By Austin OKERE On May 04, 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in a report about poverty and inequality from September 2018 to October 2019 in Nigeria, said 40 per cent of people in the continent’s most populous country lived below its poverty line of 137, 430 naira ($381.75) a year. It said that represents 82.9 million people. I had written this article about four years ago on Nov 15, 2016, about how society today is split more along the lines of those who are included and those left behind. This is even truer today with Businesses and…
Author: DigitalTimesNG
Airtel Nigeria has extended by two additional weeks its remote working policy in a bid to safeguard its employees from Covid-19 and help stem the spread of the virus. DigitalTimesNG gathered that in a memo to employees, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Segun Ogunsanya, told employees particularly in Lagos, Ogun State and FCT, the epicentres of Covid-19 infections in Nigeria, to continue to work from home till the end of May. Ogunsanya urged employees in other parts of the country to observe the nationwide 8 pm to 6 am curfew while adhering to whatever restrictions and laws obtainable…
Foremost composite e-commerce giant, Konga has partnered with UKAid funded Frontier Technology Livestreaming to deploy the power of e-commerce in reaching rural farmers across Nigeria’s vast landscape. The partnership will see Konga – a major player in Africa’s biggest market – leverage its huge technology backbone, a considerable network of branches across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, its considerable delivery capacity and effortless ability to reach the last mile in empowering the beneficiaries to do more. The partnership involves implementing a pilot through the Frontier Technology Livestreaming Programme, a UKAid-funded programme established in 2016 and designed to help innovators…
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, a Pan African financial institution, has upgraded its mobile banking application, introducing lots of exciting and interactive features to aid banking, whilst allowing customers to perform unlimited transactions with simple taps on their mobile phones. The award-winning innovative bank which was the first to launch its chatbot, Leo on the continent, is committed to delivering superior and innovative banking solutions to its customers, according to a report on nairametrics. Sampson Aneke, Group Head, Digital Banking, who spoke about the new features of the upgraded mobile app, said UBA as a listening institution, aims to…
TD Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest technology, lifestyle and solutions distribution company, has launched a brand new logo. In consolidating its position as the biggest technology distributor in the sub-region, TD Africa has renewed its identity to better situate its glowing track record of unerring excellence. The company in the past 21 years has recorded tremendous growth and success in the distribution ecosystem. With the values and vision of driving a technological revolution across Africa remaining intact, TD Africa has, nevertheless, seen its business model continually evolve to meet the ever-changing and dynamic needs of its customers and the fast-paced technology-driven…
President Donald Trump administration in the US plans to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei, ramping up tensions between the US and China. The new rules will force foreign semiconductor manufacturers that use US technology to get a license from American officials before shipping products to Huawei, according to a report in thenextweb.com. Experts say that’ll be a big blow to the Chinese tech giant, which needs semiconductors produced overseas for its smartphones and telecoms equipment. The US commerce department said the restrictions were a response to Huawei and its semiconductor subsidiary HiSilicon skirting export controls introduced last year. “This is…
Facebook is acquiring Giphy, a popular website for making and sharing animated images, or GIFs, and will integrate it with its rapidly growing Instagram photo-sharing app, Facebook said in a blog post on Friday. The cost, which Facebook and Giphy declined to disclose, was placed at around $400 million by news website Axios. According to Reuters, the announcement comes at a time when the largest social media network is under scrutiny from regulators over antitrust concerns. In 2015, Giphy rebuffed a Facebook offer, choosing instead to continue integrating its products with multiple social media platforms, according to news site TechCrunch.…
A subscribers’ group under the aegis of Association of Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Subscribers (ATCIS), has asked MultiChoice, operators of DStv and GOtv to drop its proposed new tariff based on the new Value Added Tax of 7.5 per cent. In a letter to MultiChoice, the group expressed their displeasure at the plan to increase monthly DStv/GOtv tariff in Nigeria starting from June 1. The group’s national president, Adesina Bilesanmi and national secretary, Mrs Loris Anger, in a letter, said “We write on behalf of Board of Trustees, Elders Forum, Executives and entire members with over 185 million subscribers…
China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC have announced that they will partner to build 2Africa, which will be the most comprehensive subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region. The parties have appointed Alcatel Submarine Networks (“ASN”) to build the cable in a fully funded project which will greatly enhance connectivity across Africa and the Middle East. At 37,000km long, 2Africa will be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects and will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), the Middle East (via Saudi Arabia), and 21 landings in 16 countries in…
DStv and GOtv customers can turn up and dance in the comfort of their homes with a brand new Africa Magic show, ‘Turn Up Friday With Pepsi’, available on Africa Magic Urban (DStv Channel 153) and Africa Magic Family (DStv Channel 154 & GOtv Channel 2) from Friday, 15th May 2020 for the next 10 weeks! “As Nigerians spend more time at home amid the pandemic ‘Turn Up Friday with Pepsi’ is bringing DJ music party to everyone right in their living rooms and Africa Magic remains at the forefront of giving them a great time of fun and excitement. “We consistently look for innovative ways to thrill and…