Orange Telecom Launches Brand in Sierra Leone

18/10/2017

Orange one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators announced yesterday the official launch of its brand in Sierra Leone. As of today, Airtel Sierra Leone becomes Orange Sierra Leone.

The acquisition of Airtel Sierra Leone was finalised in July 2016 by Orange, together with its Senegal-based partner Sonatel, allowing the Orange Group to reinforce its presence in West Africa.
Following the rebranding, Orange Sierra Leone will rank with one of the world’s most powerful brands¹ and stands to benefit from being part of a large international group. As part of Orange, it will gain access to the Group’s expertise, technical know-how and an extensive product and service portfolio. With its considerable presence on the African continent, a strategic focus for the Group, Orange offers strong growth potential for its Sierra Leonean operation.
For Orange, every customer is unique. At the heart of Orange’s Essentials2020 strategic plan is the ambition of listening to every customer to better address their needs by giving an unmatched experience every day.

Extensive investments in network to drive unrivalled customer experience
With a population of seven million people, Sierra Leone has significant potential for growth in mobile services. Following the acquisition of the company, Orange has committed itself to improving the quality and availability of its services by venturing into untapped and underserved geographical areas, offering to the people of Sierra Leone the innovation that Orange is delivering elsewhere.
Orange Sierra Leone disclosed earlier this year a modernisation and expansion plan to enhance the reliability, coverage and quality of its network, and voice and data services. Since the acquisition, US $33 million has been invested for that purpose and as of mid-October, the majority of investments have already been realised with 30 new radio sites on air and over half of the entire mobile network upgraded.
Bruno Mettling, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Orange Group and Chairman & CEO of Orange MEA (Middle East and Africa), commented: “We are pleased to bring the Orange brand to Sierra Leone, bolstering our already strong presence in West Africa. The launch of the Orange brand confirms our confidence in the country’s on-going economic recovery and our commitment to bring all the benefits of new digital services to Sierra Leoneans in the framework of a fair, transparent and clear partnership that will enable it to be established over time.”
Sekou Drame, Chief Executive Officer, Orange Sierra Leone, added: “The launch of the Orange brand comes with a promise to meet the emerging needs of customers with innovative, affordable and relevant solutions that will empower consumers, giving them the freedom to do what they choose and provide them with the tools to meet life’s daily challenges. We remain committed to taking our network and services deeper into the country, right up to the doorsteps of each and every Sierra Leonean, with the aim of bridging the digital divide within the country. With the support of Orange and Sonatel we can truly deliver on this. I am confident that over the coming months Orange will win the hearts of customers in Sierra Leone and emerge as one of most admired brands in the country.”
Orange is present in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, where it has more than 127 million customers as of the end June 2017. With 5.2 billion euros in revenues in 2016 (12% of Orange’s total revenues), this region is a strategic priority for the Group.

Orange Money, its flagship offer for money transfers and mobile financial services, is currently available in 17 countries and has more than 34 million customers. The Group’s strategy in Africa and the Middle East is to position itself as a leader of the digital transformation and to bring its international expertise to support the development of new digital services.
Orange is valued at US$21,526m, the 51st most valuable brand in the world and the 7th most valuable telecoms brand in the world. Source: Brand Finance’s 2017 ‘Telecom 500’ report.

World Bank: ‘End Cycle of Poverty Now’

Business Journal

18/10/2017

The social status of one’s parents is as influential today as it was 50 years ago in determining a person’s future, according to early findings from an upcoming World Bank report, Fair Progress? Educational Mobility Around the World. Marking the 25^thanniversary of the International Day to Eradicate Poverty, the institution sounded the alarm on a lack of progress since the 1960s in an area that is crucial for reducing poverty and inequality and promoting growth.

The preview paper, released yesterday, helps put together the first pieces of the economic mobility puzzle, focusing squarely on how one generation’s education can make or break the next generation’s success. This highlights the important role of public policy in providing a level playing field, so that every child, regardless of parental background, can reach his or her full potential. The full report, to be released in early 2018, will broaden the scope and examine the drivers of income mobility, including the role of markets and the broader forces of economic transformation.

“We are living in the middle of a human capital crisis and need to do everything we can to create a world where children everywhere have the opportunity to become whatever they want,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “The potential of hundreds of millions of people is being wasted, as their chances remain too closely tied to the previous generation. We have to invest in young children so they are hardwired to succeed, encourage and meet the aspirations of young people, and act at all levels – especially locally – to ensure that tomorrow’s generation can thrive regardless of where they are born.”

Increases in education from generation to generation have stalled over the last half-century. About half of people born in an average developing economy in the 1980s have more education than their parents – showing no improvement when compared to those born in the 1960s. If the world does not alter the way it invests in its children, particularly those coming from less advantaged backgrounds, there is little reason to believe that this assessment will be different 10 years from now, making an end to extreme poverty by 2030 an even bigger challenge.

\Low levels of upward mobility are particularly pronounced in the developing world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, only around 12 percent of today’s young adults (born in the 1980s) in some Sub-Saharan African economies have more education than their parents, compared to more than 80 percent of the same generation in parts of East Asia. All of the 15 economies where people’s education level is most closely tied to their parents’ education level are developing economies.

The study points to three broad pathways forward to increasing economic mobility from generation to generation.

Equal opportunities for children: Investments in early childhood development, education access and quality, maternal and child health, nutrition, infrastructure, water and sanitation, and other key services in the earliest years are critical to improving mobility and building human capital. For example, economies that have lower stunting (low height for age, a sign of chronic malnutrition) rates for children at age five and those that invest more of their public resources in education are likely to have higher mobility.

The recent World Development Report on Education makes a strong case for investments in learning and better-quality education as a pathway out of poverty, and the World Bank Group has recently announced the Human Capital Project— an accelerated effort to help countries invest more, and more effectively, in their people—as a critical step to boosting inclusive economic growth and ending extreme poverty.

Aspirations: When people perceive that they cannot move out of poverty, they are less likely to take the necessary steps to do so – their perceptions impede their aspirations, keeping them trapped. It is critical to incorporate behavioral insights into policies and programs, to better reach those who have been left behind in the development process.

Local action: The environment a person is born into matters, alongside the social status of one’s parents. Actions at the local level, from regions down to neighborhoods, are crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty. Poorer people are likely to live in poorer areas with worse schools, crumbling infrastructure, low access to and quality of services, and higher crime, which can impact a child’s ability to learn, grow, and thrive.

End Poverty Day

The world is making progress toward the goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity everywhere. By focusing our resources on three areas – promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth, investing in human capital, and fostering resilience to shocks – and by measuring progress – we can get the rest of the way.

End Poverty Day presents the global community with an opportunity each year to focus on our goals and to work with government and citizens, civil society, private sector and development organizations to build support for the action needed to achieve those goals.

Stock Market Statistics: Wednesday, 18th October 2017

Business Journal

18/10/2017

Market Cap (N’bn)	12,612.6
Market Cap (US$’bn)	41.2
NSE All-Share Index	36,641.52
Daily Performance %	(0.1)
Week Performance %	(0.0)
YTD Performance %	36.3
Daily Volume (Million)	198.6
Daily Value (N’bn)	2.9
Daily Value (US$’m)	9.6

Banking Stocks Drag Market Performance… NSE ASI down 8bps
The Nigerian Bourse extended losses to the second consecutive session as the All Share Index moderated 8bps to close at 36,641.52 points while YTD return weakened to 36.3%.

Likewise, market capitalization declined by N9.7bn to settle at N12.6tn on the back of pull-backs in Tier-1 – ACCESS (-2.2%), UBA (-1.5%) and ZENITH (-0.5%). Activity level softened as volume and value traded fell 6.0% and 0.4% to settle at 198.6m units and N2.9bn respectively.

Negative Sector Performance Continues
Similar to previous trading session, sector indices’ performance was largely bearish with 3 sectors declining while 2 closed flat. The Oil & Gas index depreciated the most, down 0.4% owing to a 3.0% loss in TOTAL.

The Insurance index followed, closing 0.3% lower due to losses in NEM (-2.9%) and LAWUNION (-4.9%) while the Banking index lost 0.2% as a result of sell-offs in ACCESS (-2.2%), UBA (-1.5%) and ZENITH (-0.5%).

Relatedly, Guaranty Trust Bank, a leading Tier-1 Bank, submitted its 9M:2017 result; gross earnings fell 5.9% Y-o-Y from N329.3bn in 9M:2016 to N309.9bn in 9M:2017 whereas PAT rose 7.3% from N117.1bn to N125.6bn.

The Consumer Goods index was unchanged as appreciations in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+0.3%) and DANGSUGA (+0.6%) were offset by depreciations in FLOURMILL (-2.7%) and NASCON (-4.7%). Similarly, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.

Investor Sentiment Weakens
Market breadth weakened from 1.0x recorded on Tuesday to a negative close of 0.6x after 12 stocks advanced against 21 decliners. Today’s best performing stocks were GLAXOSMITH (+5.0%), CUSTODYINS (+4.9%) and LEARNAFRCA (+3.9%), while NAHCO (-5.6%), LAWUNION (-4.9%) and CAVERTON (-4.8%) were the worst performers. Despite consecutive negative closes, we envisage a rebound in market performance in subsequent sessions due to positive outlook on Q3:2017 earnings results.

Red Star Express Commemorates 25th Anniversary

Business Journal

18/10/2017

One of Nigeria’s leading logistics company Red Star Express Plc, commemorated its Twenty-Fifth (25^th) anniversary in Grand Style, recently in Lagos. The company began its celebration with the unveil of a 3D version of the 25^th anniversary logo few months back, embarked on a Corporate Social Responsibility tagged ‘SME 1000’ for upcoming entrepreneurs, organised a silver jubilee Annual General Meeting, amongst others. The peak of the celebration was however organised to appreciate staff, customers and all those who had in one way or the other contributed to the success of the company since its existence 25 years ago.

Considered one of the top logistics companies, Red Star Express Plc had been at the fore-front of touching and improving lives for 25 years, and providing quality delivery services people know and trust.

According to the Group Managing Director, Red Star Express Plc, Mr Olusola Obabori, “My number one objective is to make Red Star a bigger and more profitable company, which is why some of our initiatives right now are to open opportunities in sectors we are not currently operating in. With Nigeria coming out of recession, we are optimistic about the future of business.”

In the same vein, the Chairman of the Company, Dr. Mohammed H. Koguna, stated, “I would like to thank the founders – Sonny Allison, Patrick Nwosu, and Eddy Olafeso, for daring to dream; and for showing clearly that Nigerians can set up and run a company that would compete favourably with foreign companies”. He further commended the entire management, staff and customers for their loyalty and selfless service delivery over the years.

Speaking on the 25^thanniversary theme ‘Building for the long haul’, the Executive Director, Sales & Marketing, Red Star Express Plc., Mr Victor Ukwat, said, “The difference we have made in 25 years is in our services and continuous innovations to leave our customers satisfied at all times”.

The Guest Speaker and Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika pointed out in her speech that, having values pays. According to her, having great values and abiding by it has great reward for a length of time, your value system will protect you on your worst days. It will preserve in times of trouble. Let your vision live, let it grow, let it continue to be a value creator. A company that wants to build for the long haul must have the courage to embrace change, your life is a stage and you have an audience. Someday, the things you do as a company would speak for or against you, if you teach people to cheat for you, they will cheat for you.

She reiterated that, having the right values and not compromising pays. It’s about raising entrepreneurs within the enterprise. The importance of making employees vision sharers to keep the business growing is very important.

Maher Hasbini, Managing Director, Middle East, Indian Sub, Africa & Turkey Region, FedEx also graced the occasion.

In the euphoria of the celebration, the anniversary cake was cut, website was unveiled and awards were given, amongst other activities to make every invited high-spirited activities of good cheer.

Red Star Express is a licensee of FedEx (Federal Express), and one of the most reputable companies in the Nigeria logistics industry. Incorporated in October 1992, the company provides a portfolio of logistics solution which includes domestic and international deliveries, freight forwarding, integrated warehousing and haulage services, information and document management, e-Commerce order fulfillment services. Red Star became an Associate of TNT following the acquisition of TNT by FedEx in 2016.

Nigeria Missing in 2017 Dubai Property Investors Listing

Business Journal

17/10/2017

Online marketplace lists Top 10 nationalities buying UAE property in 2017

Investors from India were the most active international users on UAE classified website, dubizzle in August 2017, according to a new report.

On average, 19% of monthly foreign visitors to dubizzle property website originated from India, with 16% were from Saudi Arabia and 15% from the United Kingdom, a report released by the platform at GITEX found.

The most searched locations were Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Marina and the Palm Jumeirah, with the largest number of searches from overseas dubizzle users in August 2017.

Dubizzle property provides over 200,000 live property listings a day, and receiving an average of 3.7 million visits per month.

The report found an additional 13% of users browsing from the United States and 10% from Pakistan.

Users based in Ireland (8 percent), Egypt (6 percent) and Jordan (3 percent) also visited the site. Kuwait users registered around 2.4% of the total foreign visits for property for sale on dubizzle, followed by 2% of the visits from Germany.

Topping the list of domestic investors were UAE nationals, Lebanese and Chinese investors in addition to the 10 nationalities mentioned above, the report said.

The findings are consistent with recent findings by the Dubai Land Department that investors from India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UK, Egypt, Jordan, China, Lebanon and USA invested a total of $41 billion (AED151bn) in Dubai properties over the past 18 months.

Commenting on the most popular area searches in the emirate, Barry Judge, general manager of dubizzle, said that foreign investors had an appetite for a wide-range of areas that saw a shift away from Dubai’s traditional hotspots.

“Whilst recent local trends suggest that the interest of mid-market homes and newer areas are taking the spotlight away from the more mature areas, interest from foreign investors is more varied,” said Judge.

“There seems to be a healthy interest in the Dubai property market with the popularity of areas being distributed amongst more mature areas and newer, up-and-coming communities, instilling confidence in the market.”

In 2016, residents of the UAE exchanged around 1.5 million items through dubizzle contributed to the overall reduction of waste and shrinking of the UAE’s carbon footprint by over 3.26 million tons of CO2 emissions, equal to around 85 million trees grown in 10 years, which is double the number of Palm trees in the UAE.

The home-grown brand dubizzle featured as a special guest at the Dubai Internet City (DIC) Stand at this year’s GITEX technology conference.

Emefiele for 2017 Nigerian Banking Sector Report Launch

Business Journal

17/10/2017

Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited has announced that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has been confirmed as the Special Guest of Honour at the launch of the 2017 Nigerian Banking Sector Report, titled Nigeria Reopens for Business.
The launch of this 12th Edition of the Report is scheduled as the anchor event of the Nigeria Banking & Investment Forum: Capital Markets Partnership hosted by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in collaboration with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and in partnership with Afrinvest West Africa Limited.
Details of the event are as follows:
Date: Friday, October 27, 2017
Time: 08:30am
Venue: The London Stock Exchange
10 Paternoster Square, London
EC4M 7LS
The Forum seeks to highlight investment opportunities for the international investors, regulators and stakeholders in Nigeria’s frontier capital markets.

‘Digital Economy to Surpass 10% of African GDP in 10 Years’

Business Journal

17/10/2017

The impact of digital technology in the creation of wealth in Africa is such that some countries like Senegal outperform many Western countries in the contribution of new technologies to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

With 3.3% of its GDP from internet-related activities, Senegal does more than many Western countries, including France and Germany(1). “In ten years, the digital economy will probably weigh 10% of African GDP.

The digital should be an integral part of the services provided by the public authorities. As an actor in the management and electronic archiving of documents, we are proud to contribute to the success of TeleDAc, an ambitious project to digitize public services, “said Alain Taïeb, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Mobilitas.
Since its launch, TeleDAC has made a significant contribution to improving access to public services, reducing administrative costs for users by 25% and reducing the risk of corruption. The time required to complete and issue a building has reduced from a minimum of 3 months to approximately 28 days. To date, nearly 4,000 cases have been processed in the four departments of Dakar.

TeleDAC also strengthens the standardization of public electronic archiving. 200,000 applications for building permits were digitized, following the rehabilitation of the archives of the departmental departments of town planning in Dakar.

Coscharis, Ford Motor to Sponsor Next Titan

Business Journal

17/10/2017

Ford Motor Company in collaboration with its local distributor, Coscharis Motors, has announced its participation as a supporting sponsor of the Next Titan, an entrepreneurial reality show. A brand-new Ford Ranger will be presented as a prize to the overall winner of the competition to start their new business or to support their existing business.

“We are delighted to be part of the show once again. In 2016, Coscharis Motors sponsored the show for the first time and gave away a brand-new Ford Escape to the winner. The company is proud to support young talented Nigerians by improving mobility and enabling them to run their business more efficiently,” said Abiona Babarinde, General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Coscharis Motors.

The Next Titan is a global standard television platform and is designed to educate young Nigerians about entrepreneurship, encouraging them to consider this as a career goal and reduce the high rate of unemployment. Sixteen participants, between the ages of 21 and 39, will battle one another in various business tasks, such as strategy, sales, marketing, promotions and others, for ten weeks. During the competition, participants and viewers will get exposure to real life entrepreneurial challenges through informal training and learn from top business leaders. These learnings will be of great use to those who wish to start their own business or grow current businesses. The Next Titan premiered on 08 October 2017 and the winner will be announced on 10 December 2017.

“We at Coscharis Motors are thankful that Ford believes in our mission and vision by providing practical support to our projects. We will continue to work together with Ford to build on skills development and training in the country, not just in the automotive industry but across the board in Nigeria,” said Babarinde.

“We are inspired by the courage and entrepreneurial spirit of young Nigerians and wish them luck during the competition,” he concluded.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 203,000 people worldwide.

Stock Market Statistics: Tuesday, 17th October 2017

Business Journal

17/10/2017

Market Cap (N’bn)	12,622.3
Market Cap (US$’bn)	41.3
NSE All-Share Index	36,669.61
Daily Performance %	(0.8)
Week Performance %	(0.3)
YTD Performance %	36.4
Daily Volume (Million)	211.9
Daily Value (N’bn)	4.7
Daily Value (US$’m)	15.5

3-Day Positive Momentum Halted….NSE ASI down 0.8%
A 3-day upward trend was reversed at the close of trade as the All Share Index (ASI) fell 82bps to close at 36,669.61 points – implying a moderation in YTD return to 36.4%.

Accordingly, investors lost N103.8bn as market capitalisation settled at N12.6tn primarily due to losses in DANGCEM (-1.8%), NESTLE (-3.3%) and GUARANTY (-1.0%). Despite the 1.4% drop in volume to N211.9m units, total value of trades increased dramatically, rising 73.6% from N2.7bn to N4.7bn.

All Indices Close in the Red
Sector performance was negative across board as all indices declined. On the back of drops in DANGCEM (-1.8%) and NESTLE (-3.3%), the Industrial and Consumer Goods indices were the major losers, both down 0.9% from previous close.

Similarly, the Oil & Gas index fell 0.5% owing to a loss in MOBIL (-5.0%). The Insurance index declined (0.4%) following a depreciation in MANSARD (-4.6%) whereas the Banking index reversed on yesterday’s top position to marginally fall 0.1% contrary to Monday’s 1.0% increase on account of the reduction in GUARANTY (-1.0%).

Investor Sentiment Stays Positive
Despite the decline in performance, market breadth remained positive at 1.0x (from 1.8x on Monday) as 21 stocks advanced against 21 decliners.

The best performers were INTBREW (+5.8%), NEM (+4.5%) and FIRSTALUM (+4.0%) while REDSTAREX (-9.2%), NEIMETH (-8.8%) and CHAMPION (-5.2%) were the worst performers. We attribute the day’s negative close to profit taking on recent gains in the equities market, however we expect an upturn in following sessions due to Q3:2017 earnings releases.

Global Business Forum on Africa to Host 5 Heads of State

Business Journal

17/10/2017

The 4^th Global Business Forum on Africa is set to welcome five African heads of state, 12 ministers, and more than 1,000 top-level government and corporate decision-makers and industry experts when the event takes place on November 1^st and 2^nd, 2017, in Dubai.

The forum, organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will be held under the theme “Next Generation Africa.” The two-day event will examine the current economic outlook for the continent, and explore prospects for its development, as well as investment opportunities and the potential for forging partnerships between African businesses and their UAE counterparts.

The event will bring together high-profile attendees such as H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda; H.E. Danny Faure, President of the Republic of Seychelles; H.E. Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda; H.E. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius; and H.E. Edgar Lungu, President of Zambia; along with a long list of ministers, senior government officials, young African entrepreneurs, economic and industry experts.

H.E. Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of the Dubai Chamber, noted that the timing of the forum is ideal as Africa is currently witnessing a sizeable uptick in private-sector led development and investment opportunities.

“This year’s Global Business Forum on Africa is drawing an unprecedented top-tier attendance, including distinguished African heads of state and ministers, to discuss a variety of key trends that are expected to drive Africa’s next phase of economic growth, as well as challenges and opportunities that fast-growing markets on the continent are experiencing,” H.E. Buamim said.

The two-day event welcomes a host of ministers from various African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.

Established in 1965, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a non-profit public entity, whose mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Dubai by creating a favourable business environment, supporting the development of business, and by promoting Dubai as an international business hub.

Book Review: IYE-Mother

Business Journal

17/10/2017

The author, Julie Omeike, at a reading session in Lagos.

By Julie Omeike

Iye {Mother} is an interesting cultural novel.

It is an African piece of art that depicts family way of life from earlier years as far back as the fifties and sixties.

A noble distinct family stands against all odds to protect matrimony and family focus on a one man, one wife personality even with delays of childbirth.

The chapter begins with the celebration of the long awaited child. Ivie meaning precious loses dad at her growing years and battles with career, love and family inheritance.

Iye is dedicated to widows and widowers in the African context with their predicaments as single parents.

Iye has just gained approval from the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council NERDC.

Author’s Profile
Miss Julie Agnes Omeike is a graduate of English Arts and Mass communications from Bayero University Kano. She obtained masters from University of Lagos in Public and International Affairs. Her other books include; Art Delight {The Classic Collection}, Fixed Affair Midnight Glimmers A-Z for toddlers and The Beatitudes whom she dedicated to the late Danmasanin Kano. Maitama Sule.
Julie is a registered member of Chartered institute of Journalist UK and Apcon. She is currently researching with Cardiff University Uk and Royal Horticulture Society Dublin in horticulture and community journalism.
Her NGO at Christabel Communications depicts talents in what she founded as Talent Empowerment program TEP.

DHL: Top Employer in 18 African Countries

Business Journal

17/10/2017

Hennie Heymans CEO DHL Express Sub-saharan Africa

DHL Express has been certified as a Top Employer in Africa for the fourth executive year, at the prestigious Top Employer Africa 2018 certification ceremony, held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday , 12 October 2017.
Hennie Heymans, CEO, DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, explains that this is the fourth consecutive year that DHL has been awarded this honour by the Top Employers Institute. “DHL Express values its employees and strives to make the company a rewarding place to work at. We are proud to have that fact affirmed by Top Employers Institute.”
This year, DHL was the only company to be certified as a Top Employer in 18 markets in Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Morocco, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia.
“DHL has cultivated an insanely customer centric culture across the entire organization, which we see as a critical component of our success. Maintaining this culture across the world has relied heavily on our effective employee engagement programs,” said Heymans.
“It therefore goes without saying that employee motivation and development are important areas of focus for us. We are committed to having a team of high performers who operate in a high performance culture that promotes and drives leadership diversity.”
According to Heymans, DHL’s use of employee initiatives and programs, including the company’s Certified International Specialist (CIS) cultural change program has helped to unlock the potential of the company’s employees across Sub-Saharan Africa. “This year, we have placed greater emphasis on up-skilling and empowering middle-managers and supervisors as this rung of leadership is pivotal to the leading and executing of our growth aspirations in the years to come. As we continue to grow, we need every person in the business to understand their role and how to execute it efficiently. After all, the role of supervisors and middle-managers is to build trust and inspire great performance.”
DHL also recently completed the annual Employee Opinion Survey, which provides a platform for personnel to convey their thoughts and sentiments about the company anonymously. “This is an important tool in helping us identify what we are doing well, as well as areas that require improvement,” added Heymans.
In addition, our Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year awards are presented to our star performers, who are nominated by fellow employees. “We believe that the power of our incredible network is our people, so strategic planning and program implementation are vital.”
To be certified as a Top Employer in Africa , a company needs to operate in four or more countries and have exceptional employee conditions. The Top Employers Institute conducts comprehensive and independent research by getting employees in the relevant companies to complete a HR best practice survey.
The Top Employers Institute survey assesses human resource strategy, policy implementation, practices and employee offerings, to reveal whether the company provides exceptional employee conditions, develops talent on all levels and demonstrates leadership through optimizing the development of its employees and employee practices.
Every completed survey is reviewed by the Top Employers Institute and then the process is audited by a third party. Only organizations that qualify from the selection process receive the Top Employers title and certification seal but all participants receive a comprehensive feedback report.
“We are honored to have been certified as a Top Employer in Africa for yet another year and we will strive to ensure we maintain our focus on attracting, retaining and developing our people across the region,” concluded Heymans.

GE Africa CEO Wins Princeton in Africa Award

Business Journal

17/10/2017

Jay Ireland, CEO & President of GE Africa was one of two to receive a Princeton in Africa award at the program’s annual gala awards which was held yesterday in New York. Founded in 1999, Princeton in Africa develops young leaders committed to Africa’s advancement by offering year-long fellowship opportunities with a variety of organizations that work across the African continent.
Since the program’s launch in 1999, they have had 545 Fellows in 36 countries. This year, 48 recent college graduates (from 31 colleges and universities) are working with 31 organizations in 13 African countries.
Speaking at the event, Jay Ireland said “GE is committed to investing and expanding its business in Africa. Despite the recent economic challenges, we firmly believe in a bright future for the continent and see ourselves as partners in Africa’s sustainable development”.
Ireland’s journey started six years ago, when he relocated to Nairobi, Kenya to lead GE’s efforts in Africa. GE had been on the continent for over 100 years. However, the company wanted to get a broader GE focus on the infrastructure issues and subsequent opportunities in developing markets. So, in 2011, the company set up an African headquarters in Kenya and started adding people across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Today, GE’s footprint consists of over 3200 employees, revenues of about $3.9 billion dollars (2016) and operations in 33 countries across Africa.
GE Africa’s corporate social responsibility platform, Kujenga, launched in 2014 aims to empower people by building valuable skills, equip communities with new tools and technology and elevate innovative ideas that are helping solve Africa’s challenges.

One of the company’s Kujenga initiatives, the GE Lagos Garage advanced manufacturing skills program, has enabled over 100 prototypes to be developed at the hub and over 20 innovative ideas transformed into actual business models in Nigeria.
Princeton in Africa matches talented and passionate college graduates with organizations working across Africa for year-long service placements. The program is open to graduating seniors and young alumni from any college or university accredited in the U.S.

The program’s Fellows have helped improve education and public health, source fresh water and alternative energy, increase family incomes, and so much more.

TV: Primary Source of Information in Africa

Business Journal

16/10/2017

A recent study by the Northwestern University in Qatar has revealed that TV is the most popular news medium in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. When asked about how they stay informed about the latest news in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates, more than 75% of nationals reported watching television each day rather than relying on online sources.
Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and CEO of APO Group says:“The study confirms what we’ve been observing for some time, not only in MENA region but also in Sub-Saharan Africa. Disparities in literacy, including digital literacy, and education greatly influence news platforms choices. And despite internet penetration and the rise of social media, it’s also important to take into consideration that there’s still an unequal access to internet technology in both regions. This explains in large part why television still holds a central place in media consumption patterns.”
Whether via broadcast TV or online, news is increasingly being watched as opposed to read, particularly on mobile phones. Northwestern University in Qatar’s fifth annual report states, for example, that 78% of Tunisians watch news videos on their smartphones on daily basis. With already 365 million mobile subscribers across the MENA region (63% of the population) and with the number of smartphone connections set to triple by 2020 in Africa, according to GSMA study, a considerable demand for news video content is expected in upcoming years.
As a result, APO Group strongly believes that it is in the interest of both private and public organizations to undertake a “paradigm shift” in their media communication approach in order to remain relevant to their audiences. To support them throughout this change, the consulting firm will from now on help them transform their press release into a broadcast quality video footage suited for televised news through their new service, Video Newswire®.
Video Newswire® will not only offer organizations a cost-effective solution to generate greater interest among target audiences but also facilitate the use of their content by newscasters who for years have complained that written press releases needed formatting and editing before being able to be used as news content.
“Within a few hours, APO Group can deploy their production team anywhere in Africa, the Middle East or around the world to shoot a news video of an event, an announcement, a product or an offer. We will produce a video perfectly tailored to news producers’ editorial policies and technical criteria so that they can have access to the same quality material they would receive from their own production teams. In addition to producing the video, we will also provide distribution to up to 1,000 news TV channels across Africa, the Middle East and the world”, said Mr. Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and CEO of APO Group.

Adesina, 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, to Deliver Lecture on World Food Day

Business Journal

16/10/2017

The African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina, will deliver the Norman Borlaug Lecture today as part of the World Food Prize events taking place from October 16-20, 2017 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
The Norman Borlaug Lecture titled “Betting on Africa to Feed the World” will be held on World Food Day, October 16, in conjunction with the annual World Food Prize celebration.
President Adesina will receive the 2017 World Food Prize on Thursday, October 19. The prize is to agriculture what the Nobel Prize is to peace, science and literature.
The World Food Prize board announced President Adesina as the 2017 Laureate in June for his work in improving the availability of seed, fertilizer and financing for African farmers, and for laying the foundation for the youth in Africa to engage in agriculture as a profitable business.
The World Food Prize, founded by Nobel Laureate, Norman Borlaug, is the foremost international honour recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
As Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria, Adesina introduced the E-Wallet system, which brought transparency to fertilizer distribution system – a process previously hampered by corruption for 40 years. His policies expanded Nigeria’s food production by 21 million metric tons, and the country attracted US $5.6 billion in private-sector investment, earning him tremendous respect as the ‘farmers’ Minister’.
Under his leadership, the AfDB is accelerating agricultural development through its Feed Africa Strategy with planned investment of US $24 billion over the next 10 years.
The goals of AfDB’s Feed Africa strategy are to help eliminate extreme poverty in Africa by 2025; end hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025; make Africa a net food exporter; and move Africa to the top of export-orientated global value chains where it has comparative advantage.
Over 1,200 people from more than 65 countries will address cutting-edge issues related to global food security and nutrition at the 2017 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, October 18-20, 2017.
“As someone who grew out of poverty, I know that poverty is not pretty. My life mission is to lift up millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural areas. We must give hope and turn agriculture into a business,” the AfDB President said.
The three-day conference convenes a wide array of scientific experts, policy leaders, business executives and farmers and has been branded “the premier conference in the world on global agriculture.”
Through the Borlaug Dialogue, the World Food Prize Foundation helps build alliances in the struggle against world hunger and malnutrition.

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