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Airtel, Trace Unveil Music Contest For 13 African Countries

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‎Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has today partnered with TRACE Music Star and global recording icon Akon to roll out the largest mobile musical competition in Africa.

Dubbed Airtel TRACE Music Star, the competition will be rolled out across 13 Countries in francophone and anglophone Africa where Airtel has a presence (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon).

Specifically, Airtel Nigeria is partnering with Trace, an International music video channel, to launch the unique mobile song contest, designed to empower Nigerian youths and create robust platforms for them to achieve their aspirations.

The competition tagged ‘Airtel Trace Music Star’ is a mobile song contest which will allow contestants to audition right from their phones and earn a chance of becoming the next big music star in Nigeria.

Contestants can participate by simply recording their song with an Airtel line, using a short code and will be aided by an interactive voice prompt.

The interactive voice prompt will be fortified with multi-lingual functionality including English and Pidgin which will assist in eliminating any language barrier and will enable youths from all parts of across Nigeria participate in the competition

Speaking on the initiative, Maurice Newa, chief commercial officer, Airtel Nigeria, noted that Airtel as a youth-centric telecoms company will be initiating the ‘Airtel Trace Music Star’ platform to empower Nigerian youths by giving  them opportunities to develop their innate skills and achieve their dreams.

He said: “Airtel is delighted to be associated with Trace in bringing excitement and providing entertainment opportunities for our teeming customers especially youths and the music lovers. This initiative is geared towards supporting and nurturing talents of Nigerian youth. In the next few weeks we will unveil the biggest platform for Nigerians to express their singing talent through their mobile phones from the comfort of any location they choose.

Olivier Laouchez, co-Founder, chairman and CEO of Trace Group, sees the collaboration as a perfect opportunity to showcase African youth talent to the rest of the world.

According to him, “We are tremendously excited about this pan African partnership with Airtel. Trace is dedicated to African youth and this ground breaking competition is a great step towards our joint goal of empowering African youth”.

As a pan-African initiative, the Airtel Trace Music competition is designed to hold simultaneously in other African countries where Airtel operates.

The winners from each participating country will then compete in a televised pan-African grand finale where the African champion will win a trip to the USA to be mentored by megastar Akon in addition to a professional music video and a record deal with Universal Music.

Airtel Nigeria has been in the forefront of empowering Nigerian youths through various credible platforms with the sponsorship of top entertainment and talent-hunt projects such as Nigeria’s Got Talent, which has provided opportunities for thousands of youths to take their skills to the next level.

The Telco also recently initiated another music talent show tagged ‘Airtel One Mic’ with the aim of discovering young talents in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

Another robust platform created by Airtel Nigeria to empower youth is the yearly Airtel Rising Stars championship which was conceived to discover youths, both male and female, with football talent across Nigeria.

Trace, an international media group has deep African roots and is a major promoter of African music to the rest of the world.

It runs five music TV channels across Africa and currently, it airs videos by numerous A list African artistes in 160 countries globally through its network of music and sports celebrity TV channels. Trace Urban is available on DSTV Channel 322, while Trace Sports Stars is currently available on DSTV channel 188.

 

 

 


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WIOCC’s Strategic Role in Addressing Subsea Cable Outages

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WIOCC, Africa’s digital backbone, is leading the continent’s response to the cable cuts currently affecting the WACS, ACE, Main One and SAT3 subsea systems on Africa’s western seaboard.

WIOCC’s highly resilient network, with hyperscale capacity on every major system is the largest in Africa and ideally placed to swiftly deliver restoration solutions to hyperscalers, fixed and mobile carriers, internet service providers and other clients, enabling them to quickly re-establish key traffic routes into, within and out of Africa, thereby minimising performance degradation for their end-customers.

According to Chris Wood, Group CEO of WIOCC, “Immediately the four subsea cables were severed off the coast of Cote d‘Ivoire our engineering, operations and field teams swung into action.

“They have been working tirelessly for the last 48 hours with our strategic network partners and equipment suppliers and will, within the next 24 hours, have activated an unprecedented additional 2 Terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity across the unaffected cables in our network to support the capacity needs of other network operators and hyperscalers.

“Our clients connected directly at Open Access Data Centres (OADC) data centres in South Africa and Nigeria are already protected from the impact of the subsea outages due to the unique levels of redundancy and scale of the WIOCC core backbone.

“In Lagos, the Equiano cable, in which WIOCC owns a fibre pair, has not been affected by the incident off Cote d‘Ivoire. WIOCC lands the cable directly into the OADC data centre, establishing the most resilient digital ecosystem hub in Lagos and offering the most direct connectivity to Europe and South Africa.

“As a result, OADC’s data centres and WIOCC’s hyperscale network are playing a key role in restoring services to other facilities and operators currently suffering outages in Lagos and elsewhere on the continent.”

“Our priority is to ensure minimal disruption and maximum resilience for our clients,” added Ryan Sher, Group Chief Operating Officer at WIOCC.

“We have invested heavily in deploying diverse, highly-scalable national and international connectivity to support the uptime requirements of our wholesale client base. Investing at scale means that we consistently carry extra capacity, ensuring we are able to rapidly turn up or re-route capacity to address unexpected network disruptions.

“It also enables us to deploy short-term restoration solutions for other operators on a case-by-case basis. Any service provider affected by these outages, whether an existing WIOCC client or not, is encouraged to contact us to explore options.”

WIOCC’s policy of strategic deployment of converged, open-access digital infrastructure at a hyperscale level and delivery of unrivalled resiliency, enables it to meet and anticipate the needs of Africa’s wholesale community with sufficient scale and network diversity to address even the most challenging situations.


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Voice, Data Services Affected by Undersea Cable Cuts Restored – NCC

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Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that the recent Undersea Cable Cuts that affected Voice, Data Services have now been restored.

The commission in a statement released on Monday and signed by Reuben Muoka, Director, Public Affairs, said that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.

According to him, “following the disruption on March 14, 2024, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.

“All operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts, and have thus recovered approximately 90% of their peak utilisation capacities.

“Mobile Network Operators have assured the Commission that data and voice services would operate optimally pending full repairs of the undersea cables as they have managed to activate alternative connectivities to bring back the situation to normalcy.

“We extend our appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fibre cuts,” he concluded.


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IIM United Kingdom Inducts new Members, Highlights the Power of Intelligent Technologies

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Institute of Information Management (IIM) United Kingdom successfully hosted its highly anticipated Annual Convention and 47th Induction/Investiture ceremony on March 9, 2024, at the Wesley London Euston.

Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president/chairman-Governing Council, Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa

The event, held under the theme “AI Renaissance: Unleashing the Power of Intelligent Technologies,” brought together distinguished professionals, thought leaders, and industry experts from various sectors.

The convention commenced with a thought-provoking Welcome Address and Keynote Speech delivered by Amb. (Dr) Oyedokun Ayodeji Oyewole FIIM, ERMS, RMEMS, FIRMS, the esteemed international President of the Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa. His address set the tone for insightful discussions and collaborative engagements throughout the event.

Among the notable highlights was the Inauguration and Taking of Oath of Office by Acting Vice President of IIM United Kingdom Chapter, Prof. Rotimi Jaiyesimi, FIIM, who assumed the role in an acting capacity following his recent appointment by the IIM Africa Board.

A significant announcement was made during the convention regarding the launch of a single global annual Convention starting in 2025. 

“This groundbreaking initiative”, according to Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president/chairman-Governing Council, Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa, “will unite all IIM Africa Global Chapters for the Convention, induction, and investiture, streamlining the event into a singular, impactful gathering. The announcement, made by Aisha Dania Ogieriakhi, FIIM, Director of IIM United Kingdom Chapter, marks a new era of collaboration and cohesion within the IIM community”.

The convention attracted a diverse array of attendees, including dignitaries, traditional rulers, captains of industry, and professionals from various backgrounds. Notable guests included Chief Bimbo Roberts Folayan, FIIM – Former Chairman (2011-2015) Central Association of Nigeria in the United Kingdom (CANUK), Cllr. Sunny Lambe, FIIM – Southwark Labour and Cooperative Councilor, Michaelene Holder-March, FIIM – Managing Director of MHM Health Consultancy Ltd, His Highness Papa Paul Jones Eganda, FIIM – Founder and the President of AIDO Network International, Chief (Dr) Richmond Macgrey, FIIM – Representative & Public Relations Minister of His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, (Olu of Warri) in the Diaspora and others.

Throughout the event, discussions revolved around key themes such as the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, the ethical implications of intelligent technologies, and the role of information management in shaping the future.

A highlight of the convention was the induction of new members into the Honorary Fellowship Grade and Professional Fellowship Grade, recognizing their exemplary contributions to the field of data and information management. Additionally, the collaboration between IIM and the International University of Information Management (IUIM) resulted in the conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degree Awards to deserving professionals and achievers in society, adding a prestigious dimension to the event. 

Both sessions were anchored by the duo of Antoinette R. Okoye and Olufemi Ibiwoye, a fixed specialist at BT Enterprises PLC London, England, United Kingdom.

One memorable moment came from Julliet Makhapila, a Community Transformer, Changemaker, Innovator, and Social Impactor from the United Kingdom, who volunteered to extend the IIM Africa initiative to her home country of Kenya, further expanding the institute’s reach and impact.

The convention provided ample networking opportunities and special activities for attendees, fostering meaningful connections and collaborations among participants.

Co-hosted by IIM Africa and the International University of Information Management (IUIM), the 2024 Annual Convention epitomized the mission and goals of the Institute of Information Management, serving as a platform for knowledge sharing, professional development, data leadership development and overall community building leveraging on access to quality data for effective decision making in both public and private establishments.

As the convention concluded, the main takeaways included maintaining a vibrant community of professionals, sharing best practices, and nurturing collaborative efforts to advance the field of data and information management.


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