NCC Fine: MTN’s Sifiso Dabengwa Quits

…. Nhleko Named Acting CEO

The fallout over MTN Nigeria’s fine saga has claimed the company’s CEO Sifiso Dabengwa‚ it was announced on Monday.

The company said it had appointed Phuthuma Nhleko as executive chairman “in a temporary capacity” after Dabengwa resigned, according to agency reports.

“Due to the most unfortunate prevailing circumstances occurring at MTN Nigeria‚ I‚ in the interest of the company and its shareholders‚ have tendered my resignation with immediate effect‚” said Dabengwa.

Nhleko‚ who is the current non-executive chairman‚ has agreed to act as executive chairman “for a maximum period of six months while the company identifies a successor for Dabengwa”.

“I will assume responsibility as executive chairman…as I proactively deal with the Nigerian

Etisalat Nigeria Partners NIBSS to Roll Out BVN Query Service

(L-R) ED, Technology & Operation, NIBSS, Niyi Ajao; 

CMO, Etisalat Nigeria, Francesco Angelone and 

MD, NIBSS, Ade Shonubi during the press conference

Etisalat Nigeria has scored another first in its quest to drive transformational services that touch customer’s lives through its collaboration with Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) to roll out Bank Verification Number (BVN) Query Service.

The service, which was unveiled at the NIBSS headquarters on Thursday, is designed to help the banking Nigerian public Query their BVN on-the-go via their mobile phones. This is coming on the heels of the extended deadline for the Bank Verification Number registration which ends on October 31 nationwide.

The BVN registration was a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all Deposit Money Banks (commercial banks) in the country to register all their customers biometrically in furtherance of the Know Your Customer policy.

Francesco Angelone, Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, said the partnership with NIBSS on USSD BVN Notification Service was in line with the telco’s commitment to continue to create

Lenovo’s PHAB Plus Hits Nigeria's Mobile Market

(L-R) Bolade Oyekanmi, Marketing Manager, 

Nkechi Okolo, Service Manager, and Graham Braum, GM,  

all of Lenovo Tech, West Africa; at the media briefing 

Lenovo has unveiled in Nigeria, Lenovo’s PHAB Plus, the latest innovation in the mobile telephone device. 

Graham Braum, the General Manager of Lenovo Technology Africa, described Lenovo PHAB Plus as a beautifully designed premium phablet, optimized for single –hand use.

Targeted at today’s diverse needs of consumers in the mobile market, Braum said the Lenovo PHAB Plus will help to eliminate the dilemma of choosing between costly smartphones with big screens and underwhelming small tablets by offering a single-spot 6.8-innch device with best-in-class entertainment, speedy internet, and all-day battery life.

According to him, “With today’s tech-savvy millennial generation in mind, Lenovo is addressing the popularity of larger-screen personal devices, while acknowledging the portability struggles

BREAKING!!! Buhari Appoints Danbatta As New NCC Boss

President Muhamadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Professor Umaru Garba Danbatta as the new Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Prof. Danbatta a Doctorate Degree holder in Electronic Engineering, takes over from Dr. Eugene Juwah whose tenure expired on July 29, 2015.

The new NCC Chief Executive’s other academic qualifications include a Bachelors Degree in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications as well as a Masters Degree in the same field.

He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and has had a meritorious career in which he rose to become Professor of Electrical Engineering and Electronics at Bayero University, Kano, specializing in Telecommunications Engineering and Information and Communications Technology.

Before his new appointment, Prof. Danbatta held top management and leadership positions at different times including Head of Department, Dean Of Faculty, Director, Centre for Information Technology, Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (Kano Branch), Deputy Vice Chancellor and Acting Vice Chancellor.

Danbatta was the Vice President of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), an International Centre

Samsung Brings First Curved TV to Nigerian Consumers

Samsung Electronics West Africa has at a launch organized to unveil its new range of Ultra High Definition televisions introduced the world’s first Curved SUHD TV to Nigerian consumers.

To this end, Nigerian consumers now have the opportunity to purchase the new SUHD TV which marks a monumental leap into the future of television viewing, setting a new standard in premium UHD content and elevating consumers’ viewing experience to new levels.

At the unveiling of the TV, Managing Director at Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim, said that the TV gives a new meaning to TV experience and consumers, providing users with easy access to desired content, an integrated entertainment experience and more choices than ever before.

Kim reiterated that the new SUHD TV highlight the most refined television experience ever, with the adoption of the latest technology that users should expect from Samsung’s smart TVs.

“The SUHD TV celebrates a major milestone in the UHD era, delivering superior picture quality with stunning contrast and striking brightness. Included in the product is the SUHD re-mastering engine which automatically analyses the brightness of images to minimize additional power consumption, whilst expressing excellent contrast levels. Images have much darker blacks and an elevated brightness two-and-a-half times brighter than conventional TVs, with twice the color adjustment points” he added.

Exploring the High Tech Wearable Future for Africa

From July 20-23, 2015, Africa and indeed the whole world will converge at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria’s political capital, for the 2015 edition of the Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition, and the third in a series, following two previous successful editions in 2013 and 2014.

The two previous events had provided the platform for renowned ICT experts to discuss the development of Africa’s ICT sector and proffer solutions to the challenges limiting the continent’s advancement to the point of digital singularity with the rest of the globe. This year’s edition is themed:“Expanding African Capacity for Digital Technology,” and is expected to address broad range of topics aimed at broadening Africa’s IT capability. ROMMY IMAH writes…..

One of the topics that’s high on the list for Africa’s digital transformation is Wearable Technology.  These are devices, unlike mobile phones, that are worn on the body and have built-in sensors to monitor certain functions (like steps taken or precise location) and then communicate information through Bluetooth and the cloud.

Bracelets, necklaces and garments that fuse utility with fashion, function with form, can make the daily life of Africans healthier, safer and keep them in better contact. They’ll enable everything from commerce to managing chronic illnesses. And they’ll revolutionize the fashion industry with clothing that interacts with the environment. The Wearables industry is still in its infancy, but the market is expected to skyrocket to $19 billion by 2018.

According to a 2014 IDC report, “The worldwide wearable computing devices market (commonly referred to as ‘wearables’) will reach a total of 19.2 million units in 2014, driven

Visafone Assures Customers On New Internet Data Experience

Visafone Communications Limited has added new capabilities to her bouquet of data services, offering entirely new and pleasant experience to her customers. This is coming on the heels of a successful commissioning of its upgraded data infrastructure, 

The company explained in a statement that in its usual proactive approach to service delivery, Visafone has deployed innovative technologies to improve the customer experience by offering network visualization, intelligent traffic management and increased value proposition to customers. 

According to the statement, the upgrade has ushered in features like usage notification at different thresholds by SMS, flash messages and instant redirection to notification pages to help customers renew their data plans even at zero data volume. Further, customers have the ability for self-service to manage their volumes, the release added. 

Already, a pilot group of customers has hailed the upgrade as timely, and consistent with the network’s determination to always provide its customers with reliable and consistent data speed. 

Visafone added that the new upgraded data plans which comes with more volume at the same price along with the additional convenience, makes the value proposition of its data solutions very attractive.

MTN Concludes 21 Days of Y’ello Care

Ikpoki

MTN Nigeria’s annual staff volunteerism programme, 21 Days of Y’ello Care, which focused on education, has come to an end.

The annual programme initiated by the MTN Group in 2007 encourages MTN staff in all its 21 operations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to volunteer their resources, time and skills to assist others and the communities they live and work in.

This year, MTN Nigeria engaged in a number of activities focusing on inculcating the reading culture in the Nigerian child and therefore, adopted the theme, “Investing in Education for All,” which was in consonance with the global movement to make education accessible and compulsory for all and sundry across the world.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Michael Ikpoki said that the last 21 days were quite eventful and fostered conducive environment for learning in schools.

“Seventeen digital libraries were set up in primary and secondary schools across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. Training and empowerment seminars were conducted for one hundred teachers of the Lagos State Ministry of Education and a book reading session was organized for students to imbibe the reading habit in them,” Ikpoki added.

A major highlight of the closing ceremony was a keenly contested quiz competition amongst seven schools, which was eventually won by Gbaja Girls Secondary School and New Era Girls

Hayatudeen Chairs 2015 Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition

As preparations for the successful hosting of the 2015 edition of the Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition slated for July 20-23 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, intensifies, organizers of the event have announced the appointment of renowned banker and economist, Mallam Muhammed Hayatudeen as the Chairman of the 3-day event.

Themed: “Expanding African Capacity for Digital Technology,” this year’s edition of Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition is expected to address broad range of topics aimed at broadening Africa’s IT capability.

One of such topics is Wearable Technology which is the next big revolution that will transform the way people live. Wearables are devices that can be worn by the user but are intended to interact with the wearer without holding keys or other form of manipulations.

But in a release signed by Dr. Evans Woherem, the Chairman of Digital Africa Global Consult Ltd, organisers of the annual show, the company expressed delight that Mallam Hayatudeen “whole-heartedly accepted to chair this international event where astute veteran speakers will explore and pontificate on emergent technologies that can boost the socio-economic development of Africa.”

The release noted that insightful and thought-provoking presentations and discussions on contemporary and futuristic technology concepts are featured in this year’s highly stimulating thematic sessions at the Digital Africa Conference & Exhibitions.

Mallam Muhammed Hayatudeen is remembered more as the first Nigerian bank managing

SAP Africa Trains 100 Nigerian Children at Africa Code Week

L-R: President, SAP EMEA, Mr. Franck Cohen; Principal, Ojodu Junior Grammar School, Ikeja, Lagos, Mrs. Victoria Kolawole; MD, SAP West Africa, Mr. Kudzai Dhana and Facilitator, Africa Code Week, Mr. Olajide Ademola Ajayi during the event…

SAP Africa has launched a software coding pilot project at the Ojodu Grammar School as part of the run-up to Africa Code Week (ACW) in October 2015.

100 children aged between 8 and 11 will be taught software coding skills in a fun-filled, hands-on workshop facilitated by SAP.

A new Harbor Research study has found that while 65% of today’s technology applications generate revenue, the number will rise to 80% by 2018. Although smart homes, wearables and sports markets currently lead in application development today, future growth will come from the healthcare and automotive sectors, as well as smart cities.

Tailored to youth skills development in eleven African countries, the ACW programme will target an estimated 20, 000 children (ranging in age from 8 to 24 years) participating in software coding workshops in South Africa, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

Africa Code Week is being driven by SAP along with partners, Simplon from France, the Galway Education Centre from Ireland and the Cape Town Science Centre. Its purpose is to empower youth, teachers and parents with the language of software programming using a freely available Scratch system.

“SAP is committed to helping Africa’s youth become fluent in software coding, the language

Tecno Makes First Attempt on Windows

…….Launches New WinPad 10 With Intel & Microsoft

L-R:  Womiloju Olabanji of Intel Corporation; Yewande Oyebo; Mark Ihimonya, all of Microsoft Nigeria; and Attai Oguche of Tecno Mobile at the official launch of the new Tecno WinPad 10 

Tecno has launched the WinPad 10, its latest mobile device which would run on one of Intel’s Atom Processor for tablet. The device, which is a cross between the tablet and laptop would be available for sale across the country and is expected to offer users a whole new experience.

WinPad 10 is a 10.1 inch HD screen device and it is expected to offer consumers an entirely unique watching video and browsing experience.

The device comes with a 5.0 MP Back Camera and 2.0 MP Front Camera that give a captivating interface, virtual quality and a smooth operating experience on its preloaded Windows 8.1, while running on Intel Atom Processor Z3735F, Quad Core 1.83 Ghz, a 32GB ROM and 2GB RAM. The broader ROM and RAM also offer space to users to store and run apps at the same time.

The Tecno WinPad is more mobile than a laptop, more productive than a tablet and more affordable than an Ultrabook. It has dual “Boom” speakers with amazing surround stereo sound which offers high quality sound and brings a new experience of sound perception to its users, thus offering more than a triple package. 

Vice General Manager of Tecno Mobile Nigeria, Chidi Okonkwo said the new WinPad will help to expand the company’s market and provide new opportunities to those who desire to work on the Windows Operating System. 

“We are indeed excited to bring this product to the market along with new Windows Operating System and Intel’s very fast Atom Processor. We are offering those whose lives are mobile

Titilope Sonuga, Poet, is Intel “She Will Connect” Spokesperson 2015

Research findings show that there are 25 per cent fewer women than men online in emerging markets.  This is a clear indication of the gender gap that exists in the technology arena.

To bridge this gap, Intel Corporation through its “She Will Connect Programme”, has continued to educate young girls and women on how technology can maximally contribute toward economic and social development across the world.

This year, Titilope Sonuga has been appointed the official spokesperson of its 2015 “She Will Connect Programme” in Nigeria. Sonuga will use the platform to share her inspiring story of success and influence the lives of other women across the country in the pan-Nigerian initiative which starts this month and ends May, 2016.

Titilope Sonuga is an award winning poet, writer, actor and civil engineer whose work has graced stages and pages across Nigeria and internationally. She has featured on stages across Canada and internationally, and was invited alongside world renowned poets Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Yusef Komunyakaa, to perform at the 2011 Achebe Colloquium on Africa at Brown University. She is the creator of Rouge Poetry and a founding member of the Breath in Poetry Collective.

Titilope was the winner of the 2013 RISE (Recognizing Immigrant Success in Edmonton) Award for achievement in the arts and the NBCC (National Black Coalition of Canada) Fil Fraser Award for Outstanding achievement in the arts. She performed a stirring inauguration poem at the

Current Industry Structure Impedes Nigeria’s Broadband Dev. Goals – Etisalat CEO

The current structure of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria has been identified as an impediment to the attainment of the country’s broadband penetration targets.

The Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher expressed this opinion in his keynote address at the 2015 Commonwealth Broadband Forum 2015 held in Abuja, Nigeria from June 16 to 17, 2015.

According to Willsher, the inability of a majority of operators in the industry to achieve the scale necessary to support broadband deployment is perhaps, the most critical challenge affecting broadband growth in Nigeria. 

In his words, “Broadband deployment involves considerable amounts of fixed cost and struggling operators who are unable to attract the volume of reasonably priced, long-term funding required to deploy and operate broadband infrastructure profitably, are leaving a major broadband investment deficit. The resultant shortfall is underlined by Nigeria’s ICT investment as a percentage of GDP ratio of 2.6% while the average for peer countries is 5.5%.”  

While commending the Ministry of Communications Technology and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), for their contributions to the progress made in the sector, he demanded for more work to be done to drive broadband development in Nigeria.

“Notwithstanding the appreciable progress in broadband deployment in Nigeria, considerable effort is still required to move Nigeria towards its broadband targets. When benchmarked against peer countries, it is clear that there is a considerable gap between where we are and where we

NITDA Drums Support For DACE 2015

Engr. Peter Jack, DG, NITDA (centre) flanked by left- right,
Bosun Ayeni, Nneoma Ofodile, GM, Phil Okoroafor,
director,  Dr. Evans Woherem, Chairman, all of  Digital
Africa Global Consult Ltd, and John Chime of NITDA
when the management of Digital Africa Global
Consult paid a courtesy call on NITDA recently….

The 2015 edition of the annual Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition, DACE continues to gather momentum with latest support for the international event coming from the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA.

Following the undoubted success of the first two editions, Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition has been firmly established as a major platform for uniting Africa’s ICT stakeholders and decision makers for a 3-day technical discussions, networking and showcasing of innovative ideas, products and services.

In a letter dated May 24, 2015 which, was addressed to Digital Africa Global Consult Ltd, organizers of the annual event and signed personally by the Director General of NITDA, Engr. Peter Jack, the agency said it was proud to be associated with this year’s edition of Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition billed to hold at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on July 20-23.

With the theme: “Expanding African Capacity for Digital Technology,” the agency noted with delight that the event is in sync with the vision and objective of NITDA, which are built

LEAP Africa CEOs Forum: SAP W/Africa, Hartford Green Showcase Business Solution

SAP West Africa and Hartford Green Consulting have showcased the SAP Business One Solution at the 10th Leap Africa CEOs Forum, which held Tuesday, 9th June 2015 in Lagos.

A recognized annual event in the Small Medium Enterprise circle, the forum attracts over 800 guests annually including SME founders, captains of industries, CEOs and Managing Directors drawn from different sectors of the economy and public sector officials. 

The theme of this year’s forum was “Staying ahead: Maximizing Profits and Mitigating Risk.”

The Forum initiated in 2005, brought together entrepreneurs, CEOs of top corporations and indigenous companies, risk management experts from different sectors as well as local and international speakers to share knowledge and insights that will equip entrepreneurs to build sustainable local businesses that continue to yield value for generations.

Explaining the rationale for participating, Kelechi Nwosu, Channel Director, SAP West Africa,

ICTs Will Boost Digital Transformation in Africa -Report

African countries have been advised to take full advantage of the potential offered by information and communications technologies (ICTs) to drive social and economic transformation, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report (GITR) 2015.

Several African countries have dropped in terms of the report’s Networked Readiness Index ranking.

Senior Cisco Executives have highlighted the considerable challenge facing most African countries as they seek to develop the infrastructure, institutions and skills needed to reap the full benefits of ICTs, as only 39% of the global population enjoys access to the Internet despite the fact that more than half now owns a mobile phone and Africa having one of the highest mobile phone penetration.

The Cisco Executives noted that lack of access to the Internet is depriving many Africans of the opportunity to take full advantage of e-learning as well as online financial, data and health

Intel, Microsoft, Others Partner to Drive Nigeria’s Small & Medium Businesses

*L-R: Consumer Channels Group Director HP, Mr. Mark Ihimoyan, ; Account Manager HP, Mr. Paul Ofulue; Enterprise Solutions and Services BDM, Intel Corporation, Mr. Femi Babajide, and, Strategic Relationship Director, Intel Corporation,, Mr. Stanley Muoneke,  at the event….

In a bid to ensure the delivery of affordable technological solutions and grow small and medium businesses in Nigeria, Intel Nigeria has joined hands with MTN, Microsoft, HP and Diamond Bank to drive an SMB targeted initiative.

The SMB targeted initiative was announced recently in Lagos at a Technology Tour event to kick-start the initiative which would offer Nigerian SMB’s the best bundle of PC, Printer and Office for their day-to-day operations and also feature capacity building seminars, conferences and workshops to address other issues confronting them.

Speaking at the Technology Tour event, the Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Intel

Court Upholds DStv’s 20 % Subscription Increment

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Thursday said that Digital Satellite Television (DStv) operated by Multichoice Nigeria had the right to increase its subscription rate as it did last month, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke then struck out a suit filed by some aggrieved subscribers challenging the company’s recent 20 per cent increment on subscription.

The aggrieved subscribers: Messrs Osasuyi Adebayo and Oluyinka Oyeniji, who are also lawyers, had filed the class action on behalf of themselves and all other DStv subscribers across the country.

The plaintiffs had sought an order of the court restraining Multichoice from implementing

Apple Tops Google as World’s Most Valuable Brand

A report known as the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, released on Wednesday by advertising firm WPP and market researcher Millward Brown, attempts to rank the value, or dollar amount, of a company through a combination of market data and customer surveys. Overall, technology firms fared well among the 100 brands that showed up.

According to cnet.com, it was Apple that shined higher than the rest of the tech pack. This year, the company reclaimed the top spot after being overtaken by Google in 2014. Specifically, Apple picked up a brand value of $247 billion, a jump of 67 percent from last year. In bumping Apple back to the top of the charts, Millward Brown cited the success of the iPhone 6 and the surrounding excitement about the Apple brand in

Almost Half of World's Population will be Online by December - ITU

A report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has revealed 3.2 billion people will be online by the end of this year, with two billion of those in the developing world, according to a release by ITPRO.

However, four billion of the world's population will still be offline, which represents two thirds of the people living in those areas.

The news is not positive for the least developed countries either. Only 89 million out of a total 940 million users are predicted to be online by the end of this year, representing a 9.5 per cent penetration rate. The least developed countries include much of Africa plus Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, according to the UN.

The report also looked into the types of internet connections around the world and revealed that by the end of this year, there will be seven billion mobile devices being used to access online

Apple iStore to Feature in Jumia's Mobile Week

Apple iStore has announced its special participation in Jumia’s Mobile Week Megathon, the one and only mobile sale of this size in Nigeria, taking place from 1-7 June.

A release obtained by onlinerommy.blogspot.com says iStore and Jumia are partnering to offer mega deals on its finest and latest Apple products, from iPhones to iPads on iStore Online - Powered by Jumia - for seven days in a row, offering customers nationwide the chance to purchase the Apple device of their dreams at a price they would not be able to find anywhere else.
Jumia has been revolutionizing the way of accessing the Nigerian market for mobile brands for three years now, providing trustworthy, direct and fast access to Apple products for the end customers. It is, therefore, natural that iStore collaborates with Jumia to bring to its customers exactly

Glo Launches Nigeria’s First Airport Wi-Fi with FAAN

Globacom has launched the country’s first ever comprehensive airport Wi-Fi facility in collaboration with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), according to a release by the company.

With this development, passengers and other users of the airports will now be able to connect wirelessly to the internet through their smart phones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices. 

Globacom’s Coordinator, Business Solutions, Mr. Ike Oraekwuotu, said Globacom was "delighted to bring Nigeria up to speed with one of the best trends in the aviation industry worldwide by introducing ultra high speed Wi-Fi data experience for travellers and other users of our airports, beginning with Nigeria’s flagship airport, the MMIA."‎

According to Oraekwuotu, the facility, which will be available at both the domestic and the international wings of key airports across the country, has been made possible due to the great