MTN Backs Ebola Fight with Medical Equipment Donates

 LAGOS State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has commended Nigeria's leading Information and Communication Technology Company, MTN, for its public spirited gesture, which he said is a tradition associated with the MTN brand, especially in matters of Education and Health.  Governor Fashola stated this while receiving Personal Protective Equipment for healthcare workers and caregivers, donated by MTN Foundation in support of Lagos State's effort a

t containing the spread of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease.

The donation was made under the MTN Foundation's Community Support Project, which lends a helping hand to communities through infrastructure upgrade such as the provision of water boreholes, transformers etc for the benefit of people.  The presentation of personal protective equipment was a response by the Foundation in support of the systematic and professional approach of the Lagos State Health Team in curbing the Ebola scourge.

Governor Fashola lauded MTN's Private-Public Partnership model, which has seen the Foundation partner with government and other stakeholders in responding to different challenges in times of need, especially given the current health challenge faced by the country. "We are indeed grateful to MTN as it has been a tradition of theirs especially in matters of health and education. We also appreciate the health workers who in spite of the fear, worked tirelessly to bring the situation under manageable control. As much as we appreciate MTN's gesture, we want to reiterate that the real challenge is human capacity, that is, the insufficiency of virologists and Ebola management experts," said the Lagos State helmsman.

Shedding more light on the presentation, Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Dr. Pascal Dozie, said the gesture was in support of all that the Lagos State government had done to contain the spread of the Ebola virus since it was first discovered.

"MTN recognises the importance of collective effort and the role of the private sector in containing the spread and the impact of the disease and we take very seriously, our responsibility to provide a service that is essential in a period of national emergency as we have found ourselves. This is why we are making this donation of personal protective equipment to supplement measures to protect our frontline health workers and caregivers," he stated.

"We have also activated a 24-hour, 7-day a week help-line in conjunction with our call centers management partners where customers can get basic information on Ebola, with support from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, through the office of the Special Assistant on Public Health to the State Governor. On a  national scale, we have partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health to launch a public awareness campaign via SMS to educate our 58 million subscribers about the Ebola virus," concludes Dozie

The items provided for caregivers by the Foundation include: Elbow length gloves; Level Four overalls with hood, knee booths, goggles, medical masks, anti-viral sanitizers, rubber aprons, respirators and bags of hair-nets for female health workers. For the frontline health workers, the items include elbow length gloves, medical masks, anti-viral sanitizers, level three overalls with hood; rubber aprons and thermal scanners.

Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Services Executive of MTN Nigeria, said: "At MTN, we believe in making positive impact in the lives of everybody and in this current health challenge, the frontline health workers and caregivers, who are the most vulnerable at the moment, are a great concern to us, which is why we have stepped in to contribute our own quota. Providing the Personal Protective Equipment to protecting our frontline health workers and caregivers as well as continuously educating millions of our subscribers via SMS in English and our local languages and phone call, is a demonstration of our promise to continue to touch more lives, everywhere we go." 

“Glo Xchange, A Major Boost To Nigerian Economy”

Group CEO,IHS Holding Limited, Issam Darwish;Chief Executive Officer,

MTN Nigeria, Michael Ikpoki and Corporate Services Executive, MTN
Nigeria, Akinwale Goodluck at the MOU signing ceremony between MTN
Nigeria and IHS Holding Limited over the outsourcing of MTN Nigeria's
mobile network towers.

TWO of Nigeria’s foremost financial analysts have applauded Nigeria’s biggest Mobile Money Agent Network, Glo Xchange, recently launched by Globacom, the country’s national telecom carrier. 

Glo Xchange was launched in partnership with four mobile money operators, FirstMonie, Stanbic IBTC, Ecobank and Zenith Bank.

Renowned financial consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane and macroeconomics expert and CEO of Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba, who spoke at the formal launch of Glo Xchange in Lagos, described the initiative as a direly needed ingredient for accelerating mobile money explosion in Nigeria.

Rewane said the initiative is consistent with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy thrust of developing and sustaining an efficient payment system that will drive an increase in the velocity of money and consequently, stimulate economic growth.

He described Nigeria as a mineral-rich and commodity-dependent economy with a nominal GDP of $510bn. According to him, it is 12 times the size of Kenya’s economy which has profited massively from mobile money service. He said Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and the 26^th largest in the world.

Rewane said, however, that the economy is largely cash-based, a situation which he said constitutes a barrier to rapid growth. He said therefore that, initiatives such as Glo Xchange that help to enhance the cashless policy of the CBN, or that help to improve the velocity of money is bound to have a resounding positive impact on economic growth.

Expatiating further, Rewane said the potential GDP growth rate in Nigeria is 11 percent, whereas the actual GDP growth rate as discerned from the rebasing exercise recently carried out by the Federal Government is six percent. He said since people don’t live on potential but actuals, it is of utmost importance to implement policies that will help Nigeria to actualize the potential growth rate.

One veritable way of achieving this, he said, is to capture the money lying outside the formal sector. According to him, over 46 per cent of Nigerian adults currently have no access to financial services.

He said Mobile money is a strong tool for financial inclusion of this huge category of Nigerians, stressing that initiatives such as Glo Xchange, which will help with the acceleration of mobile money service is therefore highly commendable.

He added that Glo Xchange will contribute to the efficiency of Nigeria’s payment systems, lead to more efficient transactions and open a floodgate of opportunities for a lot of stakeholders from the top to the bottom of the mobile money value chain.  

Dr. Teriba on his part noted that while Mobile Money service has been in Nigeria for over three years, it has failed to grow as expected because of certain reasons, including lack of an efficient and expansive agent network.

“Usually for such a service as mobile money, the bigger the network, the higher the chances of an explosion, and by extension, the bigger the benefits accruable to all the stakeholders, from the banks down to the customers,” he said. 

He added that Glo Xchange, with the nationwide network of agents as unveiled by Globacom, is just the ingredient the industry has been waiting for.

He noted that the potential for growth for the initiative is immense as the platform is open to other banks to plug into. He implored Nigerians looking for employment opportunities to see the avenues created by the initiative and utilize them for self-enhancement.

While launching the platform in Lagos on Thursday, Globacom's Head of Corporate Sales, Mr. Kamal Shonibare said Glo Xchange is a fast, secured and convenient platform designed to enable Nigerians use their mobile phones to send or receive money and pay for their goods and services in any part of the country without physically carrying cash through the Glo Xchange agents.

He said Globacom is investing in a robust nationwide mobile money agent network that will propel the success of Glo Xchange. The network includes 150 GloWorld and GloZone shops, over 35,000 Glo Dealer and sub dealer outlets, over 400 Conoil filling stations across the country and the outlets of over 7,000 members of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria. This will be strongly complemented by the branches of all the partner banks.

Four licensed mobile money operators including Ecobank, Firstmonie, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Zenith Bank have partnered with Globacom on Glo Xchange, while other financial institutions are on the verge of joining the platform.                   

Globacom said it aims to recruit over 500,000 Mobile Money Agents within the next 5 to 6 years who will earn excellent commission monthly on sales. The recruitment of the agents has already started.

 "With as little as N20,000, you too can become a Glo Xchange Agent. Just Pick up your phone and SMS your First name/Last name/City/State to 33003 or 08150033003 Or visit  www.Gloworld.com/Mobilemoney", said Shonibare.

MTN, IHS In Mobile Tower Outsourcing Agreement

IN LINE with continued efforts to further raise service levels for its customers in Nigeria, MTN has reached an agreement in principle with IHS Holding Limited ("IHS") for the transfer of its towers business, comprising of up to 9,151 of MTN's mobile network towers in Nigeria.  The transaction is expected to reduce MTN Nigeria's operating costs, drive network efficiencies and further expand MTN's voice and data capacity.

L-R:Globacom’s Chief commercial Director , Mr. Prabhat Aggarwal, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali and the Director Consultancy services University of Ilorin, Prof. Olugbenga Mokuolu applauding the partnership between the telecoms giant and the frontline University senior officials  of the University paid a courtesy call to Globacom’s corporate headquarters in Lagos.

Under the terms of the transaction and subject to requisite regulatory approvals, the 9,151 towers will be transferred to a new company which will be owned jointly by MTN and IHS. IHS will have full operational control of the underlying business.  The new towers company will market independent infrastructure sharing services to other mobile operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Nigeria.

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2014. Sifiso Dabengwa, Group President and CEO of MTN Group, said: "We are delighted to have entered into a further transfer transaction with IHS, in our largest African market.  IHS' deep knowledge and considerable experience in the sector will help drive efficiencies and enhance our network uptime, allowing us to concentrate on further raising our own service levels, improving the customer experience and ensuring we remain the number one operator in Nigeria."

This is the ninth tower transaction for IHS and its fifth with MTN following the transactions in Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda and Zambia that took place in 2012 and 2013.  On completion of this transaction, IHS will manage over 20,000 towers in Africa.

Commenting on the transaction, Michael Ikpoki, MTN Nigeria CEO said: "The separation of MTN Nigeria's mobile network towers and operation of the underlying towers business by IHS reflects a major part of our strategy to optimise network quality and technological assets towards creating value and driving innovation to meet our customers' needs now and in the long term. Indeed, the trends and realities in our industry reveal the increased role of cost efficiency and optimisation of assets in guiding business decisions in order to remain competitive.

We will continue to embrace strategies that enhance our services to our customers while ensuring our long-term business continuity, without compromising best practice". As part of the deal, the new towers company has committed more than US$500 million of additional investment over four years into tower upgrades and a maintenance programme to improve quality of service and enhance the customer experience on the MTN Nigeria network. 

In addition, further investments will be made into IHS' centralised Network Operations Centre (NOC) in Nigeria to optimise operations and increase IHS' market leading network uptimes of over 99 percent. There will also be sustained investments in energy efficiency through the deployment of advanced generators, batteries and alternative power solutions to reduce diesel consumption. IHS anticipates creating a considerable number of technical and engineering direct and indirect employment opportunities to be sourced locally in Nigeria.

Issam Darwish, CEO of IHS Holdings, commented: "This is a significant and transformational agreement for IHS that doubles the size of our business and confirms our position as the leading mobile infrastructure company in Africa. It gives me great pleasure to be agreeing this deal with MTN, a partner we have worked with for more than ten years and with whom we have an excellent relationship.  I am confident that MTN's customers and management will benefit almost immediately from IHS' focus on quality of service, innovative tower management and sustainable energy approach."

Microsoft, Mansard Unveils Lumia 930 in Nigeria

MICROSOFT said that its latest addition to the Lumia range of smartphones, the Lumia 930, running Windows Phone 8.1 is now available in Nigeria.

The Lumia 930 smartph

one comes with the best of Microsoft built in work and play features such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, XBOX, Skype and One Note to ensure customers are able to work hard and play hard whenever and wherever, whilst keeping content like photos, videos and documents in sync across their Windows Phone, Personal Computers, tablets and XBox devices.

With the use of OneDrive and its 15GB of free storage in the cloud, customers can access their documents, files and even games anywhere and anytime. The device features one of the brightest screens seen on a smartphone with a 5 inch Full HD 1080p screen with sunlight readability and curved Gorilla Glass 3.0 for better viewing angles and an outdoor reading experience unmatched in the industry.

The Lumia 930 comes with 2.2GHz Quadcore Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor as well as the Lumia Cyan update of Windows Phone 8.1 to give customers the most out of the latest Windows Phone 8.1, whilst enjoying a superfast experience. The Lumia 930 also comes with in-built Wireless charging as well as a 20 mega pixel PureView ZEISS camera with Optical Image Stabilization and 4 ultra high performance digital microphones that record Dolby Digital for an unparalleled imaging and rich recording and audio capture experience.

Managing Director, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, West and Central Africa, Nick Imudia, said, “The Lumia 930 is beautifully designed and a testament to our design heritage. Its Premium metal edges are sand blasted and precision machined to finely crafted details; to produce a strong, slim and striking smartphone that’s just simply beautiful to look at, with the best of Microsoft built in.”

“Another first coming with Lumia 930 is the insurance cover that customers get with the phone as soon as they purchase it. The insurance which is underwritten by Mansard Insurance Plc covers accidental damage to the screen and accidental liquid damage to the phone. This unique benefit commences immediately at the point of purchase and runs with the warranty on every Lumia 930 bought from authorized Nokia Retail partners. This makes it a wonderful device coming with awesome package” Imudia added.

The Lumia 930 continues Microsoft’s color story with the Lumia 930 with its smooth, gently pillowed rear that echoes it’s beautifully curved glass and brings a splash of Bright Green, Bright Orange, Black or White to the Lumia 930.

The Lumia 930 comes with some amazing social Apps like Vine and Instagram, apps from GTBank, Arik Air, Quickteller.com, Channels TV as well as the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) from Blackberry.

Football fans will also have the opportunity to watch matches from their device with the SuperSport App which allows them stream LIVE events and matches from the BPL, La Liga, the ATP, the PGA and other sporting events.

Speaking on its partnership with Microsoft on the insurance coverage for the Lumia 930, Mansard Insurance’s Chief Client Officer, Mr. Tosin Runsewe disclosed that Mansard shared Microsoft’s vision of delivering unrivalled experience to its customers even as they enjoy their Lumia 930, knowing that it has an insurance cover they can depend on should the unexpected happen.

Prominent Nigerians Grace Arise Awards In UK

AS a way of branding, motivating and encouraging our leaders and mentors, The Nigeria Arise Team put together the Nigeria Arise series and Award for 2014 in London. It is an iconic programme around Nigeria’s important dates/events to honour individuals, govern

ment and corporate institutions who have contributed to the development/image of Nigeria.

The award is for those that have excelled in their field, business pursuits or called by Nigerians to do more in their industry for the development of the nation; it also recognise others willing to be part of a change for a better nation; those that have been challenged yet, sees it not as a barrier but a tool to try more progressively and positively to develop human capital and our community.

Celebrated HRH Oba Tejuoso, Akwa Ibom State Governor Dr. Godswill Akpabio, Ms. Yewande Akinola, young woman engineer who works with ARUP group and His Excellency The Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Mukhtar Ramalan Yero  – are just some of the notable leaders and professionals at this year’s Nigeria Arise Award ceremony that took place on the 30^th August 2014 at Holiday Inn Regents Park.

The evening -long event celebrated the strengths and qualities of Nigerians with a host of some of the continent’s most recognised names and voices who inspired, encouraged and informed through their talks and speeches.

Being its sixth year, Nigeria Arise Award – an offshoot of Nigeria Arise – is a global landmark occasion for Nigerians, and those with a passion for the Nation. Each year residents across Africa, the USA, the UK and other European countries travel to London to attend this inspirational dinner and Award.

 This celebration of Nigeria’s finest has historically drawn some of the world’s most recognised names, including sports woman Christine Ileoma Ohuruogu, Dele Momodu the Ovation International publication and Governor Ibukunle Amosun of Ogun State in attendance.

The event delivered an excellent package and diversity as seen in the attendance such as the Former Governor of Abia State Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Former Managing Director of GT Bank/Former VP to AC Mr. Fola Adeola and Izan Zazzau. 

The Nigeria Arise Award 2014 presented Nigerians the opportunity to interacts with their leaders in attendance with other talented men and women gracing the red carpet Ceremony. Other Recipients  included Hon. Tunji Bello,  Lagos State commissioner For Environment, Senator Izunaso from Imo State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor, Ogun State Nigeria; Senator Ganiyu Solomon;  Mr. Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Manufacturing company; Dr. John Osammor of Odeiga House Odeiga foods; Mike Abiola of African Voice; Victor Olisa  a Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police; Prince Lipede Of Media Solution/ InfoTech; Pst. Tunde Bakare who presides over Global Apostolic Impact Network and President of Latter Rain Ministries; Dr. Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Executive Kano State; Dr. Solomon Fubura for his services for business development and empowerment programmes; Professor Stanley Okolo & Dr. Peter Ozua for contributions in Health; Dr. Nazir Ahmed for Excellence in Education; Mr. Patrick Ideh of Bantuway Foods; Channels TV Broadcasting Channel in Nigeria and Dana air.

Performance was provided by Ben TV live band and international artist Daddy Showkey.

Recipients reinforced the need for Nigerians to stand together and look forward to achieving even greater prominence and successes for across the continent.  

The Founder of Nigeria Arise Mr. Alistair Soyode said: we call all Nigerians to be proud of their heritage, cultures and it’s our unique responsibilities to participate in National Development and on our image in the committee of nations.

The fact that such an intelligent and varied range of people who love Nigeria attended the event shared ideas and to inspired each other to make Nigeria greater than it was yesterday.”