Dangote refinery achieves historic 650,000 bpd capacity as crude, MS units hit full optimization - ITREALMS

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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reached a definitive operational milestone, successfully restoring and optimizing its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and Motor Spirit (MS) production block, reports ITREALMS.

This achievement marks a global first, as the facility becomes the premier refinery in the world to reach its full nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) within its initial operational phase.

Boosting Nigeria's energy goals: Emadeb E&P achieves landmark 'First Oil' from Ibom field - ITREALMS

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Emadeb Petroleum Exploration & Production Company Limited (Emadeb E&P) has announced a significant achievement in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector: the commencement of commercial production, or "First Oil," from the Ibom Field (PPL 236), reports ITREALMS. 

This successful activation, which follows sustained investment and rigorous technical effort, firmly establishes Emadeb E&P as a fully integrated energy player and highlights the increasingly vital role of indigenous operators in advancing Nigeria's energy security and driving economic diversification. 

FirstBank achieves ₦1trn milestone in digital loan disbursements - ITREALMS

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FirstBank, a leading financial institution in West Africa, has announced a significant milestone worth ₦1 trillion in cumulative instant digital loan disbursements, reports ITREALMS.

This achievement, the company said, solidifies the bank's position as a pioneer in financial inclusion and innovation.

Halo Solutions achieves £10m equity funding - ITREALMS

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A British technology company, Halo Solutions, has achieved the sum of £10 million, about N18,894,060,000.00 in latest equity funding as it plans for expansion across the Middle East and North Africa regions, reports ITREALMS.

Halo, ITREALMS recall developed the Halo public safety and security software platform, which was used at the coronation for His Majesty King Charles III, the King of England and the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the late Monarch of England.

DRC achieves 10% COVID-19 coverage milestone - ITREALMS

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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has crossed the 10 per cent primary series COVID-19 vaccine coverage milestone, a significant achievement in a populous country where coverage one year ago stood at below 1%, and where the health system is handling multiple priorities including Ebola, cholera and measles.

In January 2022, DRC was one of the 34 COVAX AMC-supported countries whose coverage stood below 10%. Today, with concerted support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and WHO through the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, only 6 countries remain below 10% - with Cameroon, Mali and Gabon amongst the latest to cross this milestone.

Konga achieves Intel's coveted partner acceleration programme - ITREALMS

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Foremost e-Commerce powerhouse in Nigeria, Konga, has been migrated to the Retail Accelerator Program of global technology giant Intel, thereby becoming the first e-Commerce company in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve this feat, reports ITREALMS.

Konga’s elevation to the new retail channel program takes effect from Q2’19.

Disclosing this, the Consumer Manager for Nigeria, Intel, Olabanji Womiloju, lauded Konga for its landmark strides in the e-Commerce space, noting that the company was selected in West Africa because of its huge reputation and outstanding performance in Nigeria’s e-commerce sector which is widely regarded as Africa’s biggest market.

Responding to the news, Co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Konga Group, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, expressed delight with the development, saying that Konga’s migration to the new RSA programme is proof that the company is on the right direction in her strategies to change the e-commerce dynamics in Nigeria and beyond.

“We are very glad with the news of our elevation to the Intel Retail Accelerator Program. It shows that our efforts to revolutionize e-commerce in Nigeria and beyond is being noticed even beyond the shores of Africa. This partnership will put us in a position to serve our numerous customers across Nigeria better with more exciting solutions across Intel’s wide-ranging bouquet. Furthermore, it calls for more work on our part in justifying the confidence reposed in us by taking e-commerce to greater heights.”

In addition to justifying Konga’s revolutionary strides and leadership of the Nigerian e-commerce space, the development is bound to bolster the company’s partnership standing with Intel, while positioning it for more marketing support to drive huge product volumes and sellout.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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MDXI achieves TCCF becomes most certified data center in Nigeria - ITREALMS Online

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MDXI’s 600 rack facility in Lekki is the premier commercial Data Center in West Africa built to meet the rapidly growing demand for colocation, managed hosting and cloud services within the region, reports ITRealms.

MDXI is MainOne’s  data centre subsidiary, which ITRealms reported, recently received its Tier III Constructed Facility certification (TCCF) from the Uptime Institute.

With this new milestone, MDXI becomes the leading Data center in West Africa with the top 5 certifications in the industry, being the Tier III Constructed Facility certification, TCCF, the PCI-DSS certification which certifies the Data center to process payment card information, the SAP Infrastructure Services license which certifies the Data Center as ideal for running SAP applications and infrastructure, and ISO 27001 and 9001 certifications.

This TCCF certification is awarded by the Uptime Institute as a performance-based evaluation of a data centre’s concurrently maintainable site infrastructure. Tier Certification of Constructed Facility is a progression from Tier Certification of Design Documents (TCDD) and goes beyond the review of paper designs to rigorous on-site testing to root out discrepancies between the actual installation and design.

The multiple certifications of MainOne’s MDXI demonstrate compliance to globally accepted standards on high availability, commitment towards the security and protection of the information assets of the company and its customers, and provides assurance of the quality of the Data Centre’s infrastructure and ability to react to disruptions due to unplanned activities.

MDXI’s 600 rack facility in Lekki is the premier commercial Data Center in West Africa built to meet the rapidly growing demand for Colocation, Managed Hosting and Cloud services within the region. General Manager of MDXI, Gbenga Adegbiji announced that the certification further validates the company’s investment in critical infrastructure to grow West Africa’s Digital Economy.

“With the increased recognition of Africa as home of fast growing economies, it is important that we have the infrastructure required to establish, enhance and sustain effective business performance in today’s global digital economy. Outsourcing of Data Center services to a reputable provider such as MDXI ensures businesses can adopt more cost effective models of consuming technology to allow increased focus on business development and growth. As we build a data centre ecosystem spanning facilities across West Africa, we plan to launch new Tier III data centres in Sagamu, by Q4 2018, Ghana in 2019 and Cote I’voire in 2020.”

On presentation of the Tier III Constructed Facility certification (TCCF) award, President of Uptime Institute, Lee Kirby said “We congratulate MainOne’s Data Centre Company, MDXI on receiving their Tier III Constructed Facility Certification Documents. This is indeed a significant step for the region and we look forward to working with them as they build multiple facilities across West Africa”.

MDXI is West Africa’s largest full scale data centre provider offering colocation, interconnection and cloud services to OTTs and major network, content and financial providers, as well as access to multiple Internet exchange points in Nigeria, Ghana, Amsterdam, and London.

Nenye Dom/GEE


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NEPAD Agency achieves footprints in 52 African countries, unveils 2017 report

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The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency, is now with a footprint in 52 out of the 55 African Union Member States, reports ITRealms.

Chief Executive Offi cer, NEPAD Agency, Dr Ibrahim A. Mayaki revealed this to ITRealms at the unveiling of the NEPAD Agency’s 2017 annual report, tagged, “Fast-Tracking the Implementation of Africa’s Development Agenda.”

He also said that NEPAD has been adopted as results-based approach which aligned its interventions to the First Ten Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063.

“Accordingly, the 2017 Annual Report is an account of the NEPAD Agency’s contribution to Agenda 2063,” he said.

Mayaki noted in a foreword to the report made available to ITRealms that it additionally presents ‘What’ was achieved and ‘Where’ deliberate efforts to foster learning are made by providing detail on the context and ‘How’ the results were realised.

The report, ITRealms gathered, also highlighted some results that contribute to development effectiveness and organisational efficiency.

He pointed out that the results of the NEPAD Agency’s contribution to Agenda 2063 for the year 2017 are presented at continental, regional and national levels.

As said by him, they are organised around five major outcome areas, namely the “Skills Revolution and Entrepreneurship;  b) Sustainability and Resilience; c) Improved Health and Nutrition Services; d) Transformed Agriculture and Food Systems; and e) Integrated Corridor Infrastructure, Trade and Markets.”

Mayaki pointed out that the year 2017 marked the end of the strategic plan cycle that spans 2014 to 2017.

“It also heralds the medium term development plan, 2018 – 2023, aligned to Agenda 2063’s First Ten Year Implementation Plan,” he said.

Further, he said, the annual report comes at a time when preparations are concluding for transforming the NEPAD Agency into the African Union Development Agency, with greater scope for action and capacity.

“To this end, this report provides some insights into the possible strategic impact areas of the transformed Agency, namely: Wealth Creation, Shared Prosperity, Transformative Capacities and Sustainable Environment,” he said.

Equally, he said, NEPAD agency extended appreciation to the steering committee members for their strategic and wise guidance, as well as the African Union Commission (AUC) for the continuous support provided to the Agency throughout 2017.

Remmy Nweke/GEE

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Ericsson achieves 5G platform for operators

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World leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden,m Ericsson, has finalized 5G-readiness for operators by enhancing its 5G Platform with new solutions for the radio and core network, reports ITRealms.

The company also launched 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) commercial software, based on the recently approved first 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standard. It also introduces a new category of radio products called Street Macro – a new site type that addresses the need of operators to grow in cities with limited available radio locations.

ITRealms reports that to capture growth opportunities presented by new 5G use cases, Ericsson expands its 5G Core System offering with new capabilities to support 5G NR and also enhances its Distributed Cloud solution.  

Ericsson introduced its 5G Platform in February 2017 with additions made in September the same year. It comprises the 5G core, radio, and transport portfolios together with OSS/BSS, network services and security.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks at Ericsson, says: “Operators who want to be early with 5G now have the essential pieces for launching 5G networks already this year. With our expanded platform, they will get more efficient networks as well as opportunities to create new revenues from emerging consumer and industrial use cases.”

Giovanni Ferigo, CTO, TIM, says: “Ericsson is an important enabler of our 5G in-field innovation activities that span several cities in Italy. Together, last December – marking an Italian record - we activated a 5G NR cell in the mmW frequencies in the city of Torino, reaching speeds above 20Gbps. We are looking forward to testing Ericsson’s new solutions that will contribute to address the wide variety of use cases we are working on.”

5G software – enabling first-movers to launch 5G

ITRealms equally gathered that available in the fourth quarter of 2018, Ericsson’s 5G radio network software provides multi-band support for global deployment. It will allow operators to use new frequency spectrum as it becomes available.

The 5G radio network software announced today complements Ericsson’s already launched baseband and 5G radios. Operators can simply activate their 5G networks and take the first steps with commercial 5G capabilities and new applications leveraging advanced mobile broadband services.

This will cater efficiently for growing data traffic and enable access to multimedia content, such as 4K/8K video streaming and virtual reality/augmented reality. According to Ericsson’s new economic study of enhanced mobile broadband, evolution to 5G will enable 10 times lower cost per gigabyte than current 4G.

The radio offering is complemented with 5G Core commercial software optimized for 5G throughput, network capacity and scalability. Ericsson's Packet Core and Unified Data Management solutions will deliver enhancements throughout 2018 to efficiently support 5G services. These solutions can be further upgraded with new functionalities as the 3GPP 5G standard evolves. 

Chuks Egbune/GEE 

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MainOne’s data center achieves West Africa 1st SAP certification

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The data center subsidiary of MainOne, the MDXi, has achieved SAP-certified provider of Infrastructure Services for SAP solutions, reports ITRealms.

This new certification, according to the Temitope Osunrinde of the Public Relations and Digital Communications at MainOne, confers on MDXi the ability to deliver high-quality cloud and infrastructure operations services for customers running SAP solutions and recognizes the company as the region’s first SAP Certified Data Center.

The Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Funke Opeke, while receiving the certificate was quoted in a press statement made available to ITRealms , said it would afford MDXi to host and manage SAP applications utilizing the company’s enterprise cloud platforms, across its private, public and hybrid cloud solutions, via a consumption-based delivery model.

As a SAP-certified provider of hosting services, she said, MDXi would offer a cost-effective yet reliable delivery model for mission-critical applications for customers of SAP, stressing that SAP customers who rely on MainOne’s data center for hosting services will be empowered to focus on the business value of their solutions and benefit from reduced operational expenses that a commercial data center provides.

"We are pleased to receive the SAP certification for Infrastructure Operations Services, as it validates our commitment to providing world-class data center and cloud solutions in Nigeria. With this certification from SAP, it is now possible for Nigerian enterprises and businesses to host SAP applications in-country on MDXi’s Cloud platform and optimize their accounting processes, data analytics and sales chain management. This will improve response times for SAP applications, ensure data security and assure more cost effective subscription charges.”

Equally speaking the Managing Director of SAP West Africa, Kudzai Danha noted ht more than ever, SAP Africa is excited about the SAP HANA certification of partners like MainOne. The current market demand for attractive business applications in the cloud presents great business opportunities and through SAP HANA®, customers can innovate and redesign business processes, capitalizing on the agility of this unique platform.”

SAP HANA Cloud is an in-memory platform that runs analytics applications smarter, business processes faster and data infrastructures simpler! It is the foundation for all the data needs of a business, removing the burden of maintaining separated legacy systems and siloed data, so business can run simple in this new digital economy.

The SAP certification process is rigorous and culminates with an onsite audit session to determine that the provider meets all the local and global requirements as stipulated by SAP to run its applications. Some of the criteria include quality and knowledge management, data center, network and connectivity, back up and data recovery, IT service management and project management. In order to meet this certification requirements, MDXi demonstrated its professional competence in all aspects of infrastructure operations including possessing a comprehensive operations manual, system landscape diagrams, security guidelines, OS access, required technical skills amongst others.

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