171 videos and graphics.

For example, a total 1,694 radio spots of radio skits were aired in the second phase of the campaign, an increment from 1,415 skits aired in the first phase. Brand activation events, interviews, talk shows, etc. are also currently in the works.

The project has recorded tremendous successes so far. According to a poll conducted by Brand Sampling International, “67 percent of the people who encountered the campaign in phase 1 are now aware of compulsory insurance.”

By the end of January 2019, the campaign had also witnessed over 100 percent increased followership and engagement across its social media platforms, in comparison to when it kicked off in June 2018. The combined reach across digital media had also risen to 12.3 million.

According to experts in the market, the campaign will indeed usher in a new and improved era for the insurance industry in Nigeria.

Ecobank MD Affirms Support for Movie Industry

Business Journal

17/06/2019

(L-R): Kunle Afolayan, Ace Film Producer; Patrick Akinwuntan Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria; and Alex Ekubo, Cast ‘Bling Lagosians’ at the premiere of the movie “Bling Lagosians’ in Lagos.

The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan says the bank is set to support the Nigerian movie industry to project everything good about Nigeria.

Akinwuntan who spoke at the premiere of the movie ‘The Bling Lagosians’ in Lagos said Ecobank is determined to support the creative industry as they are most suited in the task of reinventing the Nigeria of our dreams.

This also being in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) vision to support the Creative Industry through a Financing Initiative

Mr. Akinwuntan said Ecobank is passionate about Africa and its cultural renaissance, and its partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, a renowned African culture promoter, sits perfectly with the Pan African brand.

Further he stated that the bank will continue to leverage its digital offerings to facilitate a more seamlessly connected Africa. According to the bank Managing Director, through its flagship products EcobankPay and the Ecobank Xpress ecosystem the bank will remain in the forefront as key enablers of digital payments across the continent.

As part of the partnership, Ecobank handed over the sum of N.5 million to the best dressed person at the premiere, being the climax of the ‘Eko for Show’ dress code for the event. Guests were encouraged to dress spectacularly to win cash prizes sponsored by EcobankPay.

EcobankPay, is the lifestyle digital payment and collections service of Ecobank Nigeria, had been designated the payment solution for the premiere of the much anticipated movie. EcobankPay is a convenient digital QR code that enables payments using the mobile phone, without the need for a plastic card. The uniqueness of the platform is that it has MasterPass, MVisa and Mcash embedded in the merchant identity QR Code. This enables each customer to transact across the three platforms not minding the bank cards they are holding.

‘The Bling Lagosians’ is a story that centres on the lifestyle of a Lagos family that is presently living in their past glory. Although, they are not as wealthy as they once were, they still want to live that lifestyle they once used to. They want to host the talk of the town kind of party, they want to wear the best designers and ride the fastest of cars even if they are wallowing in debt. This movie is intended to show how people go the extreme to keep up appearances in public.

‘The Bling Lagosians’ is already attracting great audience. The film stars Jide Kosoko, Elvina Ibru, Denola Grey, Monalisa Chinda, and Helen Paul among others.

PenCom Plans Pre-retirement Workshop for Prospective CPS Retirees

Business Journal

17/06/2019

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has concluded plans to hold the 2019 Pre-Retirement workshops for staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who are due to retire between January and December 2020.

The workshop is designed to educate the prospective retirees on the modalities for accessing retirement benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and will hold between 17 June 2019 and 25 June, 2019 at 15 centres across the six geo-political zones of the Federation and FCT.

The centers scheduled for the exercise include, Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port-Harcourt, Ilorin, Gombe, Bauchi. Others are Owerri, Sokoto, Enugu, Lokoja, Ibadan, Lafia and Benin.

Also, intending participants are not required to come with any document and medically unfit employees are exempted from the exercise.

Muhammad Pate: Recent Appointments at World Bank, Harvard

Business Journal

06/06/2019

On Friday, 10^th of May 2019, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate was appointed by the World Bank Group as the Global Director of Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) and Director, Global Financing Facility (GFF), in Washington DC.

Announcing the appointment, Annette Dixon, the Vice President of the World Bank Human Development Practice Group, stated that ‘Mr. Pate was selected to this position through the Bank-wide competitive managerial selection process, and will be a great addition to the work of GFF in health and human capital development.’

Less than 2 weeks following the World Bank appointment, on Thursday, May 23, Muhammad Pate was also announced by the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health as ‘Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership in the Department of Global Health and Population.’

The selection of Pate, according to Professor Michael J. Grusby, Dean for Administration at the institution, was based on the dedication of his career to strengthening public health systems and building innovative partnerships to combat preventable causes of mortality.

Indeed, Muhammad Pate has shown an exceptiona lpassion to improving healthcare delivery systemsin some of the countries and regions of the world most affected by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria and other diseases.

From his early days as a young Medical Officer at the Nassarawa Hospital, Kano in 1991, to 2008 when he became an Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), to 2011 as Federal Minister of State for Health, Dr Pate has remained passionate about saving the lives of vulnerable persons from preventable health challenges and mortality.

At the NPHCDA, Muhammad Pate led his team to tackle the polio epidemic headlong. Less than two years into his appointment, Nigeria, in 2010, achieved a 95% reduction in the Wild Polio Virus. This feat was recognised at the 2011 World Health Assembly in Geneva by Bill Gates when he lauded Pate’s leadership in public health delivery.

As Minister of State for Health, Muhammad Pate led domestic reforms aimed at improving cogent primary healthcare indicators in the country and engagements with multilateral funding agencies and donors.

In 2012, under Pate’s leadership, high-level development partners, under the then Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway arrived in Nigeria to join President Goodluck Jonathan to launch the Saving One Million Lives (the SOML) initiative with support from Clinton Health Access Initiative.

The aim of the initiative was to save an estimated one million mothers and children that die each year from preventable causes.

A man of vision, Muhammad Pate had earlier laid the foundation for the Saving One Million Lives initiative when he led the NPHCDA to launch the national Midwives’ Service Scheme (MSS) to take care of the deficit of trained midwives and skilled birth attendants in the rural communities.

It is a living legacy of Muhammad Pate’s work that the SOML is still delivering on its vision; and represents the boldest attempt by Government to improve maternal and child health outcomes so that they are more in line with the country’s level of wealth.

Pate has also meritoriously served the global health community in various capacities and programmes.

In 2013, shortly after delivering on his Ministerial role to the people of Nigeria, Muhammad Pate took up a professorial chair at the United States’ Duke University’s Global Health Institute. Under the position, Pate served as Senior Adviser to the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Pate was also the founding chief executive officer of the Big Win Philanthropy which invests in children and young adults in developing countries to improve their lives and maximize demographic dividends for long-term economic growth.

In 2017, the Ondo University of Medical Sciences, in recognition of his contribution to the field and practice of medicine, established the ‘Muhammad Ali Pate International School of Public Health’ and named him the Chair of its Board.

The Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN), a non-governmental, non- profit, non-sectarian, and non-political organization of Nigerian female Medical and /dental practitioners, has been watching the sterling progression of Dr Muhammad Ali Pate over the years.

We are excited at the announcements; and strongly believe that Dr Pate will typically deliver on the terms of the appointments,both as a Global Director at the World Bank Group and a Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard,towards a healthier world for all.

NB: Dr Joyce Barber, National President, Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria

By Joyce Barbers

NCC Hosts 1st Forum on Emerging Telecoms Technologies Research, Innovation

Business Journal

02/06/2019

The Nigerian Communications Commission is set for its maiden edition of the Emerging Telecoms Technologies Research and ICT Innovation forum which will hold at Tayo Aderinokun Hall by Unilag Guest House University of Lagos, Lagos State from the 10^th-11^th of June, 2019.

The Forum’s theme: “Developing Nigeria’s Tech Ecosystem; Imperative for Improving Local Content” according to the initiator- the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) – is in line with the Commission’s commitment to promoting ICT innovation and investment opportunities and facilitating strategic collaboration and partnership.

The forum presents a unique opportunity for NCC to bring together key players/actors in the Nigerian tech-ecosystem to deliberate and suggest policy, framework/strategy that could further develop the sector, thereby serving as a catalyst for improving local content in ICT/Telecommunication sector.

The collaborative stakeholder’s meeting is a two-day event. The first day is to identify the gaps in the ICT/Telecoms sector, and further strengthen the collaboration between stakeholders and the Commission. The second day will have a breakout session to discuss possible solution to the identified gaps.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, is expected to address the gathering comprising of stakeholders drawn from the Nigerian Tech ecosystem; Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Tech hubs. Professional Associations in the ICT sector, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), Consumer Advocacy Group and the financial sector will also be in attendance.

A lead paper presentation on the theme “Developing Nigeria’s Tech Ecosystem; Imperative for Improving Local Content” would be delivered by Ms. Funke Opeke, CEO, Main One. Other stakeholders participating in the Forum have been slated as panelists in a discourse focused on: “Digital Skills Imperative for Retooling National Workforce and Developing Capacities for Future Work, Innovation Hubs as the Fulcrum of Local Content Development, Digital Inclusion, Employment and National Survivability”. Further discussion will also take place on the topic: “Legislative and Government Support for Enhancing Tech Eco System in Nigeria.”

The panelists for the three segments include: Prof. Francis Idachaba, Director of Academic planning, Covenant University Ota, Ogun State, Prof. G. Aderounmu, Dean Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Osun State and Mrs. Yetunde Akinloye, Director, Legal and Regulatory Services Department of NCC.

AMCON N5tr Debt Requires ADR Approach – Jurists

Business Journal

02/06/2019

As Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) continue to seek better ways to recover its huge outstanding debt of over N5trillion, 80 per cent of which is owed by just 350 individuals in the country, leading jurists at the weekend again urged the management of AMCON to explore the opportunities offered by Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) centres established by the Federal High Court.

Speaking in Abuja at the weekend, respected jurists such as Justice I.N.Buba; Justice A.M. Liman; Justice C.M.A. Olatoregun; Justice B.F.M. Nyako; Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, Dr. Chuka Agbu, SAN and Mr. Olugbenga Bello among others urged AMCON to refer some of its cases to ADR as that could provide faster ways towards recovery rather than wait endlessly for the courts especially now that the corporation has over 3,000 court cases and counting with imminent sunset date fast approaching.

They made the call at the Abuja version of the 2019 Annual Seminar for External Solicitors and Asset Management Partners (AMPs) of AMCON, which ended at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja at the weekend.

Justice Buba, who chaired one of the sessions said:

“Every judge is supposed to promote ADR because it is faster. ADR was set up to help the courts. If you say you don’t want ADR, then you have to be ready to waste your time in court. It is not that the courts deliberately delay your cases, but the courts are overwhelmed by the barrage of cases before them.”

Justice Nyako, who also chaired a session, while commenting on why cases are piling up in court urged AMCON lawyer to familiarize themselves with the legal procedures before appearing in court. According to her, if a lawyer handling AMCON case does not follow procedure, the case will not take off. But to help ease off the pressure, she added that the Federal High Court is trying to establish three more ADR centres in the country for ease of dispensing justice. Again she said, “Once the ADR centres are open, I want to encourage our lawyers to refer some of these AMCON cases to the ADR centres and help decongest the courts.”

AMCON Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ahmed Lawan Kuru who was represented at the annual seminar by Mr. Aminu Ismail, an Executive Director of Operations at AMCON had earlier in his welcome speech lamented the huge outstanding debt of the corporation of over N5trillion, which will eventually become a burden to the Federal Government of Nigeria if at sunset AMCON failed to recover. Urging AMCON lawyers to sit up especially in the face of hard fighting obligors, he added:

“We have noticed increased incidences of obligors taking advantage of the appeal process to deny us the benefit of favourable judgments obtained. Going forward, we should be conscious of the availability of the opportunity to request the courts to order litigants to deposit judgment consideration with the court registrars. This will mitigate the practice of obligors deliberately dragging their matters in court.”

He urged AMCON council and Asset Management Partners (AMPs) to take advantage of the special provision on accelerated hearing of AMCON matters since the Practice Rules allow the courts to sit from day-to-day, even on the weekends, at their discretion, adding, “The starting point for all our external lawyers and AMPs, is the AMCON Act. If you are not familiar with the provisions of the AMCON Act, you will not be able to understand why AMCON is a unique institution. The essence of enacting a special legislation for the establishment of AMCON and the regulation of its operations is to remove it from the established common law principles and procedure of debt recovery. Therefore, it is essential for our lawyers and AMPs to be abreast with the AMCON Act and Practice Rules.”

MTN Makes Final Payment of N55bn to NCC

Business Journal

02/06/2019

Leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has paid the sixth and final installment of N55 billion to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This completes MTN’s payment of the N330 billion negotiated settlement agreed between the NCC and the company in 2016.

According to MTN’s Chief Corporate Relations Officer, Tobechukwu Okigbo, the successful resolution of the fine was the outcome of active collaboration between the NCC and MTN.

“We are very pleased to have completed the payment of the N330 billon negotiated settlement with the NCC. We are particularly gratified to be in a position to have fully met the terms of the settlement within the agreed timeframes. I would like to thank the NCC for their constructive and collaborative approach to this issue, and believe that we emerge from it with a stronger relationship, focused on ensuring maximum value is delivered to our people, from a strong and growing telecoms sector.”

It will be recalled that MTN and the NCC reached a negotiated settlement in relation to the fine imposed on MTN in 2015 as a result of a dispute over the disconnection of unregistered SIM cards amongst its subscriber base.

‘Nigeria Must Work Hard to Harness E-Govt Benefits’—Shittu

Business Journal

30/05/2019

Adebayo Shittu Former Minister of Communications

The former Minister of Communications, Dr. Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, has said that more hard work must be carefully done by all stakeholders in the ICT Sector for the implementation of the e-Government Master Plan, to fully harness its promised benefits.

Shittu said this recently during the official launching of the Nation’s e-Government Master Plan held at Trancorps Hilton, Abuja.

In his words, “while there have been some e-Government services implemented, I daresay, for Nigeria to fully harness the promised benefits, there is still a lot more work to be done both at the Federal level as well as by the various State Governments”, he said.

Earlier, he enumerated the benefits of the e-Government Master Plan being launched by the Federal Ministry of Communications to include cost savings, efficiency in service delivery, enhanced transparency and accountability.

Improved public administration, growth of the ICT sector, leading to employment opportunities, and improved economic development according to him are the benefits the nation stand to harvest from the newly launched e-Government Master Plan.

He reiterated that in recognition of the several benefits accruable from the adoption of the e-Government practices, the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs in 2003 encouraged member nations to adopt e-Government Practice and as well strive to improve the quality and scope of its adoption.

Shittu explained that UN survey shows that there is a correlation between the National income of a country and the level of e-Government development. Consequently, he said the Federal Government believes that a holistic adoption and implementation of the e-Government Master Plan will inevitably result in an increase in the sector’s contribution to the national GDP.

The ex-Minister noted that the Government is aware of the fact that such a huge project , as the holistic implementation of e-Government might encounter resistance amongst some civil servants and have consequently prevented this probable hitch by putting in place a robust “ Capacity Building Programme”, in collaboration with the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

He further said that in a bid to ensure effective implementation of the Master Plan, Several e-Government courses have been instituted, with over 1200 officials drawn from across the public service trained. Dr. Shittu disclosed that an e-Government Training Centre situated at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) will facilitate continuous e-Government training and reorientation for all public servants.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Musa Istifanus disclosed that the e-government Master Plan was developed based on three phases, pre-implementation, implementation phase and post implementation phase which is carefully designed to stand the test of time.

He noted that the Federal Ministry of Communications adopted “think big” start small and scale fast” mindset, as a feasible plan to achieve instant success and keep a positive driving force both internally and externally.

Stanford Seed Partners Entrepreneurs in Africa to Catalyze Economic Growth

Business Journal

30/05/2019

Frank Omondi is a wildlife biologist turned entrepreneur. His desire to lead a business that makes a positive impact on the community led him to become the managing director of Ten Senses Africa, a fair trade cashew and macadamia nut processing company based in Nairobi, Kenya.

With a background in wildlife biology, Omondi realized he needed further training to help him continue to drive the company forward. That realization led him to join the Stanford Seed Transformation Program in 2016.

Stanford Seed is a one-year certificate program delivered by Stanford University through Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) that operates in East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, and India. The program, which is designed exclusively for busy business owners and CEOs, provides management training, one-on-one support, and networking opportunities to growth-minded business leaders.

Following Omondi’s participation in the program, Ten Senses Africa doubled its sales, now provides 1 million cashew seedlings to support 30,000 local farmers, and employs 600 people, two-thirds of whom are single mothers. The company was able to expand to Tanzania with the support of the Seed Transformation Network, a group composed of past participants in the program.

“The program created a lot of trust between the participants,” said Omondi. “It is difficult to know anyone in Tanzania if you are based in another African country. Through the program, we were able to learn what other people were doing in those countries, which enabled us to have entry.”

Surveys of past participants of the Seed Transformation Program reveal the impact participants and their organizations have on their communities. After completing the program, 89 percent of participants grew their customers, 72 percent introduced a new product or service, 64 percent increased their revenue, and 50 percent expanded into new geographies.

“I’m inspired by the change participants are effecting in their communities,” said Darius Teter, Executive Director of Stanford Seed.

“One organisation’s growth and success can have a significant impact, and we’re thrilled to partner with promising entrepreneurs as they take their businesses to the next level.”

Participants work with Stanford GSB faculty to gain the essential business and leadership skills that will enable them to grow their companies and, in turn, positively impact their communities. Admitted participants:

Create an action plan to grow and scale their business;
Get in-company support from trained facilitators who help introduce what they’ve learned to their management team and promote buy-in;
Develop relationships with like-minded leaders to share experiences and develop an ongoing peer-to-peer support network;
Receive pro-bono project-based consulting services from senior executives.

The program is now accepting applications through June 15.

About Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) is developing the next generation of principled global leaders. Since 1925 we’ve been delivering rigorous and experiential management education combined with personal development and leadership that has the power to change both careers and lives.

Our faculty are empowered to design and discover original research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. Our diverse programs include: the 2-year MBA program; 1-year Master of Science program for experienced leaders (MSx); PhD program; Executive Education; Stanford LEAD, an online certificate program; and Stanford Seed, a Stanford GSB-led initiative that partners with entrepreneurs in emerging markets to build thriving enterprises that transform lives.

ITU Unveils New Report on Artificial Intelligence in Broadcasting

Business Journal

30/05/2019

ITU has just published a new report that lays out how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be used during the process of making and distributing television and radio content.

The report discusses how AI is now being used to optimise workflows for broadcasting programme making, to improve audio and visual quality evaluation, to efficiently utilize the frequency spectrum in television and radio distribution and recently even to create new programmes by mining archives as well as automatically targeting content to specific audiences or individuals.

For example, AI is being used for extracting content from vast archives; automatically localising content for international distribution; and generating access services such as captioning, audio description, text to speech and signing far faster and far more accurately than could be achieved in the past.

The report – Artificial Intelligence systems for programme production and exchange – reflects the work ITU has been doing on these issues, profiting from the experiences of programme makers and broadcasters who are doing just that.

“ITU is collaborating with stakeholders to harness the power of AI to improve lives worldwide and seek solutions to the world’s greatest challenges,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “This helps us to identify practical applications of AI that can accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which is what we are doing this week at the AI for Good Global Summit.”

“There is still an incredible amount of work needed to ensure that the use of AI in programme making and content distribution is for the benefit of the audiences,” said Mario Maniewicz, Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau. “We also need to make sure that the systems employed interact with each other. This and other Reports and Recommendations from ITU help to achieve that.”

Study Group 6 Expands Work on AI

ITU study groups are venues for ITU members to work collaboratively in responding to the priorities of the ITU membership. The groups develop the technical basis for ITU agreements and associated activities.

Study groups of the ITU Radio-communication Sector (ITU-R) address issues including the efficient management and use of the radio-frequency spectrum and orbit resources, radio systems’ characteristics and performance, spectrum monitoring, emergency radio-communications for public protection and disaster relief, interference-free radio-communications, radio and TV broadcasting, and new radio technologies.

The recent AI report is in response to Study Group 6 (Broadcasting Service) Question ITU-R 144/6 on Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for broadcasting, which was approved in January 2019.

Yukihiro Nishida, Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 6 (SG 6), said “The use of AI is becoming essential for broadcasting to increase productivity and reliability and is expanding its applications in the end-to-end chain of broadcasting, for which SG 6 is responsible. It is important to understand the impact to broadcasting. SG 6 will continue the study to help broadcasters make maximum advantage of its use.”

Andy Quested, Chairman of the ITU-R Working Party 6C that oversees the AI work, indicated that with the ever-expanding formats, platforms and regulations broadcasters are faced with, there is a demand for intuitive and learning technologies to be a vital tool for programme makers and broadcasters. AI is allowing programme makers to do what they are best at – creating the best, most compelling content they can.

Poppy Crum (USA), Vice-Chairman, ITU-R Working Party 6C has been leading this project working with members to create a unique overview Report of the current state of intelligent systems as they are applied to programme making and international programme exchange.

More than 5000 specialists, from administrations, the telecommunications industry as a whole and academic organisations throughout the world, participate in the work of the ITU-R Study Groups.

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