Monday, June 10, 2024

The 15th General Assembly of the African Union of Broadcasting To Take Place in Gaborone

 



PRESS RELEASE
The 15th General Assembly of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) will be held from September 3 to 5, 2024 in Gaborone, Botswana
This year's event aims to explore the challenges and opportunities offered by evolving digital technologies in the audiovisual media sector

Access Multimedia Content

DAKAR, Senegal, June 10, 2024/ -- The African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) (www.UAR-AUB.org) will hold its 15th General Assembly from September 3 to 5, 2024 in Gaborone, capital of the Republic of Botswana, under the theme: “The future of African media facing the challenges of new technologies and changes climate”.

This high-level meeting will bring together Chief Executives of the media and broadcasting industry, officials, experts, academics, content creators from across the African continent as well as representatives of sister Unions and partners.

This year's event aims to explore the challenges and opportunities offered by evolving digital technologies in the audiovisual media sector. For the AUB, it is a question of discussing the place of Africa in the generation and management of metadata for the creation of audiovisual content in the era of artificial intelligence, of working on the transformation of the professions of audiovisual through AI, to find innovative strategies to meet the changing needs of African audiences in an increasingly digitalized media environment.

The AUB General Assembly will also provide a unique platform to strengthen regional and international cooperation to create awareness and engage citizens in the fight against climate change.

The discussion will also focus on the best way to boost the participation of countries not only in sharing of content on the AUBVISION Platform, but also to make it the source of news about countries in Africa.

The 15th general assembly of the AUB will serve as a framework for rewarding journalistic excellence through an AWARDS ceremony organized in partnership with SOLSAN Communications.

It will open a window of solidarity with people who are victims of cancer thanks to fundraising and a benefit concert offered for the occasion.

Grégoire NDJAKA

Director General
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union of Broadcasting (AUB).
 
Press contact: 
contact@uar-aub.org
Tel: +221 338 21 16 25

About the African Union of Broadcasting: 
The African Union of Broadcasting is the largest organization of media professionals in Africa which brings together national and private radio and television organizations from African states. The AUB is responsible for developing all segments of the television and broadcasting industry in Africa. It works to develop exchanges of authentic African content through its content distribution platform, AUBVISION.

SOURCE
African Union of Broadcasting (AUB)



How To Write The Perfect CV - The Economist


How To Write The Perfect CV - The Economist

How to write the perfect CV

A job applicant walks into a bar


Imagine meeting a stranger at a party. What makes for a successful encounter? Lesson one is to heed the wisdom of a shampoo commercial from the 1980s: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Lesson two is to remember that you do not need to wear a beret or a fur stole in order to stand out. Lesson three is not to forget that what you leave out matters as much as what you say.

These same principles, it turns out, apply to writing a cv. A résumé is not a list of every job you ever had. It is not your autobiography. It is, like that hair-care advert, a marketing tool. Your audience is made up of recruiters and hiring managers. Like cocktail-party guests, they do not take a long time to decide if they want to keep talking. According to one study, such professionals spend an average of 7.4 seconds skimming a job application. 

Read more on 
https://www.economist.com/business/2024/05/30/how-to-write-the-perfect-cv

BRICS Gathered in Geneva To Discuss a New Digital Order



PRESS RELEASE
BRICS Gathered in Geneva To Discuss a New Digital Order
Experts and antitrust officials met in Geneva to propose solutions to the challenges faced by antitrust authorities in the digital markets of the BRICS countries to find common ground between them, especially in the area of regulation of digital platforms and AI
 
GENEVA, Switzerland, June 10, 2024/ -- The UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Webinar on Competition law and policy approaches towards digital platforms and ecosystems in cooperation with the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre (https://www.BRICSCompetition.org/) and the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) was held on June 3, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The digitalization of the economy - legislature, trade, customs, logistics, etc. - is just entering its most active stage of development, itself a preparatory stage for the automation of the economy. One of the most pressing issues now, at the initial stage of digitalization, is still the streamlining and creation of a regulatory framework for future global processes. This includes the issue of antitrust regulation, both within individual countries and various interstate associations, such as the EU or BRICS.

"Today, the actions of antitrust agencies in different countries remain disparate and fragmented. Lack of consensus leads to weakened enforcement, and ecosystems increase anti-competitive pressure on the market. Antitrust law is on the verge of losing its relevance and strength in the digital economy. We need some form of international agreement on the regulation of digital ecosystems, especially given the development of AI technologies,” emphasized Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Center.

As the expert explained, each BRICS jurisdiction has its own objectives with regard to competition law. There is a common core, which has been defined as consumer welfare, efficient allocation of resources and economic freedom. But so far, one of the bottlenecks in dealing with digital markets is market definition - the application of traditional market definition tools is challenged by the tendency of digital markets to be highly innovative and dynamic.

The development of new definitions and indicators is one of the most important tasks of the meeting. As part of the presentation, Victor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner of CADE, stated that within their organization a number of new indicators have already been developed to define the platform market: for example, the ability to unilaterally impose conditions, including as a show of bargaining power, ownership of key datasets, ability to influence choice through online platform architecture, lack of transparency.

Since this year, the number of BRICS member countries has grown, and further expansion is being discussed. Moreover, the association, which remained formal for a long time, is beginning to work more actively. The more active the more real contradictions and problems. Nevertheless, experts noted that there is a significant convergence among BRICS jurisdictions in recognizing the importance of certain essential standards, such as consumer welfare standards, but there are also some differences that are worth highlighting. Authorities in different countries, especially Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, recognize other objectives, such as ensuring economic freedom or a level playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises. And these goals can somehow be translated into more elaborate legal standards for assessing abuse of dominance.

Alexey Ivanov also focused the participants' attention on the fact that cooperation exactly within the framework of supranational associations can give real results in the fight against violations of fair competition rules by global monopolists in local markets. "Much more opportunities for developing countries lie in the area of cooperation. BRICS, as you know, is expanding and working in the area of developing joint enforcement actions, remedies, investigations, case reviews, because this is how you essentially balance the playing field in the fight against global companies,” Ivanov explained.

The meeting was attended by a wide pool of international experts and representatives of national and international competition authorities: Victor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner, CADE; Rajinder Punja, Economic Director, CCI/ Representative from SAMR (tbc); Masako Wakui, Professor of Law, Kyoto University; Maria Ioannidou, Professor, Queen Mary University of London; Deni Mantzari, Associate Professor, University College of London; Alexey Ivanov, Director, BRICS Competition Law and Policy Center. The experts agreed to continue working on the creation of a harmonized system of supranational instruments of antitrust regulation.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre.
 
About BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre:
The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre was established in 2018 by the BRICS competition authorities. The Centre’s work is aimed at collecting and analyzing information from competition agencies, identifying best practices, but primarily at preparing recommendations and developing approaches to competition policy that reflect the interests of the development of the BRICS economies. The key mission of the BRICS Competition Centre is to advance the development agenda and strengthen the role of competition regulation in overcoming imbalances in the global economy. The Centre brings together leading international universities and independent researchers who are actively involved in the Centre’s main research projects: on global food chains, on sustainability policy and on new approaches to antitrust regulation of the digital economy.

SOURCE
BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre




Tuesday, June 4, 2024

The Numbers of Subscribers of Netflix in Nigeria and in South Africa and the Way Forward is Content Localization



The Numbers of Subscribers of Netflix in Nigeria and in South Africa and the Way Forward is Content Localization for Nigerians

Currently the numbers of Nigerian subscribers on Netflix are only  169,600+ out of a population of 106 million bankable adults. 

South Africa has by far the most paid subscribers on Netflix with 1,172,800 subscriptions, accounting for 73.3 percent of the 1.6 million subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa has 69.5 percent of the $135 million subscription revenue from the region in 2022. Netflix made $93.82 million from South Africa alone.

What are the challenges of Netflix in Nigeria?
What are the solutions?
I have written on the challenges and solutions in my previous articles in 2022 and 2023.

Showmax of the MultiChoice Group, the biggest and largest entertainment company in Africa has overtaken Netflix on the continent. I prefer to call the MultiChoice, the King Kong of African Entertainment Industry.




The MultiChoice Group and Comcast’s NBCUniversal Media are investing more than US$177 million into Showmax
The strategic partnerships with Comcast and HBO and the access to the biggest football leagues in the world have increased the international milage and patronage of Showmax in Africa and beyond.

Nigeria with the largest population in Africa actually has the largest viewers of content online on the continent.
There were 103.0 million internet users in Nigeria in January 2024. Nigeria's internet penetration rate stood at 45.5 percent of the total population at the start of 2024. Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in Nigeria increased by 2.2 million (+2.2 percent) between January 2023 and January 2024

Majority of them watch Nollywood videos on YouTube spending millions of dollars monthly on data.

Read the following reports:

Streaming swells monthly internet spend to N216bn - Businessday NG-

MTN Nigeria’s data revenues have risen from N102.99 billion in the six months ending June 2019 to N349.51 billion in the three months ending March 2024. Airtel Nigeria’s data revenues have grown from N28.81 billion ($80 million at N360.06/$) as of the three months ended June 2019 to N151.15 billion ($116 million at N1,303/$) as of the quarter ended March 2024. Average data usage per customer has grown from 1.63GB to 6.3 GB per month on Airtel. MTN’s average data usage per customer rose to 8.6GB as of the end of Q1, 2024.

Amid penetration surge, Nigerians spend over N500b on data in Q1 | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News — Technology — The Guardian -

In 2023, MTN alone raked in N1.07 trillion from data subscriptions, representing a 39.8 per cent growth from N764.82 billion in 2022. Similarly, active data users on the network of MTN jumped by 12.7 per cent to 70.66 million in 2023, rising by over five million.

Facts and Figures

There are more than 20 million people in Nigeria who can afford the monthly subscriptions for Netflix. But Netflix has to CONNECT with them in their most spoken languages by doing the following:

1. Content localization which MultiChoice has used to attract millions of more subscribers in Nigeria.
There should be Netflix Yoruba;
Netflix Igbo and Netflix Hausa
These are the biggest and largest tribes in Nigeria with more than 150 million people in Nigeria and over 20 million in other countries.

There are different types of content localization.

2.?
How the Numbers of Subscribers of Netflix in Nigeria Can Increase To Over 1 Million Before 2025

It has been done before by a multinational company in Nigeria. And the same method will attract thousands of new subscribers to Netflix.

The fact is millions of people in Nigeria spend 100 percent more on paying for data to watch videos on YouTube monthly than what subscribers to Netflix pay monthly in the country.
My younger sister buys 25GB of data on the MTN network monthly to watch videos on YouTube paying N500 for 2GB.
She is one of the millions of people in Nigeria watching movies daily on YouTube.
She is addicted to Nollywood and Hollywood movies; watching more than four movies daily in-between her duties in the house. And she also reads novels and her King James Version of the Holy Bible. 
Her neighbor on the third floor spends more than my sister watching movies on DStv channels of the MultiChoice Group in Nigeria.

Netflix can consult me for how to overtake Showmax before the new year.

I am an expert on what I have proposed to Netflix.
I was commissioned by the John's Hopkins University's Population Communication Services (JHU/ PCS) to produce fully illustrated booklets on family planning methods in Pidgin English, Igbo,Hausa and Yoruba for Nigeria in 1984 and updated in 1990. 
Therefore, I am an expert in content localization in Nigeria since when I was 21 to date.
I have also done field trips on demographics of the population of Nigeria.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry since 2013.
Affiliate Partner,
Cinewav of Singapore
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi

Have you seen Nancy Isime, the Sexiest Woman in Nollywood in "UNFORGIVABLE"?

The most daring Nigerian movie on love and rape.



Saturday, June 1, 2024

2024 Cannes Film Festival: Winner of the Palme d'Or the Other Winners

 

2024 Cannes Film Festival: Winner of the Palme d'Or the Other Winners


77th EDITION

May 14-25, 2024

Palme d’Or

ANORA

Directed by : Sean BAKER

Year of production: 2024

Country: United States

Duration: 138

"Anora, a young sex worker from

Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled."

https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/anora/#

Grand Prix

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT

Payal Kapadia

Jury Prize

EMILIA PÉREZ

Jacques Audiard

Best Director

MIGUEL GOMES

for Grand Tour

Special Award

MOHAMMAD RASOULOF

for The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was given a Special Prize for The Seed of the Sacred Fig. 

Best Performance by an Actor

JESSE PLEMONS

in Kinds of Kindness directed by Yórgos Lánthimos

Best Performance by an Actress

ADRIANA PAZ

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

ZOE SALDAÑA

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

SELENA GOMEZ

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

Best Screenplay

THE SUBSTANCE

Coralie Fargeat

Short Films

Palme d’or

THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT

Nebojša Slijepčević

Special Mention

BAD FOR A MOMENT

Daniel Soares

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard Prize

BLACK DOG

by Guan Hu

Jury Prize

L’HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE

by Boris Lojkine

Best Director Prize ex-aequo

ROBERTO MINERVINI

for The Damned

RUNGANO NYONI

for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Best Performance by an Actress

ANASUYA SENGUPTA

in The Shameless

Best Performance by an Actor

ABOU SANGARÉ

in L’Histoire de Souleymane

Youth Award

HOLY COW

by Louise Courvoisier

1st film

Special Mention

NORAH

by Tawfik Alzaidi

1st film

Caméra d’or

ARMAND

Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Un Certain Regard

Special Mention

MONGREL

Wei Liang Chiang & You Qiao Yin

La Cinef

First Prize

SUNFLOWERS WERE THE FIRST ONES TO KNOW…

Chidananda S Naik

Joint Second Prize

OUT THE WINDOW THROUGH THE WALL

Asya Segalovich

THE CHAOS SHE LEFT BEHIND

Nikos Kolioukos

Third Prize

BUNNYHOOD

Mansi Maheshwari

Meet the 77th Festival winners - Festival de Cannes

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/a-la-rencontre-des-laureats-du-77e-festival/

See the films of the Official Selection 2024 - Festival de Cannes

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/the-films-of-the-official-selection-2024/



Happy New Month of June!


HALLELUJAH! 

Happy New Month of June of Prosperity, Success, Triumph and Victory with all the thanksgivings to Almighty God. 

Cheers!

#God

#june

#happynewmonth

#happiness

#progress

#prosperity

#success 

#triumphant 

#triumph

#victory 

Friday, May 31, 2024

Nigerian Filmmakers: Beyond Nollywood, Beyond Netflix

Nigerian Filmmakers: Beyond Nollywood, Beyond Netflix


TV is not Cinema and Cinema is not TV.
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima



Nigerian filmmakers must capture the big picture of the future of Nollywood.

Majority of the filmmakers in Nigeria should know and understand the importance and significance of Art Direction and Production Design in filmmaking. 
Many of them don't even know the definition of Art Direction.
There is no filmmaking without Art Direction.

Netflix in Nigeria: It is No Longer Nollywood As Usual



The filmmakers in both Nollywood and Kennywood must now be more adventurous and ambitious in the content and context of filmmaking beyond mere narrative storytelling.
Any dummy can play guitar. 
But any dummy cannot be Carlos Santana or Sir Victor Uwaifo.

Nigerian filmmakers are still using having their movies on Netflix for bragging rights when none of them has made the official selections of the most competitive and prestigious international film festivals in the world after decades of making movies.
We are still waiting for them to be in the official selections for the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and compete with the best filmmakers in the world and not competing against themselves in Nigeria.

They have been making movies even before C.J Obasi got his GCE and he has gone ahead of them to win coveted awards at the Sundance Film Festival, FESPACO and other esteemed international film festivals where they have failed to make the official selections or failed to win any prize.

The future of Nollywood is bigger than Netflix.

Beauty is more than having a pretty face.



99.99 percent of the biracial actresses in Nollywood can't act.
Three of them are annoyingly amateurish.
They have been featured in movies just for having a pretty face by intellectually challenged filmmakers in Nollywood who think having white looking Bimbos in their movies will attract more viewers and moviegoers.
Having a pretty face and being photogenic can attract filmmakers, but acting begins with learning how to act and not pretending to act when you don't know how to act.

We are two years to the epoch of 100 years of filmmaking in Nigeria. But I doubt if the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy had a clue until I have mentioned it.
How much have we achieved in a century of Nigerian Cinema?
What are milestones in the history of filmmaking in Nigeria since the production of the first feature film, "Palaver" in 1926 by the Academy Award winning English filmmaker, Geoffrey Barkas?
The making of "Palaver" was published in the second edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series in 2014.


- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
The Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.







Saturday, May 11, 2024

Six Successful Women in Nollywood I Have Written About- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Adaugo of Nollywood, Mo Abudu.

Founder/CEO of EbonyLife Entertainment Group.

Six Successful Women in Nollywood I Have Written About- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima 


Adaora of Nollywood, Mrs. Stephanie Linus.

I have written about several notable personalities in Nigeria; especially those in Nollywood and Kannywood of the Nigerian film industry published on my popular Nigerians Report Online, TALK OF THE TOWN By Orikinla and Kisses & Roses and on the Black Filmmaker of the UK, Face2Face, Shadow and ACT on Indiewire and Yahoo Voices of America, Nigeria Films, Modern Ghana and other publications. 

Queen of Islamic TV in Nigeria, Hajia Shareefah Abiola-Andu, Founder/CEO of Arabel Nigeria, Arabel Films and Aleef TV.


Adaeze of Nigerian Cinemas, Mrs. Joy Odiete, Founder/CEO of Blue Pictures Entertainment Group.



Eze Nwayi of Nollywood, Ms. Chioma Ude, Founder and Executive Director of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF).


I have been writing about six successful leading ladies in the Nigerian film industry, including Mrs. Stephanie Linus, who has been included in the 34 Beauty Queens of Nollywood and Kannywood in the second edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series printed in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America and circulated by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

I have 100% success record of everyone of the six women of substance I have promoted becoming more celebrated and elevated in success and my best wishes for them coming to pass.

1. Mo Abudu since 2012
2. Chioma Ude since 2010
3. Mrs. Stephanie Linus since 2009
4. Linda Ikeji since 2005
5. Mrs. Joy Odiete since 2015
6. Hajia Shareefah Abiola Andu since 2019

The proofs are available online
Just put by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima after their names and see all my reports on them.

To Almighty God be all the glory.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
The Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®  Series
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry





Saturday, May 4, 2024

The Realization of the Power of Christian Cinema and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria for National Orientation and Nation Building

 

Nigerian premiere of "The 7 Churches of Revelation" on Ascension Day, May 9, 2024.

Buy VIP Tickets on 
 https://selar.co/1wn1v4

https://tix.africa/buy/nigerian-premiere-of-the-7-churches-of-revelation


The Realization of the Power of Christian Cinema and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria for National Orientation and Nation Building


Anyone who is intelligent knows the immense powers of mass communication in the circulation of information for public enlightenment and entertainment which we have seen the impacts on the society through sociocultural, socioeconomic and sociopolitical developments in every nation. 

The power of religion or human civilization has been known since the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, the foundation of the two greatest religions, Christianity and Islam in the history of the world. 

The two religions have the largest populations in Nigeria with the biggest and largest markets and economies in the most populous nation in Africa.






The symbiosis of the two religions is the basis for the initiatives of the Christian Cinema in Nigeria (CCN) and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria (ICN) I have started for the acceleration of the exploration and realization of the power of Christian and Islamic films for the education, mobilization and sensitization of the people for national orientation in the nation building of a New Nigeria in the leadership of Africa among the comity of nations in the world.

- Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima,
Founder/Executive Director,
Christian Cinema in Nigeria and Islamic Cinema in Nigeria.
Saturday, May 4, 2024.

Background of Christian Cinema

Catholic priest Athanasius Kircher promoted the magic lantern by publishing the book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae in 1680  Controversy soon followed as priests and masons used the lanterns "to persuade followers of their ability to control both the forces of darkness and enlightenment" and temperance groups used the lanterns to fight alcoholism. In the 1800s, missionaries such as David Livingstone used the lanterns to present the Gospel in Africa.

Through the years, many Christians began to utilize motion picture for their own purposes. In 1899, Herbert Booth, as part of the Salvation Army, claimed to be the first user of film for the cause of Christianity


The Wise Sayings of Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima


Beauty is more than having a pretty face.

Beauty is beyond the first sight.

How can a woman be beautiful and be so cruel?
There is no beauty in cruelty.
There is no beauty in indignity.

True beauty blossoms in purity.
True beauty is the Queen of nobility.

Great nations are built by building great institutions of great minds of great ambitions.

Whoever wishes you well will tell you the truth;
And will do the best for your happiness and success.

Whoever delays what will be of benefit and credit to you is not your friend; but the enemy of your progress.

You can never see the true colours of people from afar.
The closer you are, the clearer they are.

The most dangerous enemies don't make noise.
Even when they sing your praise.

The gift of greatness has been given to everyone. 
But your gift has no benefit if you don't use it.

Your foes are as many as the toes you step on in the journey of life.

Caprice, malice and prejudice are the vices of insecure people.

Don't grudge,
Don't judge.

What are the benefits of titles to someone who has no principles?

You cannot be great without dignity, integrity and nobility.
Greatness comes with great dignity, humility, integrity and nobility.

Do not mistake pity for love.

True love tells no lies.
True love never dies.

Many fools have died as they lied.

You may fool the whole world
But you cannot fool God.

The truth conquers death.
For the truth shall inherit the Earth.

There is no vanity in charity.

In the name of religion, multitudes have perished defending the God who has no religion.

You can never see God until you see people through the eyes of God.

Whom Almighty God has chosen to promote, no one can demote.


- by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
Author of "The Prophet Lied", "Diary of the Memory Keeper", "In the House of Dogs" and other books distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.