Uber confirmed Monday that it will cut 3,000 more jobs while closing dozens of offices and scaling back money-losing bets in order to slow steep revenue losses incurred due to the coronavirus pandemic. Monday’s announcement by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi follows a media report over the weekend that more layoffs were imminent. Coupled with earlier cuts in May, the total of laid-off employees now stands at 6,700. In an email to staff first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Khosrowshahi said the uptick in Uber Eats orders amid shelter-in-place rules throughout much of the world just isn’t enough to make…
Author: DigitalTimesNG
The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) have set-up a joint committee to review Science and Technology reports that have so far been submitted to the Federal Government, Vanguard reports. The committee was inaugurated at a high-level meeting held via skype between the Institute and the Ministry at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in Abuja on Monday. At the meeting, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu emphasized the need to re-evaluate the reports of the Institute since its inception, which according to him…
A new report on global e-waste (discarded products with a battery or plug) shows a staggering 44.7 million metric tonnes (Mt) generated in 2016 – up 3.3 Mt or 8% from 2014. In 2016, the world generated e-waste – everything from end-of-life refrigerators and television sets to solar panels, mobile phones, and computers – equal in weight to almost nine Great Pyramids of Giza, 4,500 Eiffel Towers, or 1.23 million fully loaded 18-wheel 40-ton trucks, enough to form a line from New York to Bangkok and back. Experts foresee a further 17% increase – to 52.2 million metric tonnes…
A TV channel in the UK owned by one of Nigeria’s most flamboyant evangelical pastors has been sanctioned by Ofcom, the broadcasting authority in London, BBC reports. According to BBC, the authority punished Chris Oyakhilome’s Loveworld Limited, which runs the Loveworld channel that can be viewed in the UK, “after a news programme and a live sermon included potentially harmful claims about causes of, and treatments for Covid-19”. Pastor Oyakhilome had linked the virus to 5G networks and alleged that it was part of a plot to create a “new world order”. Such views have been widely condemned by scientists,…
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…
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…