WorldRemit Raises $40m To Target 5 Million Customers in Africa

PRESS RELEASE

WorldRemit raises $40m to target 5 million customers in Africa

Series C funding round brings the total amount raised to $220m

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 7, 2017/ -- Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit (www.WorldRemit.com) has raised $40m to drive its next phase of global growth, aiming to serve 10 million customers connected to emerging markets. Half of these customers will be in Africa.

Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO at WorldRemit.

As part of the expansion, WorldRemit will enable customers in Africa to transfer money to 148 countries as easily as sending an instant message, using the WorldRemit app. Countries in Africa which now receive remittances through WorldRemit, will become send countries. Most importantly, the new service will make sending money within Africa faster, easier and low cost. According to the World Bank, inter-Africa transfers are amongst the most expensive in the world.

Michael Liu, Regional Director, Asia-Pacific.

Money transfers to Africa account for more than half of WorldRemit’s total volume of transactions. The company currently handles 74% of remittances to popular mobile money services across Africa like MTN, Ecocash, Tigo Pesa, Vodafone M-Pesa and Airtel Money, making it the global leader in mobile-to-mobile international money transfers.

Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO at WorldRemit, comments: “This new funding will fuel our growth, and help bring our service to millions more customers across the globe. Africa is a crucial market for us and over the next few years, we will expand our services so customers can send and receive with WorldRemit, getting the benefits of our fast, secure online service.”

Since its last funding round in 2015, WorldRemit has launched 206 new services across the globe and has grown its transaction volume by 400%. Last month WorldRemit became Arsenal FC’s (www.Arsenal.com) first-ever online money transfer partner.

Dangote is the Only African On Bloomberg 50 List of the Most Influential People in 2017

Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Dangote: Only African in Bloomberg 50 List of the Most Influential People in 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Dangote: Only African in Bloomberg 50 list of year's most influential people

Dangote's contribution to the world this year revolves around his dynamic attention to lessen food imports into his own country and Africa's largest nation, Nigeria

NEW YORK, United States of America, December 5, 2017/ -- Aliko Dangote was honored last night at the Bloomberg 50 annual gala dinner at New York's iconic Gotham Hall. Bloomberg's list of 50 most influential names (http://APO.af/hCnHFd) who have had an impact on the world in 2017 included Dangote, Africa's richest person, for his outstanding commitment of over $4B USD to increase Nigeria's food production capacity.

IOM To Fly 15,000 Migrants Home from Libya in Wake of Reported Abuses

UN Agency To Fly 15,000 Migrants Home from Libya in Wake of Reported Abuses

NEW YORK, 01 December 2017 / PRN Africa / -- The United Nations migration agency plans to fly 15,000 more migrants home from detention centres in Libya before year-end in the wake of shocking reports of rampant migrant abuse and squalid and overcrowded conditions at these facilities across the North African country.

“Scaling up our return programme may not serve to fully address the plight of migrants in Libya, but it is our duty to take migrants out of detention centers as a matter of absolute priority,” said William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at its Council meeting in Geneva on Thursday.

Atiku Abubakar Has Bad Political Advisers and Bad Public Relations Managers

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is desperate to become the next President of Nigeria, but attacking his former political party and President Buhari only makes him more unpopular. He has bad political advisers and bad public relations managers. pic.twitter.com/23gYpgaGzX

— 247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) December 2, 2017

The Twisted War On Piracy of Nigerian Movies

The Twisted War On Piracy of Nigerian Movies

I have written comprehensive articles on movie piracy and focused on the piracy of Nigerian movies in "Nigeria: Nollywood and the Vicious Circle of Movie Piracy" published on Shadow and Act of the popular IndieWire.
Piracy of Nigerian movies is not as terrible as the piracy of American movies. According recent reports, last year 2016, in the United States alone, an estimated 981 million pirated movies and TV shows were downloaded. Billions of dollars are lost to pirates of movies every year.

Archbishop Tutu Fellows Condemn Slavery of Nigerians and other Africans in Libya

PRESS RELEASE

Statement from the Archbishop Tutu Fellows to African Heads of State and the International Private Sector, Civil Society and Multilateral Organisations on the Great Stain of Slavery in Libya

Slavery in Libya is a crime against humanity and immediate action is required by all stakeholders, including African governments

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, November 30, 2017/ -- Statement from the Archbishop Tutu Fellows to African Heads of State and the International Private Sector, Civil Society and Multilateral Organisations on the Great Stain of Slavery in Libya:

Your Excellencies, leaders of private sector and civil society organisations, policy makers at the United Nations and the African Union and fellow Africansm

Slavery in Libya is a crime against humanity and immediate action is required by all stakeholders, including African governments, to put an end to this outrageous practice and hold responsible parties accountable.

Folorunso Alakija Inspires 300 Women at Prestigious 2017 Flourish Africa Conference

PRESS RELEASE

Folorunso Alakija Inspires 300 Women at Prestigious 2017 Flourish Africa Conference

The 66-year-old business magnate has persistently championed the causes of women in Nigeria from her work with widows and orphans

LAGOS, Nigeria, November 28, 2017/ -- Folorunso Alakija, one of a handful of successful female entrepreneurs on the continent listed as one of Forbes most powerful women in the world, attended the Africa conference. The 66-year-old business magnate has persistently championed the causes of women in Nigeria from her work with widows and orphans through the Rose of Sharon Foundation which Alakija uses as a medium to empower thousands of impoverished women and their children through Flourish Africa (http://FlourishAfrica.com) which is the first platform of its kind designed to create an impact on the lives of women in Africa by providing the tools they need to fulfill their God given potential. Through a series of conferences, workshops and mentorship programs, the platform hopes to bring women from all walks of life together to share in their unique experiences and become who God has destined for them to be.

Initiatives designed to give them a better standard of living

As CEO of Famfa Oil (www.Famfa.com), one of the largest indigenous oil companies in Africa, she has built schools, science labs, roads as well as providing scholarships to thousands of young students all over Nigeria. Her philanthropic work continues this year with the launch of the women empowerment platform, Flourish Africa.

AfDB Launches Youth Advisory Group To Create 25 Million Jobs

PRESS RELEASE

AfDB Launches Youth Advisory Group To Create 25 Million Jobs

The Jobs for Youth in Africa initiative aims at creating 25 million jobs and impacting 50 million youth over the next ten years by equipping them with the right skills to get decent and meaningful jobs

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, November 28, 2017/ -- The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (www.AfDB.org), Akinwumi Adesina, has launched the Presidential Youth Advisory Group (PYAG) to provide insights and innovative solutions for job creation for Africa’s youth, as outlined in the Bank’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy (JfYA) (http://APO.af/nRtVAs).

Stephanie Linus and Ivanka Trump To Speak at the 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in India

Celebrated Nollywood diva, Stephanie Linus will speak alongside Ivanka Trump at the 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in India.

The star actress and filmmaker, Stephanie Linus will be attending the 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in India where she is expected to speak alongside Ms Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the US President; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent dignitaries.

The Summit which will take place from November 28 to 30 in the city of Hyderabad is jointly organized by the United States and the Republic of India. This is the first time that the Summit is being held in South Asia.
This year’s Summit will highlight the theme Women First, Prosperity for All and will focus on supporting women entrepreneurs, solving 21st century challenges, and fostering economic growth globally.

A New Report Says Nigeria is the ‘World’s Most Mobilized Country

 Nigerians are fascinated by Mobile phones.

A new report says Nigeria is the ‘world’s most mobilized country’ with more mobile traffic than any other nation.

Report is available. pic.twitter.com/DIGsXl36Tu

— Nigeria Daily (@nigeriadaily) November 24, 2017