Monday, July 23, 2012

Wole Soyinka Loses Prominent Actor Gogo Ombo Gogo

Prof. Wole Soyinka always trusted the reliability of Gogo Ombo Gogo in casting actors for his plays in Nigeria and abroad.

Gogo Ombo Gogo, one of the most reliable actors of the famous Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has been reported dead yesterday after illness in Lagos just a week after Soyinka celebrated his 78th birthday.

Gogo played major roles in Soyinka’s Beatification of an Area Boy and King Baabu by NÀWÁO Produktion Zürich.

Gogo standing behind another actor on stage.

Gogo played a major role in Soyinka's classic satire King Baabu and other plays.

Gogo whilst working abroad.

Gogo on stage in King Babu.

Gogo was in Daniel O. Fagunwa's Ireke Onibudo: The Fabulous Adventures Of A Sugarcane Man of the Chams Theatre Series.

The veteran actor from Nembe in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria also played prominent roles in Daniel O. Fagunwa's Ireke Onibudo: The Fabulous Adventures Of A Sugarcane Man of the annual Chams Theatre Series, and Gogo Ombo Gogo was “Are Agoro Ajayi” in Kurunmi the classic play of the late Prof. Ola Rotimi directed by Ben Tomoloju, leading Nigerian theater director and veteran journalist between December 22, 2009 and January 1, 2010 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos and he was in Odia Ofeimun’s A Feast of Return directed by Felix Okolo in 2011.

Gogo featured in several Nigerian movies like Tunde Kelani’s Ti Oluwa Nile and Dwelling in Bondage.

He was a leading member of our Puppet Drama Troupe from 1980 - 1984 when we produced the Puppet Drama for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10 before the emergence of Nollywood.


Gogo Ombo Gogo will be remembered as one of the most accomplished actors in Nigerian theatre and movies.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Top Reports on Nigeria

Releases displayed in Africa/Lagos time
23 Jul 2012
11:46 CNOOC Limited Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Nexen Inc.
11:10 Kola Aluko Hails $4.5 Billion Deal for New Refineries 

0:15 Beer Market Trends, Targeting Adult Consumer Needs in Soft Drinks Market & Innovation Trends Analyzed in New Industry Research Reports 
22 Jul 2012

04:38 Preparations underway for second Africa Trade Forum
04:00 BASF and Julius Berger Nigeria Add Fine Finish to Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge in Lagos




How To Create A Business Page On Google Plus


How to Create a Business Page On Google Plus

A SPN Exclusive Article By Matthew Meyer (c) 2012


Google+ is now allowing the creating of business pages. Previously Google+ was only open to individuals. Now you can create a business page for your brand on Google+. Since Google basically owns search and all their other properties like YouTube, Blogger.com and Google Places get priority in search it would not be a bad idea to have a Google+ business page in addition to your personal profile.

However, to start with Google+ you first need to create a personal profile. It is from within the personal profile that the business page is created. Here is an article telling you how to get started with Google+.



Saturday, July 21, 2012

Aurora Shooting at Batman Showing Demands Action

20 Jul 2012 20:30 Africa/Lagos Aurora Shooting at Batman Showing Demands Action, Says The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence  SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- We are deeply saddened and outraged by the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado earlier today, and our thoughts are with all of those affected by this horrible tragedy. Already, politicians around the country have begun to offer their condolences to the survivors of this terrible event, as they do every time a mass shooting happens in America. Inevitably, these statements are long on good intentions but short on action. The American people deserve better. All of us should be free to live our lives without being affected by gun violence. Instead, across the country, too many Americans are murdered by guns every single day. It's time to demand that our leaders go beyond offering condolences, and instead address these problems head-on. It is simply far too easy for dangerous people to access military-style weapons. Something has to change. There are solutions to this epidemic. We know that smart gun laws save lives and we remain committed to fighting for safer communities. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence is available to answer questions about gun laws and gun violence in Colorado and across the country as well as strategies to reduce gun violence nationwide. www.smartgunlaws.org SOURCE Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence  CONTACT: Robyn Thomas, +1-415-433-2062 x310, rthomas@smartgunlaws.org; or Ben Van Houten, +1-415-433-2062 x311, bvanhouten@smartgunlaws.org Web Site: http://smartgunlaws.org/
Top Reports
Releases displayed in Africa/Lagos time
20 Jul 2012
20:30 Aurora Shooting at Batman Showing Demands Action, Says The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
18:22 Movie Theater Gunman Terrorizes Audience; Safety Expert Reveals Steps to Protect Yourself During a Shooting Rampage
17:42 American Humane Association Offers Tips to Help Children Deal with Concerns Following the Shootings in Aurora, CO     
16:13 Statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter on This Morning's Mass Shooting in Aurora     
15:58 Mental Health America Joins Americans in Mourning Loss of Life in Aurora, Colorado, Shootings; Resources Available to Help Families, Community Respond to Tragic Events

Popular Nigerian Actor Jim Iyke In Fraud Scandal



Popular Nigerian Actor Jim Iyke In fraud Scandal


This might not be the best of times for Mr. Jim Iyke, do you guys still remember is sarcastic banter on twitter insulting all those who tried to help in get out of the mess with one Hajiya Habiba Abubakar, whom he had a business-gone-wrong relationship with, well the Hajiya is not letting Jim go on the cheap, she has decided to provide us with some juicy and elegant details to totally nail jim iyke including a mug shot taken in a Nigerian police station.





Friday, July 20, 2012

Consumer Lifestyles in Nigeria


Nigerian consumers face a number of challenges, ranging from frequent power outings to higher fuel prices to poor infrastructure. As well, 60% live in absolute poverty and can only afford the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. Regardless, they constitute the most optimistic group of consumers in Africa. Demand for a wider range of products is expected to rise in coming years as a result of increasing oil revenues and more international companies moving into the country.

Euromonitor''s Consumer Lifestyles in Nigeria report analyses factors influencing national consumer expenditure. Consumer lifestyles reports include coverage of: population, urban development, home ownership, household profiles, labour, income, consumer and family expenditure, health, education, eating habits, drinking habits, shopping habits, personal grooming, clothing, leisure habits, savings and investments, media, communication, transport and travel and tourism. Use this report to understand the factors influencing a nation''s lifestyle choices.

Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.

Why buy this report?
* Get a detailed picture of the Consumer Lifestyles market;
* Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;
* Understand the competitive environment, the market’s major players and leading brands;
* Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.

Euromonitor International has over 40 years'' experience of publishing market research reports, business reference books and online information systems. With offices in London, Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai, Vilnius, Dubai, Cape Town, Santiago, Sydney, Tokyo and Bangalore and a network of over 800 analysts worldwide, Euromonitor International has a unique capability to develop reliable information resources to help drive informed strategic planning.

Download PDF copy of the complete report.

Published By: Euromonitor International
Product Code: Euromonitor International7609



Routes and International Council of Tourism Partners Join Forces


19 Jul 2012 15:29 Africa/Lagos


Routes and International Council of Tourism Partners Join Forces

MANCHESTER, England, July 19, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

During the recent Routes Africa event, which took place 8-10 July in the Seychelles Routes, part of UBM Aviation and the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) reached an agreement to work together to advance the understanding of the value of airline connectivity for destinations.

The two organisations will develop programmes around both World Routes and Routes' regional events that will give a clearer focus on the main trade, development, and human dimensions of connectivity. These workshops, conferences and other related activities will also identify the key challenges and explore practical ways to unlock the benefits, impacts and opportunities of sustainable aviation growth. The programmes will maintain a strong focus on promoting this type of growth to developing markets generally and the African market specifically.

Seychelles Minister of Tourism and Culture Alain St. Ange said that this had been a great week for the Seychelles: "To be a catalyst for new forms of collaboration between old friends is a very special privilege. We in turn pledge our support to the continuing work of ICTP and Routes, and to ensure that the unique spirit of the Vanilla Islands remains close to the accomplishments that I know will result from their work together."

David Stroud, Executive Vice President Airports for UBM Aviation Routes commented: "This is one of the really exciting outcomes of our very successful meeting here in the Seychelles. It was not only the biggest meeting on extending Africa services that we have ever held, but also the one where the most business ever was done between airlines, airports, and tourism authorities. Thanks to the inclusionary thinking of Minister St. Ange, we have had the opportunity to interact with ICTP, whose vision and global coverage fits closely with our own. We are both committed to promoting sustainable aviation growth."

These sentiments were echoed by Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President of ICTP, who welcomed the opportunities to build the worldwide network of support for an expanding air transport system geared to green growth transformation saying: "It is very appropriate that we start here in Africa and in the Vanilla Islands, which depend on sustainable aviation growth for poverty reduction and lifestyle development. We will continue to keep these needs at the centre of our global collaboration with Routes."

Notes to Editors

About Routes


- Routes organises world-renowned airline and airport networking events
through its regional and global Route Development Forums. Each year, there is one
global event and one regional event in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and CIS
respectively. http://www.routesonline.com
- Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the Manchester UK‐based ASM Ltd., a
consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports.
http://www.asm-global.com
- Routes and ASM were acquired by UBM Aviation Worldwide Ltd in August 2010.
Routes is a UBM Aviation brand. UBM Aviation specialises in the supply of data and
information products, market intelligence, news and events related to the global
aviation industry. More information can be found at http://www.ubmaviation.com


About ICTP


- The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) is a grassroots
travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and
green growth.
- ICTP engages communities and their stakeholders to share quality and green
opportunities including tools and resources, access to funding, education, and
marketing support. ICTP advocates sustainable aviation growth, streamlined travel
formalities, and fair coherent taxation.
- ICTP supports the UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN World Tourism
Organization's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and a range of programs that
underpin them.
- ICTP has members in Anguilla; Aruba; Bangladesh; Belgium, Belize; Canada;
China; Croatia; The Gambia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran;
Korea (South); La Reunion (French Indian Ocean); Malaysia; Malawi; Mauritius; Mexico;
Morocco; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands (USA Pacific Island Territory);
Sultanate of Oman; Pakistan; Palestine; Rwanda; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South
Africa; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Trinidad & Tobago; Yemen; Zambia;
Zimbabwe; and from the US: Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri,
Utah, Virginia, and Washington.


For more information, go to: http://www.tourismpartners.org

Source: UBM Aviation Routes Ltd

For further press information please contact: Victoria Jones, PR Executive, UBM Aviation Routes Limited, T: +44(0)161-234-2730, E: pr@routesonline.com, Follow us on twitter: @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes and @VictoriaRoutes.



Move Over Asian Tigers, The African Lions Are Coming


Can African lions overtake Asia's tigers?

Africa's economies are developing in leaps and bounds and have enormous potential for growth, says Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. While companies still need strong nerves to secure a slice of the African marketplace, it's looking increasingly like it's the right time for African lions to take over the Asian tigers as the fastest-growing global economies.
~ Grace Segran for INSEAD Africa Initiative

"I hope it will be, and the first lion will be Nigeria," Sanusi says.

The Nigerian economy is growing steadily at a rate of seven to eight per cent per annum, driven not by oil and gas exports, but by agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, and services.

What Nigeria needs most to roar into the leading economies in the 21st century are what the governor of the apex bank emphasized in the following quote.

“That includes policy consistency, political stability, the fight against corruption, and improved efficiency in business processes. If we did the same thing that the Asians, such as the Indonesians and the Malaysians, did and if we did it right, we should be able to repeat the experience.”

As they say in South Africa, it is possible.

South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Angola have the potentials to lead the pack once they can invest more in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), because SMEs are actually the catalyst for fast economic development in Africa and the governments and private investors must do more in expanding venture capital opportunities in aggro-allied ventures, IT, entertainment and production of local goods.



SMEs are responsible for driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors and are said to contribute 70% of economic growth globally. Africa is an emerging market and countries in Africa have realised the importance of SME development by making funds available to potential entrepreneurs. The major population in Africa which resides in the rural areas is also being tapped by banks & financial institutions by making finance available to those micro entrepreneurs in helping them start their own business. Banks, Financial Institutions, Private Equity Firms and NGOs across Africa are encouraging entrepreneurs to come up with innovative business ideas and explore opportunities in initiating a business start up. SMEs are thus proving to be a lifeline for Africa by creating job opportunities and skilled workforce that in return is helping boost the productivity of this region. But even under such promising circumstances, there still looms a major concern over factors such as vague business models, unclear government legislations, customer awareness, taxation & high repayment rates which need to be worked upon.

~ From SME Africa 2012. From: 17 Oct 2012 To: 18 Oct 2012 City: Johannesburg




Google Launches Gmail Through SMS for African Customers


TABJ - July 19 - Today, Google announced the launch of an SMS version of its mail service Gmail. The service, targeted at users in Africa, will allow basic phones without the ability to access the internet to still receive emails. The African mobile market has grown exponentially in size, where even in the most rural parts of the continent, cellphones have dominated. The announcement came through a blog post from Geva Rechav, Google’s product manager for Emerging Markets. It should be noted that Google has been actively increasing its presence in Africa, where it recently launched the Computer Science for High School project, giving grants to 17 universities to expand their computer science programs. The SMS Gmail service has so far been offered in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Users will be email to receive new emails for free and sending will be treated as a normal text message, subject to standard network fees.


China pledges $20 Billion in Credit for Africa

TABJ - July 19 - Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged $20 Billion in credit for Africa over the next three years. Speaking in Beijing at the China-Africa forum, a summit hosted for leaders from 50 African nations, Mr. Jintao announced that China promises the credit ...
Full article

Google launches Gmail through SMS for African customers

TABJ - July 19 - Today, Google announced the launch of an SMS version of its mail service Gmail. The service, targeted at users in Africa, will allow basic phones without the ability to access the internet to still receive emails. The African mobile market ...
Full article

State of emergency lifted in Egypt

TABJ - 1 June - After 31 years, the state of emergency has been lifted in Egypt. It had come into operation after President Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981. Activists who led the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak last year made lifting the state of ...
Full article

National Volunteer Week marks the rise of voluntourism

TABJ – 31 May – Tomorrow marks the beginning of National Volunteer Week (UK) in a year that has seen the rise of so-called ‘voluntourism’, where tourists combine international travel with volunteering. Two popular voluntourism destinations are Malawi and Swaziland in southern Africa, where it is ...
Full article

BP returns to Libya exploration

TABJ – 30 May – Oil and gas company BP has decided to return to the drilling programme of an existing Kenya Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) contract with National Oil Corporation (NOC). The exploration programme was brought to a halt on 21 ...
Full article

Algeria plans mega-mosque

TABJ - 28 May - Earlier this month the foundations were laid for the building of a 'mega-mosque' in Algiers. The $1.3 billion mosque will have the world's highest minaret at 270 metres tall. Its prayer room will be able to accommodate 120,000 worshippers. The ...
Full article

Sugar output affects Illovo Sugar FY earnings

TABJ - 28 May - Illovo Sugar Ltd, the South African unit of international group Associated British Foods, posted an 18% rise in full-year earnings today. However, this was slightly lower than the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The company said diluted headline ...
Full article

Egypt's next round of voting

TABJ - 25 May - The first round of Egypt's first free presidential elections has been completed, and early results have led to the speculation that the next round will be a fight between Ahmed Shafiq, deposed leader Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister, and Mohamed ...
Full article

JSE adjusts 'incorrect' trades

TABJ - 25 May - The Johannesburg Stock Exchange said today that it had stopped "incorrect" trades from one of its members. The JSE released a statement saying it would reverse the trades and lower the session's total value after the close of trade."Until end ...
Full article

Court case over Zuma painting

TABJ - 24 May - President Jacob Zuma has asked the South African High Court to issue an order preventing the display of a painting that depicts him with clearly visible genitals. The painting has since been defaced by an outraged sympathiser who described it ...
Full article




Thursday, July 19, 2012

Lucky



Lucky


Directed by Avie Luthra

Produced by Christopher J. Wilmot

Opening in South Africa on July 20th and in the US & Canada in late 2012!

Learn more
Checkout our South Africa website
About the film: LUCKY is a South African feature length film about a ten-year-old South African orphan who leaves his Zulu village to make his own life in the city...only to find no one will help him, except a formidable Indian woman called Padma. See the Trailer!

The Critics Love LUCKY!
BBC - "a simple but profoundly moving portrait of humanity"..."a wonderful, little gem" - read review
Hollywood Reporter - "achieves poignancy without manipulation...an awards contender" says John DeFore
Variety - "....an emotionally resonant portrait of contemporary South Africa...delicate and real...extraordinarily touching" says John Anderson
Read more reviews

See upcoming film festival dates





How Many BlackBerry 10s Must RIM Sell?


How Many BlackBerry 10s Must RIM Sell?

~ By  Sarah Reedy

 
4:00 AM -- Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; Toronto: RIM) has made no secret of the fact that it's betting the farm on BlackBerry 10, its operating system overhaul that will debut on mobile devices next year.

That's a huge gamble for the Canadian company as it tries to dig out of an enormous hole. The company reported a first-quarter operating loss of $518 million and said it plans to cut 5,000 more jobs before the end of the year. And, in the interim to its delayed BB10 launch, it only has its poorly received BB7 line to fill the gap. (See RIM CEO Denies BlackBerry Death Spiral, RIM Posts $518M Q1 Loss, More Job Cuts at RIM and RIM to Sell the BlackBerry Farm?)

CEO Thorston Heins said RIM will launch a multi-touch device first, followed by a keyboard option. However, the question for the handset maker is not what kind of devices it needs, but how many it has to sell to stay in the smartphone picture.

Analysts aren't optimistic.
"Honestly, I am just hoping that the company will survive to make it to the BB10 launch," saysPyramid Research analyst Emily Smith.

Given its cash position -- RIM has $2 billion in the bank -- independent Canadian analyst Carmi Levy is more optimistic for his hometown company, but he says it's going to be a bleak couple of quarters, both for the company and its investors.

Click here to read the rest of the article.