Emirates was named the World’s Best Airline 2016 at the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards 2016, in addition to scooping up the awards for World’s Best In-flight Entertainment for a record 12th consecutive year, and Best Airline in the Middle East.
Based on the results of the largest airline passenger satisfaction survey in the industry, the World’s Best Airline Awards are considered a global benchmark of airline excellence.
This year’s Skytrax awards were based on a total of 19.2 million completed surveys covering 280 airlines, by customers hailing from more than 104 countries. The Skytrax survey measures quality standards across 41 key performance indicators of front-line products and services in the airline industry.
This is the fourth time Emirates has won the top accolade since the airline awards were introduced 15 years ago; the airline won the first ever Skytrax World’s Best Airline in 2001, again in 2002 and in 2013. In total, Emirates has won a total of 20 Skytrax World Airline Awards since 2001.
Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said: “We are honoured to be recognized by the prestigious Skytrax awards. Emirates has always put our customers at the heart of what we do, and we work hard to deliver the very best experience possible to our customers at every touch point, every day, all around the world. We constantly invest in our product and services, both on the ground and in the air. We listen carefully to our customers, and then relentlessly challenge ourselves to deliver and exceed expectations. The fact that these awards are based on the direct feedback from passengers is gratifying and wonderful recognition for all of the hard work that’s gone into creating the Emirates experience.”
Commenting on the Award, Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax said: “This fourth World’s Best Airline title for Emirates is a fantastic achievement and true testament to the airline’s popularity. To satisfy customers from such a wide and diverse passenger base is not an easy task, but Emirates continues to gain superlative feedback from customers for its product and service offering from the front to the back of the aircraft. The IFE that Emirates provides is a continued focal point for passenger praise and it is important to note that customers were not only impressed with the programming but also the superior hardware standards, particularly for the A380 fleet.”
Emirates Named ‘World’s Best Airline 2016’
Forex MasterClass Course Opens in Lagos Sept 9
For Participation: Contact: Lagos Capital Group: Phone: 234(0)8035180508 or 234(0)9096438474: Email: [email protected].
A forex trading course-FX MasterClass is set to open in Lagos on September 9 and 1O, 2O16 at Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The Nigerian partner is Lagos Capital Group.
Anchored by Dr. Corvin Codirla, a world-renowned physicist and forex expert, the FX Master Course is everything every forex investor needs to create an iron-clad trading method that creates confidence in trading decisions and allows him to focus on those tactical strategies that add value to his bottom line.
“While everyone else is trying to sell you the latest EA or technical trick or tactic, I give you a simple yet comprehensive foundational framework that has proven itself for traders like you for more than a decade.”
Codirla, whose FX strategy has generated over $1 billion in 15 years of forex business, described the course as an opportunity to discover a system proven over decades by some of the best fund managers in the industry worldwide.
He added: “Discover the underlying factors that drive the FX market consistently to produce great returns. Discover how to create a truly great FX benchmark that will keep on generating consistent growth, allowing you to focus on tactical short-term profits.
The FX Master Course is really exactly what it says on the tin: a master-class in foreign exchange trading presented by an active fund manager with experience at the highest level in the industry globally.”
The FX trading framework for the MasterClass course has been proven in 3O solid years of trading and data by some of the best trading experts around the world.
Objectives
Key benefits of the FX MasterClass course include:
• A system that tells you how the FX market is primed
• A system that uses fundamental and quantitative inputs and provides objective, unambiguous readings of the market pulse
• Using factors that have been around for decades and are pegged to the fundamental macro policies of every developed nation to generate consistent returns
• Having stability in your trading approach, so that you can experiment with tactical strategies which before would have left you scared witless
• Having a sound trading strategy, that you know will continue to perform over the years, and provide consistent returns
• A straight-forward system that cuts through all the noise and hype and provides with clear steps and facts that allow you to make consistently profitable trades
Cordirla said the course is divided into 6 strategic modules thus:
• Step 1: Understand the Business of FX Trading
• Step 2: How to Determine Your Performance Measured Against Your Competition and the Market
• Step 3: Really Understanding the FX Market
• Step 4: Stable Long-Term Returns from FX Benchmarks
• Step 5: Focusing on Tactical Trading: Your Real Strength
• Step 6: The Right Money Management
Participation:
Contact: Lagos Capital Group
Phone: 234(0)8035180508 or 234(0)9096438474
Email: [email protected]
AfDB, ASEA Sign MoU to Develop Africa’s Capital Market
The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) signed a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to amplify the impact of their strategically aligned joint efforts to promote resources mobilisation to fund Africa’s economic growth.
This MoU will provide a collaborative framework for harmonizing and co-ordinating the efforts of AfDB, the premier international development financial institution for Africa, and ASEA, the premier body of African stock exchanges, towards deepening and connecting African financial markets.
The partnership will facilitate various projects of mutual interest to both the Association and the Bank targeting areas such as financial markets infrastructure development, introduction of new products in the market, improving market liquidity and market participation, information sharing and capacity building amongst other programs.
The President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina thinks that the strengthening and deepening of Africa’s financial markets, as a powerful tool to mobilise domestic and international savings at an efficient cost, and channel them towards funding Africa’s private sector, is critical to accelerate the pace to achieve the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy 2013-2022 for green and inclusive growth in Africa.
It is therefore integral to the Bank’s High 5s Priority Agenda to “Light up and Power Africa”, to “Feed Africa”, to “Integrate Africa”, to “Industrialise Africa” and to “Improve the Quality of Life of Africans”, all of which embody core elements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The maiden project to be undertaken under this cooperation initiative will be the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP). Collaboration will extend to other joint projects or programs over time.
Co-initiated by ASEA and the Bank, the AELP is aimed at addressing the lack of liquidity in African capital markets by creating linkages across markets.
It is envisaged that the linkage would allow cross border visibility and open-up markets for investors to trade in any of the linked markets.
The African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP) will primarily commence with the four (4) pilot Exchanges selected by ASEA as regional hubs during the incubation phase of the project, namely the Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NbSE) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NiSE), and will eventually be rolled out to include the other ASEA Member Exchanges.
With regards to the AELP, according to the ASEA President Oscar N. Onyema, these linkages will support innovation, stimulating the creation of suitable products in relations to 2 instruments listed on the various linked markets creating more investment opportunities for the investor community.
The linkages will afford issuers access to deeper pools of capital and a wider community of investors and analysts. The AfDB and ASEA are devoted to see the continent achieve its full economic potential through the AELP and a continuous robust relationship.
Renewable Energy: Pathway to Poverty Alleviation in Africa
New Executive Director Greenpeace International (http://www.Greenpeace.org) Bunny McDiarmid visited the Greenpeace Africa office in Johannesburg to show solidarity and gain further insight into the key issues. The visit was McDiarmid’s first to the continent since taking office in April.
Greenpeace Africa is concentrating its efforts on promoting sustainable development with particular emphasis on policies that support investment and development in clean renewable energy.
During the visit, McDiarmid said: “I came to meet and support my colleagues here in Africa. Promoting sustainable development is the most viable option for not only driving sustainable social and economic changes but important for protecting our common climate. Keeping dirty fossil fuels in the ground in every corner of the world is no longer a choice it’s an imperative.”
A quarter of the world’s population has no access to electricity and most of these people live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Access to electricity is key to supporting people out of poverty.
“What I heard is achieving 100% renewable energy by 2050 is absolutely possible in Africa. However, it will require a shift in understanding that renewable energy is already a viable solution but it needs to be backed by the policy makers,” added McDiarmid.
Greenpeace Africa is also working, as part of a global effort, for a stronger response to stop illegal and unregulated plundering of its vast natural forests and safeguarding its rich ocean resources.
“Just as collective action on climate change is key to resolving a global problem, Greenpeace Africa is calling on African nations to work together to manage and protect these precious resources so that they are there for future generations” McDiarmid said.
Greenpeace International recently appointed two female International Executive Directors. Jennifer Morgan and Bunny McDiarmid took up the reigns in an innovative shared-leadership role on 4 April 2016. They succeed South African born Kumi Naidoo who had been at the helm of the organisation for five and a half years.
Bunny McDiarmid is not a new face to Greenpeace. She is a 30-year veteran of the organisation as an activist, ship’s crew member, and most recently, the Executive Director of Greenpeace New Zealand which, under her leadership, became a powerhouse of innovation in the Greenpeace world.
Virgin Atlantic Orders 12 Airbus 35O for $4bn
Virgin Atlantic Airways has selected the A350-1000, the largest member of the A350 Family, to become the latest aircraft in its fleet, operating from both London Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The airline is purchasing eight A350-1000s for deliveries commencing in 2019, and four new aircraft on long term leases from ALC from 2020, including a lease “option” for a fifth aircraft.
“I welcome the news of Virgin Atlantic’s investment. As well as being good news for passengers, it’s great news for jobs in the UK,” said The United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron.
The aircraft will be deployed initially at London Heathrow to strengthen the trans-Atlantic network on existing business routes, and subsequently at Gatwick airport on leisure routes to the Caribbean, where Virgin Atlantic will provide three classes of customer service in the A350s distinctive Airbus ‘Airspace’ cabin with roomy overhead bins and the latest concepts for ambience, comfort, service and design.
Craig Kreeger, CEO Virgin Atlantic said: “The size of this order demonstrates our absolute focus on investing in the future for our customers and our people, and confirms the strength of our business. The A350-1000 plays a pivotal role in our fleet programme, helping to create one of the youngest, cleanest, greenest fleets in the sky.”
Nigeria Missing in Top 10 African ICT Ranking
In its 2016 global report on information technologies entitled “Innovation in Digital Economy”, the World Economic Forum assessed countries that integrate ICTs in their socio-economic development.
Integration relates to the use of ICTs by the government, companies and populations.
In Africa, Mauritius, though 49th in the world, remains the most advanced. The island is followed by South Africa (65th worldwide), Seychelles (74th), Morocco (78th), Rwanda (80th), Tunisia (81st), Cape Verde (85th), Kenya (86th), Egypt (96th), Namibia (99th) and Botswana (101st).
Last in line are Benin (128th), Swaziland (129th), Liberia (130th), Malawi (132nd), Guinea (134th), Madagascar (135th) Mauritania (136th), Burundi (138th), and Chad (139th).
However, the level of integration of ICTs of Africa cannot compare to that of emerging and developed nations.
Indeed, while Singapore and Finland, respectively first and second in WEF’s report, reached 5 on a scale of 7 in terms of ICT’s impact on the economy, African countries float around 2.9 points average.
In developed economies, while populations, then companies and government, in that order, are the one to rely on ICTs most, in Africa, it is first the government, then companies followed by populations that use the technologies.
Despite the small contribution of ICT to Africa’s development, the WEF estimates there has been since 2012. States just need to repeat their investments to improve access to ICTs to more people.
ADB Invested $2bn on ICT, Transport in 2015
The African Development Bank [AfDB Group] investments in transport and ICT in 2015 will collectively improve mobility of at least 1.2 million users of public transport, result in the creation of about 200,000 jobs in the ICT sector, with almost 18 million people benefitting from improvements in road infrastructure.
These are the findings of the AfDB’s 2015 Annual Report on Transport and Information and communications technology (ICT).
“The expected impacts over the next few years in integrating Africa, boosting agriculture, and facilitating industrialization will be tremendous,” said Amadou Oumarou, AfDB Director for Transport and ICT Infrastructure.
Broadband Commission: ‘Leaders Should Harness ICT for Development’
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development yesterday issued a statement urging policy-makers, the private sector and other partners to make deployment of Broadband infrastructure a top priority in strategies to accelerate global development and progress towards the SDGs.
The statement was presented to the 2016 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which is meeting in New York City from 11-20 July to guide global efforts on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the statement, the Commission outlines the myriad ways broadband can improve global sustainable development.
These include addressing basic needs such as education and access to information, helping lift people out of poverty through e-commerce opportunities and job growth, improving health services, monitoring climate change and planetary processes, and bridging the digital gender divide.
“The theme of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is ‘Ensuring that no-one is left behind,” said Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General.
“The Broadband Commission outlines the fundamental role broadband technology can play in helping the world achieve its most pressing sustainable development goals. Let us all grasp this vital opportunity to strive for a world where every citizen enjoys the opportunities and benefits of universal, affordable and inclusive access to ICTs.”
This will be the first HLPF that examines efforts at national, regional, and global levels to put policies and measures in place that will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the months since the global community unanimously adopted the Goals at the SDG Summit in New York last September, they have become the development ‘gold standard’ for countries, the business community, civil society and local governments around world.
The HLPF also offers an opportunity for the UN to highlight the important work all members of the UN family are doing in support of the Goals.
2016 marks the beginning of implementation efforts by countries worldwide to achieve the 17 Goals. Of particular interest at this HLPF is the presentation of national voluntary reviews on the actions already being undertaken by 22 developing and developed countries:
China, Colombia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Korea (Rep.), Madagascar, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Norway, Philippines, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Togo, Turkey, Uganda and Venezuela.
Global Airlines Financial Monitor [June]
Key Points:
· The latest financial results continue to point to a robust Q1 2016 for industry profitability. Cash flow metrics from the first quarter also improved relative to the same period a year ago, despite higher capital investment;
· Nonetheless, uncertainty following the ‘Brexit’ vote has taken a heavy toll on airline shares, particularly in Europe;
· Brent crude oil ended June slightly below $50/bbl and broadly unchanged from where it started the month. The market still expects prices to remain reasonably low for the foreseeable future (<$60/bbl for the next three years);
· Yields have fallen by around 6% year-on-year in constant exchange rate terms in 2016 so far. But with oil prices up more than 80% since January, the downward influence on yields from lower oil prices is likely to wane;
· Premium airfares have held up better than their economy counterparts on many of the key premium routes so far this year, and the segment continues to offer an important buffer for overall airline financial performance;
· The global air passenger market has made a robust start to 2016 this year to date, although demand conditions have eased in recent months and annual growth in traffic remained unchanged at a 16-month low of 4.6% in May;
· With the wider global trade backdrop remaining weak, annual growth in freight volumes dropped to 0.9% in May. Rising freight capacity and low freight loads are keeping intense pressure on cargo yields and revenues.
BOEING: 100 Years of Pioneering Aviation
Just as air travel is an essential part of modern society, so Boeing is an integral element in aviation industry. On July 15th, the Boeing Company celebrates its 100th anniversary. In order to commemorate the occasion, AeroTime presents series of articles, dedicated to the US-plane maker. The first article describes Boeing’s centennial journey into nearly every commercial airport in the world.
Development of Military and Mail Delivery Aircraft
The Boeing Company was established by aviation pioneer William Edward Boeing on July 15th, 1916. The company was located in Seattle, and was called Pacific Aero Products Co., but the name was changed one year later in honor of the founder. The company’s first airplane, Model C two-place training seaplane, was designed in November 1916.
The Model C had a single main pontoon and small auxiliary floats under each wing and was powered by a Curtiss OX-5 engine.
When the U.S. entered the First World War in 1917, the Navy purchased 51 out of 56 seaplanes built, making the model company’s first financial success and establishing a long-standing partnership with the U.S. military.
Throughout the 1920s, Boeing developed many aircraft models, both for the military and transportation purposes. However, its first commercial airplane, the B-1, was not used to carry passengers, as coast to coast journeys often took more than 24 hours to commence.
The aircraft delivered mail instead and Boeing won several major delivery contracts from U.S. Post Office. In order to operate growing airmail business, the company founded Boeing Air Transport in 1927 that gave birth to United Airlines four years later.
Major Impact on WW2 Outcome
The Great Depression had a tremendous effect on aviation industry in the 1930s, delaying the production of the first financially successful commercial aircraft.
Only in 1939, Boeing’s rival, McDonnell Douglas Corporation created first profitable commercial airplane Douglas DC-3, used to carry over 90% of U.S. air travelers by the beginning of WW2.
In response to Douglas DC-3, Boeing developed a long range 314 Clipper that was largest civilian aircraft of its time. It featured dressing rooms, dining salons and was able to carry 90 passengers.
The success in the scheduled flight field did not last long, as the WW2 came. During the war, Boeing mainly produced military aircraft. The B-17 “The Flying Fortress” and “B-29 Superfortress” are among the most famous Boeing models of those times.
The B-29 had a great range that was fundamental in winning the war in the Pacific region, while B-17 was used for high altitude missions in Europe.
Gen. Carl Spaatz, the U.S. air commander in the Old Continent once said: “Without the Boeing B-17, we may have lost the WW2.”
By spring 1944, production of Boeing military aircraft ramped up so much that over 350 planes were built each month, mainly by women, whose husbands had gone to war.
Connecting the Two Continents
After WW2, the need for military bombers dropped rapidly as most orders were canceled, making thousands of workers lose their jobs at Boeing. The company tried to recover from slowing demand by developing commercial airliner that would be powered by turbofans instead of propellers, and would be able to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Boeing was not the only company that offered transatlantic flights. The trips could have been made British De Havilland Comet, French Sud Aviation Caravelle and Soviet Tupolev Tu-104.
Therefore, in 1958, Boeing created the 707 – a four-engine airliner, capable of carrying 156 passengers on a transatlantic route. Due to shorter journeys and more comfortable travel, 707 quickly won the hearts of passengers.
The model was followed by the 727 trijet and 737 twinjet, the latter becoming world’s best-selling commercial plane by the end of 20th century.
The Incredibles Era
In order to keep up with growing number of aircraft sales, in 1966 Boeing commenced the monumental engineering challenge – the construction of the Everett Factory.
Despite the fact that the manufacturing facility was world’s largest building by volume (13,385,378 m3) it was built in only 16 months by the group of staggeringly efficient workers, later nicknamed “The Incredibles.”
The Everett Factory became home of the first wide-body jetliner Boeing 747, capable of carrying 490 passengers – more than twice as much as 707. The aircraft held a capacity record for 37 years and was sold over 1,500 times.
On the Brink of Bankruptcy
Even though 747 gave monopoly in this wide-body market segment, the start of the 1970s was hard for the plane manufacturer – it faced a $2 billion debt from 747 production.
In addition, U.S. military reduced spending for Vietnam War, which meant less military aircraft orders for Boeing. The company struggled so much that it went more than a year without a domestic order and had to lay off around half of the employees.
The massive cuts at Boeing led to a billboard that read: “Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights?”
Boeing’s economic situation began to improve only in the 1980s, when the air traffic demand increased. However, the competition for new orders was harsher as Airbus, the new European plane manufacturer, arose with A320.
In response, Boeing developed single-aisle 757, twin-aisle 767 and upgraded 737.
Back on Top
The 1990s let Boeing to completely regain its strong financial status. The company, along with Lockheed, won an order from U.S. Air Force for the twin-engine stealth fighter F-22 Raptor. In addition to the jet, Boeing developed a hugely successful commercial aircraft 777.
The long-range, wide-body “Triple Seven” was the first airplane to be designed by computer and over 1000 were sold to this day. The end of the decade was noted by the acquisition of its long-time rival.
In 1997, Boeing completed the largest merger in the aviation history by purchasing McDonnell Douglas Corporation for more than $13 billion.
The combined company employed around 200,000 employees, bringing total revenue in excess of $48 billion in 1997. Around $28 billion of the sum came from Boeing and $20 billion from McDonnell Douglas.
Fuel Efficient Millennium
The new millennium was marked by the development of a new mid-range airliner 787 Dreamliner. The plane was lighter and more fuel efficient than most aircraft produced of aluminum alloys because almost half of plane’s fuselage and wings were made of carbon fiber and plastic composite materials.
Originally scheduled to start commercial service in 2008, it was delivered to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in 2011. The same year, Boeing has signed a largest commercial aircraft order in its history, when Indonesia‘s Lion Air ordered 201 737 MAX and 29 737-900ER airliners for $21 billion at list prices.
During its history, Boeing has been through a lot: massive layoffs, huge debts, fierce competition. But the past century proved the company can adapt and evolve to face the challenges.
With strong financial numbers, along with teams of bright scientists, engineers, and other employees, Boeing proudly enters the second century of its history and will continue to push the flight limits.
HALL OF FAME: DS Innovation Hub Honours Ibru, Shittu, Ndukwe, Ovia
Empowered by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, the Delta State-Innovation Hub (DS-IHUB) is set to step out in style with a proof of concept and bold statements on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
By extension, it has simultaneously raised the technology and creativity bar with the establishment and activation of Technology Innovation Hall of Fame to honour very distinguished and visionary personalities in the nation’s knowledge space.
As the State rolls out the drums to jumpstart her innovation adventure project, top of the pack of the honours roll are: Late Alex Ibru – Former Publisher of The Guardian newspaper (Posthumous), Barrister Adebayo Shittu – the Honourable Minister of Communication, Sir Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe – Chair of Open Media, Ms Funke Opeke, CEO of Mainone, Prof. Patrick Utomi, Founder of CVL and Sir Alfred Okoigun of ACRO Petrochemical Engineering Company Plc.
The above personalities constitute the pioneer members whose name will be enshrined into the annals of history of Innovation Hall of Fame.
They will all be inducted into the Technology Innovation Hall of Fame – with ‘Life-Time Achievement Award’ – “In recognition and appreciation of over two decades of distinguished and innovative leadership, unmatched professional commitment and inspirational contributions in Science, Technology & Innovation for humanity.”
The DS-Innovation Hub is a disruptive technology platform for re-engineering the blueprint for smarter processes, more effective leadership and governance for inclusive public service.
The Hub will provide expertise on Science, Technology & Innovation (STI), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy roadmap and implementation strategy advice on new processes and emerging approaches to conceptualisation, application and usage of Information and Communications Technology to respond to challenges and drive innovative solutions at all levels of engagement.
Why we established the Innovation Hub
Vision: Make DS Innovation Hub a smarter Platform, international destination and national centre of ICT innovation and knowledge creation.
Slogan: “We create and innovate”
Mission: Our mission is to develop the Innovation Hub as a world-class knowledge factory.
Applying a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) development model, we aim to strategically harness all knowledge attributes, potentials and ICT processes in and beyond the Delta State Region as the core accelerator for leadership, public policy, inclusive governance, state security, entrepreneurship, youth and women empowerment, creativity, innovation and wealth creation.
The Hall of Fame would establish an Endowment Fund whose content will focus on insightful perspectives and strategies on how to effectively engage the challenges of Technology Innovation in Delta State and Nigeria on the following:
· Technology Leadership
· State Policy & Strategy
· e-Government
· Education
· Industry & Entrepreneurship
· Research & Development
· Software Development Smart City Initiative Start-up and Incubators
· E-Health
· Youth Employment
· Women Empowerment
· Technology Funding
· Venture Capital & Angel Investors
· State Security
The Hub aims to be a well-groomed platform for timely harnessing of critical knowledge.
‘Why Nigerian, African Varsities Rank Lowly Globally’ – Ghana VC
Leading African Development Economist and Vice Chancellor of University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ernest Aryeetey says that Nigeria and Africa in general will not have globally competitive economies without investing in university research.
He also noted that low investment in research-focused universities accounts for why many African universities are lowly ranked and cannot be globally competitive.
According to the seasoned economist, Africa must develop research universities that will help in providing sound knowledge economy for its transformation and positive change.
Aryeetey made the reamarks while delivering the 67th Interdisciplinary Discourse of the Postgraduate School, University of Ibadan under the Deanship of Professor Adeyinka Aderinto.
Speaking on the topic “Developing Research Universities for Africa: Some New Approaches”, Professor Aryeetey noted that universities must specialise either in teaching or doing researches, noting that not all universities should be combining both teaching and researching.
He said African Universities must collaborate, which he said will lead to develop output that will solve Africa’s problems, adding that the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has this as one of its visions.
According to him, there is a correlation between research output and economic growth, adding that if Nigeria and African governments refused to fund research for the transformation of Africa, it will be difficult for the continent to experience transformation.
“Having research focused universities is important but expensive but the end product is total transformation and economic growth. Innovation comes from research which leads to transformation. We need to pay more attention to research in Africa. Our governments complain of low ranking universities and want us to compete globally but can they do what Harvard, Yale and Princeton universities are investing in Research? They must invest in Research to have their economies change and the continent can be competitive with the rest of the world. We need to change the face of infrastructure in our universities and attract leading scholars through attractive incentives and train more faculties that can conduct transformational research. African problems are of different nature. Our problem is about low productivity in agriculture, health but we must conduct researches that will solve our own problems. We must formulate policies based on researches conducted by African researchers not on important policy from another clime which is at variance with realities on the continent. It is sad that Africa accounts for 1% of world research outputs.”
He noted that the low level investment in research and development in African countries was due to the fact that government and companies do not want to spend money on research, adding that researchers must learn to conduct researches that have direct bearing on African needs.
The Vice chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Idowu Olayinka who stated that education is the bedrock of development, however lamented that the popular recognition of the role of universities in national development still operate theoretically in Nigeria and in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Olayinka stated that African governments have failed to meet the needs of her universities which can help the continent o build competitive economies by developing skilled, productive and flexible workforce and by creating, applying and spreading innovations and technologies.
He urged the federal government to invest in research and stop blaming educational institutions of ranking lowly in the global educational system.
Signal Alliance, MainOne Win at Microsoft Nigeria Partners Award
Microsoft Nigeria recently held its maiden edition of its Partner’s Award at the Eko Hotel in Lagos.
The awards which is to recognise partners who have excelled in delivering Microsoft solutions in the 2016 fiscal year spanning July 2015 through to June 2016, with the objective of celebrating partner’s success in the area of sales excellence, customer experience excellence and cloud transformation.
“We are rewarding our partners for their level of dedication and competencies over the last fiscal year and their support in driving our digital transformation agenda in the country,’’ Oluwawemimo Adeniyi Director, Small, Midmarket Solutions & Partners at Microsoft Nigeria had said during her welcome address.
The awards were divided into Competency, Strategic and Business categories, explored the different levels of services offered by Microsoft partners in the country.
In the Competency category, Signal Alliance was awarded the Cloud Productivity Partner of the Year Award, over both Reliance InfoSystem Limited and Ha-Shem Network. This award opened the doors for several other winners, making mention of Wragby Business Solutions who won the Cloud Platform Partner Award and IPI Solutions who won the Small and Mid-Market Cloud Solutions Partner of the Year Award.
In the Strategic Category Awards, Signal Alliance team also received the Cloud Excellence Partner of the Year Award, while Reliance InfoSystem Limited was rewarded with the Customer Experience Partner of the Year Award. Also in the Strategic Category, Adedamola Omirinde of Signal Alliance won the P- Seller of the year award, while Discasio went home with the award for the New Age Partner of the Year and Redington received the award for Distributor of the Year.
In the Business Award Category, retail giant, Office Everything, received the award for Industry Partner of the Year – Retail, while Ha-Shem Network picked the award for Industry Partner of the Year – Commercial.
The most significant award of the night was however received by MainOne for the Microsoft Country Manager’s Partner of the Year Award, which recognised the partner that had aligned with Microsoft priorities and have over achieved in one or more of the three transformational pillars of Microsoft, be it personal computing, the intelligent cloud and reinventing productivity other nominees in this category included Reliance InfoSystem Limited and Ha-Shem Network.
Speaking, while receiving the award on behalf of MainOne, Chief Information Security Officer, Chidinma Iwe, said:
“We’re honored to be recognised by Microsoft as Country Partner of the Year. Since January 2015, when we launched our Tier III data center, we have worked with Microsoft to provide cloud-based solutions to our customers, which has helped them optimise their organizational efficiency at competitive costs. This award cannot have come at a more opportune time than this, as it not only demonstrates the value we bring to our customers, but also reiterates the impact of our company as MainOne clocks 6 years of technology excellence this week.”
In his closing remarks, Awawu Olumide –Sojinrin, Marketing & Operations Director for Microsoft Nigeria who made the closing remark on behalf of the Managing Director Kabelo Makwane, said:
“I am really excited we were able to do this, and we remain committed to empowering every organization and individual on the planet to achieve more. We are creating platforms for people to do more.” She then thanked the Partners for their support and urged them all to do more in Fiscal Year 2017.
The Microsoft Partners Award is an initiative of Microsoft Nigeria meant to appreciate its partners for their commitment to Microsoft business as well as supporting the digital transformation drive in the country.
Red Star Boosts e-Commerce with Saddle Solution
A first of its kind industry solution to manage “Pay-On-Delivery” transactions for online businesses and e-transactions has been deployed by Red Star Plc, a leading courier and logistics organisation with decades of service delivery experience.
The application, known as “Saddle”, allows instant payment on delivery reconciliation, enable customers monitor and track the movement of ordered products until items are delivered and at the same time, allows e-platforms/partner companies to seamlessly receive notifications when orders are placed.
According to Jayson Oyarekhua, Head, Projects and New Ventures, Red Star Plc, the application has been customized in such a way that it enables organisations especially those in e-commerce, track orders from clients, monitor activities prior to delivery and generate report after delivery or as at when due. “The application will enable a transparent solution on all sides of the e-commerce chain; Red Star Express PLC, the E-commerce platform and the end user who ordered the product.”
Jayson disclosed that subscribing to the Saddle application will provide several features that will be beneficial to e-Commerce platforms across the country.
“The features are meant to change the way e-tailing is executed; it will impact on logistics management tool, provides cash and card payment solution, it will act as front-end app for delivery agents, back-end tool for dispatch, monitoring and reconciliation, provide pick-up and drop-off tools, provide tracking information for consumers and provide industry solution for multiple e-commerce sites/platforms.”
This solution is flexible enough to suit individual business models. The application could be customised to fit the business need of the back end user of this product. “And the good thing about it is that the storage of the massive information is absolutely free because it is stored in the cloud.”
Explaining how it works, Jayson said a customer (an e-commerce Platform provider) receives an API to integrate Saddle into their website. Once integration is done, the customer will have visibility to the Saddle logistics management.
When an order is made on their platforms, the transaction is sent and logged in Saddle where it becomes available for pick-up and delivery. For delivery, Saddle will be linked to a mobile POS solution which every delivery agent can use to receive payment upon delivery. Payment (cash, card) will be logged into the account of the merchant with proper reconciliation and settlement process in place.
“The app starts with the integration of an e-commerce website. So when an order is ready to be fulfilled, the e-commerce website feeds into saddle and the Logistics partner will be able to see orders that are ready to be picked up. This solution will significantly organise the current e-commerce delivery process by assigning pick-ups to agents within a certain geographical location. For example, when an agent needs to pick up from merchants located in Victoria Island. The algorithm built into it will assign the pick-up info to agents in Victoria Island. So this app puts sanity to an otherwise chaotic system that is currently in place. The MPOS allows the customer the ability to pay on delivery. By integrating MPOS with Saddle, it creates a real time payment notification.”
The customer is able to see when their order has been picked up from the merchant. Then the order is tracked from when it gets on the vehicle until the last mile customer signs that the order has been received. Dates at various touch points progression are visible. Daily, weekly or monthly report can be generated for reconciliation purposes.
About Red Star Express
Red Star Express Group is a premium logistics solution provider in Nigeria with unrivalled local network coverage and a large market share in the domestic and international market.
It enjoys a domestic strength of over 240 offices in Nigeria, delivers to additional 1,800 communities, with over 2,400 highly trained personnel and over 600 delivery vehicles in its fleet.
The company has four business units including The Red Star Express which is a licensee of FedEx, the world’s largest express transportation company.
There is the Red Star Freight, Red Star Logistics and Red Star Support Services
CTO Report: Public-Private Partnership Accelerate ICT Dev
The report of last month’s Commonwealth ICT Ministers Forum in London shows public and private sectors coming together to help accelerate ICT development in Commonwealth countries.
Held every two years as a closed-door meeting, the event included a two-day open conference for the first time.
Called the Open Forum, it provided industry and government leaders with an opportunity to discuss challenges and solutions to ICT adoption in the group of nations.
On the eve of the Open Forum, the ministers issued a Declaration at the end of a closed-door meeting that endorsed the CTO’s strategy for supporting member countries over the next four years. Key issues addressed in the Declaration included broadband, cyber-security, applications and Commonwealth coordination.
CTO’s Secretary-General, Shola Taylor, the Hon Dr Emmanuel Mallia, Minister for Competitiveness and Digital, Maritime and Services Economy, and Chairman of this year’s Commonwealth ICT Ministers Forum, and Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland at the opening of the closed-door ministerial meeting, 14 June, 2016, London
“Contributions from the private sector at this year’s event were very constructive, and from the various comments I’ve heard during and since the event, the addition of the Open Forum has been a success,” said Shola Taylor, Secretary-General of the CTO.
Key outcomes of the two-day open conference were as follows:
· Competition is an important factor that must be allowed to flourish in order to drive innovation and creativity, especially when we take into consideration the rollout of new fibre networks and the mobile network transition from 3G and 4G to 5G.
· Bridging the digital divide is profoundly important if we want to transform our global economy to a digital economy. The Internet of Things will see 20 billion devices connected, possibly by the end of the decade.
· The digital divide still remains large, with 60% of the world population still offline. Four billion people still don’t have Internet access, and this gap is visible within individual countries, between the rich and the poor as well as between urban cities and rural villages.
· With crimes being committed at an alarming rate online, the need for accountability in cyberspace is fundamental.
· Market liberalisation, independent regulators, encouragement of new technologies, new financing models, making broadband access a legal right, are several key factors that can help reduce the urban/rural digital divide.
· Giving young people access to broadband technology is a key factor in driving forward the economic development of countries.
· Due to its decreasing cost of service, high performance, high reliability and capability to provide universal coverage, satellite technology is a very viable option for delivering both fixed and mobile broadband services to rural and remote areas of a country.
· 5G technology will require large blocks of spectrum within the frequency bands identified by ITU WRC-2015 for study for accommodation of 5G; In addition, the C band, the Ka band and the Ku band will need to be protected due to the large investments that satellite companies have made in satellite systems in these frequency bands.
Companies that took part in the Open Forum ranged from service providers and manufacturers, such as Avanti and Huawei, to carriers and operators. International organisations and leading associations such as the ITU, ITSO and GSMA also took part in the event.
David Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Avanti Communications, a UK-based Ka-band satellite operator and CTO sector member said: “Data-hungry consumers, businesses and government organisations across the Commonwealth require reliable, flexible broadband infrastructure to bridge the digital divide. Avanti’s HYLAS satellite fleet is helping to achieve this today, as it covers a significant number of CTO member states. Many more will be included when our latest high-throughput satellite, HYLAS-4 is launched early next year. It was welcome that, during the recent Commonwealth ICT Ministers Forum in London, senior government officials acknowledged Avanti’s positive role in addressing the digital strategies of Commonwealth countries.”
“We live in an age of global connectivity that is delivering social, health, education and economic benefits to mankind. This connectivity is equally important to developing and developed economies. However, we face a universal threat from cyber attacks, which puts at risk the benefits achieved to date and future opportunities for local and global economies,” said David Francis, European Cybersecurity Officer at Huawei Technologies.
“It is vital that all stakeholders play an active role, therefore Huawei commend the Commonwealth ICT policymakers for their recognition of the global nature of the supply chain, and their commitment to a collaborative approach to address the cyber threat,” Francis added.