Uber launches food delivery service, UberEATS in Johannesburg

Global ride-hailing service Uber is extending its service into the food business in South Africa with the local launch on Thursday of its food delivery platform‚ UberEats.

UberEATS is an on-demand meal delivery service powered by an Uber app. It is one of the first expansion products by Uber Technologies Inc., the technology platform that connects drivers and riders, and utilizes its existing network to deliver meals in minutes. UberEats however, is a separate application from that of the ride-sharing app.

According to Uber Operations and Logistics Manager Dave Kitley, “it will begin delivering meals in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, before moving across the Gauteng province and to Cape Town in 2017.”

Premium Steel & Mines Limited Renews Hope in Ovwian Aladja

…Donates library, generator and computer laboratory to primary school pupils

Nigerian integrated steel manufacturing giant Premium Steel & Mines Limited (PSML) brought smiles to the faces of Ovwian Aladja primary school pupils in the Udu local government area of Delta State when it recently donated a state-of-the-art computer laboratory and a fully stocked library room for the improvement of the educational prospects of the pupils.

The technology facility, equipped with 35 units of state-of-the art personal computers with internet access, was handed over to the Head teacher Mrs Dezzy Ighomi, who in the company of her teaching staff and a crowd of excited pupils, undeterred by the scorching temperatures, were full of adulations for PSML and hope for the positive changes the equipment stands to bring to the school.

Student representative and school library prefect Akeji Gbemisola said: “We are extremely delighted to have the new computer lab in our school as it enhances the library PSML has built for us. Also, their provision of a 20kva sound proof generator ensures we have continued use of the facilities. The best we can do as beneficiaries is to use them to improve ourselves while in the school.”

IS GOTHAM STILL COMING?

Without question, this is certainly not the best of time for Nigeria. With the drop in the global price of commodities, Africa’s largest economy seems to have taken a dive for the worst.

Unpaid salaries, salary cuts and mass sacks have become the order of the day and as expected Nigerians are at the receiving end of all these tragedies. However anyone conversant with Nigerians will tell you that they are among the toughest and most resilient people on earth. Whether this is a good or bad character trait remains an issue for another day: but, we are a nation of “long sufferers”.  An average person will think that we would naturally have a thriving psychotherapy industry; we don’t, we just go to church and listen to music.

Nigeria is a great music nation: we sing and dance to celebrate and to mourn. Music in itself is our therapy. I think it’s not a coincidence that we have the largest music industry in Africa. Recently however, music seems to have taken a backstage in the Nigerian healing process.  The reason is not farfetched; our artist have lost sight of the reason Nigerians love their music; its therapeutic functions, thus, a yearning for music with a higher purpose; an anticipation for the music of hope; music that will define a new nation, a music that can only come with GOTHAM.

Nigeria at 56: Role of Tourism to Nigeria’s Economy

October 1st is always an important day for Nigerians. It is the day we gained independence from Britain after many years of colonial administration.

The different sectors that make up the economy have performed well over the years. One of such sectors is the tourism and hospitality sector.

Although the successive Nigerian governments are yet to recognise that the tourism sector is a goldmine, the industry has copiously contributed to the economy. This is because of the overdependence on crude. And despite this anomaly and trending economy recession, the tourism/hospitality is still contributing.

In celebration of Nigeria’s independence, Jumia Travel takes a look at some of the significant contributions of tourism and the hospitality industry to Nigeria’s economy.

Manchester City extends EA Sports deal

English Premier League football club Manchester City has agreed a multi-year extension to its partnership with video game developer EA Sports.

EA Sports will retain its role as the club’s official gaming partner, with City fans around the world having access to exclusive content across the club’s various digital platforms.

The company will also support City’s official account on social media platform Snapchat, as well as sponsor the ‘man of the match’ award.

Africa Code Week: Judges Announced For Choice Award in the Corporate Initiative Category

SAP announced Thursday the receipt of the Judges' Choice Award in the Corporate Initiative Category for the MIT Inclusive Innovation Competition. In recognition of its impactful digital skills development programme, Africa Code Week (ACW), SAP was selected from more than 240 applicant organisations as recipient of the Judge's Choice Award in the corporate category, for its fast-track and creative approach to driving economic opportunity in the digital age, rated as best-in-class.

"We are honoured to have received this acknowledgement," says Claire Gillissen-Duval, SAP ACW Global Project Lead. "ACW is very close to our hearts and it was easy for the judging panel to see why". Founded in 2015, the initiative is Africa's largest literacy event which aims to simplify the face of software coding for Africa's youth. "ACW has the power to change Africa, acting as the driving force for digital literacy across the continent and shape tomorrow's skilled workforce." states Gillissen-Duval.

The goal of the IIC is to identify organisations that are harnessing digital innovations to create shared prosperity, creating a more inclusive, productive, and sustainable future for all. Award candidates were chosen based on their innovative support of people who earn middle- and base-level incomes.

Agility Announces Winners of Africa 2016 Photo Competition

Agility, a leading global logistics provider, today announced the winners of its Africa 2016 Photo Competition, a series of photographs that show how quickly Africa is modernizing, growing and even leading the way in new technology.

The annual contest, now in its second year, is a pan-Africa photography competition focusing on Africa’s rapid modernization. This year’s competition drew more than 2,500 photographs from professional and amateur photographers in 30 countries.

Technology category and grand prize winner: Stephen Simiyu, Kenya.
JUNA, UGANDA (Source of the Nile River): For more than 20 years. Mr. Atika’s fishing business on Lake Victoria has helped him provide his family with a comfortable life. Now they have joined the global digital world.

The winning images depicted a fisherman in a canoe on Lake Victoria on his laptop, a solar farm in Rwanda powering 15,000 homes, and the skyline of Harare, Zimbabwe.

A cash prize of $2,000 was awarded for each competition category. The winners were Stephen Simiyu, a photographer from Nairobi, Kenya (Technology); Henry Oliver Hakulandaba, an environmental consultant and photographer from Harare (Cities); and Esdore Hakizimana, a machine operator from Kigali, Rwanda (Industry). Simiyu also won the Grand Prize of $2,000 for his photograph of a fisherman using a laptop in a canoe on Lake Victoria, Uganda.

BlackBerry Will No Longer Make New Phones

Having struggled to turn around its phone business, BlackBerry said Wednesday that it will stop internal development of smartphones, relying on partners for any future hardware efforts.

The Ontario-based mobile company's CEO John Chen said the firm would minimize its involvement in hardware manufacturing as it seeks to redouble its software efforts.

“The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners,” BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in a statement. “This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.”

The company reported a net loss of $372 million, or 71 cents per share, on revenue of $334 million. Excluding certain items, the company said it essentially broke even, on adjusted revenue of $352 million. That was five cents per share better than expected, but revenue was short of the $393.75 million consensus estimate.

36 Students Qualify For Cowbellpedia TV Quiz Show Semi Finals

The preliminary rounds of the 2016 Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematics Television Quiz Show ended last weekend and produced 36 semi-finalists who are set to battle for the 12 slots in the finals of both Junior and senior categories.

Out of the 47,000 candidates that participated in the Stage 1 written examination of the competition, only 108 qualified for the Stage 2, a Television Quiz Show which started on July 31st, 2016. This was made up of 71 males (66%) and 37 females (34%).

Out of the 36 semi-finalists, there are 17 males (47%) and 19 females (53%). The breakdown of the figure shows that out of every 10 females that participated in the preliminary rounds, 5 females qualified, while out of 10 males that participated in the preliminary rounds, 2 males qualified for the semi-finals. In 2016, to encourage Girl Child Education, the brand sponsor, Cowbell Our Milk made a humble appeal that Mixed Schools should nominate minimum two (2) girls for each category to represent such school. The above result validates the sponsor’s initiative.

Another outstanding highlight is that all the eight students that participated in the preliminary rounds from The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State secured the semi-final tickets.

How to be a Member of Andela's Student Ambassador Program in Nigerian Universities

Andela is developing a community of high-quality technology talent across the African continent that will drive the current and future phases of tech-enabled growth around the world.

The company has created a program to assist with this initiative in the university communities. The program is called Andela Student Ambassador program (ASAP).

This program is aimed at engaging resourceful Student Ambassadors to lead Andela campaigns and events in their universities and communities to create awareness about Andela and contribute to the development of technology leaders in Africa.

At Andela, we find the brightest young people in Africa, train them to be world-class developers, and connect them with employers around the world looking for top technical talent. Passion, excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, and rejecting the status quo are just a few of the things that Andela team members have in common.

Oracle and Kenya Commercial Bank Identify Developers as Integral for Driving Cloud Adoption in Africa

In an effort to grow the adoption of cloud services efficiently across Africa, Oracle, together with KCB, will hold a developers day targeting the firm’s ecosystem of customers, partners, independent software vendors, user groups and innovation hubs between October 4th and 7th at the KCB Leadership Centre in Nairobi.

The four day event will entail focused and in-depth sessions with experts on Oracle Public Cloud Services, hands-on demo sessions and a hackathon challenge to test knowledge gained.

Digital disruption has transformed how business is being conducted across the continent, and developers are tapping into this premise to develop products and services with an impact on the lives of the continent’s population. Oracle’s Vice President, Technology Regional Business Development for Europe, Middle East & Africa region Felix Del Barrio will give a talk on how developers can maximise on the new industry developments to build their enterprises.

Also giving a presentation will be Paula Craythorne, the Oracle Senior Director for Business Development East Central Europe, Middle East & Africa who will focus on Oracle’s contribution to developer communities.

On data, disruption and digital transformation

You've probably heard the terms 'market disruption' and 'digitisation' but there's a new concept that businesses are coming to terms with - digital transformation, which refers to the ability to identify opportunities in the market so that your business becomes the one doing the disruption. But what exactly is digital transformation and how do you achieve it?

First, the challenges
The majority of businesses today tend to treat all data - structured, unstructured, confidential, mission-critical, non-confidential - in exactly the same way. The store it the same way, access it the same way and protect it the same way. But data is as diverse as you and me - and we don't like being painted with the same brush. When data is treated as it should be and considered holistically, it holds massive value for businesses.

But most of the time, data is shoved away and never looked at again.

Another challenge is the often talked about business-IT gap. On the one end, the IT department is concerned with applications, hardware, databases and operating systems, while on the other, the business or CEO is under pressure to innovate faster, manage risk and monetise more.

Sesema PR Grooms Young Graduates on Public Relations and Digital Communications

Sesema PR, an integrated marketing communications firm, has held the maiden edition of its Corporate Communications Interactive Forum (CCIF). The one-day interactive session brought together undergraduates and graduates who have an interest in the Corporate Communications sector, to give them a practical introduction into the field. Participants also had opportunity to network with industry professionals and gain vital career insights.

Speaking at the Forum, the Managing Director of Sesema PR, Tampiri Irimagha-Akemu; noted that the CCIF program was birthed due to the gap we noticed in hiring quality PR graduates and professionals. “As an organization, we are actively involved in the growth and development of the Nigerian youth.

L-R: Tomiwa Aladekomo of Ventra Media Group and Tampiri-Irimagha Akemu at the CCIF

“We identified a lag and as an agency passionate about mentorship we are committed to making a lasting mark. This is why we have organized this program today, to improve the quality of manpower and give young people a chance at self-development”

As a creative agency, we are committed to innovation; the CCIF is another first for Sesema PR. We will continue to seek ways of impacting the society positively”. Mrs Irimagha-Akemu concluded.

Senate to probe alleged MTN transfer of $13.9b

The Senate agreed on Tuesday to investigate the allegation that South Africa’s MTN, Africa’s biggest telecoms giant, illegally transferred $13.92 billion out of Nigeria.

Senator Dino Melaye, who made the allegation in a motion submitted to the upper house, said $13.92 billion had been repatriated “illegally” out of Nigeria by MTN through its bankers between 2006 and 2016.

The investigation threatens to raise tensions between Nigeria and the South African firm just three months after MTN agreed to pay a reduced fine of 330 billion naira ($1.05 billion) in a settlement with the government over unregistered SIM cards.

The move comes as Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, is in recession for the first time in more than 20 years.

Jumia Travel Launches Holiday Packages in Nigeria

To celebrate the World Tourism Day, Africa’s leading online hotel booking company Jumia Travel, has announced the launch of its first holiday packages in Nigeria. The package rates are inclusive of hotel stays, spa treatment, meals, transport and a tour guide where applicable.

This initiative will focus on popular destinations such as Obudu Cattle Ranch, Olumo Rock and Ikogosi Warmspring in Nigeria. According to Paul Midy, Jumia Travel’s CEO, “the move is part of the company’s initiative to promote domestic tourism in Nigeria, as we approach the peak season”. He added that “this will therefore be quite ideal for families, couples, group of friends and even corporate groups vacationing in the months of August to December”.

Last minute plans will also be well catered for due to the flexibility offered by the packages; for instance, by either directly calling Jumia Travel’s Customer Service or by filling in a simple query form, the team will be able to organize for transport and/or accommodation at the same time, easing the hassle of travel and most importantly giving customers a memorable vacation experience.