Etisalat Nigeria hits 15m subscriber base

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ETISALAT Nigeria, Tuesday, announced that it has hit 15 million subscribers base at the start of business this year. This achievement, according to Etisalat, represents a market share of over 15 percent in just over four years of operations.

By that standard, the telecom company considers itself one of the most successful late entrant telecom companies globally.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Steven Evans said: “at the beginning of 2012, we were moving towards 11 million subscribers. Now, 12 months later we have added four million active subscribers to our base, this is a phenomenal achievement.

“We have shown an innate ability to turn challenges into opportunities. With this mindset and our focus on quality, innovation and the customer, we have been able to listen, attract, reward, retain and expand our customer base over the last 12 months.”

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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HCL Infosystems brings tablets to Nigeria

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A top Indian premier services and ICT systems integration, distribution and hardware company, HCL Infosystems has announced the launch of a new range of ME tablets in Nigeria and across Africa and the Middle East.

HCL has launched three new ME tablets, namely U2, V1 and Y3 and emerged the leaders in value tablets in the Middle East. In the African countries, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the new ME Tablets will be available in leading stores by the beginning of February 2013.

Mr. Srinath Nagarajan, Business Head-MEA, Mobility Business Unit, HCL Infosystems MEA, while commenting on the launch said that, “We are very excited to launch our new range of ME tablets. The launch comes as part of our commitment to offer the best in technology and continue our innovation and leadership in the value category of tablets.
“Africa has a highly competitive tablet market with the demand for innovative technologies growing at a rapid pace.

“We have made huge investments in research to develop innovations that would enable us to deliver devices to a larger customer base, making technology more accessible. Understanding the need to cater to individual preferences of our customers and resonating the brand message – Change Begins with ME, we wish to meet and exceed their expectations in technology by delivering an amazing user experience.”

“The ME tablets have been innovated to offer various unique and specialized features. The U2 Tab offers a fast processor and Google Play, the V1 Tab has a facility for 2G calling and the Y3 Tab has 3G calling facility and a Dual Sim.

“The U2 has an integrated HDMI connectivity Port, which connects the tablet to external display devices for gaming, video playback or emails. It has a powerful CPU, being powered by a 1 GHz Cortex A9 CPU which enables U2 to deliver high performance with low power consumption. The Tab has an integrated front camera for video chat.

“The tablet also carries a powerful GPU and 1GB DDR3 RAM which enables one to enjoy smooth 2D/3D graphics gaming.

“ The tablet has an 8GB internal memory where one can store all their favourite movies, photos, games and also which is externally expandable through a 32GB micro SD card. It also comes pre loaded with Thinkfree Office which enables users to create and edit office documents on the go” Nagarajan explained.

According to Nagarajan, the HCL ME V1 tablet has a sleek and slim Metal ID, combining fashion and sturdiness in an elegant form, adding that it has a built-in voice calling, having the integrated phone functions of voice calling and integrated SIM slots.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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What’s Facebook’s secret? Company tells all today

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Read Time:2 Minute, 8 Second

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook's mystery "press event" on Tuesday could reveal a more robust search feature that would intensify the competition between the social networking giant and its rival Google Inc.

Facebook is holding the event at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. EST) at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. The company has not said what it plans to announce. Last week, it invited bloggers and journalists to "come see what we're building."

The company probably won't be showing off a new office building —unless it decided to make its invitation very literal.

It's also unlikely to be unveiling a much-rumored "Facebook phone" —unless CEO Mark Zuckerberg has changed his mind recently. Last fall, as he'd done on numerous occasions, he publicly shot down speculation that Facebook was building its own smartphone.

"It is so clearly the wrong strategy for us," Zuckerberg said at a September technology conference in his first public interview after Facebook's May initial public offering. "It doesn't move the needle for us."

As far as search goes, users would likely welcome a better way to sift through Facebook for people, businesses, events and everything else available on the vast online network.

The company, whose much-ballyhooed initial public offering turned out to be a disappointment, may also talk about new advertising features. Facebook has been especially focused on building up is mobile advertising business, since most of its users access Facebook through smartphones and tablets.

Research firm eMarketer estimates that Facebook, the No. 2 company in the U.S. mobile advertising market, had an 8.8 percent share last year —up from zero in 2011. That compared with No. 1 Google's 56.6 percent. This year, Facebook is expected to grow its share to 12.2 percent, while remaining far behind Google.

Facebook, which has been calling itself a "mobile-first" company, has been growing thanks to increased use of its mobile apps, improving ad quality and its emerging advertising network, called Facebook Exchange, said Baird analyst Colin Sebastian in a recent note to investors.

"Our field checks suggest that the recently launched Facebook Exchange is helping advertisers target consumers more effectively," he said.

Sebastian thinks that over time, Facebook will make more money from mobile ads, helped by its increasing experience in the space, as well as its "ever-increasing user profile data."

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria’s security situation worsened in 2012 – Shell CEO

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Read Time:2 Minute, 32 Second

Chief Executive Officer,Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mr. Peter Voser, has said that security situation worsened in Nigeria in 2012.

Voser, in a speech posted on the company’s website on Sunday, said: “The overall security situation in 2012 has worsened. The stealing and sabotage of crude oil  intensified. It’s a multi-billion-dollar business.

“Shell alone cannot solve these issues. It needs to be a multi-stakeholder approach, as we have been saying for many years. SPDC is prepared to do its share, but it needs more than just Shell’s support in Nigeria. It needs concerted government action to reduce theft of crude.”

He added that there was some uncertainty in Nigeria ’s petroleum industry because of ongoing discussion about a new petroleum industry bill.

“That may change our views on investing in Nigeria, depending on how this is implemented. The current draft, which is still the subject of discussions and consultations, would make it highly unlikely that Shell, and the whole industry, could invest in offshore and domestic gas projects.

“This would be counterproductive to what Nigeria needs, which is gas for power generation and revenue to develop the nation,” he added.

He, however, said that Nigeria had, from an oil and gas perspective, a lot of opportunity which  SPDC was part of.

Voser added:  “Overall, I am positive about the future of Shell’s continued investments in Nigeria.”  He said the company had significant public discussions around the country,  in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom.

He said: ”I think Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd has made great progress over the last two years in terms of actually dealing with operational issues, and in cleaning up previous years’ sabotage and operational spill sites.”

On the global economic outlook for 2013, the Shell boss saw Asia recovering faster than the rest of the world.

He stated: “I see good potential in the United States for 2013. I’m more pessimistic on Europe. Europe will have a very slow growth year in 2013 and hopefully will recover at a later stage. So, overall we are looking at one or two quarters with slower growth from a global perspective and hopefully then recovering in the second half of 2013.

“For Shell, if you take a purely strategic view, short-term economic cycles do not have an impact in the sense that we do not change our investment policies. We will not change our strategic goals. We are a long-term industry and therefore we are investing throughout the business cycle.

“From an operational point of view, a downturn in the economy always gives us even more incentive to drive continuous improvement. So taking costs out wherever you can, or bringing in more value from the assets and the processes that we have today, continuous improvement needs to be driven even harder.”

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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MRS explosion: FG may consider relocation of tank farms

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Read Time:1 Minute, 49 Second

THE Federal Government may consider the relocation of tank farms from the port area of Apapa, following last week’s explosion at the storage facility belonging to the MRS Oil and Gas Company in Apapa Lagos.

Disclosing this in Lagos at the weekend during a visit to the MRS depot, the Transport Minister, Senator Idris Umar, said that stakeholders in both the maritime and oil and gas sectors have been complaining about the presence of these facilities in Apapa.

He said a Committee has been set up to look into the remote and immediate causes of the fire that led the explosion, adding that the Committee has two weeks to submit its report.

The Minister stated that besides trying to know the cause of the fire, what is more important is the lessons to be learnt from the experience.

“A Committee has been set to they are look at the situation in all its ramifications including off-course the location these tank farms around here.

“It is a matter of concern, people have expressed a lot of concern, we are going to look at it, definitely, it has to be addressed,” he said.

Explaining what happened to the minister, Group Executive Director, MRS , Amina Maina, said that the vessel was empty when the fire started, adding that firm had enough time to evacuate everybody from the premises before the explosion occurred.

“By the time the explosion occurred everybody was out of the compound so there was no serious casualty except for about three or four who had scratches on their bodies,” she stated.

Maina further explained that the loading bay had an automatic shutting system, adding that the system shut itself when the fire alarm was raised, and that the 22,000 metric tonne barge which was shattered by the explosion actually belonged to MRS.

The MRS management said it had stopped operations pending when it will run a test on all its equipment and facilities and certify them okay.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said that the damaged barge has automatically become a wreck and will be treated as such.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: FCDA, commercial bus drivers on warpath over transport policy

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THE Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, and transporters operating at the nation’s capital, Abuja, are at logger heads over refusal of the FCTA to allow owners of Mini-Bus Town Service vehicles bring commuters into the city centre.

The commercial drivers under the umbrella of Self Employed Commercial Drivers Association, SECDA, have however, planned to stage a peaceful demonstration at the National Assembly and office of the Minister of FCT today in a bid to find out if the new transport policy has the approval of both the lawmakers and the minister.

Already, the FCT administration had provided designated points where commuters would be dropped to join SURE-P buses provided by FCT for the city centre.

It was gathered that commuters coming from Nasarawa/Keffi road in the mini bus town service vehicles are expected to be dropped off under Nyanya Bridge while those coming from Kubwa would now have Berger bus stop as the terminal point.

In an interview with the Head of Public Relations to the FCT Transport Secretariat, Mrs. Stella Ojeme, she said that the FCTA had already provided 78 capacity buses for the Nasarawa/Keffi axis and 15 buses for the Kubwa route, adding that Kubwa had only 15 because the ‘araba’ buses were allowed to ply the road.

On whether there was a notice before the implementation of the new policy, she said: “We gave them notice. We distributed flyers and the announcement has been on the radio since December 1, 2012 and if you tune on your radio today to WAZOBIA FM and Aso radio they have been doing the adverts since December 1, everyday.

“Nobody can say he did not hear about it. Anybody that says he did not hear this has lied. It is either they would have seen the flyers or they would have heard it on the radio”.

“When they bring them from Nasarawa State they would drop them under Nyanya Bridge that is where FCT jurisdiction ends and we would now carry them with our own high capacity buses and now bring them into town at N50 per commuter,” she said.

The owners and drivers of Mini-bus Town Service Association in FCT had at a press briefing vowed to resist what it called unpopular new transport policy introduced by FCTA.

Secretary of the association, Prince Charles said that the policy which commenced yesterday, (January 14) was meant to bring hardship to the residents of Abuja.

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: Experts seek multi-faceted approach to housing

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Read Time:5 Minute, 6 Second

The widely held view among built environment professionals is that the government has no business in direct housing production. To these experts, the government should only provide the enabling environment and allow individuals and the private sector to go into direct housing production.

But with the high cost of funds in the country, the absence of a viable mortgage sector and the housing deficit estimated at over 16 million housing units, these built environment experts seem to be shifting their position. According to them, a crisis situation would require  radical and result oriented measures to solve hence government should now play a major role in housing production especially for the vulnerable or weakest link.

Giving further insight into why estate surveyors who have always held the view that the private sector is better equipped to provide housing, are backing the social housing scheme of the Federal Government, the President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh in a recent interview, explained that it will guarantee equitable distribution of housing and ensure that every Nigerian is properly housed.Emrald-house

His words: “We believe that if you are talking of housing for all in this country, there is no way there won’t be a social housing component. The Federal Housing Authority, FHA was meant to provide social housing. That is not the case anymore because most of the houses are overpriced. You cannot  have an equitable society without providing for those who don’t have and that is where social housing comes in. All the government needs is to follow what they have done before. If FHA was meant to provide social housing, then it should allow FHA or grant them the enablement to provide housing at a cost that is manageable”

Continuing, the NIESV boss noted that although estate surveyors and valuers believe that housing is better driven by the private sector, they “also appreciate the fact that to enable equitable distribution of these housing to ensure that everybody is housed, there must be an element of social housing that would be encouraged by the government”.

He further buttressed his arguments with examples. “ In England, we have the Council flats, every where, you have all manner of social housing component. If all the local government areas which are nearer to the people can say, every year, we will add 100 units, if that had been done in the past ten years, it means that these LGAs would have added 1,000 housing units to their LGAs. Because these LGAs are closer to the people, they would be in a better position to allocate the houses to those who need them on a social basis So, we believe in social housing because it will ultimately lead to a more equitable society where everybody has a home and nobody is under the bridge,” he said.

His predecessor. Mr Bode Adediji also supported government’s direct intervention in housing production. “The people who feel that government should not be seen to be directly involved in production of housing say so because it is on record that the house you and I will build for one Naira, an average government agency will build it for ten Naira – the same market, the same raw materials and the same manpower.

However, when you have a crisis of this nature in your hand, I would be the first person to say that let us all forget the past and team up to deliver houses, whether you are a government agency or private because if you look at what it takes to empower the private sector to perform,” he told Vanguard Homes & Property in a previous interview..

“It is only a government that has a vision and the political will to implement that vision that can deliver mass housing. That is the truth. People like us can only participate in a very limited sector of the housing for the upper class and the lower class. If you are looking for companies that will make great impact on the housing delivery system to the down trodden people, you must begin to think about the economy of scale and the financial system that is long-term in approach , not short term. You have to look at other issues.

“Business environment is not like a bed of roses. When you run into a storm, what is your immediate fallback position? In this country today, if anybody engages in mass housing production and he runs into a stormy cloud, he has no fallback position. In other climes, the mortgage insurance backup is there for him, government grant is there for him. In this country, a patriotic company that has the economy of scale, the technical skill to deliver mass housing to the people, if he runs into a technical and financial storm, he has zero backup position,” he posited.

Another Lagos-based estate surveyor and valuer, Mr Stephen Jagun, however stuck to his guns, insisting that government has no business in direct construction of houses. He called on government to open up far-flung areas by providing infrastructures such as roads, water and electricity.

The former Secretary of NIESV in Lagos declared: “If the Government builds more roads to open up places like Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry, Mowe, you will be shocked by the number of houses that will spring up in these areas in the next two years.

“In some of these places, people have bought land but are not building because they are looking for who will be the first to create the roads. Look at the areas where the Lagos state government is doing roads, people have bought old houses and are in the process of rebuilding. The value of properties in such areas have gone up”.

Jagun who is an apostle of sites and service schemes, posited that although people have bought virtually all the land about ten kilometres after Ajah, they are not building yet, because of the dearth of infrastructure.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: Importers Of E-waste Laden Vessel To Pay $1m Fine

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Read Time:1 Minute, 18 Second

The Federal Government has placed a $1m fine on importers of the vessel that carried the toxic waste which was intercepted in Tin Can Island Lagos on January 5.

Addressing Journalists in Abuja at the weekend on the impounded vessel, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia stated that men of the State Security Service had been put on the alert to arrest the importers.

She also said that NIMASA, NPA and the shipping agents had been directed to mandate the owners of the vessel to pay a fine of $1million to the Federal Government.

The provisions of the Nigerian law in particular and the Harmful Waste (Special Criminal Provisions, etc.) Act, Cap H1 LFN 2004, prohibit the carrying, depositing and dumping of harmful waste on any land or territorial waters or contiguous zone or exclusive economic zone of Nigeria or its inland waterways.

 On how the vessel was intercepted, she said: “the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) received an alert on suspected illegal shipment of e-waste in two containers on vessel MV MARIVIA, on the 21st December, 2012. The vessel originated from Tilbury, United Kingdom and was estimated to arrive Tin Can Island Port on the 5th of January, 2013.

“The National Toxic Waste Dump Watch (NTWDW) committee was immediately placed on red alert. The NTWDW committee comprises Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Port Authority, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, State Security Service, National Intelligence Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency, Nigerian Police, Nigerian Navy, Port Heath Services with NESREA as chairman.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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NIGERIA: Dangote Crashes Sugar Prices By 25%

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Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR) has announced a 25 per cent reduction in the price of its product in response to the price of sugar at the International Commodity market.

According to the company, with the new price regime, Dangote has crashed the price of its 50kg bag from N8, 900 to N6, 660.

Managing Director of the company, Mr Abdullahi Sule attributed the development to the recent reduction in the price of raw sugar at the international market.

The reduction, he said reflects the trends in the international market where the price of raw sugar has dropped from about $0.26 cents to the current $0.19 cents. He said the company has a policy of passing the benefits of price reductions to the customers.

Already, with the price reduction rocking the market and some other sugar refineries alleging that DSR reduced the sugar prices to a level where it makes it difficult for competition to survive, Sule, explained that Nigeria was not a sugar producing nation, hence all raw sugar that are refined locally are imported from Brazil by all industry players and that there was nothing to hide.

The DSR chief executive explained that raw sugar is traded openly on the International Commodities Market with the prices available for all and sundry to see and/or verify.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria receiving 65mmscf/d of gas —NPDC

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The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited has started the delivery of 65 million standard cubic feet per day of gas into the domestic market, in a bid to boost power generation and meet the high demand for natural gas in the country.

The NPDC is the exploration and production subsidiary company of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The company currently produces about 130,000 barrels of oil per day and 400mmscf/d of gas from its various operated assets.

The 65mmscf/d supply is capable of generating about 260 megawatts of electricity, and is sourced from Oredo field in OML 111, the firm said in a statement on Friday.

The Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility project is currently being executed by an indigenous contractor, Network Oil & Gas Company Limited.

The overall project completion is about 65 per cent and is expected to be ready for commissioning in 2013, according to NPDC.

The GHF is located in Oredo Field (OML 111) approximately 35 kilometers south of Benin City in Edo State.

The Oredo gas project is a 100mmscf/d capacity gas plant with fractionation and LPG dispensing units.

When the plant is completed by the third quarter of 2013, it will produce 100mmscg/d Lean gas (West African Gas Pipeline specification) and 330 tonnes per day of LPG, according to the statement.

This is expected to increase power generation and LPG utilisation in the country, which will reduce firewood and kerosene consumption, thereby contributing to a cleaner environment.

In addition to the existing Gas Handling Facility, NPDC said it had commenced another project, which would deliver 100mmscf/d of raw gas to PanOcean Oil Corporation to utilise its spare capacity available in the Ovade Ogharefe gas plant.

With these projects, gas flaring at NPDC Oredo fields will be eliminated in line with the flare out directives of the Federal Government, it noted.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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