Governance in Africa declining - Mo Ibrahim Foundation

ITRealms:

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) has decried declining governance values in the continent of Africa, reports ITRealms.

The official IIAG report Tuesday to ITRealms, the index says that in over the last four years, governance progress in Africa has stalled, thus revealing a shifting landscape. 

During the period 2011-14, the report said, the African average overall governance score in the IIAG increased only slightly by +0.2 points to 50.1 (out of 100.0), with considerable changes in performance during the last four years at all levels of the Index, both at country and at category level.

ITRealms recalls that report published annually, the IIAG provides a comprehensive assessment of governance performance for each of the 54 African countries. The 2015 IIAG consists of 93 indicators which fall into four categories: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.

“Twenty-one countries, including five of the top ten, have deteriorated in overall governance performance since 2011. Only six countries register an improvement across each of the four categories of the IIAG: Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Zimbabwe,” part of the report read.

At the regional level, IIAG stated the continental trend in overall governance masks varying performances and a widening range between the regions. 

“Southern Africa remains the best performing region, with an average score of 58.9, followed by West Africa (52.4), North Africa (51.2) and East Africa (44.3). Central Africa is the lowest ranking region with an average score of 40.9, and is the only region to have deteriorated since 2011,” the report showed.

As stated by IIAG, the marginal improvement in overall governance at the continental level is underpinned by positive performances in only two categories, Human Development (+1.2) and Participation & Human Rights

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)  
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ICANN’s first DNS-Entrepreneurship roadshow kicks off in EMEA

ITRealms:

 The Los Angeles-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has commenced its first-ever Domain Name System (DNS) Roadshow in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, reports ITRealms.

This is coming as the series of workshop DNS-Entrepreneurship Center’s (DNS-EC) enters the second year.

Communications Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at ICANN, Ms Luna Madi said the the DNS-EC, a partnership between ICANN and Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), aims to contribute to the evolution of the domain name sector in Africa and the Middle East through a series of workshops. 

According to her, the workshop entitled “SWOT Workshop for National DNS Markets,” serves as seminars aimed at developing expertise in the DNS business related areas, and provide resources to support the implementation of initiatives and projects in this field. 

The Domain Name System (DNS), she said, helps users find their way around the Internet. 

“The DNS matches domain names, which we use to access the Internet, with numeric addresses (IP addresses), which digital devices use to communicate with each other. It’s very much like how a phone book matches names to phone numbers,” she said in a press statement made available to ITRealms.

Equally, ITRealms gathered that four workshops have been planned from this month until the end of the year, 2015, with the first two scheduled to hold this October.

One in Tunis, Tunisia, with the collaboration of partners like the Tunisie Internet (ATI), she said, would take place from Thursday through Friday, 8-9 October 2015.

This, ICANN official said, would be followed by a second workshop, to be hosted by Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) in Doha, Qatar between 11-12 October 2015.

The objective of the workshops, she said, is to construct a Strategic Plan for ccTLD Registry based on a SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis of the country’s DNS market. 

Potential attendees, Madi said would include ccTLD managers, IDN ccTLD manager, and the Registrars/Resellers in the respective countries, stressing the two workshops would be conducted in partnership with EnCirca Domain Name Registrar and Startingdot Registry. 

“We are very excited about this road show. It comes at just the right time, as the DNS-EC enters its second year and becomes more proactive in addressing the needs of the DNS community by expanding its outreach and building the necessary infrastructure across Africa and the Middle East.”

ITRealms gathered that the DNS Entrepreneurship Center (DNS-EC) which debut in June 2014, during ICANN50 in London, is an important milestone, materializing the plans set out by the Middle East Strategy for ICANN, to serve communities in Africa and the Middle East.

The project is a partnership with Egypt’s NTRA, and is being implemented in three phases – Foundation (1 July 2014-30 June 2015), Launch (1 July 2015-30 June 2017) and Operation (On-going). 
+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 
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Ministerial list: Fashola, Amaechi, Lai Mohammed on top

ITRealms

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has hours ago, unveiled the names in the ministerial list sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the nation’s upper legislative chamber, ITRealms reports.

The former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi, Lai Mohammed, Abubakar Malami, Chris Ngige, Ogbonaya Onu, Kayode Fayemi, Abdulrahman Dambazzu, Kemi Adeosun, Aisha AlHassan, Sirika Hadi, Adebayo Shittu, Udo Udoma, Audu Ogbeh, Ibe Kachikwu, were in the twenty two-man list.

Others, ITRealms gathered, are Solomon Dalong, Amina Ibrahim, Abdulrahman Dambazau, Ibrahim Usman Jibrin, Samson Osagie, Musa Ibeto and Suleiman Adamu.

The Senate President, however, said the screening of the nominees would start on Tuesday, October 13, adding that the screening of ministers would no longer be business as usual as it would be more thorough and prudent.

Saraki said it would be thorough to ensure that only competent and qualified individuals occupied the positions, ITRealms learnt.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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PWC posts total global gross revenues of N7.05trn

ITRealms

The number one professional services company, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd (PwC) network,  has reported total global gross revenues of US$35.4 billion, about N7.05 trillion for the fiscal year ended on June 30, 2015, reports ITRealms.

At constant exchange rates, PwC's total global revenues rose by 10 per cent. This is up significantly from the previous year and the strongest year-on-year growth that the network has seen since FY07. Growth was strong across all lines of business and in all geographic regions.

The Chairman, PWC, Dennis M. Nally, said, “The global business environment remains challenging, with a continuing patchy economic picture, geopolitical issues creating uncertainty for business and fierce competition in the professional services market.  Despite these challenges the PwC network performed exceptionally well in FY15 with growth of 10 per cent, pushing revenues over the US$35 billion mark for the first time.

“Our strongest growth for eight years is a result of the significant investment we have made in recruiting the best people, enhancing the quality of our services and building new product offerings such as data analytics.  We have also continued to make key strategic acquisitions to complement and expand our core business.

The South African firm, ITRealms gathered, also recently appointed Dion Shango as the Southern Africa CEO role with effect from July 1 2015.  Shango, a South African citizen, is the first African black to be appointed in this role within PwC. PwC South African Board Chair, Shirley Machaba, was elected to the PwC Global Board - the first female black partner to be elected to the Global Board.

Growth was also good across the Australasia and the Pacific Islands region with revenues up by 11 per cent with strong growth in Australia where revenues grew by 10 per cent.

Being the number one professional services network, PwC needs the best talent. PwC welcomed record numbers to the network, adding 53,049 people in FY15, including 24,600 graduates. Our global headcount grew 6% to more than 208,000 people, which reflects the exceptional opportunities for development and advancement PwC offers, ITRealms learnt..

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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OLX fetes top performing car dealers @3rd anniversary

ITRealms:

Acclaimed Nigeria’s number one online classified, OLX, has hosted top performing car dealers on its platform in commemoration of three years of successful operation in the country, reports ITRealms.  

Speaking at the Rooftop Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos, the Country Manager, OLX, Lola Masha reaffirmed OLX’s commitment to continuous innovation and improved quality of service delivery to its teeming users.

 “When OLX commenced operations in Nigeria three years ago, we had our work clearly cut out. We started out with a determination to build an operation with excellence at its core” Masha said.

She also said that among the many segments of the business, the vehicle category is one of the most popular, and OLX have seized the occasion of its third anniversary to celebrate our top-performing dealers on our site who have played a major role in our on-going success story. We are doing all we can to boost this category and other ones by establishing operational relationships and forging partnerships with other credible brands.’’

While acknowledging that the business had experienced its fair share of challenges, Public Relations Lead of OLX, Uche Nwagboso said that each challenge has however presented a unique growth opportunity.

“Each obstacle has actually driven us to do more, to innovate more and to achieve more. We believe that as we continue to innovate, to form new strategic alliances and to strengthen our twin pillars of safety and trust, we are contributing to the evolution and establishment of a vibrant e-commerce culture in Nigeria. Indeed, OLX is driven to become such a credible brand in the country that anytime, anyone has a product to buy or sell, the person automatically thinks OLX,” she said.

Sharing his OLX experience at the event, Henchard Omere, a car dealer based in Ikeja who has been on OLX since July 2013 and placed 322 ads till date, said, “As a car dealer, my dreams of expanding my reach had always seemed far-fetched until the day a colleague told me about OLX and since I signed on two years ago, my business has grown like never before.”

Stressing that with the limited space in his shop, he had many cars parked at his residence, but thanks to OLX, he was able to sell 12 vehicles within a short period. 

"I have also diversified to other profitable ventures because of the OLX advantage of safety, trust and convenience, and I am so grateful to the OLX team and everyone who has helped make my dreams come true,” he said.

OLX is the world’s leading classifieds platform in growth markets and is available in more than 40 countries and over 50 languages. OLX connects local people to buy, sell or exchange used goods and services by making it fast and easy for anyone to post an ad through the mobile app.

ITRealms recalls that every month, hundreds of millions of people in local markets around the world use OLX’s online marketplace to find and sell a wide range of products, including vehicles, electronics, phones and much more. 

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +Lola Masha +Mayokun Soremekun 

 

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Nigeria ranks first in African Hotel Valuation Index 2015

ITRealms:

The 2015 African Hotel Valuation Index has revealed that Nigeria heads the list of countries in Africa with the strongest economy, but with only 34 branded hotel bedrooms per million population, ITRealms gathered.

 This compares with 6,754 branded hotel bedrooms per million population in North America and 2,432 bedrooms per million in Europe. Ghana with 59 bedrooms and Cote d’Ivoire with 61 bedrooms also present great opportunities with very strong unmet demand.

According to a press release emanating from the Bench, the event organizers, evidence from the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) holding  in Addis Ababa showed that  the Index showed African hotel brands such as Azalai, City Lodge and Protea trading well, with a number of hotel investors showing faith in the continent.

Now in its fifth year, AHIF (September 30 to October1, 2015)  brought together 500-plus leading international hotel investors, local operators, ministers, government officials and industry experts from around 40 countries.

The immediate good news came from ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analysing 14 million reservation transactions each day. Its analysis showed there was an increase of 6.4 per cent in international arrivals in September in Sub-Saharan Africa, reports ITRealms.

Flight bookings for the next six months suggest a sustained recovery. The data shows arrivals on-the-book (bookings for travel in future) from October 2015 to March 2016 are now running 4 per cent ahead, compared with the same period last year.

The conference also heard the latest thought leadership research paper from JLL. It found the growth drivers for the hotel sector in Africa included: improved fiscal management, favourable demographics (a population of 1.1billion, rapid urbanisation, growing middle class, rich commodity and energy resources, considerable infrastructure investment, increased tourism.

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Etisalat equips GGC Dala's ICT Centre

ITRealms:

Etisalat Nigeria has lifted the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre of Girls’ Government College, Dala, Kano State in North West Nigeria with the donation of 30 pieces of desk top computers, reports ITRealms.

The State’s Deputy Governor and Commissioner for Education, Professor Hafiz Abubakar, while unveiling the centre alongside other facilities renovated by Etisalat in the school as part of its Adopt-A-School initiative, commended the pan-Nigeria intervention programme aimed at facilitating the delivery of quality education through the creation of conducive learning environment for primary and secondary school students.

Speaking about the intervention programme, the Vice President, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko, said the company aims to help drive the delivery of quality education.

“The whole aim is to drive the delivery of quality education. What we have done is to create an enabling environment for conducive learning which in turn drives improvement in learning. As an innovative company, we are about driving sustainable development using education as one of the key platforms, “he said.

Dikko, who was represented by the company’s Head, Government and Community Relations, Mohammed Suley-Yusuf, also reiterated the company’s commitment to partnering with the Kano state government in achieving its developmental goals in critical areas particularly education.

 “Etisalat is proud to be able to contribute positively to achieving the government’s objective of improving Kano State especially in the area of Education. We will continue to collaborate to move the state and indeed the nation forward, even as we work towards being the telecommunications partner of choice for Nigeria. We laud Kano State government, for recognising the potential of and encouraging public private partnership, “he said.

Also speaking in his address, the Kano State deputy Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar commended Etisalat for combining its core business function of providing quality telecoms services with strategic contributions to the development of the society in various areas through some initiatives like the Adopt-A-School programme.

“Today, we are witnessing the result of a strategic partnership. We as a people are particularly glad because it is very clear to us that given our population as the most densely populated state in the country, the three tiers of Government cannot single-handedly bear the huge funding burden of education without external support. Therefore, it is very heart-warming to see Etisalat take this initiative of adopting a school for life with the objective of making sure that it brings about positive infrastructural development and enhanced quality of learning through the provision of educational materials,” he said.

The Deputy Governor also noted that the intervention will help the Abdullahi Ganduje-led administration in achieving its objective of ‘providing education for all’ especially for the girl child.

According to him, Kano State needs about 15,000 classrooms in state-owned secondary schools to enable them take in the 30% of secondary school prospects who have not been able to transit to secondary school upon completing primary education.

Beside the ICT Centre, other renovated facilities under the first phase of the project which the deputy Governor commissioned include the school’s library which was fitted with furniture and books, Kwankwaso Hostel Block, a modern science laboratory, solar-powered potable water facility and seven classrooms with chairs and tables.

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DellPrecision tower, mobile workstations coming to market

ITRealms:

The new DellPrecision tower workstations and their mobile counterparts, will be coming to the market on October15 and 27 respectively, ITRealms reports.

Also on the unveiling list is the new Dell UltraSharp 25 monitor available to purchase on Dell.com across Europe, the Middle East and Africa starting at USD649.99, about N129,510.51 and the Dell UltraSharp 27 monitor, available for purchase starting at USD899.99, about N179,323.01 

Redesigned inside and out, IITRealms gathered that the new mobile workstations combine the beauty of thinner, lighter industrial designs and brilliant displays with the performance of the latest graphics technology with new processors and faster memory and storage. 

The Executive Director, Dell Precision, Rahul Tikoo, said that this portfoli, makes huge leaps in performance with innovative new screen and configuration options.

“We listened to our customers in categories such as media and entertainment, engineering, manufacturing, finance and beyond, to deliver a high-performing system for their workload needs. This portfolio combines the great, new technology from our hardware partners, seamless functionality with the applications of our software partners, and the amazing innovation from our Dell Precision engineers and product teams to deliver the most powerful and beautifully-balanced mobile workstations on the market,” Tikoo said.

“The new Dell Precision workstations also offer the best experience for professional users by adding certifications for various professional applications, hardware customisation to ensure systems are tailored to specific needs, and the industry-leading ProSupport Plus for PCs and Tablets offers complete support service with priority access to expert support, accidental damage repair, and proactive, predictive monitoring for automatic issue prevention and resolution, so customers spend more time creating with Dell Precision Workstations,” he further revealed.

Dell, ITRealms gathered claims the number one monitor brand worldwide and its award winning suite of monitors allow creative professionals to revolutionise their viewing experience with uncompromising performance, unmatched reliability and innovative design.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE 

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‘Peter Ogiero committed suicide,’ no he died of stroke - Bayelsa Government

 ITRealms

Contrary to reports that a civil servant, Mr. Peter Ogiero, committed suicide because of unpaid salaries, the Bayelsa State Government has denied it, saying that the man died of stroke, ITRealms gathered.

The government quoted a family source as revealing that "the deceased was suffering from partial paralysis, which was responsible for his death."

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said there is no iota of truth in the story, ITRealms reports.

Iworiso-Markson said the report was a calculated attempt by the All Progressives Congress, (APC and its cronies to score cheap political points ahead of the forthcoming governorship election scheduled for December 5.

"Bayelsa is one of the few states in the country that remains committed to the welfare of its workers, stressing that, it is on record that, the present administration was not owing workers. Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has ordered the immediate payment of September salaries to the entire workforce, despite the dwindling allocation from the federation account, he said.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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UTEL plans debut @ GITEX 2015

ITRealms:

The United Kingdom (UK)-based company United Technologists Europe Limited (UTEL) says it plans to make a debut in the Middle East debut at the Gulf International Technology Exhibition (GITEX) 2015 in Dubai, reports ITRealms.

Managing Director, UTEL, Mr. Frank Kaufhold said the leading research and development company would be showcasing its innovative Fast Light technology and copper test solutions at GITEX - taking place October 18-22 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

He also said in a press statement available to ITRealms that with the FTTH market exploding in the Middle East and the demand for new technologies rapidly increasing, there has not been a better time to make the UTEL mark.

“As Middle East operators begin their transition from copper to fibre networks, this is the best time to debut our innovative technologies, especially Fast Light which is vital to move forward initiatives like the Smart Home and Internet of Things (IoT),” he said.

Kaufhold explained that fast Light  which he described as an easy to use system that could test fibre cable systems and report any issues that are affecting service is UTEL’s system for monitoring and managing Fibre Optic cables.

“Fast Light uses UTEL's revolutionary Advanced Reflection Detection (ARD) technology which sets a new global benchmark for optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) performance and has the potential to greatly reduce the cost of building and operating fibre networks,” he said.

In addition, he said, UTEL’s copper test solutions would be displayed at the show, because these solutions deliver improved repair time for high revenue xDSL services at lower Operational Costs (OPEX) and can be customised specifically for customer requirements.
 

 

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