Nigerian Kwekowe wins star prize @ Anzinsha 2015

ITRealms:

The Anzisha Prize has named Nigerian job placement technology entrepreneur, Chris Kwekowe (22), founder of Slatecube as winner of its 2015 grand prize for African youth entrepreneurship, reports ITRealms.

This year’s winner of the prize organized by the African Leadership Academy (ALA), goes home with the sum of the $25,000 grand prize in the 5th year of Africa’s premier award for youth entrepreneurship. 

ITRealms also reports that Chris Kwekowe’s Slatecube offers a job-relevant skills learning platform and job placement services, impressed the judges. 

According to the judges, Slatecube has had significant success to date with potential for scale and will serve as an inspiring beacon for other youth interested in entrepreneurship. 

A press statement made available to ITRealms reports that the decision was not easy, however, given the talented pool of finalists, just as Fintech entrepreneur Fabrice Alomo (22) of Cameroon came 1st Runner Up and went home with $15,000 and fashion entrepreneur Mabel Suglo (22) from Ghana was 2nd Runner Up and also got $12,500 as prize.

Chris Kwekowe founded Slatecube to increase job access for youth through creating a platform on which they can build job-relevant skills and linking them with virtual internship opportunities that enable them to develop experience. His vision for the venture is to see it grow into a wide-scale provider of relevant job market access, with increasing ability to open doors for job seekers.

“I did not believe that I could have won the prize when the competition started. But I feel confident in what I can achieve now given the capital and training that I have received through the Anzisha Prize. I congratulate all the other finalists as I believe they were all very impressive and look forward to engaging them as we support each other to grow going forward,” Kwekowe said.

@Isaac Oyimah/GEE with additional report from APO

 

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Lagos warns on Central Business District, starts enforcement

ITRealms:

The Lagos State Government has commenced the enforcement of rules and regulations guiding Central Business District (CBD) as part of measures to curb illegal activities of traders and motorists that impede free flow of human and vehicular movement, ITRealms reports.

Special Adviser to the Governor on CBD, Mr. Agboola Dabiri gave this indication when he led enforcement team to Lagos Island CBD, stressing that, the government would no longer condone street trading, display of goods on the roads, walkways and illegal parking, as well as driving against the traffic.

“The State Government will no longer tolerate any act of impunity by traders and motorists. You have been warned over time to desist from all illegal activities that impede traffic,” he said, adding that, anyone caught will be made to face the full wrath of the law so as to serve as deterrent to others.

Dabiri declared that the inspection would continue ``until we all abide by all CBD rules and regulations which centered mainly on orderliness, conformity and free flow of traffic in line with international standard for CBD in developed countries”.

ITRealms gathered that over 15 vehicles were impounded in the exercise which commenced from Onikan through Broad Street, Apongbon, Elegbeta, Ebute Ero and Idumagbo. Other areas involved are Eyin Eyo, CMS, Eja Lonibu and Tinubu.

A score of recalcitrant traders were also arrested and goods seized in an exercise that caught traders, motorists and other stakeholders unaware.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +ITRealms DSA +LAGOS +Lagos Chamber 

MTN N1.04trn fine: NCC considers leniency

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has acknowledged MTN’s letter of November 2, 2015 where it admitted infraction in its operation and pleaded for leniency, which  is under consideration, ITRealms reports.

NCC, ITRealms recalls, placed a fine of N1.04trillion on MTN Nigeria as a result of violation of Section 20(1) of the Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulation of 2011 which states that “Any licensee who activates or fails to deactivate a subscription medium in violation of any provision of these Regulations is liable to a penalty of N200,000.00 for each unregistered but activated subscription medium.”

The fine that was imposed on MTN was the second within two months after the operators were given a seven-day ultimatum to deactivate all unregistered and improperly registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards. While others complied, MTN did not, ITRealms learnt.

According to the public affairs director at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, the fine on MTN Nigeria, was done in the interest of the public which has been at the receiving end of security challenges.

On August 4, 2015, he said that at a meeting of all the representatives of the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) with NCC, major security challenges through preregistered, unregistered and improperly registered SIM Cards topped the agenda after which operators were given the ultimatum to deactivate such within seven days.

ITRealms gathered that on August 14, 2015, three days after the ultimatum expired, NCC carried out a network audit, while other Operators complied with the directive, to deactivate the improperly registered SIM Cards, MTN showed no sign of compliance at all.

NCC explqined that the four operators; MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat, were sanctioned in August for none compliance of the directive to deactivate the improperly registered SIM Cards.  MTN got a fine of N102.2Million, Globacom N7.4Million, Etisalat N7Million and Airtel N3.8Million fine.  Others complied while MTN flouted the fine.

Based on the report of the compliance Audit Team, an Enforcement Team which visited MTN from September 2 – 4, 2015 wherein MTN admitted that the Team confirmed that 5.2million improperly registered SIM Cards were still left active on their network; hence, a contravention of the Regulations was established.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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Oracle to partner NITDA, Galaxy Backbone to drive government transparency agenda

ITRealms:

The Chief Executive Officer, Oracle Technologies, Adebayo Sani, has said that his company has plans to partner with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other relevant agencies to ensure the application of technology to drive present government transparency agenda, ITRealms reports.

Adebayo was speaking at the 2015 Oracle Cloud Day, Tuesday, in Lagos. He pointed out that such agency and organisation as NITDA and Galaxy Backbone which assist government in the formulation of technology policies are key to Oracle Cloud technology transition leadership roadmap.

He went further to say that his company has achieved a record 33 billion daily transaction globally, saying that Oracle Cloud has 19 data centres across 190 countries which is geared toward enhancing better service delivery to the teeming customers.

“We’ve seen growth in our leadership capacity in three key areas which include software as a service, platform as a service and infrastructure as a service,” adding that Oracle Cloud is tailored towards business agility, cost effectiveness, less complexity while not relegating security as uppermost in the company’s strategy. He also said it is only Oracle Cloud that has the ability to move customers from On Premise to Cloud and back to private depending on customer choice”.

“Today, the cost of technology is no longer considered an issue for any company that wants to use IT to drive business innovation. CEOs need to strive for agility irrespective of the size of their organization; to remain progressive and forward-thinking, despite how they may perceive their company today in an ever-changing competitive landscape; and to have a team that is really focused on using IT as an innovation driver in every part of their business,” Sani said.

“Now in its fourth year, Oracle Cloud Day, formerly Oracle Day, has been a tremendous success in Nigeria and provided a valuable opportunity for our customers, partners and prospects to gain insight into the technologies that are transforming business. In the cloud we are seeing a generational shift in computing as significant as the shift to personal computing was forty years ago,”

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

 
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Tanzania: AMOTEL appoints WTL to provide voice, data

 ITRealms:

AMOTEL has said it will be deploying World Telecommunication Lab (WTL’s) new Vivada system (Village Voice and Data) to build low OPEX, low-CAPEX networks in three villages that are not currently covered by any kind of network, ITRealms reports. WTL recently announced that the collaboration will bring voice and data to remote rural villages close to Lake Tanganyika in Katavi Region and later to take the services to other villages in Kigoma, Njombe and Kilimanjaro regions ITRealms gathered that the proof of concept project is being financed by the Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF) as part of its US$9.6 million, about N19.1billion investment to improve connectivity in Tanzania which was announced in April. In June AMOTEL became the first licensed Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in Tanzania with a mission to embrace new innovations and developments to serve the rural areas. AMOTEL has entered a business agreement to operate as an MVNO through a national telecom company called Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL). The Board Chairman of Mkulima African Telecom Company Limited, MTC-AMOTEL Professor Robert Mabele, said, “We know that connectivity in rural areas leads to economic development and improvements in the quality of life. AMOTEL is a company which takes its responsibilities very seriously and we are determined to make a difference.”  WTL’s Vivada has been specifically developed to provide operators large and small with a cost-effective, quick to deploy and sustainable system for rural GSM and data connectivity. It runs on less than 200W which can be supplied by solar with battery back-up, ITRealms learnt. Vivada recognises that multiple revenue streams will ensure a sustainable business model. It can deliver services to all types of pre and post-paid customers with varying telecoms budgets including GSM for every type of handset; WiFi connectivity for smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs – and connectivity to cybercafés and hotspot call cabins. Traffic from the village  ITRealms informs, is validated by WTL’s real-time charging system and voice calls are then converted into VoIP and compressed using WTL’s award-winning VoIP SBC which uses patented technology to minimise the amount of backhaul bandwidth required. Calls are transferred to a hub in Dar es Salaam where a WTL switch routes it onwards. Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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El-Leithy appointment to ensure regional experience-Nokia

 ITRealms:

Nokia Technologies have said that appointment of Amr Karim El-Leithy as designated Head of Middle East and Africa was to bring valuable regional experience and expertise to the management team, ITRealms reports.

Amr Karim El-Leithy would report to Ashish Chowdhary, Chief Customer Operations Officer, who said:

"We are delighted to announce the appointment of Amr Karim El-Leithy as designated Head of Middle East and Africa. He brings valuable regional experience and expertise, and would be a great asset to the management team. I look forward to working with him as we continue to innovate on behalf of our customers, delivering leading products and services and positioning Nokia as the foundation of seamless connectivity for people and things, wherever they are."

ITRealms learnt that Nokia announced this as part of the planned combination of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, after and subject to the successful closing of the public exchange offer for Alcatel-Lucent securities made public on April 15, 2015.

El-Leithy would oversee the combined company's customer operations across Middle East and Africa, driving the execution of strategy and ensuring superior customer service, underpinned by a strong focus on innovation and quality.

He is currently the President for Middle East, Turkey and Africa for Alcatel-Lucent even as joined the company in 2009.Prior to that he served as Regional General Manager for North & West Africa at IBM, ITRealms gathered.

The appointment of Amr Karim follows the announcement of the planned senior leadership team and organizational structure for the combined Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent on October 7, 2015. After the closing of the exchange offer, it is planned that the Networks business would be conducted through four business groups: Mobile Networks, Fixed Networks, Applications & Analytics and IP/Optical Networks.

Nokia Technologies, ITRealms  also reports, would remain as a separate entity within the combined company. In addition, effective after the closing of the exchange offer, Nokia would have six additional business leaders serving as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Customer Operations Officer, Chief Innovation & Operating Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.

 

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

 
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Onyemenam says @NIMC 'We’ve attained paradigm shift'

ITRealms:

The Director General/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Barrister Chris Onyemenam, has said his team attained a paradigm shift with the successful setup and implementation of the National Identity Management Scheme (NIMS) in the country, reports ITRealms.

Onyemenam made this declaration in a chat with selected media over the weekend, saying that the value proposition that flows from the NIMS cuts across the three tiers of the government, the private sector, the family, and to the international society.

“If you take it by extension to the civil service generally, the concept of ghost workers or duplicate identities will be eliminated. No one can be in Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) more than once, because the individual will be traced through the biometrics and the National Identification Number (NIN),” he said.

The NIMC DG expressed confidence in the current setup of the scheme, revealing that the Commission activities is in tandem with global best practice, which says, “Uniquely identify every citizen and legal resident, in terms of ‘who you are’ and not what you are eligible to or what you can participate in like the Voter card, or what you are obliged to like Tax, or what you need like the driver’s license.”

Onyemenam explained that the ability to create a single version of truth will serve the entire country because the NIMS is a cross cutting platform. 

“If you don’t know people and they commit a crime, they can deny it. If someone is able to have more than one identity then they can benefit from their own acts of deception,” he said.

As said by him, nowadays, 419 is rampant because people could claim to be who they are not and still get away with it. 

“So in terms of fighting crime, what we have done with the NIMS is an important tool for law enforcement agencies to fight crime, corruption and/or ensuring that the war against corruption succeeds, because you can’t hide from yourself after having been identified by the Commission as a criminal,” Onyemenam said.

He emphasised that because it is from birth to death, NIMS provides the economic planners of the country that hardcore data about some of the social economic characteristics of citizens in a slightly more factual sense than what other organisation provides, for instance, “if you know the people in the age bracket 0-13 and you want to be able to feed them, you will use the uniqueness of the identity that has been given to them, to ensure that the benefit goes to them only.” 

The same, he said, applies to scholarships, bursaries, stipends to the unemployed, etc. this is the kind of benefit that the element of none repudiation and unique identification confirms on the administration of subsidies, special programmes, and general economic management or eceonomc governance in the country.   

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +ITRealms DSA
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