Alphabet Inc’s Google will tell its cloud customers the carbon emissions of their cloud usage and open satellite imagery to them for the first time for environmental analysis, as part of a push to help companies track and cut carbon budgets.

The new features were among announcements Google Cloud made Tuesday to kick off its annual customer conference, which is being held virtually this year due to the pandemic, according to a Reuters report.

The leading Western cloud vendors Google, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc have been competing on sustainability offerings for years.

They aim to serve companies that are under pressure from stakeholders to rethink operations in light of climate change.

Google’s new carbon footprint reporting tool, similar to one Microsoft already provides, shows the emissions associated with the electricity that was used to store and process a customer’s data.

In addition, Google will now warn customers when they are wasting energy on inactive cloud services.

The new mapping offering, Google Earth Engine had been used by tens of thousands of researchers, governments and advocacy groups since 2009.

But Google now is letting businesses in on the service, which includes many huge geospatial datasets such as Landsat and the software needed to analyze them. Amazon has a similar initiative.

“This is something we have now realized is applicable to a lot of these commercial opportunities,” said Jen Bennett, a technical director at Google Cloud.

Earth Engine could help ensure supply chains are sustainable and predict operation challenges from extreme weather, according to Google.

Unilever Plc, which tested the technology for the past 12 months, scrutinized its palm oil sources in Indonesia, though it could not be learned whether that led to any shifts in practices.

Organisers of Africa Tech Alliance Forum 2021 (#AfriTECH2021), has named Zoho Corporation as the lead sponsors of the event.

The hybrid event (both online and physical) will take place on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, at Oriental Hotel, Lekki Lagos by 10:00 am.

Olatomiwa Williams, Country Manager of Microsoft Nigeria will be presenting the keynote address.

Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager (Africa), Zoho Corporation will lead a workshop on ‘Driving Business Growth Through CX Experience’.

Bourne will give rundowns on how participants and businesses can reimagine their CX (customer experience) journey during the post-pandemic.

The audience at #AfriTECH2021 will cut across C-Suite Executives, Founders, Presidents of Companies/Organisations, Presidents of Industry Associations, Startups/Entrepreneurs and Government officials, etc.

Peter Oluka, the editor of TechEconomy.ng, organisers of #AfriTECH2021, said in a statement, “We are happy to have Zoho partnering with us to make the event a memorable one. Having Zoho at the event is also unique because its array of products speaks to the central theme of this event.

“With 50+ apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting and back-office operations, and an array of productivity and collaboration tools, Zoho Corporation is one of the world’s most prolific software companies.

“We believe that the participants will find reasons to adopt Zoho products to drive their post-pandemic digital transformation drives”. Oluka said.

“In a short period of time, COVID-19 has overwhelmed lives and livelihoods around the globe. For vulnerable individuals and the customer teams that serve them, it has also forced a rethinking of what customer care means.

“Suddenly, examinations of customer journeys and satisfaction metrics to inform what customers want has given way to an acute urgency to address what they need.

“Andrew, in this session, will share how care, creative thinking, and new tools can address customers’ acute needs today and forge stronger ties in the post-COVID-19 era”, he added.

More than 60 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies, rely on Zoho every day to run their businesses, including Zoho itself.

Participation at the Forum is FREE, but participants are expected to pre-register via the link: https://africatechallianceforum.africa/ to have the opportunity to witness the keynote address, goodwill messages, product launches, brand promotion, panel sessions and the inaugural AfriTECH Awards/recognition.

The Forum has received supports from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Galaxy Backbone Limited, as partners, and is being sponsored by Rack Centre, Digital Encode, Cloudflex Computing Services Limited, Zinochrome International, Layer3, Notion Technology Limited (representatives of American #1 Technology company – Comway – and Hsv Products).

#AfriTECH2021 also enjoys robust media coverage by TechNext.ng, ITPulse.com.ng; ITNewsNigeria.ng; NigeriaCommunicationsWeek.com.ng; TechTv.net.ng; Rave TV; GrassRoots.ng; ITRealms.com.ng and Digivation Network, BusinessMetricsng.com, BusinessRemarks and TechNewsandBiz.

MTN Group has announced the appointment of Adekunle Awobodu as its new Chief Financial Officer for Digital and Fintech.

A statement by the telecom company said Kunle is a seasoned business and finance professional who has spent most of his career at MTN, including serving as CFO for MTN Nigeria and for the MTN Irancell joint venture.

“We are thrilled that Kunle has joined the dynamic DigiFin team and look forward to what we know will be a valuable contribution,” says MTN Group Chief Digital and Fintech Officer Serigne Dioum.

In his 22 years in management roles, Kunle has built processes, teams and dealt with regulatory and compliance issues.

Most recently, from 2019 to 2021, he was an Executive Consultant at MTN Nigeria, where he led Oracle implementation and provided support to the CEO and CFO on various financial, tax and accounting matters.

Kunle is a certified General Accountant and has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Banking from the University of Lagos, as well as a Master’s in Finance from the University of Leicester. He also holds several professional certifications.

As CFO for Digital and Fintech, effective 15 September 2021, Kunle’s responsibilities include ensuring the growth of these platforms in line with the Group’s strategic intent – Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.