Electricity To Be Next Major Prepaid Market After Mobile Phones and Cards
Global utilities to invest $11.4 billion in prepaid electricity metering
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Electricity To Be Next Major Prepaid Market After Mobile Phones and Cards
Electricity To Be Next Major Prepaid Market After Mobile Phones and Cards
Global utilities to invest $11.4 billion in prepaid electricity metering
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Three Quarters of People Now 'Talk' to Businesses with a Mobile Message
Three Quarters of People Now 'Talk' to Businesses with a Mobile Message
LONDON, June 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
- 65 per cent of consumers communicate with businesses on chat apps; increasing to 76 per cent globally via SMS
- 1 in 3 users have interacted with a financial services company via mobile
- Authentication is a key driver - 30 per cent of consumers worldwide have confirmed passwords via text
- Facebook (56 per cent), WhatsApp (50 per cent) and SMS (42 per cent) the top three messaging channels for person to person (P2P) messaging
Arik Air Sponsors Conjoined Twins to Travel from Nigeria to America for Surgery
The Ayenis at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport before take-off.
In partnership with Linking Hands Foundation, a Nigerian-based non-governmental organization (NGO), Arik Air is offering additional support alongside Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Tennessee, which is providing secured free medical treatment for the Ayeni twins.
Great African Novelist Elechi Amadi Passes On To Eternal Glory
One of the greatest African novelists of the post colonial era, Elechi Amadi of Nigeria has passed on to eternal glory.
His family reported that he passed away yesterday Wednesday at the Good Heart hospital in Port Harcourt in Rivers State at the age of 82.
Amadi's first published work is "Penitence". It was published by The Horn of the University of Ibadan edited by his fellow student, John Pepper Clark in 1957.
Prof.Clark and the first black Nobel Laureate in literature, Prof. Wole Soyinka are now the last of the literary titans who studied at the great University of Ibadan. The others were the famous novelist Chinua Achebe and legendary poet Christopher Okigbo of blessed memory.
Elechi Amadi became famous with his first novel The Concubine published in 1966.
~ The New Statesman.
"'Mr Amadi writes with speed and shapeliness and exhilaration... a lovely and dignified picture of a society not only still ruled by gods, but governed by a great delicacy in human relationships.'"
~ The Guardian.
The novel was followed by The Great Ponds in 1969. His personal account of the Nigerian civil war Sunset in Biafra published in 1973 was an international bestseller. His novel The Slave published in 1978 completed his historical trilogy with The Concubine and The Great Ponds.
His other popular works include the plays, "Isiburu" (1973), "Pepper Soup and the Road to Ibadan" (1977), "Dancer of Johannesburg" (1978), "The Woman of Calabar" (2002}, Collected Plays (2004, Edited by Seiyifa Koroye) and his novel "Estrangement" (1986).
Elechi Amadi was born in 1934 in Aluu near Port Harcourt in Eastern Nigeria. At University College, Ibadan he took a degree in physics and mathematics. After a period of land surveying and teaching he enlisted in the Nigerian Army. He left the army finally to work for the Rivers State Government, where he headed the Ministry of Education.
Asian Millionaires Now Control More Wealth Than Those In North America
The amount of wealth owned by the globe’s millionaires continues to rise every year. Between 2014 and 2015, the wealth controlled by millionaires across the world grew 4 percent to $58.7 trillion, according to finance firm Capgemini. The global HNWI population (high net worth individuals controlling assets of $1 million or more) is also increasing, having expanded 4 percent in 2015 to 15.4 million.
Asian millionaires now control more wealth than those in North America, primarily driven by financial services, technology and healthcare. Capgemini found that Asia’s millionaires were worth $17.39 trillion at the end of 2015, slightly ahead of North America’s $16.61 trillion.
Japan and China were the engines of global HNWI growth in 2015, with both registering double-digit increases in their millionaire populations. The two countries also drove almost 60 percent of HNWI population growth worldwide last year. Under the most aggressive growth scenario, the amount of wealth controlled by the planet’s millionaires could reach $100 million by 2025, almost three times the 2006 amount.
Source: •Asia's Millionaires Control The Most Wealth | Statista.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Special Report: The Impact of BREXIT on Africa
PRESS RELEASE
Special Report: The Impact of ‘Brexit’ on Africa
EXX Africa analyses the impact of an eventual ‘Brexit’ on three of the UK’s most important African markets: South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 28, 2016/ -- Following the UK’s surprise vote to leave the EU, EXX AFRICA (www.ExxAfrica.com) assesses the probable impact such a departure would have on African trade, investment, and security policy. In this free special report, EXX Africa analyses the impact of an eventual ‘Brexit’ on three of the UK’s most important African markets: South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
EXX AFRICA is a specialist intelligence company that delivers accurate, decision-ready, and commercially relevant forecasts on African political and economic risk to businesses. We embrace the continent’s fast changing dynamics and serve our wide-ranging client base to mitigate their risk exposure to Africa’s fast-changing political and economic developments.
We pride ourselves on providing timely, reliable, and well-informed intelligence that is sourced from our extensive on-the-ground network and then rigorously applied to our analytical processes. We prepare our clients to enter new markets in Africa, to recognize and engage senior stakeholders, to identify key threats and opportunities, to monitor indicators of risk, to assess their socio-economic impact, and to manage expectations and meet local requirements.
We believe that the value of intelligence is in its factor of surprise, so we endeavor to always tell our clients something new and striking. We are based in Johannesburg and London, with a network of trusted analysts and dedicated sources across the African continent and beyond.
Find the Report here: http://bit.ly/2920AvC Distributed by APO on behalf of EXX AFRICA.
Contacts:
Robert Beseling
Executive Director robert.besseling@exxafrica.com www.ExxAfrica.com
SOURCE EXX AFRICA
Distributed by :
APO 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor
Voie du Chariot 3 1003 Lausanne – Switzerland
Tel : +41 22 534 96 97
E-mail: switzerland (at) APO-opa.org www.APO-opa.com
Monday, June 27, 2016
Nigeria's Democracy in Danger
Nigeria's Democracy in Danger
ABUJA, Nigeria, June 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Democratic leaders in Nigeria's Senate (the Upper House), including Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu,
are being unfairly targeted by senior members of the Nigerian
Government with politically motivated allegations in order to undermine
the power of the Nigerian Senate.Top 10 Landmarks in the World
Average summer bookable rates in Machu Picchu: June: $58 July: $59 August: $59
Machu
Picchu is an Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru,
above the Urubamba River valley. Built in the 15th century and later
abandoned, it’s renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse
huge blocks without the use of mortar, intriguing buildings that play
on astronomical alignments, and panoramic views. Its exact former use
remains a mystery.
Address: Peru
Elevation: 2,430 m
Area: 13 km²
Management: Government of Peru
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
BREXIT: EU Referendum In Focus
The ballot boxes are finally being filled for the United Kingdom referendum on membership of the European Union. The debate has been divisive, to say the least, with both 'Remain' and 'Leave' camps being branded with terms such as 'project fear' and 'project hate'.
Hate has indeed been at play, manifesting itself in the most terrible of ways with the brutal murder of pro-EU MP Jo Cox last week. With the 'Leave' (aka Brexit) campaign focusing heavily on immigration from the EU and prospective EU countries, some voters have been left feeling unrepresented - pro-Brexit but not willing to associate themselves with the increasingly dangerous rhetoric coming from some key 'Leave' figures.
Needless to say, the polls have been very tight in recent days. One of the latest results from YouGov showed a one point difference in favour of 'Remain', while others have it neck and neck. In Europe however, as the infographic below shows, the feeling is generally in support of the UK remaining in the EU, with 70 percent saying it would be a bad thing if a Brexit were to occur.
Despite all the bluster from politicians, a poll by Ipsos Mori shows that only 12 percent of people hold any trust in those in power when it comes to the referendum. Way out in front are friends and family members with 73 percent and academics with 66 percent. Such is the complexity of the debate, however, even academics and experts consistently fail to agree on the potential outcomes of a vote to leave. As illustrated below, the effects on GDP are forecast to be anywhere from a 7.5 percent drop to a 4 percent increase.
The future of the United Kingdom and the EU truly hangs in the balance today. Whatever the result (due Friday at roughly 04:00 BST), the political ramifications will be..continue reading.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Nigeria: Fractured and Forgotten
Nigeria Trip from Lou Ann Sabatier on Vimeo.
Nigeria: Dire Crisis Spawns Letter to President Obama Appoint Special Envoy for Nigeria & Lake Chad Region
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a letter from 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative:
Dear Mr. President: We write with great urgency regarding the dire crisis continuing to unfold in northeastern and central Nigeria, much of it as the direct result of Boko Haram. Just yesterday, in the Washington Post, Kevin Sieff noted, "Thousands of Boko Haram victims are on the verge of starvation in northeastern Nigeria." Six people, on average, are dying every day from malnutrition. According to Medicins Sans Frontieres, "on certain days more than 30 people were dying due to hunger and illness," and that 66 percent of the children they screened were emaciated.
This is in addition to a recent Refugees International report which quoted a top UN official as saying, "Nigeria is our biggest failure." Another chief UN humanitarian official described the Lake Chad region as the "world's most neglected humanitarian crisis."
Should Nigeria further fracture it would also constitute one of the greatest security threats in West Africa. The Global Terrorism Index now considers Boko Haram the most lethal terrorist organization in the world with the Fulani militants of Nigeria's Middle Belt the fourth deadliest. Our own research indicates that in just the first four months of this year, there was a 190% increase in people killed by Fulani militants.
Earlier this year, we, along with others from the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, traveled to Nigeria and witnessed first-hand what is taking place. We met with over 500 people, drove through entire villages burned to the ground, visited with families forced to live in caves to elude terrorists, and heard firsthand testimony of communities surviving by eating grass. We have continued to liaise with those affected on the ground, diaspora groups, Congressional offices and State Department officials, and just released a report, "Nigeria: Fractured and Forgotten."
The crisis in Nigeria and the surrounding countries is larger than Boko Haram and cannot continue unaddressed. We are grateful you and your Administration have already designated Boko Haram as an FTO and offered significant assistance to Nigeria. However, given that this is the world's most neglected humanitarian crisis and one of the most significant security threats in West Africa, we believe what is needed is a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
A Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region directly reporting to Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield could relate to Boko Haram, terrorism, IDP's, refugees, psycho-social care, etc. It is our firm belief that the United States and other Western nations have a vested interest in confronting one of the worst humanitarian crises of our day. The appointment of a Special Envoy would send a strong signal and further strengthen American leadership.
We urge you and your Administration to act quickly and appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
Thank you for your consideration.
Randel Everett
President, 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative
Frank R. Wolf
Distinguished Senior Fellow
The full report with recommendations can be accessed at www.standwithnigeria.org
SOURCE 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative
RELATED LINKS
http://www.standwithnigeria.org/
Dear Mr. President: We write with great urgency regarding the dire crisis continuing to unfold in northeastern and central Nigeria, much of it as the direct result of Boko Haram. Just yesterday, in the Washington Post, Kevin Sieff noted, "Thousands of Boko Haram victims are on the verge of starvation in northeastern Nigeria." Six people, on average, are dying every day from malnutrition. According to Medicins Sans Frontieres, "on certain days more than 30 people were dying due to hunger and illness," and that 66 percent of the children they screened were emaciated.
This is in addition to a recent Refugees International report which quoted a top UN official as saying, "Nigeria is our biggest failure." Another chief UN humanitarian official described the Lake Chad region as the "world's most neglected humanitarian crisis."
Should Nigeria further fracture it would also constitute one of the greatest security threats in West Africa. The Global Terrorism Index now considers Boko Haram the most lethal terrorist organization in the world with the Fulani militants of Nigeria's Middle Belt the fourth deadliest. Our own research indicates that in just the first four months of this year, there was a 190% increase in people killed by Fulani militants.
Earlier this year, we, along with others from the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, traveled to Nigeria and witnessed first-hand what is taking place. We met with over 500 people, drove through entire villages burned to the ground, visited with families forced to live in caves to elude terrorists, and heard firsthand testimony of communities surviving by eating grass. We have continued to liaise with those affected on the ground, diaspora groups, Congressional offices and State Department officials, and just released a report, "Nigeria: Fractured and Forgotten."
The crisis in Nigeria and the surrounding countries is larger than Boko Haram and cannot continue unaddressed. We are grateful you and your Administration have already designated Boko Haram as an FTO and offered significant assistance to Nigeria. However, given that this is the world's most neglected humanitarian crisis and one of the most significant security threats in West Africa, we believe what is needed is a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
A Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region directly reporting to Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield could relate to Boko Haram, terrorism, IDP's, refugees, psycho-social care, etc. It is our firm belief that the United States and other Western nations have a vested interest in confronting one of the worst humanitarian crises of our day. The appointment of a Special Envoy would send a strong signal and further strengthen American leadership.
We urge you and your Administration to act quickly and appoint a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
Thank you for your consideration.
Randel Everett
President, 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative
Frank R. Wolf
Distinguished Senior Fellow
The full report with recommendations can be accessed at www.standwithnigeria.org
SOURCE 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative
RELATED LINKS
http://www.standwithnigeria.org/
Friday, June 24, 2016
Northern Nigeria Produced the Richest Black Man on Earth Without Niger Delta Oil
Why do some people think like uneducated idiots?
The north has produced the richest black man on earth, multi billionaire Alhaji ALIKO DANGOTE and he does not have a single oil block. He produces and sells cement, sugar, salt and other goods people need more than crude oil.
The wealthiest countries in the world don't produce crude oil.
The north can dump the crude oil from Niger Delta and import from north Africa and the Middle East.
What is the use of being oil producing states, but have no brains to produce world class billionaires like Alhaji ALIKO DANGOTE?
UK: A Divided Nation
And so the people spoke. As the results trickled in during the night it gradually became clear that the UK was heading towards Brexit. Flying in the face of the majority of experts and academics, the public chose to leave the European Union. To be precise - 51.9 percent chose to leave.
For the other 48.1 percent and indeed the rest of the world, the shock is still resonating. No one, on either side, knows what is going to happen – economically, politically or socially. Prime Minister Cameron has resigned, the pound has fallen to the lowest level for over 30 years, and an initial 120 billion pounds has been wiped off the FTSE 100.
The close nature of the result highlights a stark split in the will of the population, not just from person to person but, perhaps more significantly, from country to country. Not a single area in Scotland voted to leave the EU with a total of 62 percent voting against the proposed Brexit. This has inevitably led to calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Having narrowly voted against independence from the UK in 2014, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has said another vote is ‘highly likely'.
Today’s result might not just pull the United Kingdom out of the European Union, it may well end up tearing this divided nation apart.
Source: Statista.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Establishment of the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission
Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI)
PRESS RELEASE
Establishment of the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission (AACC)
The African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission (AACC) will be responsible for the promotion of the rapid development of the African audiovisual and cinema industry
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, June 23, 2016/ -- The Ministers of Culture, Youth and Sports of African Union Member States have today established the long awaited African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission as a specialized agency of the African Union.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Femi Odugbemi's Documentary "Makoko: Futures Afloat" Makes History
At the inaugural event in 2007, 'Lagos Wide & Close' a film by Rem Koolhaas the Pritzker Prize-winning Dutch architect, theorist, and provocateur, was screened.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
17 June 2016
#AAFF2016 - DESIGN is: UNIVERSAL | GLOBAL | LOCAL
Advances in digital communications and media have changed the way we live, work and play. The power of film as a socially equitable, environmentally considerate and economically effective platform to communicate new concepts, concerns and ground-breaking ideas has never been greater.
Previously unheard voices can now be heard; new spaces and opportunities are opening up all around us all the time; and we’re able to engage around common causes in ways that previous generations could not.
This year, the Architect Africa Film Festival (#AAFF2016) has capitalised on the rapidly evolving power of film as an easily-accessible means of communication, to put together a top-quality selection that will engage, inform and inspire our audiences around the topics Architecture as Universal Language; Architecture as a Language of Global Capitalism; and Architecture as Local Engagement.
As part of our selection process, a ‘Call for Entries’ was circulated locally through stakeholders and the media, and internationally through our partner festivals – to open up the #AAFF2016 as a showcase for new productions, emerging filmmakers and students. The #AAFF2016 selection panel comprising Professors Lesley Lokko, Lone Poulsen, and Jyoti Mistry, in collaboration with our curator Dr Costanza la Mantia, then evaluated submissions based on watchability, technical execution, relevance of message, and relation to architecture.
Highlights from our ‘Call for Entries’ in the #AAFF2016 programme include:
Makoko. Futures Afloat. (2015)
Director: Femi Odugbemi
In the heart of Nigeria’s fastest growing city, Lagos, two worlds constantly live out the irony of economic realities. Divided by the popular third mainland bridge, the bustling economic part of the city stands adjacent to MAKOKO – a sprawling fishing community, floating on the waste of the city. Neglected by the government, MAKOKO strives for a place in the fortune and future of the city, by the effort of individuals who focus on educating children who otherwise would not have had any opportunity for formal education.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Analysis of the Automotive Lubricants Market--Nigeria and South Africa
Analysis of the Automotive Lubricants Market--Nigeria and South Africa
Click here to read the full report.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Jo Cox: Attacks On UK MPs While in Office
The UK parliament was recalled today to mourn the death of MP Jo Cox. The murder of the mother of two has sent shockwaves through the UK and its political system. Known in her capacity as MP for Batley and Spen as a compassionate and well-respected politician, she had campaigned for the government to accept more child refugees from Syria and was actively involved in the Remain campaign for the upcoming EU referendum.
Unfortunately, this is not the first serious attack on a UK MP. The chart below illustrates just how vulnerable the position can be - since 1979 there have now been six fatal attacks on MPs as well as two attempted murders.
https://www.statista.com/chart/5058/attacks-on-uk-mps-while-in-office.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Lagos in Motion: Sights and Sounds of Africa's Largest Megacity
The most expected Nigerian tourist documentary film, "Lagos in Motion,
: Sights and Sounds of Africa's Largest Megacity" will be released worldwide next month July with the world premiere in Lagos. The documentary will be released with the photo book.
Produced and directed by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, one of the most popular travel reviewers on Trip Advisor and Publisher and Editor of Nollywood Mirror series on the Nigerian film industry, the documentary film shows the major landmarks and the people of Lagos in more than 35 different locations never seen before on film with some dramatic moments of young tourists on the road and at popular Elegushi beach in Lekki.
Michael Chima who has been living in Lagos since birth has seen the evolution of Lagos from the 1970s to date as the federal capital of Nigeria before losing the status to Abuja in 1991, but has become one of the fastest growing cities in the world as the commercial capital of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and the continent's largest economy boosted by the rapid development of Lagos state with a population of more than 20 million people attracting both local and global investors to become the richest state in Nigeria and fifth biggest economy in Africa as the largest megacity with the highest GDP.
Lagos is also heartbeat of the continent for entertainment with the phenomenal Nollywood, the largest home entertainment industry in Africa and second largest home videos industry in the world after Bollywood of India and ahead of Hollywood in production of home videos.
More photographs and video clips are on @247Nigeria on Twitter.