Data Centers Investor in Africa to Tackle Challenges at First Summit

 INVESTORS in data center infrastructure in Africa will meet at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco on 8th June 2016 to discuss current and future investment in Africa data centers, connectivity via subsea cables and dark fiber, energy supply, cloud, IT investment, risk and the availability of funding.

Infrastructure investment and challenges faced by Africa will take center stage during the Summit with energy being among them. In the first event of its kind, an exciting one-day Summit will meet in Monaco to explore the next phase of data center and cloud development across the continent.

The program will feature a host of inspiring top level speakers from both investor organisations and operating companies in Africa and internationally.

International consulting company BroadGroup, who research and produce Datacloud, will provide a Market Assessment and Outlook for the Africa data centre landscape.

Philip Low, Managing Director of BroadGroup while commenting on the event said: “Africa infrastructure is a growth story for the next decade. We are seeing the emergence of carrier neutral data centres, and importantly IP peering exchanges that will spur hosting and cloud growth over the next 24 months in several countries. But the summit hopes to create more investor led opportunities as well as assess the risk and prospects.”

Infrastructure investment and challenges faced by Africa will take center stage during the Summit with energy being among them. Case studies and empirical examples will be showcased, contributing to a realistic perspective for data centre investors.

Datacloud 2016 is Europe's foremost networking and business deal making forum for data center and cloud players, their customers, investors and suppliers.

The event will attract 1800+ executives from more than 60 countries as well as 90+ exhibiting companies, delivering a unique networking opportunity and to secure real-time deals.

Sponsor and exhibitors should take early action to assure participation in what will be EMEAs largest networking event including this highly targeted summit for Africa.

Experts to Discuss Nigeria’s Digital Frontier at 2016 eWorld Forum

TECHNOLOGY experts will on Wednesday at the 2016 eWorld Forum gather to discuss the future of the expansion of Nigeria’s digital frontier.

Scheduled to hold at the Welcome Centre, International Airport Road, Oshodi, this year’s Theme is: 2016: Expanding Nigeria’s Digital Frontier In the Change Era.

The Forum shall also discuss such subthemes as The Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion, expanding the Infrastructure and services ecosystem, the role of broadband infrastructure, digital Broadcasting Ecosystem, the question of the Nigerian content and ICT as Catalyst for economic rejuvenation.

Publisher of eWorld Magazine, Aaron Ukodie said Nigeria’s 2015 slide in performance in global ICT Development Index shows that the country was yet to overcome its digital divide challenges and derive maximum benefit from ICTs for her development.

He said Nigeria has not adequately situated itself in global growth in digital financial services in the form of mobile money so as to advance the trend and bring about inclusiveness.

According to him Digital financial services allow millions of people who are otherwise excluded from the formal financial system to perform financial transactions relatively cheaply, securely, and reliably. 

Ukodie also stated that mobile broadband infrastructure and services that could enhance the digital life and its associated benefits are still at the low level and stakeholders need to be galvanized to achieve the 2018 broadband penetration projections.

Again, he said Nigeria is yet to access the benefits of digital broadcasting and talks about the Nigerian content were yet to achieve the desired results.

The eWorld Forum 2016 seeks to provide answers to these questions and provide a platform for stakeholders to once again address these vital issues and provide achievable roadmap and strategy for achieving stakeholders’ yearnings, especially in this era of Change.

The objective of the Forum is to identify the technology trends in digital financial services over the coming years and how the role of various stakeholders in this ecosystem will evolve. This will include identifying underlying frameworks, new business models and public private partnership arrangements necessary for digital financial services.

The Forum would also create a platform for dialogue between the telecom and financial services regulators to discuss emerging issues and best practices for the policy and regulatory framework for financial inclusion and re-examine the roadmap for achieving the 2018 broadband projection.

The eWorld Forum, coordinated by Ajomedia Limited, publishers of eWorld Magazine, began in 2009 and have continued to hold yearly since. In 2010 the Forum on Broadband, with Professor Raymond Akwule, President of Digital Bridge Institute as Keynote Speaker, was used, for the first time, to call for and articulate a broadband strategy for Nigeria.

Girls In ICT Day Celebration: NCC, MTN Partner eBusiness Life

THE celebration of the International Girls in ICT Day 2016 in Nigeria is gathering steam as key stakeholders in the industry have lined up to partner with eBusiness Life Communication Limited in its bid to create awareness among young girls on the need to embrace careers in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The Nigerian Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and dominant telecom operator, MTN has indicated their interest to be part of this year’s campaign.

This year's event, scheduled to hold in Lagos on April 28, 2014 at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, the fifth since eBusiness Life joined the annual campaign in 2012, is an initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) geared at sensitizing young girls and encouraging them to take up Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a career.

The NCC has consistently partnership with eBusiness Life in driving this campaign since it began in 2012 because of the regulator’s readiness to enter into strategic alliances with the private sector as well as international organisations for the actualization of the ICT vision and also the development of human capital in the country with emphasis on creating and supporting a knowledge-based economy.

MTN’s support is borne out of the quest to ensure that the Nigerian girl child is presented with all options available in shaping her career and ensuring that the profession of ICT is demystified among females.

The company has consistently been engaged in development of human capital through various initiatives. The partnership with eBusinesslife is one of such vehicles that will help the operator achieve its goals.

According to the chief executive officer of eBusiness Life Communication, Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, the need to sensitise young girls is premised on the fact that the society has unconsciously relegated the female gender and delegated careers in technical fields, especially in ICT, to their male counterparts.

According to her, effort should be made to introduce young girls to career opportunities in technical fields in both the public and private sectors to help them have a wider range of options and contribute their quota in the industry and in the development of the economy.

She stated that the ICT Girls’ Day workshop and attending campaign will further open up opportunities for girls in ICT sector.

As part of the 2016 event, there will be graphic design competition between female students from select secondary schools, roundtable discussions, interactive and motivational talk from renowned women ICT professionals, among others.

At the end of the event, it is expected that the young students should be able to introspect and pursue any desired career path in ICT, technical or not, without bias, or gender consciousness.

While the motive of this campaign is not to force these young and budding girls into a profession which is currently dominated by men, it tends to present and demystify the ICT profession, making them realize the need and intrigues of the profession. It will also expose their hidden abilities to tackle the challenges that were faced and surmounted by some other women who are already excelling in and enjoying the profession.

International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through ITU Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies.

e-Business Life Magazine is a monthly Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Magazine incorporated to bringing better information that would link users and service providers as well as enable Nigeria take its pride of place among the comity of nations in the new global economy by furthering the cause of ICT.

The mission at e-Business Life Magazine is to inform and educate ICT users on trends and developments both locally and internationally; to provide a platform on which to build ICTs in Nigeria and also to be a voice for ICT consumers in the country. 

In addition we are poised to create a world where Nigerian youths have a better understanding of modern technologies and can easily deploy these technologies in developing their communities.

EFCC Invites Skye Bank MD Over Non-Compliance With TSA

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited the Managing Director of Sky Bank and his Chief Compliance Officer over the bank’s deliberate refusal to move N6.3 billion lodged in its two separate accounts to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

 It will be recalled that the Federal Government mandated the use of its TSA for government-related accounts and funds.

EFCC sources disclosed that the invitation followed the discovery of funds belonging the defunct Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of the Federal Government Landed Property, which was overlooked by the bank in the TSA compliance arrangement.

These funds have been reportedly dormant since 2011, according to sources involved in the investigation.

“There is strong suspicion that the funds were covertly hidden from the government as only the bank and members of the committee that had long wounded up operation are aware of its existence”, the source said.

The Committee, which had B.B. Awojide as Secretary, operated from Room 4A, (3rd floor) Federal Secretariat, Phase1. Both accounts have already been blocked by the EFCC, while investigations continue.

In other developments, the Commission has also recovered $2.33million USD from one of the suspects in the arms procurement contract scandal in the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA. SAHARA REPORTER

Buhari’s Popularity Rating Drops to 32%

A monthly poll tracking the performance of governments at all levels in Nigeria, and providing feedback from the public to their elected officials, has recorded President Muhammadu Buhari’s first major approval rating slide.

The February survey by Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria, GAIN, said more Nigerians for the first time since December 2015 scored Mr. Buhari low on jobs, economy, and power.

In earlier months, the poll found that majority of respondents did not blame President Buhari for Nigeria’s current economic troubles. They blamed former President Goodluck Jonathan instead.

The trend however shifted significantly in February as the nation’s economic crisis bit harder, in what the poll coordinators said suggested the president’s “honey moon” might have ended.

“The survey was administered using electronic media between February 22nd and 29th, 2016. A total of 757 complete responses were received. The survey results have a 4% margin of error at a 95% confidence level,” said Malcolm Fabiyi, one of the poll’s coordinators, who previously served as a visiting professor at the Lagos Business School.

The February result showed that Mr. Buhari’s approval rating dropped from 63.4% in January to 32.8%, and more Nigerians held the president responsible for the struggling economy for the first time.

The president scored low on jobs, economy, power, and rule of law. A huge 79 per cent of respondents rated the government’s handling of recurring clashes between herdsmen and farmers poor.

The poll also found that the Nigerian Senate maintained the lowest approval rating of all governmental institutions. The army was the highest rated national institution.

Respondents also rated Ibeh Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum, as Nigeria’s best minister so far.

Here are key highlights of the poll
– Buhari government scores low on jobs, economy, power
– More Nigerians hold Buhari responsible for the economy
– Overall approval for the Buhari government declines
– Nigerian Senate maintains lowest approval rating of governmental institutions
– Nigerian Army remains highest rated National Institution
– Kachikwu rated best performing minister
– Concerns about abuse of rule of law grows
– Majority hold negative view of the selection of Ali Modu Sherriff as the PDP Chairman
– 79% give poor ratings to government’s handling of Fulani Herdsmen clashes
– 72% of Nigerians do not support any political parties. (Premium Times)

NUPENG, PENGASSAN Call Off Strike

OIL union workers under the umbrella of NUPENG and PENGASSAN have reportedly called off their one-day-old strike after meeting with the junior Minister of Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu.

The unions had embarked on strike following the misinterpretation of the unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

After meeting with Kachikwu, the unions decided to sheath their swords and get back to work.

Kachikwu assured them that there was no unbundling of NNPC, stressing that, what was happening was a restructuring.

Oil workers feared that many of them would be sacked if NNPC was unbundled and they immediately resorted to a strike, but they have been reassured that their jobs are safe at least for now.

“We have not unbundled NNPC. We had a press conference yesterday where I explained this,” Kachikwu said.

“What we have simply done is a reorganisation. We have five business entities focused on business- Upstream, Downstream, Refineries, Gas, and Power that are there before.

“There are also ventures that capture all our little companies that were not having proper stewardship.

“They are run by individuals who report to the GMD. The NNPC is still a whole. There is nothing new that has happened.

“I have tried to explain this, and I am sure the NNPC workers are members of the family, they will understand.

 “We are going to have a meeting, and they will be made to understand. Perhaps the engagement has not been good enough.

 “NNPC has not been unbundled in the sense of breaking up NNPC into distinct institutions. I am concerned.

 “I don’t want the industry shut down. I am sure we are going to resolve the issues very soon,” he further explained.

Housemaids, Artisans To Pay Taxes In Lagos

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced that it had widened its tax net to include domestic workers and artisans.

The Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, made the announcement at a news conference in Alausa.

He said that the new tax regime was in line with Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode administration’s inclusion of every resident to the growth of the state.
Ogunsanwo said the agency had commenced the process of overhauling the informal sector with a view to ensuring voluntary compliance by all tax payers.

He said the agency had identified three categories of tax payers in the sector.
According to him, they include market men/women, artisans, micro, small and medium-scale enterprises and domestic staff.

He said these categories of people were expected to remit one per cent of what they earned to government’s coffers.
Ogunsanwo said that a directorate had been created in the agency to oversee the sector, while modalities for taxing these categories of people had been worked out.

According to him, the declining national revenue as a result of the fall in the global price of oil and the need for government to provide and maintain basic infrastructure necessitated the regime.

Ogunsanwo said that in addition to the traditional bank portal, new payment platforms, including POS, online and other electronics multi-modal system had been introduced to make it easier for residents to remit their taxes.

He said a review of the tax Form A of the Personal Income Tax Act had also been conducted.
The chairman said the guide notes would be translated into pidgin and Yoruba for all to understand.

He said that disciplinary measures, including outright dismissal had been introduced to check corrupt practices among LIRS staff.
Besides, he said, a customer care desks would soon be created in all the 38 tax stations within the state to enlighten residents.

The Commissioner for Finance, Mr Mustapha Akinkunmi, disclosed that despite the harsh economic conditions, the LIRS contributed 79 per cent to the state’s Internally Generated Revenue in 2015.

He said the percentage amounted to over N20 billion in January 2016 alone.
Also the state’s Attorney General, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, said the ministry of justice would provide adequate support to LIRS in its quest to ensure that tax payers complied with tax laws.(NAN)

FG Splits NNPC Into 7 ‘Independent Units’

The federal government has split the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into seven independent operational units.

 Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday, listing the units as upstream, downstream, gas and power, refineries, ventures, corporate planning and services, and finance and accounts. 
Kachikwu explained that the distribution of subsidiary companies of the corporation would further be restructured into direct management of the divisions. He announced the heads of the units as Bello Rabiu (upstream), Henry Ikem-Onih (downstream), 

Saudu Mohammed (gas & power), and Babatunde Adeniran (ventures). Others are Anibor Kragha (refineries),  Isiaka Abdulrazaq (finance & services), and Isa Inuwa (corporate services). Last week, Kachikwu announced that the government was planning to unbundle the corporation into 30 profitable companies. 

“For the first time, we are unbundling the subset of the NNPC to 30 independent companies with their own managing directors,” he had said. “Titles like group executive directors are going to disappear and in their place you are going to have CEO and they are going to take responsibilities for their titles. “At the end of the day, the CEO of an upstream company must deliver an upstream result.”

The cable 

University of Lagos Convocation Carnival

https://youtu.be/vjNvbaEGP7o

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Only 3.6m Nigerians Use Mobile Money Services –Report

DESPITE sustained campaigns by fiscal and monetary authorities towards a cashless economy and the increase of partnership between mobile network operators and the banks, latest report from Ericsson indicated that of the 180 million Nigerians, only 3.6 million use mobile money services. 

According to the Ericsson Consumer Insight Report for 2016, which was presented in a video conference from South Africa to the media in Lagos on March 3, most of the financial activities in Nigeria are still cash-based. 

The report showed that many barriers still existed to the adoption of mobile money services for personal use on mobile phones. Senior Advisor,ConsumerLab and Mobile Financial Services,Patrik Hedlund, reported that most respond said that they have not heard about the possibility to use mobile money on their own phones.

He noted that out of the four of the people in the lower socioeconomic groups lack the basic prerequisites such as an ID card and access to a mobile saying that many are not using the service because it is perceived it unnecessary or too complicated. 

Speaking further, he said that banks are preferred as mobile money services providers noting that mobile operators are the runner up with higher preference than money remittance agencies, microfinance institutions. Hedlund said that mobile operators were also preferred by lower socioeconomic classes compared to other socioeconomic classes. 

The report, which compared Nigeria with Ghana, Angola,Uganda and DRC showed that the percentage for mobile money is 30 per cent, 9 per cent, 38 percent, 23 per cent for Ghana, Uganda, and DRC respectively.

Hedlund further said that consumers had to make long journeys to reach the location where they can pay their bills saving that “money and taking loans also becomes problematic in unbanked Africa, with many hiding cash in their homes and relying on informal lenders who charge high interest rates. So, mobile money is really beneficial to them – if they can use it.” “Lower income people and the unbanked are the ones who are least involved in the formal financial system, due to factors such as distance to banks, education, and the inability to authenticate their identity,” Hedlund said. 

The survey data was collected in July and October 2015 and compiled during face-to-face interviews, each lasting 40 minutes. Interviews were also conducted with experts from the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.