BrandArena : November 2016

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Juniper Glass Announces Ethiopian Merger and Regulatory Approvals

Juniper Glass on Wednesday announced that it has received all regulatory approvals necessary to conclude the final investments in its US$70 million greenfield container glass factory in Debre Birhan, Ethiopia.

Juniper is working closely with leading global glass engineers and equipment suppliers to build a state-of-the-art factory, which will use the latest available technology in glass manufacturing. The new factory, which is under construction, will have the capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of glass annually, approximately 200 million glass bottles. Juniper has agreed with most major bottlers in Ethiopia to allocate the majority of this capacity to replace imports.

The consortium behind Juniper includes Consol Glass, the largest glass packaging company in Sub-Saharan Africa, with manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. Consol Glass is a recognised leader in glass packaging manufacturing and with their expertise and support Juniper will be able to supply container glass to highest quality standards.

The Ashish J Thakkar Global Entrepreneurship Index has ranked Namibia the best country in Africa for prospective entrepreneurs to invest because the South African nation has the best enabling environment in the continent.

According to the index, Namibia beat eminent African nations like South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya to come 42nd.

Some of the other African countries on the ranking include; Rwanda 43rd, Botswana 44th, South Africa 46th, Kenya 60th, Ghana 62th, Egypt 66th, Ivory Coast 67 and Nigeria 70th.

Mundipharma, an international pharmaceutical leader in pain management, hosted its third Cancer Care Summit in Morocco on the 21st and 22nd of October, to share major developments in the understanding and the management of cancer patients' care, and highlight the need to commit to innovating and developing ground-breaking treatments in cancer care medicine.

The Mundipharma 3rd Cancer Care Summit attended by over 180 global healthcare professionals, including Oncologists and Palliative Care experts from 12 countries across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), who shared clinical expertise as well as the latest evidence-based research on these commonly experienced cancer-related problems.

The Summit, which was accredited by the American Association of Continuing Medical Education (AACME), included discussions and presentations by several experts in the fields of cancer pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and peripheral T-Cell lymphoma, and highlighted the major developments in the management and understanding of these diseases in recent years. Mundipharma also presented examples of successful multidisciplinary team approaches for effective treatment of cancer.

Ogilvy Africa awarded in Kenya, Ghana

Agency shines in MSK and Gong-Gong Awards

Ogilvy & Mather Africa has stamped its position as the continent’s best and most creative agency, winning awards in Kenya and Ghana.

The agency has won a total of 29 awards in 2016, capping a great year of creatively executed integrated marketing communication campaigns across Africa. During the recently held Marketing Society of Kenya Awards 2016, the agency bagged six awards in digital, PR and Sports Marketing. It was also named the Best Advertising Agency for 2016, in addition to picking two of the four ‘Platinum Best of the Best’ awards at the Gong-Gong Awards.

These latest wins continue a streak of awards that Ogilvy & Mather Africa has bagged this year. Ogilvy & Mather Africa scooped 20 prizes in the Advertising Practitioners Awards 2016, including two of the top Grand Prix prizes, as well as the Young Creatives Awards.

Nigeria’s no. 1 noodles brand, Indomie Instant Noodles has announced that its “You Like No Other” promo which kicked-off in October has rewarded the projected 500 lucky cash prize winners with a total of N50m. Notwithstanding the 500 mark, consumers will continue to win lots of gift prizes in the ongoing promo.

Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Group Public Relations and Events Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju said the promo which was designed to celebrate and reward consumers for their loyalty has enjoyed an unprecedented participation from consumers across the country with hundreds of gift prize winners emerging since the promo commenced and the target of 500 consumers slated to win cash prizes worth N50m has also been reached, even though the promo still runs till the end of the year.

According to him, “We planned to give out prizes worth over N600m in the “You Like No Other” promo, amongst whom 500 consumers are expected to walk home with a cash prize of N50m (N100,000 each). As I speak to you, I am delighted to announce that in less than 2 months into the promo this sum of N50m has already been disbursed to these lucky winners. The promo however runs till the end of the year and we look forward to seeing more winners walk home with other gift items” he said.

Applications have opened for the Barclays Accelerator programme, powered by Techstars, an initiative aimed at uncovering the next M-Pesa or Paypal by working with exceptional fintech entrepreneurs innovating Africa's financial services industry.

This collaboration between Barclays Africa and Techstars offers a game-changing opportunity to 10 qualifying fintech startups, which will take part in a 13-week programme beginning in May next year, based out of the Rise fintech innovation hub in Woodstock, Cape Town.

The Barclays Accelerator first came to Africa at the beginning of this year and was a significant success, with Barclays Africa signing initial collaboration agreements with 7 of the 10 startups that were part of the programme.

Huawei Technologies, China’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, has leapfrogged Samsung Electronics to become the second most profitable smartphone supplier in the world in the three months ended September 30, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, a Massachusetts market research and consulting firm.

While Apple remains smartphone industry leader in terms of profitability, with a 91 per cent global market share in the third quarter. Huawei managed to push Samsung behind in terms of Q3 profits by earning an operating profit of $0.2 billion from its global operations in Q3. This represents a 2% share of all profits from smartphones and is actually the first time since its inception. The numbers rely on sales estimates for the quarter ending September 2016.

Vivo and OPPO took the 3rd and 4th place in smartphone profitability worldwide for Q3. These two firms garnered about 2.2% of the profits each. This boost was due to the blow taken by Samsung recently. Although, Huawei’s height was also influenced by its effective marketing, sleek products designs, and supply chain efficiency have made significant contributions to the enhanced profitability. Soaring shipments across the Asian region and disciplined pricing, which also helped Vivo and OPPO in improving their profitability.

What does successful digital transformation look like?

The business world is changing. Historically, businesses were "analogue" in that they had a bricks-and-mortar store where customers would interact with real people and things were dealt with on a personal level.

In today's digital world, everything is automated and there is not as much personal interaction.

Tom Pegrume, Vice President EMEA Emerging Markets at Hitachi Data Systems

Now, there's a battle going on between analogue businesses that are trying to establish a digital footprint and all-digital businesses that are trying to set up a bricks and mortar presence. While best practice might be a combination of the two to optimise profitability, at the heart of both of these models is the customer.

But there's even more change happening in the customer space. We often speak about Millennials, but what about Generation Z, who start interacting with technology from birth? They are the future customers who will one day make up the bulk of the population, so businesses need to start thinking about how they will serve this generation of tech-savvy users, who are at the centre of the digital experience. This means businesses need a different model if they want to maintain relevance and increase profitability.

MY STORY @ 50 – Oluwasegun Abifarin

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ― Albert Einstein

I woke up today to the miracle of breasting the golden tape. It has been a dramatic race shaped by God, people and events. I have crossed many paths and in the process, crossed the path of so many people who have greatly helped my race. The journey has taken me from primary school to the university and through the ranks of journalism/communication profession. Apart from the huge gratitude to God Almighty, I also want to use the day to acknowledge/appreciate those people our paths have crossed in the race of the last fifty years.

Oluwasegun Abifarin

Right from my first day at United Anglican Primary School, Ekan Meje, Oke Ero Local Government of Kwara State in 1973, I can still remember Amos Oludare, Segun Olajide, Ezekiel Olayemi, Thomas Adekeye, Victor Alao and the rest. At Fatima College, also at Ekan Meje, some of them include Jide Ogunsola, Patrick Dawodu, Anthony Bamigboye, Femi Abidoye, Oye Raphael, Tony Ashaolu, Tobi Osinowo, Kayode Ajibola, Michael Olajire Ipe, Simeon Abiodun Kolawole, etc

After I moved to Igbobi College Lagos, for my HSC, I met Chris Kehinde Nwandu (CKN), Kayode Jackson, Seun Anifowose, Fashola (can’t remember the first name), Segun Osinaike and the rest.

Minister commits to establishment of Motion Picture Council of Nigeria

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday received the report of the Review Committee of the Motion Picture Council of Nigeria (MOPICON), with a pledge to immediately kick-start the process of making the regulatory body a reality.

Speaking after he was handed the reviewed document by the Chairperson of the Committee, Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, the Minister thanked the committee members for a job well done.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed (left) receiving the report of the Review Committee of the Motion Picture Council of Nigeria (MOPICON) from the Chairperson of the Committee, Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, in Lagos

''Let me sincerely thank the members of the committee for their hard work over the past several months. In particular, I commend their selfless service. I sincerely hope that their sacrifice and hard work will yield fruits by leading to the establishment of MOPICON.

Alhaji Mohammed used the opportunity of the report's submission to clear the air on the controversy that followed the inauguration of the review committee on 12 April 2016, saying the government has no hidden agenda and will not be part of anything that will stifle the growth of the burgeoning industry.

Cowbellpedia Winners Reveal Methods And Tactics To Beat Mathematics Phobia

Winners and teachers in the just concluded 2016 Cowbellpedia Secondary School Mathematics TV Quiz Show have revealed the various strategies to ‘arrest’ the Mathematics phobia.

Mathematics, regarded as the bedrock of science, spreads phobia in the minds of several students that has resulted in the below average performance in the subject at the Senior School Certificate examination conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).

The Winners, Oguntade Ayooluwa and Juliet Ekoko

The mental ‘warfare’ over the 2016 Cowbellpedia Secondary School Mathematics TV Quiz Show 2016 which started with a qualifying written examination in March 2016 ended recently with Juliet Ekoko and Ayooluwa Oguntade, both of The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State winning the star prize in the Junior and Senior categories respectively.

The European Aviation Network (EAN) has taken to the skies. Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom, together with their technology partners Nokia and Thales have successfully conducted a programme of test flights in the UK.

This is a major milestone in the development of EAN, the world's first integrated satellite and air-to-ground network dedicated to providing a true in-flight broadband experience for the European aviation industry and for millions of passengers travelling across Europe.

EAN is planned for introduction in mid-2017. The flights serve to test the performance of the EAN system including the onboard equipment being provided by Thales and the ground network provided by Deutsche Telekom and Nokia.

Shell, Yemi Alade Partner For Bright Energy Ideas

Nigeria music icon, Yemi Alade, has taken the lead in spreading Shell’s #makethefuture campaign which aims to inspire youths and entrepreneurs for bright energy ideas that can help in the global quest for more and cleaner energy.

Shell #makethefuture ambassador, Yemi Alade (middle) flanked by Shell Kenya Country Chair, Brian Muriuki (right) and GravityLight co-inventor, Jim Reeves with students of Daraja Academy, Kenya during the Shell #makethefuture 50 Nights Tour, last week.

The multiple award nominee and winner of the 2015 MTV African Music Award Best Female Artist joined Shell-organised 50 Night tour of Kenya last week to celebrate the benefits and installation of GravityLight in some Kenya communities after she united with Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson and four other music stars in Rio, Brazil on Best Day of My Life music video for #makethefuture.

GravityLight, one of seven energy ideas celebrated in Rio, Brazil in October by Shell, offers a clean, safe, affordable and reliable alternative to other fuel sources including kerosene lamps, which are used in homes by millions of families in Africa, including Nigeria. The low-carbon innovation does not need batteries or sunlight and costs nothing to run. It works by connecting an elevated bag filled with 12kg of rocks or sand to a pulley system. Each time the weight descends to the ground it powers a generator to create 20 minutes of light.

2016 Beyond The School Programme: Students Charged On Talents, Career Development

Students have been advised on how to discover and nurture their abilities, talents and areas of interest, in order to take advantage of their chosen career opportunities in future. Mrs. Clementine Vervelde, the Project Champion of “Beyond the School” initiative, sponsored by the Nigerian Breweries/Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund, told participating students in Lagos on Friday to believe in themselves and stand up boldly to challenges they might encounter in their career pathway.

“The knowledge you now have will help you find disciplines that you are passionate about. You also have to develop the skills needed to succeed in those disciplines. This programme is about enlightenment for your career and your future. After all you have learnt today, you should be able to sit down and think of where you want to be in the next few years. The power lies in your hands,” she said.

From Left to Right: Asogwa Ebuka, Oregun Senior Secondary School (4th position); Uche David, Eric Moore Senior High School (3rd position); Pelumi Fabiyi, Oregun Senior High School (2nd position); Mrs. Clemetine Vervelde, Project Champion, Beyond the School Initiative; Godwin Daniel; Eric Moore Senior High School (1stposition) and Lateef Sule from Oregun Senior Secondary School (5th position) displaying their prizes won at the 2016 Beyond the School Program

According to Mrs. Vervelde, the “Beyond the School” initiative programme is a career guidance initiative designed to enlighten and expose secondary school students to career options and how best they can focus their learning to make it more relevant to desired future careers. The initiative, she said, also seeks to develop a healthy reading culture among students.

Huawei Y6 II is one of the newest flagships in the Huawei Y series - a mid-range smartphones launched after the successful introduction of Y3 II and Y5II. We decided to write a review on the device having used it for five days.

Bold, Clear & Colorful Display

Huawei Y6 II is a compact smartphone with a 5.5 inch 720 x 1280 pixels display. Almost 70.1% screen-to-body. This is a wide screen that will enhance the entertainment for the customers and offer a whole new video watching and gaming experience. The screen is an IPS LCD capacitive touch screen that is further protected with a protective scratch resistant sheet.

A cup and saucer picture taken with Huawei 6Y II 13-megapixel rear camera

PRO Rear & Front Cameras

Huawei Y6II takes photography to the next level with a 13-megapixel rear camera. It comes with wide-angle 28mm lens, F/2.0 aperture, and a state-of-the-art glass. The customized dynamic range is great in any light and any setting, putting a professional-grade camera in the palm of your hand.

For the selfies, Y6II brings the 8-megapixel front camera—Huawei’s largest front-facing camera to date. With an F/2.0 aperture and 77-degree range, you no longer need a selfie stick. These also mean you can tell more self stories with this device. Huh! Guess you are thinking of a snap chat experience right now.

Heritage Bank Plc is set to introduce a promo tagged, ‘Happy Days Promo’ to empower and reward its teeming loyal customers.

The promo which is additionally designed to encourage savings at this period of tight economic situation will see the emergence of a winner of a brand new car and a handful of millionaires from across the country when it kicks off in full swing next week (December 1, 2016).

On a monthly basis, 12 lucky customers will be rewarded monthly with 42-inch flat screen LED television sets in the 6-month life of the promo, strategically meant to also deepen financial inclusion in the country.

According to a statement from the bank, customers who save up to N100, 000 will qualify for a draw to win N1million from each of the six geo-political zones of the country at the end of the fifth month while a customer that saves up to N500, 000 by May 2017 will stand a chance to win a brand new saloon car.

Sergio Ramos renews with Nike

Spanish football star Sergio Ramos has agreed a major personal endorsement extension with American sportswear firm, Nike.

The Real Madrid and Spain captain has signed a four-year deal with the US sports manufacturer, which Spanish outlets AS and Marca report to be worth €2milion (US$2.1 million) a year. Ramos will exclusively wear Nike boots and lend his image to the Oregon-based company’s numerous soccer campaigns.

The agreement follows months of negations between the two parties since Ramos’ ten-year deal with Nike expired in June.

Bayern Munich and Germany football star Mats Hummels Mats Hummels has become the new advertising face of Apple Music, the music streaming service of technology giant Apple.

The 27-year-old central defender will lend his image to a series of advertising campaigns in Germany, using the tagline ‘No matter where, when: With Apple Music I always have my favourite music’.

Apple Music recently agreed a partnership with German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, which is the lead sponsor of Bayern Munich, to promote the music service in Germany.

The world cup winner joined Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in 2016 from rival club Borussia Dortmund.

Bayo Adekanbi, Steven McDermott to speak at 2016 LAIF Awards Seminar

Former CEO of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Adekanmbi and ormer Creative Director of Creativexone, Mr. Steven McDermott have been announced as part of the speakers for the 2016 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival Awards Seminar which will take place on Thursday, December 1, 2016 at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos.

Mr. Bayo Adekanbi

The Awards Seminar themed ‘The New Frontier’, will also have immediate past President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Mr. Kelechi Nwosu and Mr. Adebisi Idowu (Director, Commercial Planning – Etisalat) as speakers. President of AAAN, Mr. Kayode Oluwasona will be delivering the keynote address at the seminar.

The event promises to be an interactive gathering where IMC experts can exchange ideas and proffer solutions to come of the matters arising within the industry.

The iconic Sheraton Lagos Hotel unveiled 107 newly renovated club rooms and suites, all refreshed and elegantly furnished with modern interiors and enhanced amenities. Intuitive design blends seamlessly with local cultural elements and permeates through the re- energized interiors to provide a sense of place.

The hotel also revealed an all new invigorated Sheraton Club Lounge, the brand’s exclusive lounge destination that provides upgraded access and enhanced privileges.

“The renovation of our Club Rooms and Suites and the Sheraton Club Lounge at the Sheraton Lagos underscores the brand’s new elevated and customized approach to design as part of Sheraton 2020, a 10-point plan designed to put Sheraton back in the global spotlight and solidify its positioning as a leading global hotel brand of choice, everywhere,” said Barry Curran, Area General Manager for Nigeria. “We are confident that these modern enhancements and added amenities will further empower our guests and enable them to experience more during their stay. ”

Ifeoluwa Abiodun emerges winner of 2016 NSE Essay Competition

Miss Ifeoluwa Toluwanimi Abiodun, a 14 year old student of Babington Macauley Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos State, has emerged the winner of the 2016 edition of the NSE Essay Competition for Senior Secondary Schools students in Nigeria.

Ifeoluwa clinched the first position at the award ceremony, held at the Civic Centre on Thursday, November 24, 2016, ahead of over 7,400 participants across the country, winning N500,000 in scholarship fund for university education, N250,000 worth of equity investment and a laptop. Her school was also rewarded with three desktop computers and a printer.

L – R: Ope Wemi-Jones, Head, Inclusive Banking, Access Bank Plc; Oscar N. Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Miss Ifeoluwa Toluwanimi Abiodun, 1st Price Winner, 2016 NSE Essay Competition and Ms. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, Director General, National Pension Commission (PENCOM)at the 2016 NSE Essay Competition Awards Ceremony, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on November 24, 2016.

Udeaja Nneoma of Sacred Hearts College, Apapa, Lagos and Gbenjo Olasubomi Victoria of Good Shepherd Schools, Meiran, Lagos emerged first and second runner-ups respectively. The three students were also honoured with a Closing Gong ceremony at the Exchange.

The NSE Essay Competition is one of The Nigerian Stock Exchange’s (NSE) financial literacy and inclusion initiatives aimed at bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical knowledge required for long-term personal financial planning. It serves as an essential platform to get the perspectives of our young ones on key challenges relating to financial literacy and inclusion in Nigeria. The competition’s overall goal is to develop a culture of wealth creation amongst our youth towards “Building a Financially Savvy Generation”.

Micheal Hu, Country Manager, Afmob Nigeria; Ian Pan, Marketing Manager, Tecno Tablet; Oduntan Odubanjo, Chief Operation Officer, Twinpine; Philicia Lai, Assistant GM, Afmobi Africa; Tosin Sawyerr, Head of Business Development, Afmobi Nigeria; King Dong, Country Manager, Transsion Holding at “An Evening of Innovation with Twinpine” held at the Renaissance Lagos Ikeja Hotel, Lagos on Thursday November 17, 2016.

Ige Temitayo, Strategy Lead, Ogilvy Africa; David Ole, Planning Director, Sponge Group; Oti Ukubeyinje, Media Director, Sponge Group.

Omobola Johnson, General Partner at TLCom Capital; Elo Umeh, Founder, Twinpine

Sthe Shabangu PR lead at Samsung Electronics Africa

Despite the best intentions of major businesses, too many corporate social responsibility projects do not always deliver the expected outcomes intended. Businesses may go into communities without mechanisms to follow-up and support. Or the projects may not be suited to the needs of the community.

In many instances, where the business isn't doing well, the non-revenue generating segments, like CSR and communications, are the first to experience budget cuts, leaving communities suddenly without access to a project they had come to depend on. Understandably, this has resulted in criticism and caution over CSR projects brought into Africa by many corporates.

Samsung acknowledges these turbulences and continuously learns from them. This is why Samsung took a strategic decision to relook at its community engagement model to one of Corporate Citizenship. The model encompasses a great deal of economic and societal benefits relative to costs, ensuring joint company and community value creation.

The Fashion Art Fusion Season 3 is set to take place at the Prestigious Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos State on the 27th of November 2016.

This event expresses African art and culture by exhibiting fashion styles created by top and upcoming fashion designers. Also on display on the runway are alternative music, spoken word and dance. Exhibition of ‘Made in Nigeria’ items begins at 12 noon and the Runway show kicks off by 5pm.

This year’s edition aims at promoting the Nigerian fabric and dress sense. Thus the theme for this year’s Fashion Art Fusion is ‘Wear Nigeria.’

We have the attendance of some top designer’s e.g Mai Atafo, Ayo Van Elma, Ejiro Amos Tafiri, Luzol Tailors and Many More.

Donald Trump backs Los Angeles's bid for 2024 Summer Olympics

US President-elect Donald Trump in a phone call on Wednesday with Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti expressed his support for the city’s bid to stage the 2024 summer Olympic Games.

The conversation marked the pair’s first conversation since Trump won the November 8 election.

In a statement reported by the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Garcetti’s spokeswoman Connie Llanos said Trump was supportive of LA 2024, adding that the pair “had a productive conversation about ways to expand infrastructure investments and opportunities in communities across America.”

The month of November has become a very embarrassing one for social media. Just few days after Facebook declared its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two million others 'dead', an ‘internal mistake’ happened at Twitter and the end result was the suspension of the company’s CEO and co-founder, Jack Dorsey.

Dorsey's account disappeared for about 15 minutes on Tuesday night, US time, sending out a huge surprise and big laugh on the Internet.

Following the tweet Dorsey posted -- "just setting up my twttr ...again (account suspension was an internal mistake)," over 2,900 users retweeted this post and over 5,000 netizens left a Like mark.

From 29- 30 March in Johannesburg, South Africa, more than 200 delegates from across Africa will convene for IOT Forum Africa 2017, one of Africa's biggest Internet of Things (IoT) conferences. The event is coming at a time when IoT is predicted to impact more than 20 billion people by 2020, this conference will highlight the latest products, applications and business opportunities in IoT.

As IoT slowly becomes one of the most transformative technological phenomena to emerge in the 21st century, it is imperative IT executives and business leaders be part of this one of a kind event. The conference brings together senior IT executives, service providers, developers and practitioners from diverse fields, with representation from healthcare, manufacturing, energy, retail and manufacturing to name a few.

Participants will get to hear from successful companies that have implemented revenue producing IoT solutions. Hear about the technologies, platform solutions and devices that will power your IoT Solutions. Navigate the complex IoT ecosystem to identify partners, providers and prospects. Understand how sensors and their IoT data deliver unprecedented business intelligence to drive performance, growth and profitability and learn to align your IoT solution with market opportunities.

Emirates Aviation University Holds 3rd International Aviation Management Conference

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, Emirates Aviation University on Thursday opened its 3rd International Aviation Management Conference (IAMC).

Dr Ahmad Al Ali presenting an honorary award to Mohammed Ahli, Director General of DCAA who completed 50 years of accomplishment and work in the aviation sector on November 19, 2016.

In its 3rd edition, the two-day conference brought together industry leaders, researchers and aviation management professionals to tackle the challenges and opportunities currently facing the aviation industry under the theme ‘Lessons Learned, Current Challenges, and the Road Ahead”.

IAMC provides an ideal platform for aviation influencers to tackle industry hot topics and share case studies and best practices. It’s also an opportunity for aviation management researchers, academics and authors from all around the world to showcase their papers and present their studies in a dynamic environment. The conference addresses the steady growth in the various sectors of aviation and emphasizes the need for more research on key issues that impact the industry as a whole.

SAP's ambitious goal of equipping 5 million African youth with basic coding skills by 2025 took a bold step forward following the release of the results of this year's Africa Code Week. Just less than 427,000 youth from 30 African countries completed training between 15 and 23 October, dramatically exceeding the initial participation target of 150,000 students.

Africa Code Week is a continent-wide initiative to spark the interest of African children, teenagers and young adults in software coding. Spearheaded by SAP in 2015 as part of its social investments to drive sustainable growth in Africa, Africa Code Week (ACW) is the story of hundreds of schools, teachers, ministers, community centers, code clubs, NGOs, businesses and non-profits getting together to give birth to the largest digital literacy initiative ever organised on the African continent.

"In East Africa we trained +28,000 students, of which 37,5% were female," says Claire Gillissen-Duval, Global Project Lead for Africa Code Week. "With Africa contributing more than half of global population growth by 2050, the continent will play a leading role in the future global economy. By learning basic coding skills in an open, supportive environment, Africa's youth are able to take advantage of the immense opportunities presented by the Digital Revolution and become active players shaping the global economy."

P&G cuts agencies by almost 50% to optimise marketing spend

The world’s biggest advertiser P&G has cut the number of PR and ad agencies on its roster by about 50 percent, in an effort to enhance the efficiency of its marketing spend.

Yet the FMCG giant still spends around $500m (£400m) a year on marketing and advertising – its third highest cost after staff and product.

This is a consequence of the series of changes that have been announced following the appointment of a new Chief Executive, David Taylor, who replaced predecessor AG Lafley in November.

In January 2016, P&G reported that its agency cost-cutting drive has allowed it to reduce spending by $370m, and helped it to invest more in marketing support.

Food and wellness giant, Nestlé, on Monday signed a sponsorship agreement with Spanish football giant, FC Barcelona, at Camp Nou, the club’s stadium.

Barça and the multinational, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, are joining forces to promote the importance of education, nutrition and sport. The private event was attended by FC Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu; the Club’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Manel Arroyo; and Nestlé SA Executive Vice President, Patrice Bula.

Through this new global deal, the brand becomes an Official Club Sponsor for the next four years in the category of Tonic Food Drink. The agreement also includes the Nestlé Nesquik brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In a global launch in Munich, Germany, Huawei unveiled the long-awaited Huawei Mate 9. Building on Huawei’s success in delivering beautifully-designed and powerful mobile devices, the newest member of the Mate Series delivers a breakthrough Android experience to users. The Mate 9 features the fastest computing performance, SuperCharge technology and a stunning new user experience (UX).

The Huawei Mate 9 is a dynamic interplay of industry-leading hardware and advanced software that work together to keep users a step ahead. Coming soon to the Nigeria, key features of the device include: Kirin 960 chipset, the world’s highest performing smartphone processor; EMUI 5.0, an intuitive user interface that allows over 50 percent of features to be reached within two clicks; breakthrough SuperCharge technology that delivers a full day’s charge in 20 minutes;Second generation Leica dual-lens camera with 12-megapixel RGB sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and Hybrid Zoom, featuring a superior 2x magnification.

Commenting on the launch, Richard Yu CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group said, “In developing the Huawei Mate 9, we started with a simple question – how can we improve every element of the smartphone experience?” He continued, “We know that for today’s business users, a fast and functional smartphone is just the beginning. They also want a gorgeous design and intuitive features. So we have created two new devices at the forefront of hardware and software innovation. The result is a device that is breathtakingly new, inside and out.”

It may sound too good to be true but its Christmas, everything is too good to be true! All Huawei premium phones will be half price for a limited time of 2 hours at Finet experience center on the 26th of November 2016 between 12-2pm. So come and get that special someone the perfect Christmas gift even if it’s a self-gift!

To remind you of the awesome Huawei phones there’s the P9 which holds the best smartphone camera spot, the GR5 Mini with a custom designer case, the Y5II with the easy key feature, the Y6II, GR3,Y3II, Y3 LITE and others.

You better be at the Obafemi Awolowo glass house on the 26TH Of November for 50% of all Huawei phones.

Tip: Get there early because we’re sure the sale will go just as fast as the flash

African Union passport will see #AfriTravel spend rise by 24%

New research released by global travel technology provider, Sabre Corporation, has revealed that African air travel spend is expected to rise 24% with the introduction of the pan-African passport in 2018. The new passport will enable African travellers to visit other countries on the continent without a visa.

The comprehensive survey by Sabre aimed to uncover the opportunities and challenges faced by travellers in Africa today, to help airlines' growth and provide African travellers an overall better journey. Travellers from four countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt were surveyed, with those having flown in the past 24 months saying they would spend 24 percent more with the introduction of the passport (from $1,100 to $1,500 annually).

But despite a willingness among travellers to spend more on flights, travel in Africa still remains inaccessible to the majority, with only 23 percent of those surveyed having travelled abroad at all in the last two years. When asked what prevents them from travelling more, the top reasons were: 32% said travel is too expensive, 31% said it is difficult obtaining VISAs, 30% said it is too difficult to book travel and 28% said there are no flights to their chosen destination.

GE Launches ‘Garages’ Advanced Manufacturing Program in Lagos, Nigeria

Leading Multinational, General Electric (GE) officially launched the permanent installation of the Lagos Garage, a hub for advanced manufacturing-based innovation, strategy development, idea generation and collaboration.

Co-located with the GE Lagos offices in Victoria Island, the Lagos Garage will offer a year-round series of skills training programs focused on building the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs. Participants will be trained to use the latest in advanced manufacturing technologies; 3D printers, CNC mills, and laser cutters in the first-ever fabrication lab in Nigeria, driving innovation in the country. They will also learn how to apply the core principles of design thinking, product development, finance, marketing, sales, and customer acquisition in real-time to their ventures.

Dr Lazarus Angbazo, President & CEO, GE Nigeria

‘Innovation and technology are fundamental for Africa to better compete in a global frame work” said President & CEO, GE Nigeria, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo. “Innovation needs to be tailored to the specificities of local needs. “GE is pleased to encourage innovation in Nigeria and support SME development through skills-building initiatives such as these.”

The 11th annual Kreole Festival for the indigenous people of the Mauritius Islands opens tomorrow in Quatre Barnes Municipality of the Indian Ocean luxury Island. Nestled neatly between Madagascar and Seychelles and a destination of rest and rejuvenation for the elite European egalitarians in the 1900's, Mauritius has today become synonymous with its fresh outlook, economic agility of what African can become, and an offshore African hub of technology and financial services.

This week however belongs to the hundreds of thousands of the Islands Indigenous people, who celebrate their arts, film, and culture as part of the annual Kreole Festival week. This year, the government invited 2 people to grace the event as their very special "August" guests - the Ashanti King from Kumasi - Ghana; Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, and 14 year old film maker Zuriel Oduwole.

Presenting Award to 2nd Place Film Festival Winner.

She would be the invited guest judge for the film festival, screening many films over the festival period. She was received at the airport earlier today by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Adrien DUVAL and the Chairman of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority - Arnaud MARTIN.

Zuriel with Deputy Speaker Duval Mauritius Tourism, Chairperson Arnaud

Arrival Press Conference at Holiday Inn Airport

Nigeria’s Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu re-elected as President of ICAO Council

Nigeria’s Dr. Benard Aliu has been re-elected as President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for a second three-year term on Monday night in Montreal, Canada.

“Over the past three years, ICAO has been working tirelessly to promote the importance of civil aviation to socio-economic development, as well as its prioritization in national and regional investment and development planning," Dr. Aliu noted in his acceptance remarks. “We have also made great strides in securing the assistance and capacity building our Member States need most, under the ICAO No Country Left Behind initiative, and will now look forward to its next iteration which will be more focused on aviation infrastructure development.”

“The ICAO Council has played a key leadership role in this process, and its guidance will now be needed more than ever to assure the fast-tracked development of the new ICAO Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP) endorsed at the 39th Assembly, to make ICAO’s audit processes more efficient and effective, to ensure ICAO fully optimizes its extensive audit and other data, to refine all of our programmes and priorities, and importantly to help ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) become fully operational by 2020.”

Ambode Commends Nigerian Breweries at 70 As Company Restates Commitments To “Winning With Nigeria”

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has commended Nigerian Breweries Plc. for its commitment to the economic prosperity of the state and the nation.

Ambode, who was on a courtesy visit to the company on Tuesday, charged the management to remain focused on excellent business practices and outstanding corporate governance. He congratulated the company on its 70th anniversary and emphasized that the company has been part of the development of Lagos since the creation of the state fifty years ago. “In the last fifty years, you have contributed to the growth and development of Lagos State. We are happy you have been part of the success story of this state”, he said.

Mr. Henk Mymenga, Technical Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc; Chief Kola Jamodu, Chairman, Nigerian Breweries Plc; and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos, during the governor’s visit to the company and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on “One Lagos Fiesta” on Tuesday.

Governor Ambode highlighted the company’s contribution towards job creation through direct and indirect employment of Lagosians. He also praised the Company for being a responsible corporate citizen, adding that it has done more than any other company in terms of corporate social responsibility in the state.

Google Acquires Qwiklabs To Teach Developers Cloud Skills

Google has announced its acquisition of Qwiklabs, a startup that develops commercially available training courses that individuals and developers could use to become familiar with public cloud infrastructure services as well as the applications that run on them.

In a blog post to make the announcement, Jason Martin, Director, Professional Services Google Cloud wrote: “There’s no faster way to get hands-on experience with a cloud environment and to learn all the ins and outs of today’s modern cloud solutions than in a Qwiklabs lab. Qwiklabs offers step-by-step instructions to learn a popular cloud service, test different use cases and train your teams to become cloud experts.

“With Qwiklabs, we’re closing the IP skills gap in the cloud. More than half a million users have collectively spent over 5 million hours learning how to successfully deploy and manage multiple cloud technologies through the Qwiklabs platform. We’re focused on offering the most comprehensive, efficient, and fun way to train and onboard people across all our products on Google Cloud, including Google Cloud Platform and G Suite.

“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future,” as Nils Bohr, the Nobel laureate physicist put it. But as the end of 2016 approaches, it’s useful to look forward and try to anticipate the cybersecurity trends that lie ahead; and to reflect on what’s happened over the past year, to see how accurate previous predictions were. For 2016, our predicted security threats were:

The emergence of sophisticated and custom-designed malware designed to get past organizations’ defences. Attackers are using bespoke variants of existing malware, which can bypass traditional antivirus and sandboxing tools – our 2016 Security Report revealed that 971 unknown malware variants were downloaded to enterprise networks every hour.

Unfortunately, our predictions for 2016 proved to be accurate. Like most cybersecurity professionals, I would prefer that they were not realized. I would much rather organisations didn’t get infected by malware, hacked, or suffer data breaches. But by predicting the next wave of threats, we hope to help organizations stay one step ahead of cybercriminals’ exploits. So here are our five key security predictions for 2017:

Nigeria’s first online travel company, Wakanow, has expressed its commitment to continually support sports tourism initiatives as a tool to promote economic development and social harmony in the country.

The statement was made by Chief Marketing Officer of the company, Mrs. Victoria Onwubiko, during a press roundtable held in Lagos to formally kick off this year’s edition of the annual COPA Lagos Beach Soccer tournament.

“Sports tourism has the capacity to contribute significantly to Nigeria’s economy, especially at a time when our major source of revenue is in a decline. The vast array of untapped destinations across Nigeria are a testament to the tourism potentials that abound within our shores.

She added that Nigeria needed to quickly unravel a tourism development blueprint as a response to the economic challenges that currently face the country as revenue from crude oil receipts continues to deplete.

Omobola Johnson, General Partner at TLCom Capital; Elo Umeh, Founder Twinpine

IMC experts have projected that personalised marketing, performance and convergence through collection of consumer data will be key drivers of mobile marketing in 2017 and beyond as brand owners seek to build on their equity and return of investment (ROI) despite the recession.

At a gathering of digital marketing agencies, brand owners, IT experts and media practitioners, tagged “An Evening of Innovation with Twinpine - Africa’s pioneer and premium mobile marketing company”, Oduntan Odubanjo, Chief Operating Officer at Twinpine noted that globally, data will continue to transform mobile marketing, while the challenging economy will make more brand owners pay extra attention to performance and build on personalised communication to reach their target customers.

During his presentation titled: “Personalisation, Convergence and Performance: How Data is Transforming Mobile Marketing”, Odubanjo stated that the promise of data is to help brand personalised marketing messages, connect more with their customers and deliver seamless experiences.

Black Friday is an American tradition that has quickly taken root in Africa. The large online e-commerce shops and the major retail chains in many parts of the continent will be splashing out with big promotions and marketing campaigns to get consumers to part with their cash.

This day takes place the first Friday after Thanksgiving (25 November 2016) and is a day of big deals and promotions for American shoppers. Black Friday is already popular in South Africa, as is Cyber Monday, the following Monday (28 November 2016) when online shoppers are out in full force looking for tech and gaming bargains. We also see countries like Kenya and Nigeria following suite, with e-tailers planning big discounts.

If you’re a business builder with a small retail operation, you may wonder whether it’s a good idea to take part in the mayhem of the day where crowds pack shops and storm websites looking for bargains.

On the one hand, it’s a great opportunity to build some hype for your Small & Medium Business on a day that consumers are particularly receptive to spending money. On the other hand, your promotions and marketing may be drowned out by the noise generated by retailers with massive budgets for promotions and advertising.
Read on after cut...

A first of its kind, African emerging market-centric book authored by MTN’s erudite Executive, Olubayo Adekanmbi and titled The Future is Shared: Sharepreneurship and Sharing Economy for Emerging Markets, will be unveiled in Nigeria on Saturday, 26th November, 2016 following a successful launch in London in July.

The Future is Shared leverages the concept of ‘shared economy’ for sustainable value re-creation/value extension, accountable personal carbon footprint-tracking, poverty reduction, enhanced living and environmental protection in an emerging market context with a focus on Nigeria. According to the author, “The Future is Shared is the African-centric answer to the big question of how AirBnB, Uber, LiftShare and others will shape the practice of future marketing, management”.

According to Adekanmbi, the shared economy philosophy extends to crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, disintermediation, on-demand services and recycling, with social, economic and more importantly, environmental sustainability advantages. This infers that “businesses that will win tomorrow must understand how to become shareable experiences that enrich sociality and sustainability”, said Adekanmbi.

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Tuesday, 29 November 2016

Monday, 28 November 2016

Friday, 25 November 2016

Thursday, 24 November 2016

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Tuesday, 22 November 2016