Ikpoki's appointment, credence to MTN's talent development - Goodluck

Mike Ikpoki, new CEO MTN Nigeria

The Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, has declared that the first appointment of a Nigerian, Mr. Michael Ikpoki as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria lends credence to the company’s resolve to build local talent.

This, he told DigitalSENSE Business News “Underscores the strength of our leadership development strategy and leadership succession pool.”

DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that Michael Ikpoki is the first Nigerian CEO of the company. Ikpoki is an experienced lawyer, seasoned business executive and golf enthusiast and was until his recent appointment, the CEO of MTN Ghana. He replaces Brett Goschen, who has been redeployed to the role of MTN Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director on the Group Board.

“This is indeed a strong reflection of the MTN talent management creed; Management’s commitment to it and the quality and abundance of talent in MTN Nigeria, having regard to the status of MTN Nigeria as the biggest operating company within the MTN Group,” Goodluck said.

He revealed that the new CEO started his career in telecoms with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). After six years with the NCC, he joined MTN Nigeria as a Regulatory Advisor in 2001, rising steadily through the ranks and receiving the quality of training, capacity building and exposure that are inherent in the company’s employee value proposition.

Later, he said, Ikpoki became the General Manager, Regulatory Affairs in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, he was appointed General Manager, Sales and Distribution and in 2007, the Sales and Distribution Executive for MTN Nigeria.

His appointment as CEO of MTN Ghana in April 2011 made him the first Nigerian in the MTN Group to attain this height.

He is however, not the only one.  Indeed, only a few months after Ikpoki was appointed CEO of MTN Ghana, another Nigerian, Mr. Karl Toriola, was also appointed CEO of MTN Cameroun.

Further, he said, several other Nigerians have since gone on to hold strategic positions across various MTN operations.

Remmy Nweke

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Etisalat rewards 72 students for academic excellence

Acclaimed most innovative telecommunications company in Nigeria, Etisalat, celebrated academic excellence in the northern part of the country by rewarding 72 university undergraduates through its education empowerment scheme, the Etisalat Merit Awards at a presentation ceremony held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja last weekend. 

The award scheme currently in its 5^th year is a reaffirmation of the company’s commitment to impacting and improving the quality of education in Nigeria.

At the 2013 Annual Merit Awards, deserving undergraduates and their institutions received cash rewards for academic excellence and for procurement of educational materials respectively. 

The awardees were students of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Science and Management courses in their second and third year of study of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, University of Abuja, Bayero University, Kano; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Benue State University, Makurdi; Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto; and Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Kebbi.

In his speech, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans stressed the importance of education to a nation and pointed out that statistics has revealed that out of the 41 per cent of Nigerian citizens that are youths, only a fraction are students. He stressed that education remains a powerful tool for change that could facilitate the economic advancement of any nation.

“Dynamic economies that have emerged in the last fifty years have done so on the back of heavy investment in education. It is with this in mind that we at Etisalat have committed to supporting the government in improving the educational system in Nigeria,” he said.

“The essence of the Merit Awards is to offer the best university students in partner institutions a grant towards the successful completion of their courses of study; taking care of their financial burden and enabling them to concentrate on their programs, thereby achieving excellence,” said Evans who was represented at the event by the Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko.

(L-R): Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko;

Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP),

Dr. Umar Bindir; Deputy, Dean of Students, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr. Yusuf Ahmed;

and Director, Brands and Communications, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Enitan Denloye at the 2013

Etisalat Merit Awards Abuja held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

According to him, over 800 scholarships have been awarded under the Merit Awards Scheme, as the company continues to build on its core CSR platform of empowering Nigerian youths to obtain qualitative education. “It is not only about establishing ourselves as a business, we also believe in giving back to the society we operate in and we believe that we are able to do this through the Merit Awards”, he added.

One of the awardees, a 200 level Management Sciences student of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Miss Abdullahi Binta Fulani, visibly elated at her grant said she is more motivated to work harder and urged other students to study hard so they can benefit from the Award. She thanked Etisalat and commended the company on its interest in the Nigerian youth, particularly in the area of education.

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Adobe explains difference between AIR and Flash Player

Experts at Adobe have explained the difference between two of its applications namely the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and Flash Player, saying both have their distinct duties to deliver.

AIR, also known as Adobe AIR, is a cross-platform runtime environment developed by Adobe Systems for building Rich Internet Applications (RIA) using Adobe Flash, Apache Flex (formerly Adobe Flex), Hyper Text Marked Up Language (HTML), and Ajax, that could be run as desktop applications or on mobile devices.

The runtime supports, he said is installable applications on Windows, Mac OS and some mobile operating systems such as BlackBerry Tablet OS, iOS and Android. It also originally supported Linux, but that support was discontinued.

Experts equally said that the two Adobe Flash Platform runtimes are Flash Player and Adobe AIR, insisting that Flash Player is a highly expressive cross-platform runtime that works consistently across browsers.

Elucidating that Flash Player delivers innovation within the browser, while AIR, a superset of Flash Player, enables the delivery of standalone applications that run outside the browser.

"Together, they provide a consistent runtime for delivering content that can easily move between the browser and native operating system context,” DigitalSENSE Business News submitted.

Also the difference between Flash Player and Adobe Shockwave Player, experts said is that Flash Player and Shockwave Player software are both free web players from Adobe. Each has a distinct purpose.

While Flash Player displays content created with Flash Professional, such as web application front ends, high-impact website user interfaces, interactive online advertising, and animations and rich Internet applications (RIAs) created using Flex.

The Shockwave Player displays content created with Adobe Director software such as high-performance multiuser games, interactive 3D product simulations, online entertainment, and training applications.

By using extensions, developers can extend the capabilities of Shockwave Player to play back custom-built applications.

Remmy Nweke 
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!

MEA: Mobile device surge forces decline in PC market - IDC

Latest report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) made available to DigitalSENSE Business News says that the Personal Computer (PC) market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region has experienced another quarter of steep decline in Q2 2013 as the proliferation of mobile technology continues unabated.

Research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, Fouad Rafiq Charakla, confirmed to DigitalSENSE Business News that the preliminary results released last week by IDC, shipments of PCs into the Middle East, Africa and Turkey slowed 18.3 per cent year-on-year, during the second quarter of 2013 to a total 4.4 million units.

Desktops, Charakla said, were the hardest hit, with shipments down 20.0 per cent year on year to 1.8 million units, while notebook shipments declined 17.1 per cent over the same period to total 2.6 million units.

"A growing portion of end users, primarily from the consumer segment, are shifting their spending from PCs to tablets and smartphones," says Fouad Rafiq Charakla, adding that this was accompanied by ongoing instability in several parts of the Middle East and Africa region, which resulted in PC spending by both the commercial and consumer segments plummeting at an even faster rate.

Charakla pointed out that Intel and Microsoft have made keen efforts to revive the position of PCs against tablets, particularly in light of the latter adapting its operating system to a touch-screen interface, just as Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS still outperform Microsoft’s Windows 8 when it comes to the number of applications the respective operating systems offer, which has a direct negative impact on the user experience.

At the same time, Charakla said, the growing availability of aggressively priced tablet models, including those offered by multinational vendors continued to encourage growing numbers of end users to switch to this increasingly popular form factor.

Additionally, IDC reports that despite declining price points on the numerous ultra-slim notebook models available in the market, this product category failed to catapult its own popularity at the planned pace.

“Indeed, a large portion of end users still prefer to buy portable PCs with optical drives, which most ultra-slim notebook models fail to offer,” Charakla said.

All key markets in the region, said IDC report available to DigitalSENSE Business News experienced double-digit declines year on year. Turkey suffered a significant drop in PC shipments owing to the ongoing protests and social unrest in the country, while poor economic growth and high inflation caused a dramatic fall in PC shipments into South Africa.

Remmy Nweke/DigitalSENSE Business News
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Etisalat partners TECNO for OEM Week'13

Etisalat Nigeria is partnering with TECNO on the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) Week 2013, which kicked off in Lagos recently.

According to the duo, this offers best customer satisfaction and showcase the latest and best-selling mobile devices available at Etisalat Experience Centres nationwide.

DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that during the Etisalat/TECNO OEM Week, customers have the luxury of choosing from a display of various TECNO products including the P3, which is acclaimed the most affordable entry-level Smartphone in Nigeria, Phantom A, TECNO’s flagship high-end Smartphone with the latest version of Android 4.0 Operating System and the dual SIM T341.

It was also gathered that all customers who purchase and activate any of the TECNO products automatically get freebies such as 32-inch LED televisions, limited edition flasks, T-Boys and other branded items.

Head of Devices and Terminals, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Olayiwola Onafowokan confirmed to DigitalSENSE Business News that the event offers an opportunity for customers to get one-on-one enlightenment on the different devices on display, discounts and gifts, as well as technical support from our Geek Force.

Evans, Etisalat CEO

The OEM Week, he also said, avails customers to enjoy free 100MB data monthly, for 12 consecutive months, for every TECNO P3 purchased and activated.

“Customers who also buy the TECNO T341 will receive free six months Facebook bundle” he said.

Etisalat, he said, want customers to have what they desire and also enjoy free data when they activate the devices.

Explaining that the OEM week due to elapse by end of July, is all about a one-on-one service through Experience Centres across Nigeria, thus making devices available to customers at friendly prices during the OEM Week.

“Etisalat ensures each device comes with a 13-month warranty, which is 30 days extra against the usual post-purchase warranty. This is also our strategy of assisting OEMs to directly highlight devices to customers, along with benefits, that are usually missed”, he concluded.

Also present to mark the commencement of the Etisalat/TECNO OEM Week was Business Development Manager of the Operations Department for TECNO, Mr. Joe He, who said his company’s main objective was to connect with customers and delight them.

“It is clear that Etisalat is the most innovative telecommunications company in Nigeria, which is a very important culture for TECNO. We also recognize that Etisalat has the best internet service in Nigeria. Also impressive and crucial is Etisalat’s unique data packages offered to customers, especially the youth segment, which TECNO also targets. All these put together inspires us to work more closely with Etisalat,’ he said.

 

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Naija AgroNet: 10% public investments in agriculture still low – ...

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has said that the current public investments of 10 per cent in agriculture, across Africa’s national budgets remain small.

CAADP is an agency of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

This is coming as agriculture is reportedly back on the political-policy agenda across the continent, although the 10 per cent budget allocation to agriculture remains inadequate.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that CAADP's goal is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture and as a way of achieving this goal, African governments agreed to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10 per cent of their national budgets and to raise agricultural productivity by at least 6 per cent by the year 2015.

Naija AgroNet: 10% public investments in agriculture still low – ...: The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has said that the current public investments of 10 per cent in agricu...

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Mike Ikpoki is first Nigerian CEO of MTN

Mike Ikpoki, new MD/CEO MTN Nigeria

Remember him, Michael Ikpoki, until few hours ago, was the first Nigerian to grow to the position of chief executive officer (CEO), who was posted to Ghana, is now occupying same position in Nigeria with immediate effect.

Mr. Ikpoki replaces Mr. Brett Goschen, who took on the role of MTN Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Financial Director on the Board on Monday.

Ikpoki was appointed CEO of MTN Ghana in April 2011 after successfully running MTN Nigeria’s Sales and Distribution channel as its Executive from 2006.

He joined MTN in 2001 as a Regulatory Advisor after a six-year stint with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s legal division.

A seasoned business executive, Michael is well read, with an academic profile that includes General Management Programme at Harvard Business School; Sales, from INSEAD Business School; Finance and Analytics, from Lagos Business School and LLB from Rivers State University of Science and Technology.

Other appointments announced by MTN Group today include Serame Taukobong, erstwhile Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of MTN SA, who is the new CEO of MTN Ghana. Brian Gouldie, Chief Customer Sales, Service and Distribution Officer at MTN SA, is the new CMO of MTN SA. Farhad Khan, Executive for the Group Enterprise Business Unit, takes over from Gouldie as Chief Customer Sales, Service and Distribution Officer at MTN SA. Philisiwe Sibiya, Executive in Group Finance, is the new Chief Financial Officer of MTN SA.

“MTN has a strong leadership bench strength. As part of its talent management and leadership development, MTN invests significantly towards building a sustainable supply of quality leaders. We are therefore pleased to make these announcements drawn from our leadership succession pool,” said MTN Group President and CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa.

DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that all the appointments were with immediate effect.

Remmy Nweke

... Making SENSE of digital revolution!