Full-service Digital Media firm Ventra Media Group has just announced the appointment of Tomiwa Aladekomo in the role of Client Service & Strategy Director.

Tomiwa Aladekomo was most recently Senior Digital Manager at Nigerian Breweries Plc where he led digital marketing strategy and execution for a portfolio of some of the largest beverage brands in the country.

The hire, which follows that of Kate Williams (formerly of Fuze.ng) as Head of Creative & Editorial, signals a strong rise in capacity for the agency, which counts the The Guardian, DSTV, Nairabet and Zenith Bank as some of its biggest clients.

As Senior Digital Manager at Nigerian Breweries, Mr. Aladekomo was responsible for the digital execution on campaigns like Star’s “Shine On Nigeria” football campaign, Legend’s #RealManNoFear and Heineken’s Trophy Tour among others.

He also steered the overhaul of the venerable company’s corporate website and digital presence. Mr. Aladekomo has over a decade of media and marketing experience across Nigeria and North America, notably having worked for firms like Atlantic Records and HeadlightVision, where he worked on global strategy briefs for clients like Coca Cola and Unilever.

Ventra Media CEO, Daryn Wober, said of the agency’s new Client Service & Strategy Director, “We’re excited to have Tomiwa join the Ventra Media team. He brings the experience of working on brand’s side for some of the best-known brands in the country. The work he did at Nigerian Breweries showcased a sophisticated understanding of the African digital marketplace and we look forward to putting that skill set to work in service of our clients.”

Ventra Media is a full-service digital marketing and rights agency whose range of services includes digital strategy, growing social media audiences and planning, as well as buying digital media for brands and content owners.

The outfit also specialises in website and apps development, social media management and content production.Ventra’s work on the Guardian was responsible for the site winning the .ng Media Award at the 2016 .ng Web Awards.

In its bid to offer more comprehensive logistics solutions that will enhance clients’ optimal satisfaction and reposition the brand to consolidate its leading position in the industry, one of Nigeria’s foremost logistics companies, Red Star Express Group has appointed new Executive Directors for the group and Divisional Managing Directors for its subsidiaries.

The subsidiaries are Red Star Logistics, Red Star Support Services, Red Star Freight and the Express arm.

Sola Obabori becomes the Group Deputy Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.

An astute management professional with long and outstanding Sales and Marketing career, he traversed different spheres in the industry, making landmark contributions in areas of Customer Service and business development, Outsourcing, Logistics, Warehousing and Freight. He was previously the General Manager/Chief Operating Officer of Red Star Logistics Limited.

He is an alumnus of several advanced management and leadership programmes from world class institutions including The School of Business Leadership of the University of South Africa, McGill Executive Institute, Canada, Lagos Business School, Nigeria; Harvard Business School, USA; Haas Business School of the University of California, Berkeley, USA; The University of Westminster, United Kingdom and FedEx Purple Academy, Belgium where he excelled as the Purple Star Award Winner in 2006. He is an Associate member of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (Chartered) and a Fellow of the Institute of Business Development.

Victor Ukwat is the Executive Director, Sales and Marketing for the group. A resourceful professional with strong expertise in revenue expansion and cost reduction through building of a competitive corporate brand, he is passionate about excellent service delivery, building and motivating dynamic teams and creating revenue opportunities.

Victor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science (B.Sc) from the University of Calabar, M.Sc. from the University of Ibadan and an MBA in Business Administration from the Lagos Business School. He is an alumnus of Senior Entrepreneurship, Management and Leadership Programmes from some Global best institutions, including FedEx Purple Academy Brussel, IESE Business School (Spain), Harvard Business School (USA), Columbia Business School New York , University of Wisconsin (USA) and most recently, Schulich Business School, Toronto Canada.

Auwalu Babura is the Executive Director, Finance and Administration for the group. He holds a first Degree in Accounting (BSc) from Bayero University Kano and an MBA in Business Administration (MBA) from the Lagos State University. He is also an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He Joined Red Star Express in 1994, and has served in various capacities as Head of Internal Control and Processes, Head of Treasury and Accounts, Group Accountant, Group Treasurer, Credit Controller among others. He has attended various training programs cutting across Controls, Planning, and Risks& Leadership amongst others both locally and abroad.

Charles Ejekam becomes the Divisional Managing Director of the Express arm of the group. He started his career in Red Star Express as a Commercial Executive in year 2000. He has handled various responsibilities in territorial management, key accounts management, marketing, brand and public relations and regional sales management both in Lagos and Abuja.

He holds a Masters degree in Public and International Relations from the University of Lagos and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science with a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has at various times attended trainings within and outside the country in the areas of leadership, sales and marketing and key account management.

Enoma Ojo is the Divisional Managing Director, Red Star Support Services, responsible for the management of the outsourcing arm of the group. Until recently, he was the Assistant General Manager, Corporate Services, overseeing the recruitment and staffing, learning and development and the management of the group’s fleet and facilities. He has 19 years working experience in the company and has risen through the ranks as a commercial executive, commercial coordinator, assistant commercial manager Port Harcourt, district manager Aba, acting assistant general manager East, and chief operating officer Red Star Support Services.

He is a graduate of Economics & Statistics. He also obtained a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Benin. He has attended courses in Management and Leadership, Sales and Marketing, Customer Service, Finance, Manpower Development and Service Management.

Tonye Preghafi, until his appointment to head Red Star Freight Limited was the Head, Learning and Development for Red Star Express Group. He joined the organization in October 2004 and has served in various capacities in both Lagos and Port Harcourt. He started out in Corporate Sales and later on to Learning and Development. In between, he served as President Red Star Express Cooperative and Multipurpose Society. He holds a Bachelors Degree in History from the Lagos State University and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Business School, Netherlands (BSN). He has attended several management and leadership trainings within and outside Nigeria.

Red Star Logistics is headed by Ocholi Etu. Ocholi joined the Red Star group from MDS Logistics where he worked in various capacities, including as a Depot Manager in Calabar in 2007 and later in Kaduna. In 2008, He was transferred to Aba to manage MDS Logistics’ largest distribution center in the eastern region, a position he held for 4 years till 2012. He was twice recognized as ‘The Manager Of The Year’ in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he was appointed MDS Regional Manager Lagos & West, managing operations spanning 9 states in south south, south west and north central geo political zones of Nigeria.

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Bayero University Kano and an MBA from University Of Wales, Cardiff in the UK. He is a member of Council of Supply Chain Professionals USA, Chartered Member, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, UK (CMLIT), an Expert in Supply Chain Management (ESCM) from Institute Of Supply Chain Management (IoSCM, UK), a Certified Practitioner in Procurement and Logistics (CPPL) from Institute of Professional Financial Managers, London (IPFM, UK).

About Red Star Group
Red Star Express Group is a premium logistics solution provider in Nigeria in area of revenue, network coverage and 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, over 2,400 highly trained personnel with over 600 delivery vehicles in its fleet. It operates as the Nigerian licensee of FedEx, which is the world’s largest express transportation company.

Access Power, a developer, owner and operator of power projects in emerging markets, today kicked off the countdown for applications to the ACF 2016, the second edition of its successful Access Co-Development Facility (ACF) for renewable energy projects in Africa.

Renewable energy developers have less than one month left to submit their applications for a chance to win US$7million in ACF prize funding. The deadline for applications is the 20st May 2016.

ACF 2016 is a competition dedicated to finding local power project developers with credible renewable energy projects in Africa who need access to funding, technical experience, and expertise to bring their plans to life.

Following the competition’s successful launch last year, the ACF increased its funding from US$5m in 2015 to US$7m for this year’s winners. Up to three successful projects will be selected by a panel of expert judges whose decision will be based on commercial, technical and environmental merits, the local regulatory environment, and capability of the project team.

The winners of ACF 2016 will be announced on Tuesday 22nd June 2016 before a live audience during the Africa Energy Forum in London. The winners will enter a Joint Development Agreement with Access Power, which will take an equity stake in the winning projects and fund third-party development costs such as feasibility studies, grid studies, environmental and social impact assessments and due diligence fees. Access Power will also provide technical support, financial structuring and development process management.

Nasir Aku, ACF Program Manager at Access Power commented: “With just one month to go until the application deadline, we want to make sure that all local developers across the African continent are aware of this fantastic opportunity to secure valuable funding and expertise that can turn an idea for a renewable energy project into reality.”

ACF 2016 is leading the way in demonstrating and supporting the type of renewable energy projects that will help meet Africa’s massive and urgent need for electrification.

“Through this unique facility, we hope to encourage innovation and support companies in their efforts to deliver power to places that desperately need it. Last year we received a total of 55 submissions from 18 countries across Africa, including solar, wind, hydro, hybrid and bio-mass projects. The applications are coming in fast so 2016 looks set to build on that success.”

The inaugural ACF in 2015 was won by Quaint Solar Energy from Nigeria and Flatbush Solar from Cameroon. Other competing projects hailed from Cape Verde, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania.

One project has already pre-qualified for ACF2016. A 25MW solar project being developed in Sierra Leone by Africa Growth and Energy Solutions (AGES) won the Solar Shark Tank competition at the Making Solar Bankable conference in Amsterdam on 18th February.

In a keenly fought contest, three emerging markets developers competed for a US$100,000 grant to support the development of their solar projects, funded by Access Power and Dutch development bank FMO. Part of the prize, subject to terms and conditions, was pre-qualification for ACF2016.

Zain says that it has launched 4G LTE services in Sudan. The launch of the 4G network was announced at a press conference last week in Khartoum.

In the first stage 4G coverage will be extending to the capital Khartoum; Medani; Port Sudan and El Obeid with these central and populated areas being launched in cooperation with Ericsson.

4G services will be extended to other regional centers across the country gradually with the additional cooperation of Huawei.

Zain Sudan initially launched 4G services with nearly 300 sites that are on air now, with 21 other cities in the regions set to gain coverage by the end of 2016, with 15 of them by the end of June. The population coverage of the 4G network will reach over 20% in the first stage of roll out.

Managing Director and CEO, Elfatih Erwa affirmed that the introduction of 4G places Sudan at the forefront of countries providing mobile data services on the continent, and features Sudan in an advanced position technologically. Zain is keen to transport its customers on a journey towards the cutting edge digital world, with 4G also set to bolster the mobile experience of 2G and 3G services by adding additional network capacity.

“Zain remains committed to delivering the highest quality of service to its customers in all the markets in which it operates, and highly appreciates the opportunity to introduce 4G into Sudan. The authorities in Sudan showed wisdom and foresight in granting a 4G licence to Zain at a sensible fee amount, as it allowed Zain to invest more in technology and infrastructure, as well as to offer competitive pricing for 4G services. The Sudanese people are ultimately the beneficiaries of this wisdom.”