GITEX 2018: 407 startups jostle for NITDA sponsorship - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Estimated 407 sponsorships applications for GITEX 2018 were received by the Office for ICT Innovation & Entrepreneurship (OIIE), an arm of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) as the portal closed last week for startups vying to be sponsored to the GITEX Future Superstars (GFS), reports ITREALMS.

The GFS, ITREALMS gathered is holding as part of the headlined events for GITEX 2018 from October 14-18, 2019.

Confirming this to ITREALMS, Head, Corporate Affairs at NITDA, Hadiza Umar, quoted OIIE as saying, NITDA plans to promote 10 startups to join their over 600 peers from over 45 countries at the Global Startups Movement in GITEX. This year, the themes focus on startups creating solutions addressing any of these problems: Smart Cities, Energy, Smart Construction, Healthcare, Education, Retail, Transport and Logistics.

The country’s tech-ambassadors are being carefully selected by a team that include officials of OIIE, innovation hubs and angel investors among others as part of the pre-selection processes and planning for Nigeria’s overall participation in GITEX 2018.

Startups are a major feature of Nigeria’s participation to underscore NITDA’s agenda to expose the country’s budding tech startups ecosystem to global investors, mentors and venture capitalists.

The GITEX Technology Week is a five day event showcasing the latest technology trends. The event draws participation from over 140 countries every year and attracts more than 90 countries Pavilions and trade visitors in excess of 150, 000.

“We remain firm and committed to promoting technology deployment and building our local IT industry to world standard through participation in global events that further exposes the players to trends in the industry,” said Director-General/CEO, NITDA, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami while recently inaugurating the GITEX LOC as well as the LOC for eNigeria.

Nigeria plans to promote three thematic activities this year on IT investment and exposure of indigenous tech companies. The activities are the Nigerian Pavilion, the Startups Innovation Hub, and the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) being put together jointly by the Nigerian government through the NITDA and the UAE government through the DWTC, organisers of GITEX.

The AIF is designed to attract to investment into Nigeria as a gateway to exploring business opportunities in Africa, particularly the ICT sector. The AIF will be drawing participation from the technology business communities in Asia, Europe, the Americas and the rest of Africa.

NITDA’s Director General, Dr Pantami said, “NITDA’s remains committed to its mandate to build a technology ecosystem that thrives on indigenous manpower connected to the global IT community.” Adding that young people are a critical focus of NITDA’s agenda to develop the IT sector.

Some of Nigerian startups are expected to compete in the GITEX Future Stars (GFS) competition which further exposes the winners to a large pool of global venture capitalists, mentors and angel investors.

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NCC reiterates sponsorship support for Tennis Tournament

ITRealms:

The Acting Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has said reiterated sponsorship support for the just concluded Tennis Tournament, reports ITRealms.

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Danbatta in a press statement made available to ITRealms by the Head, Media at NCC, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore, the EVC was quoted as declaring the Commission “will continue to sponsor this tournament.”

Speaking at the National Stadium, Abuja, venue of the second Semi- final of the Tennis National Tournament at the weekend, he said, NCC would also review the prize money upward to ensure that as many teams are attracted from different parts of the country.

A visibly excited Danbatta who went down memory lane said, he remembered with nostalgia the escapades of Nigeria’s Nduka Odizor who reached the round of 16 in the Wimbledon of 1983.

To Danbatta, Odizor was easily one of the global Tennis greats at the time but sadly “Nigerian players have not made the desired impact in global Tennis circuits since then.”

He noted that Nigerians nowadays witness how tennis stars have brought fame and fortune to themselves and their nations, hence NCC wanted to be identified with by taking these talented players in Nigeria to the circuit.

He told the audience at the stadium including, President, Nigeria Tennis Federation, Mr. Sani Ndanusa, President, International Tennis Academy, Mr. Godwin Kienka among others that the main objective of the NCC sponsorship of the tournament is to raise the level of Lawn Tennis which is one of the most popular and lucrative sporting activity.

“Part of our objective is to help in nurturing and exposing these talents through robust competition so as to help them perfect their skills. It is also promoting peace and friendship among the players as this has taken the game to various locations of the country where such competitions have not been held. So far, several matches have been played in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Asaba, Onitsha, Abeokuta, Kaduna, Abuja, and Enugu, with the finals scheduled for Lagos. Another objective of this tournament is so fruitfully engage the players, officials and the youth in some value-driven activities associated with this competition.”

Danbatta said the NCC is glad that most of the objectives of this project have been realized. 

“We understand that most of the best Nigerian players are featuring in this year’s edition, which has made the quality of the competition to be very high. The cross section of the people that matter in Nigerian Lawn Tennis sport have honoured us with their presence in some of the tournaments, including Nduka Odizor that I spoke about. We are happy the way the tournament has been organized as shown by the huge turnout at this second semifinal.”

“This is the maiden edition of this tournament, and we are very happy the way the Commission’s gesture has been received since this league tennis was launched on May 23, 2015. We are proud to have added a new version of competition that has energized activities in the Nigerian lawn tennis calendar.

The first Semi-final held in Enugu last week and the winners of the Enugu Semi- final and the Abuja Semi-final will meet at the final in Lagos on December 4 and 5, 2015.

 
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Etisalat doles out N4.61m prize for Literature

ITRealms:

This year’s winner of the prestigious Etisalat Prize for Literature will receive £15,000, about N4.61 million along with a high-end device and trip on an Etisalat-sponsored book tour in three major cities, ITRealms gathered.

ITRealms learnt this much when the Nigeria’s leading innovative telecommunications operator, Etisalat Nigeria announced the closing of entries for its 2015 Prize for Literature. The annual literary prize, which is in its third year, is the first ever pan-African prize that celebrates first time writers of published fiction and aims at discovering and promoting the teeming creative talents spread across the African continent.

The Head, Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thani, who spoke about the entries which opened on June 18 and closed on August 27, expressed satisfaction with the exercise and the growing cognizance of the prize among literary buffs, even as this year’s winner will also be awarded a fellowship at the prestigious University of East Anglia and mentored by Professor Giles Foden.

 ITRealms reports.

“Judging from the volume and quality of entries received this year, there is no doubt that Africa is blessed with talented and inspiring writers who are challenged to tell their stories and influence their world through literature. Lovers of literary works will be thrilled by the long list of books to be released in November, this year”, she said.

In just 6 years of operations, ITRealms reports, Etisalat Nigeria has become a major industry player with a growing subscriber base of over 22 million in a highly competitive market. Its portfolio of voice and data-centric products include – easy starter, easycliq, easybusiness, and easyblaze; all tailor-made to meet the needs of its customers.

Etisalat Nigeria is one of the 19 operations of the Etisalat Group that spans across Africa, Middle East and Asia serving over 182 million subscribers; and it is committed to delivering innovative and quality services to its growing subscribers. 

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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