MTN and GIZ sign development partnership to manage e-waste

Telecoms company MTN Group has signed a development
partnership with German-based public-benefit enterprise Deutsche
Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to manage
the safe disposal of e-waste and foster enterprise development for
e-waste handlers.
GIZ signed the partnership with MTN on behalf of the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The partnership seeks to raise awareness among the general public and
corporate businesses about the safe recycling, management and disposal
of e-waste, and provide support to fledgling small and medium-sized
companies.
Electronic waste or e-waste is any form of electrical or electronic
technology that is no longer required, ranging from domestic and
commercial ‘white goods’ such as fridges and air conditioners, to
computers, phones and other electrical and electronic devices. As
global consumption of electrical devices grow, and products become
obsolete, the challenge of how to responsibly dispose of e-waste is
growing alarmingly.
Global mismanagement of e-waste is resulting in large-scale dumping,
often in open landfills, predominantly in areas or countries with poor
levels of environmental governance or enforcement ability.
There is increasing concern at the growth of e-waste generated by
global consumers, and ultimately often dumped, especially in
developing countries in Africa and Asia. Valuable components are
salvaged from discarded e-waste, but at the cost of human and
environmental health, given some degree of toxicity of in all
electronic components.
The pilot project, to be first implemented in South Africa, will focus
on educating the public about what e-waste is, why it is a matter of
human health and environmental concern, and the value of recycling and
responsible disposal.
MTN South Africa will roll out e-waste collection points at key
publicly-accessible sites e.g. schools, shopping malls and possibly in
partnership with other corporate partners. These collection points
will collect cellular e-waste regardless of network operator or
handset manufacturer.
As part of this partnership GIZ will be undertaking a situational
analysis, develop standards and disposal protocols for the piloting
model and undertaking a multi-stakeholder engagement process. The
partnership will also support enterprise development and the “green
jobs” agenda by ensuring that selected small and medium sized e-waste
handlers and large recyclers receive a steady, consistent and sizeable
supply of e-waste. These recyclers will be monitored by MTN South
Africa to ensure that they abide by approved and acceptable e-waste
handling processes and protocols.
The partnership will initially be rolled out to two major cities in
South Africa. The implementation of the partnership will be rolled out
in a number of phases. Subject to a successful multi-year South
African pilot, it is hoped that results and lessons learnt will be
documented and replicated by MTN operations across the Group’s
footprint in Africa and the Middle East.
GIZ, which has previous experience with e-waste management through
partnerships in India and Morocco, will bring its experience,
knowledge base and technical support to this partnership. This
experience includes helping develop corporate standards for e-waste
management, and supporting engagement processes with other parties,
usually other companies and industry sectors which also generate
e-waste, and who may wish to support this initiative.
Says Mr Christian de Faria, MTN Group Senior Vice-President:
Commercial and Innovation: “We believe that this partnership will help
us to increase public awareness about the problem of e-waste and
provide assurance to MTN that e-waste is being handled appropriately
locally in line with acceptable standards.
“While we do not manufacture handsets, computers and other electronic
devices, within the context of network operators, e-waste is generated
through customer purchase and use of mobile technology, and through
the business' own technology operations. Addressing the e-waste
challenge remains one of MTN’s top three sustainability imperatives,
as required by and approved by MTN’s leadership.”
“Partnering with the private sector to address developmental issues
such as e-Waste is a crucial component of GIZ strategy for sustainable
development. This partnership represents an excellent example where
public and private sector bring together their relative strengths to
address a development issue and enable collective action. E-Waste is a
growing challenge in South Africa and Africa and if not jointly
addressed from both the public and private sectors will become an
overwhelming challenge,” says Ellen Kallinowsky Coordinator for GIZ
Centre for Cooperation with the Private Sector.

COACHES TASK STARCOMMS ON BOXING FACILITIES

Marveled by the consistent sponsorship of the Lagos State Boxing Hall of Fame monthly amateur boxing competition, boxing coaches in the state has task the sponsors of the event, Starcomms Plc for the provision of boxing facilities to enhance their career.
The coaches made the call at the March edition of the competition after the Starcomms Best Boxer Prize was presented to the winner, Sikiru Fatai of the Nigerian Police Boxing Club who fought in the 56 Kg category defeating Oliwo kazeem of Star Club to emerge the hero of the competition.
While congratulating the youngster for his victory in the competition, Victor Anyinka, a staff boxing coach in the Lagos State Sports Council said that it is high time that Starcomms consider doing something for coaches in the state.
According to him, Starcomms has demonstrated strong commitment to the development of the punching game in the state saying that a major thing that will make coaches in the state happy is the provision of boxing of facility.
For instance, Anyinka said that the state lacks boxing gymnasium for the training of boxers stressing that it will not be a bad idea if Starcomms provides one for the coaches.
He recalled that the Starcomms support of the monthly boxing event has brought out a lot of boxing talents in the likes of Taiwo Agbaje of Young Star Boxing Club, Modina Adeniyi of Champion Boxing Club and Taiwo Abiodun of No Shaking Boxing Club noting that neglecting the coaches will not do well for the sport.
While urging Starcomms to gracefully consider the request of the coaches, he that whatever Starcomms decides to do to assist coaches in the state will not be forgotten stating that boxing brought the first Olympic medal to the country, which still forms a reference point for the game.
Also, Wasiu Bisiriyu, an assistant boxing coach in the Lagos State Sports Council said that Starcomms efforts has salvaged a lot of youths in the state from criminal activities adding that coaches are happy that Starcomms has help to bring development to the sport.
According to him, before now all that the amateur boxers get at the end of the competition was a handshake noting that with the support of Starcomms they now go home with a lot of exciting gifts and prizes.
Bisiriyu who coaches Pioneer Boxing Club of Agege, however noted that attention is yet to be paid to the welfare of coaches in the state stressing that coaches also need some form of encouragement or support from Starcomms.
Similarly, Ibrahim Akinola, coach of the Ola-king Boxing Club said that Starcomms deserves recognition for their effort in boxing development adding that they too want to be given recognition for their coaching efforts.
Winner of the Starcomms best boxer prize said that he was grateful that Starcomms took interest in the boxing game noting that he attributes his success to their commitment to the sponsorship of the game.
The monthly boxing event, which is organized by the Lagos State Boxing Hall of Fame in conjunction with the Lagos Amateur Boxing Association and sponsored by Starcomms Plc takes place every last Saturday, at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Rowe Park, Yaba, Lagos.

MIPAN PRESIDENT ADVOCATES PARADIGM SHIFT IN MEDIA INVESTMENTS

President of Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya has advocated a paradigm shift in media investments in a bid for advertisers to maximize value in their media spend. Ogunkoya stated this recently in a paper entitled Modern Approach to Media Investments- a media specialist’s insight in Lagos .

He advocated that advertisers in the print media should buy impressions not insertions, for TV and radio gross rating points (GRPs) not just spots; for Outdoor of Home (OOH) unduplicated traffic not number of sites; for internet, impressions not days and for mobile, responses not database.

The MIPAN president said that media vehicle selection is the final step in the planning process and needed to be as objective and data led as possible because it is critical that the strategy considerations are carried forward to this stage.

Ogunkoya, who is also the managing director of MediaReach OMD, contended that pointers for media vehicle selection are AMPs, TV and radio diaries, internet and mobile traffic data and Out of Home (OOH) traffic estimates and foot fall information stores and malls.

He said key metrics that guide the media vehicle selection decision are in print, the reach of a publication in the target group; in television, reach of station, programme GRPs and time spent on programme; in radio, the reach of station, time band GRPs, radio jingle popularity and value ads among others.

The president stated that mobile applications were an emerging advertising opportunity and needed to be benchmarked using direct response return on investment metrics like per unit cost of customer acquisition and average return per user among others.

Also speaking at the seminar, Mr. Kevin Ejiofor, managing director of City 105.1FM Radio in his paper entitled Modern Approach to broadcast media selling: Lessons from research, said let research become an industry-wide responsibility as a matter of life and death.

He defined research as the search for knowledge, or any systematic investigation, with an open mind, to establish novel facts, usually a scientific method.

Ejiofor said some of the lessons that would be derived from research are openness, accountability through participation and principle of common interest.

He said democratization of research would sanitise the results of research, separate myths from facts, end disputations and the compilation of reliable statistics to aid effective planning.

He urged stakeholders to pay close attention to offering quantifiable value to the industry through democratization of research.

Speaking from the perspective of an advertiser, Mr. Kolawole Oyeyemi, a general manager with MTN said media platform that would be an advertiser’s must demonstrate excellent and measurable impact of the message on the desired target customer of the advertiser.

It should also present itself as a brand engagement platform and not as an impersonal static platform and should optimally deliver good returns on investment and not seen as cost centre to the business.

Google to invest $5 million in IT infrastructure in Africa

It swift response to the need improve information technoogy infrastructure in Africa, Google has pledged to help digitise archives of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and to facilitate Internet infrastructure in Nigeria tertiary institutions.
Google pledged a $1,25 million grant to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, housed at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, that will help to preserve and give unprecedented digital access to thousands of archival documents, photographs, and audio-visual materials about the life and times of Nelson Mandela.
Google’s grant will assist in expanding the online Mandela archive and make it available to the global audiences, scholars and researchers in the future.

In addition to significant audio-visual materials, the online multimedia archive will include Mr. Mandela’s letters and correspondence with family, comrades and friends; prison diaries; and notes he made

while leading the negotiations that led to the end of apartheid in South
Africa.
A grant of the same size has also been made to the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town, for the documentation and digitisation of Desmond Tutu’s archives, and an interactive digital learning centre.
Commenting on the initiative, Luke Mckend, Country Manager for Google South Africa said, “Google wants to help bring the world’s historical heritage online, and the Internet offers new ways to preserve and share this information. Our grants to the Nelson Mandela Centre and to the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre will facilitate new digital archives for South
Africa’s past, giving the global public an unprecedented opportunity to
engage with the history of some of the most extraordinary leaders of our time. We are also delighted to be announcing additional grants which will help many more people across South Africa and Africa access the Internet and benefit from access to information”.
Google today also announced three other grants also made through the Google Inc.Charitable Giving Fund of Tides Foundation. Amongst the grantees is the Nigeria ICT Forum . A $500,000 grant has been made to support efforts in improving access to Internet infrastructure in tertiary education institutions in Nigeria.
The Nigeria ICT Forum is an initiative of the Nigerian Caucus (a joint
meeting of the Vice-Chancellors and ICT Coordinators) of the six Partnership Nigerian Universities. Its mandate is to develop ICT-based
capacity for strengthening Research and Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs); Facilitate and nurture collaboration between HEIs to cultivate
a favourable policy environment; develop, utilise and sustain ICT networks, services and shared resources consistent with institutional roles as focus for development.
Commenting on the grant, the board secretary of the Nigeria ICT Forum, Mr. Nasir Bello stated: “We are delighted with the grant to Nigerian ICT Forum, which supports our goals to nurture the building of vibrant e-communities through training, innovation and partnerships.

It will support the efforts in developing the community around shared Internet infrastructure, greatly reducing cost and therefore barriers to

affordable connectivity in tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria”.

STARCOMMS OFFERS FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND JOBS ON PHONE

Starcomms Plc, the listening network, has introduced another innovation for the convenience of the customers. This is a value added service for job-seekers especially young graduates and experienced professionals who seek new employments. Aptly titled Jobs-on-phone, it is a personalized voice based job portal, which helps Starcomms customers to seek new employment or recruitments through their Starcomms fixed or mobile phones.
In recent times, Starcomms customers have been asking for solutions to the difficulty they experience regarding employment opportunities. Job vacancies appear in most cases in the newspapers or on the Internet, both of which have limited circulation, time frame and user groups.
Speaking on the novel idea of Jobs on Phone, the chief commercial officer of Starcomms Tushar Maheshwari said that the huge opportunity that the service presents is part of the commitment of Starcomms to listen and proffer solutions to the teeming customers
“The service is designed as a portal, which links employees with prospective employers. It is a service that can be easily accessed by all mobile and fixed Starcomms customers anytime, anywhere, thus providing a large-scale database of jobseekers. It is unique in the sense that it has diversity and a readily available database of jobseekers from different strata of the society rather than just in the newspapers or the Internet. It is very interactive and fast,” Maheshwari said.
To use Starcomms Jobs-on-phone service a customer will dial the service code, *32640 to register and create their profile in the voice data base. The required data will include information like age, gender, location, qualifications and experience, As soon as a vacancy exists that matches the profile of the customer, they will be notified on their Starcomms phones via SMS. The customer is then expected to dial into the service to listen to the job openings and respond to the advertisement.
After this, the profile of the job seekers will be sent to the recruiter. The recruiter listens to the voice profiles of the job seekers and invites those that fit their requirements for test or interview. The recruiter at this stage can call the candidate directly.

Juwah task Subscribers on complaints about network failure

Juwah task Subscribers on complaints about network failure

Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, has asked Nigerian telecom subscribers to report complaints directly to the Commission whenever any operator refuses to satisfy their desires for effective service delivery.

Dr. Juwah who spoke at the Telecom Consumer Parliament, hosted by the Commission, NCC, at the Lagos Country Club Ikeja, at the weekend, said this was the reason why the Commission now operates a second level customer care center which allows customers to call directly at no cost.

“Because the customer is king, we at NCC will always ensure that you get value for whatever services you are paying for” he said in apparent response to complaints about poor level of customer care across all the networks.

Coming days to Consumer Rights Day on 15th March 2011, Dr. Juwah said “while celebrating the consumers we should be mindful of their interests that we are all supposed to protect. Consumer interests cover the rights, privileges and obligations which should be given priority attention by the stakeholders”.

At the 61st Edition of the parliament which focused on the upcoming SIM card registration, Dr. Juwah listed the consumer rights which the Commission has passion to protect to include right to safety, right to choose, right to redress, right to be heard, right to consumer education, right to be informed, right to a healthy environment, and right to satisfaction of basic needs.

“The protection of consumer rights as listed above is not only the responsibility of the Commission but all the stakeholders including the consumers themselves.

“ While the Commission will continue to provide a conducive environment to all the stakeholders to enjoy their rights and benefits, it is necessary that we play our parts to ensure success in this endeavour”, he said, reassuring consumers of telecom services in Nigeria to be alert to their rights.

He urged the operators to take customer complaints seriously as the Commission will not hesitate to be on the side of the subscribers when they are right.

On the nationwide SIM card registration, to be embarked upon by the Commission, Dr. Juwah indicated that the hold on the implementation was deliberate to allow for the conclusion of the INEC registration, and that when the Commission begins SIM registration, enough awareness will be created using all available media of mass communications to achieve widespread awareness.

A panel discussion about the impending SIM card registration in Nigeria by the Commission, moderated by Dr. Idika Ochaa, an ICT expert, concluded that the registration is very vital to national and individual securities and urged subscribers to promptly present themselves for registration, without let or hindrance.

STARCOMMS APPOINTS COO, CFO

In a bid to strengthen its management in the highly competitive telecommunication industry, the board of Starcomms Plc, has approved the appointments of two new top management staff.

They are Logan Pather, chief operating officer and David Ordman as chief financial officer. Starcomms is Nigeria’s only publicly quoted telecommunications company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Its shares were listed on July 14, 2008.

Pather has had a range of senior management positions spanning over 25 years in the telecommunication industry. An MBA holder, he had worked in several telecom companies in Africa.

A former managing director of Roamwave Africa, Pather who was responsible for 20 African countries is bringing with him a wealth of experience to add to the fortunes of Starcomms. He was also responsible for setting up the organization in South Africa.

His career is highlighted by a strong in-depth knowledge and exposure across all core business functions such as finance, sales, marketing, human resources and customer service operations.

Pather, who also holds a Diploma in Business Management, has worked in Nortel Southern Africa and Telecel – Zambia as managing director responsible for operational strategy and growth.

David Ordman, an engineer who also holds an MBA, is armed with a wealth of experience of over 18 years in various sectors in the world to bear on the fortunes of Starcomms.

A former finance director within the EMAAR, (the Economic City in Saudi Arabia), Ordman had the responsibility for all aspects of finance within the utilities and telecoms division of the company, delivering multi-utility solution within King Abdullah Economic city, a $2billion mega project.

Also in his previous work experience, he had worked as chief financial officer in United Utilities Plc of Estonia and Bulgaria as well as Millicom International of Pakistan.

An alumnus of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Ordman who studied Civil Engineering and trained with Price Waterhouse Cooper holds an Order of Merit from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. He got his MBA from the London Business School, United Kingdom and Columbia Business School, United States of America.

MTN Foundation spends N5b on book project

MTN Foundation, the corporate social investment vehicle of Nigeria’s leading telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria has spent over N5 billion since 2004 and continues to budget billions of naira towards execution of a variety of initiatives geared at enhancing the lives of millions of Nigerians.

This revelation was made by the Corporate Services Executive, MTN and a Director of the Foundation, Mr Wale Goodluck, at the official launch of the Foundation’s 132-page view book, which captures the activities of the Foundation’s activities through the eyes and voices of a few of its beneficiaries.

A highly visual publication, it presents a compelling perspective of the impact that the MTN Foundation on the lives of ordinary Nigerians in a very moving fashion.

The launch, which took place at the Civic Centre in Lagos on Friday, March 11, 2011 brought together the crème de la crème of the society to celebrate the milestones recorded by the MTN Foundation since inception.

According to the Chairman, MTN Foundation, Ambassador Hamzat Ahmadu, the book entitled ‘A Hand and a Smile’ is a physical documentation of the scope and successes of the Foundation’s activities across the country, using the stories and testimonies of some of the beneficiaries, as well as images that speak for themselves.

He said the Foundation was set up in 2004 with a mission to improve the quality of life in the society. “From the onset, we spelt out our focus areas - Education, Health and Economic empowerment. These we believe, hold the key to sustainable socio-economic growth and impact in our country and we go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that our present and future projects have a dramatic and transformative effect in communities all over the country.

We do this in partnership with Federal and State governments, private, public and civil society organisations,” he said.

Ambassador Ahmadu said the Foundation continuously explores new ways through which it can expand its operations, widen its activities and deepen its impact in the communities, thereby tackling real issues and touching real lives documented in the book.

“The View Book is a bold attempt to capture through the medium of pictures and the testimony of numerous beneficiaries just how the Foundation has touched lives. It shows that our impact goes beyond statistics and has a very personal story to tell”, said Ahmadu.

Mr Goodluck in his own remarks, said MTN’s philosophical belief is that the long term success of MTN’s business is inextricably linked to the viability of the society in which the company operates.

According to him, the Foundation has established a foot print in all the 36 states of our country including the FCT, with 20 projects being implemented in 292 project sites in partnership with over 30 different project partners over the years.

Some of the people whose testimonies and images were captured in the book include beneficiaries of the MTNF SchoolsConnect, Rural Telephone Project, and Partners against AIDS in the Community project (PAAC) which later evolved into Partners against Malaria and AIDS in the Community project (PAMAC).

Others are UniversitiesConnect, Disability Support Project, the Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme,Medical Support project, and the Medical intervention project.

In his remarks, the book reviewer, Mr. Frank Aigbogun, Publisher of BusinessDay, said the book is a portrait that speaks eloquently of MTN Foundation’s success stories in three core areas of health, education and economic empowerment.

ADVERTISING INVESTMENT TO HIT N120BN IN 2011

Above the line (ATL) media investment which hit N80 billion in 2010 is projected to increase to N120 billion this year, representing about 90 per cent of overall marketing spend.

Mr. Olayiwola Afolabi, managing director of Media Planning Services Limited (MPN) disclosed this in Lagos recently while presenting a paper entitled Modern Approach to Media Investment -researcher’s insight, at a one-day media industry seminar organised by Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) in conjunction with Zus Bureau and Media Planning Services.

He noted that practitioners - marketers, advertising and media agencies - have been slow to accept that the old models to media Investments, many of them created more than fifty years ago, are no longer applicable to the new consumer media world.

Afolabi observed that in industry discussions with leading advertising and media agencies, media owners, content providers, market researchers and advertisers, one major factor stands out as the fundamental issue to media investment approach – data access and usage.

He contended that all stakeholders involved in media channel strategy either have access to significant amounts of unique/proprietary data (data silos) or have knowledge/experience (individual silos) that is deployed as part of their communication delivery process.

He defined media investment as the act of investing; laying out money or capital on media channels with the expectation of reaching media audience cost effectively or how much to spend on media as well as how to allocate the spending across various media and the researcher as somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systemic investigation to establish facts, adding that researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.

Also speaking, Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya, president of MIPAN who in his paper gave a specialist insight on modern approach to media investments noted that significant cynicism exist in the advertiser mind about the value delivered by media advertising, adding that in today’s media industry, media planning and buying is critical to the advertiser’s business.
While highlighting the role of the media in the marketing decision process at the seminar, which was attended by representatives from media houses, advertisers, advertising and media agencies, he said that marketing objectives must define what needs to be achieved.
He also said that advertising objectives should also define what advertising must d to fulfill marketing objectives.
Also speaking at the seminar, Mr. Kevin Ejiofor, managing director of City 105.1FM Radio in his paper entitled Modern Approach to broadcast media selling: Lessons from research, said let research become an industry-wide responsibility as a matter of life and death.
He defined research as the search for knowledge, or any systematic investigation, with an open mind, to establish novel facts, usually a scientific method.
Ejiofor said some of the lessons that would be derived from research are openness, accountability through participation and principle of common interest.
He said democratization of research would sanitise the results of research, separate myths from facts, end disputations and the compilation of reliable statistics to aid effective planning.
He urged stakeholders to pay close attention to offering quantifiable value to the industry through democratization of research.
Speaking from the perspective of an advertiser, Mr. Kolawole Oyeyemi, a general manager with MTN said media platform that would be an advertiser’s delight must demonstrate excellent and measurable impact of the message on the desired target customer of the advertiser.
It should also present itself as a brand engagement platform and not as an impersonal static platform and should optimally deliver good returns on investment and not seen as cost centre to the business.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Chris Doghudje MD, Zus Bureau said the seminar was intended to provide a new direction in the optimization of media budget because globally, there is convergence of media.
He noted that newspapers’ circulation was dwindling and media has become very expensive, especially the print media, adding that there is need for content development to attract the target audience.
For Mr. Kole Ademelekun, President Association of Outdoor Advertising Practitioners there is need to gather adequate data for research purposes.

He said government agencies were driving outdoor rates up while operators are restricted to commission and stressed the need for outdoor advertising to be flexible.

STARCOMMS PRIZES INSPIRE MORE YOUNGSTERS INTO BOXING

A young pugilist in the Lagos Amateur Boxing Association, Taiwo Abiodun, who won the Starcomms Over-all Best Boxer prize at the 18th edition of the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame boxing competition has said that more young boxers who quit the punching game has returned to the boxing ring.
Abiodun, a 15 years-old student of Blessing College, Ijokoro and amember of the No Shaking Boxing Club, who fought and defeatedOgunyemi Razak of Paramount Boxing Club in the Cadet category saidthat the Starcomms prize has continued to draw them back to thesport which they had long abandoned.
While speaking on the secret of his success, the young boxer who began to box two years ago said that the commitment of Starcomms in the monthly boxing event played a formidable role in the returning of more youngsters to boxing adding that he has Starcomms to thank for the level of skills he has achieved so far.
According to him, he has a strong passion for the boxing sport notingthat the prize he saw other boxers win every month of the show fueledhis passion to attain great heights in boxing.
While appreciating the unflagging support of Starcomms for the game,he said it is a thing of great joy to him to see a lot of people swanaround him as the hero of the day noting that it was the first time ofexperiencing what it feels like to be a winner in the sport he lovesso much.
Another winner in the February fight, Mutiu Gbadebo of Agege PioneerBoxing Club who fought in the 69 kg category defeating his opponent,Sakiru Ishola of Smart Boxing Club also said that Starcomms has support has brought more young boxers to the game.
The 29 years-old boxer who has been boxing for the past seven yearssaid that the sponsorship of Starcomms has helped to improve hisboxing skills saying that he will want the telecomm operator tocontinue in its good works.
According to Gbadebo, it is the commitment of Starcomms to the monthly event that has brought fame to many amateur boxers saying that it has also helped to keep young people from criminal activities since they now channel their youthful energy to the sport.
The monthly boxing event, which is organized by the Lagos State Boxing Hall of Fame in conjunction with the Lagos Amateur Boxing Association and sponsored by Starcomms Plc takes place every last Saturday, at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Rowe Park, Yaba, Lagos.

Nigerian Mobile Economy Forum 2011 gets new date

With the stage now set for the inaugural edition of the forum designed to leverage and enhance the mobile platform for economic activities in Nigeria, organizers of the event, Private Media Mart Limited has announced the official date and venue for the event. The event, aptly titled Nigeria Mobile Economy Forum (NiMEF) 2011, seeks to provide answers and solutions to the huge dearth of local Mobile Content in the Nigerian telecommunications scene despite our huge Mobile market – both potential and actual and with recent investments in bandwidth.
Focusing on the theme, Economic Transformation Using Mobile Innovations, the eagerly awaited NiMEF 2011 will now be holding on the 31st of March 2011 at the prestigious De Renaissance, Ikeja, Lagos from 9.00am. Confirming this recently, the managing partner and chief executive officer of the major organizing firm, Private Media Mart Limited (PMM Nigeria), Mr. Ejiofor Agada explained that the slight delay in announcing the official date for the event was borne out of their usual practice of confirming participants and attendees for any of their events before making it public.
His words: “With the confirmation of attendance and support from industry bodies like Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and the Nigerian IT Development Agency (NITDA), we are confident that this event will achieve its desired objective of delivering realistic processes for mobile business in Nigeria”.
According to Mr. Agada, at almost 100 million strong subscriber base, the Nigerian Mobile market is the fastest growing in the world, yet in terms of content (applications, usage, etc) it still ranks among the very least in the world. It is based on this trend that PMM Nigeria, in collaboration with Tribe Media and IT Edge Magazine decided to use the NiMEF medium to analyze and showcase the potentials of a market like Nigeria, with its huge potentials, business guidelines, regulations and protections as well as encouragements that are needed to jump-start this previously untapped economy base.
Citing the exciting phenomena in other high mobile-user rate economies around the world where the mobile platform has been used to deploy economic activities like Banking, Ticketing, Loyalty schemes, Gaming, Navigation, Education, and Entertainment, it is strange that such activities are not carried out in Nigeria, and even where it is done, there are no proper regulation by any agency.
Mr. Agada also observed that even though the Nigerian market ranks highest in market value for most phone manufacturers, “not a single locally developed application is running in any mobile phone in Nigeria” he said. It is to correct this trend and point the right way forward for existing and potential Mobile Business entrepreneurs that NiMEF 2011 was designed” he concluded.
NiMEF 2011 is currently attracting the attention of private sector telecommunication and Banking sector players and is meant to be a full-day event.

ATCON endorses Nigeria DigitalSENSE forum

Umbrella body of telecommunications companies in the country, theAssociation of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), has endorsedthe Nigeria DigitalSENSE forum scheduled to hold later this month in Lagos.The Nigeria DigitalSENSE forum, which focus is on the Internet Governanceand development in the country is an annual event put together byLagos-based DigitalSENSE Africa.Conveying this latest news at the weekend, the Executive Secretary, ATCON,Mr. Ajibola Olude in a letter signed and dated February 26, 2011, andaddressed to the Executive Director, DigitalSENSE Africa, noted that thegroup decided to pronounce its support for the forum due to its laudableinitiative.“Please accept the commendation and endorsement of our association on thislaudable initiative,” he declared.Also, Olude promised that ATCON would mobilize its membership by encouragingthem to lend their individual support to DigitalSENSE forum, so as to ensurethe grand success of the forum, scheduled for March 24, 2011.He noted that ATCON) as a professional, non-profit umbrella organisation ofall telecommunication companies in Nigeria, since December 10, 1993, is anational trade organisation, with membership drawn from Nigeria andmulti-national companies which provide telecommunications and informationtechnology products and services in the country.Reacting to the endorsement by ATCON, the Executive Director, Operations atDigitalSENSE Africa Media, the organizers of the forum, Mrs. NkemdilimNweke, said it’s heart-warming, just as the endorsement came a few weeks tothe event.This year, she said, plans have been advanced to ensure that the quality ofspeakers and participants improve.So far, she reiterated that the event to be presided over by the immediatepast president of ATCON, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, has its main theme centered onInternet Governance and Broadband Evolution in Nigeria and has beenscheduled to hold at the popular Golden Gate Paradise, Ikoyi-Lagos.She also said that 2011 edition of the annual event would witness thecurrent second vice president, ATCON, Mr. Adewale Jones, as speaker as wellas a Senior Teaching Fellow in International Trade Law with the School ofOriental and African Studies, University of London, Dr. Nnaemeka Ewelukwa,who has confirmed his participation at this year’s Nigeria DigitalSENSEForum (NDSF) among others.The Nigeria DigitalSENSE Africa forum is an initiative of RemnekKommunications Ventures, a registered group of media public relationsexperts, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) analysts andconsultants.NDS forum is on its third edition and has been presided over in the last twosessions by pioneer chief protagonist at Linkserve Group, Chief ChimaOnyekwere, while last year saw the president of Internet Service Providersof Nigeria (ISPAN), Chief Sam Adeleke steering the forum.