Sanofi Demonstrates Commitment to African Children with “Healthy Children, Happy Children”

Sanofi has launched across the African continent a corporate social responsibility initiative with pediatrics slant themed “Healthy Children, Happy Children,” as part of efforts to diversify and adapt its healthcare offerings to young Africans.

The Recording Academy To Honor Lady Antebellum, Others At Grammys On Hill Awards

Music and politics unite at The Recording Academy's 2014 GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards where seven-time GRAMMY winners Lady Antebellum will be presented with the Recording Artists' Coalition Award (named for The Academy's artists' rights program founded by Don Henley and Sheryl Crow), while House of Representatives majority whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will also be honored for their support and understanding of music creators' unique role in American life.

Known as "Washington's most interesting mix of music and politics," the event will take place on Wednesday, April 2, at The Hamilton Live in D.C., and will include live performances and one-of-a-kind tributes.

In addition, Westfield Academy and Central School (Westfield, N.Y.) music teacher Kent Knappenberger, the recipient of the inaugural Music Educator Award™, presented by The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation, will be acknowledged for his dedication to music education.

The GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards are sponsored by SESAC, and proceeds from the event will benefit the GRAMMY Foundation's GRAMMY® Signature Schools, which provides support for underserved music programs throughout the country. For updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy's Advocacy social networks on Twitter (@TRAinDC) and Facebook  

adidas and Nike Launch New Sock Football Boots

Brazil defender, Thiago Silva (Getty Images)

World famous brands adidas and Nike have already begun their battle ahead of this summer’s Fifa World Cup in Brazil.

adidas and Nike have launched new boots sporting radical new designs as the brands build up to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil this summer. A week after revealing the first knitted football boot, adidas has unveiled the first all-in-one knitted boot and sock hybrid, while Nike has created Flynit technology with a ‘second-skin’, ankle design.

adidas’ limited edition Primeknit FS will be produced by in a black, white and red design, creating a ‘sock silhouette’ design that will also provide a second-skin feel from toe to calf. According to the brand the sock improves ball to foot touch compared to boots with traditional overlays, edges or laces.

On Thursday, the Germans revealed their limited edition Primeknit FS, which will come in a black, white and red design and is the world’s first all-in-one knitted football boot and sock hybrid.

Meristem Securities unveils Online Stock Trading Platform

Sir Sunny Nwosu, President of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria; Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange; Oluwole Abegunde, Managing Director, Meristem Securities Ltd. and Sulaiman Adedokun,Managing Director of Meristem Wealth Management Ltd. at the launch of Meritrade Online Stock Trading platform recently at NSE building, Lagos.

Leading stock broker, Meristem Securities has unveiled an online stock trading platform, called Meritrade. The online platform with Mobile apps will serve as a virtual stockbroking platform, helping users to trade stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from anywhere in the world.

During the launch at the Nigerian Stock Exchange Building, Lagos, Mr. Oluwole Abegunde, Managing Director, Meristem Securities disclosed that the innovation will offer investors control and convenience over their investments. According to him, ‘the Meritrade app will give users a unique experience, convenience and control over their investments. Our customers can now trade and manage their investments 24 hours daily, with their mobile devices without having to come to our office.’

In a keynote address at the launch, Mr. Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange endorsed the Meritrade app as a reliable and convenient mode of trading on equities in Nigeria. He described the platform as an innovation that he is confident will encourage people from all walks of life, particularly the youth, including students, first time employees and civil servants to invest in stocks.

adidas Launches Gaming Platform Powered By Social Media Starring Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi

Adidas has launched a new online gaming platform dubbed #fastorfail starring footballer Lionel Messi, which is powered by social media and offers one fan the chance to get to Rio de Janeiro for the Fifa World Cup.

The innovative game is located on www.adidas.com/fastorfail and is strongly tied to Leo's new adizeroTM f50 Messi boots, which he debuted in a goal scoring UEFA Champions League appearance in February.

The game not only requires players to use their own talents, but is also powered by social media meaning that the more Leo Messi is talked about online, the faster the game becomes and the more chance competing players will have of winning the trip to Brazil.

Lamborghini Huracán Officially Unveils LP 610-4 At Geneva Motor Show

The world’s richest consumers will soon have a wealth of choices. Lamborghini debuted the official commercial for the Lamborghini  Huracán.

The much anticipated Geneva Motor Show debut of the All New Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 was live streamed on YouTube.

In a press release issued from Automobili Lamborghini earlier this morning, “A new era is beginning in the luxury supersports car segment. The new Lamborghini Huracán, with its pure and unique design, an innovative technology package and outstanding dynamics, debuts at 2014 Geneva International Motor Show. Relive the live unveil of the Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4.″

Microsoft's Nadella Announces Leadership Shake-Up

Satya Nadella

Satya Nadella has been the CEO of Microsoft for exactly one month and he's already shaking up the ranks at the venerable tech brand.

The company announced Monday that executive Tony Bates, who had been passed over for the CEO role, and Tami Reller, Microsoft's chief marketing officer, would be leaving the company. Tony came to the company via the Skype acquisition, where he was CEO of Skype, and did a great job of successfully landing that team and continuing to build the service in a high impact way.

Reller's departure means the loss of one of Microsoft's top female executives, it signals a change in the company's marketing and brand strategy.

Dr Paul Haupt Becomes First Executive Director Of PAMRO

Dr Paul Haupt, who retires from the South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) at the end of March 2014, has appointed its first-ever executive director of the Pan African Media Research Organisation (PAMRO) .

Dr Haupt takes up this position on 1 April, 2014.

Joe Otin, vice president of PAMRO, says that the lack of a dedicated resource in the PAMRO office has left many beneficial opportunities untapped. “We believe that Paul has the ability to carry through the collective ideas of PAMRO’s members,” he says.

While not yet a full-time position, the creation of an executive directorship is nonetheless an important step, according to Josiah Kimanzi, president of PAMRO. “We are excited about Dr Haupt’s appointment because we believe that someone with his pedigree, audience research acumen and immense wealth of experience will greatly accelerate PAMRO’s agenda,” says Kimanzi.

PAMRO’s long-term vision is to foster the establishment of joint-industry committees across Africa to provide clients, including multinationals, with a single platform for reading and comparing media audience research data across Africa.

Pictures From Builders International School 3rd Bi-annual Inter-House Sport Competition

(L-R) Proprietress Builders International School, Oluwamodupe Lawrence, presenting the over all winner trophy to Red House Captain, Fiyinfoluwa Olajuwon supported by the Chairman of the occasion, Akin Akinronbi  and other Red House members at the 3rd bi-annual inter-house competition of Builders International School in Lagos.

(M) The Chairman of the occasion, Akin Akinronbi  and other Red House members at the 3rd bi-annual inter-house competition of BIS in Lagos.

Twinpine: Showcasing How Technology is Pushing Its Services at the Mobile World Congress

L-R: General Manager, Terragon Limited, Mr. Chimezie Okonkwo; Members of Interactive, Noa Yaari and Orly Tsesis and Co-Founder and General Manager of Twinpine at the Terragon Exhibition stand during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on 26th February 2014.

The Mobile World Congress 2014 (MWC14) is the largest gathering of Mobile and Mobile related products and service providers in the World recently held in Barcelona with organizations from all over the globe showcasing new innovations to the ever growing mobile ecosystem.

It was a huge opportunity for tech companies from Africa to showcase the growth that is recently being experienced in the region as well as the potential for investment in the industry by global players.

Twinpine, Africa’s premium Mobile Advertising Network showcased its technological capacity at the MWC14 with the exhibition of its new Mobile Advertising Server with new ad formats such as splash screens, new banner ad sizes, reporting metrics, optimization techniques and conversion tracking all built for the African Market. The exhibition showed how the new ad server enables the network to serve a larger group of advertisers across different markets providing content that is locally relevant to the indigenous market.

Why Nigerians Will Produce 47% More Millionaires in Next Four Years - Report

Nigeria

If the recent report of the New World Wealth, is anything to go by, then its a good news Nigerians. Nigerian millionaires will increase in number by almost 47 percent over the next four years as higher house and stock prices in the West African nation complement a booming economy, according to New World Wealth.

The number of people in Africa’s top oil producer with investable assets of at least $1 million will jump to 23,000 by 2017, after increasing by 44 percent over the past six years to 15,700 in 2013, Johannesburg-based New World Wealth wrote in a report published today. About 26 percent of their $82 billion of wealth was held offshore last year, with the bulk of private-banking funds deposited in the U.K., Switzerland and the Channel Islands, the report said.

You wonder why and how? Andrew Amoils, senior analyst at New World Wealth, said in the report: “Growth in the wealth of high net worth individuals is linked to a number of factors including the country’s GDP, the local real estate market and the local equity market”.

Graham Lang To Spearhead Y&R's Creative Leadership Across Africa

Following discussions that took place in late 2013 at the Y&ampampR African Network Conference in Windhoek, global chief creative officer Tony Granger and chairman of Y&R Africa and South Africa Yossi Schwartz, have announced Graham Lang as CCO of Y&R South Africa.

Graham Lang will now spearhead the firm's creative leadership across Africa. The decision was made with the intention of tapping into Lang's creative experience and expertise to provide support to the local African agencies' creative directors. Lang will also be mandated to raise the creative bar across the continent to help Y&R become the most creative network in Africa.

The company reiterated its committement to continue to grow its African footprint to 20 agencies by 2015. Currently there are nine agencies based in Nigeria, South Africa, Nairobi, Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Reunion.

Social Media Week To Hold In Johannesburg In September

The global Social Media Week (SMW) event is to arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September, the second African destination of the series after two successful events in Lagos.

The event will be held in Johannesburg from September 22 to 26 this year, alongside other debut cities such as Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Sydney, Australia.

In a statement, the organisers said: “As the first African city to host the event in February 2013, (Lagos) has provided a blueprint for uptake on the continent, having delivered two extremely successful events to date.

“This year, Johannesburg grabs the baton and secures its place at the table. Its sophisticated media and communications infrastructure, expanding startup scene and renown for hosting world-class events make the city of gold a natural choice for a conference of this calibre.”