In acknowledgment of its accomplishments in harnessing public relations and communication to foster public-private partnerships and shared value in Nigeria, MTN Nigeria has received five Certificates of Excellence at the 2023 SABRE Africa awards.

L-R: Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, Head of Media, Nigerian Communications Commission; Lakinbofa Goodluck, PR Manager, MTN Nigeria; Njideka Akabogu, Regional Manager East Africa, ID Africa (BHM Holdings); Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, President, African Public Relations Association at the SABRE Africa Awards in Lusaka, Zambia on May 19, 2023.

The ICT company received nominations at the awards for its services and innovations over the past year in categories including Company of the Year; Corporate Image; Corporate Social Responsibility and; Special Event/Sponsorship and CEO of the Year.

MTN’s growth is evident in its revenue which has doubled from N1 trillion in 2018 to N2 trillion at the end of the financial year in 2022 with its strongest growth achieved in 2021 and 2022 at 22.9 percent and 21.6 percent respectively.

In December 2021, MTN Nigeria became the first Nigerian company to make its public offer of 575 million sales in shares accessible to retail investors through a unique digital platform, Primary Offer. Similarly, the company partnered with the Nigerian government to rehabilitate the Enugu-Onitsha 110-kilometre expressway under the 10-year Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme (RITC). In 2022, the company also launched the Media Innovation Programme in partnership with Pan-Atlantic University to upskill media practitioners in Nigeria.

These initiatives, with efficient public and private stakeholder engagement and communication support by Public Relations and Communications company BHM, culminated in MTN Nigeria and its leadership becoming recipients of the 2023 SABRE Africa Company of the Year and CEO of the Year certificates.

MTN Nigeria’s recent rebranding to a technological company offering a bouquet of digital services has attracted widespread commendation in recent times, and its excellent achievements in the technology space were also rewarded with its recognition as having a great Corporate Image.

The recognition was bolstered by the technology company’s successful acquisition of the 5G spectrum and the launch of the advanced 5G network in different parts of Nigeria in 2022. If properly harnessed, the 5G network is predicted to deliver $13.2 trillion in global economic value by 2035 and can generate 22.3 million jobs in the 5G global value chain alone within the same period. The advanced network has the potential to boost Nigeria’s socio-economic ecosystem, particularly by improving access to essential services such as finance, health, and education.

MTN was also recognised as an organisation with an impactful Corporate Social Responsibility for its innovative Y’ellopreneur, which is distinctive for its ambition to bridge the gender gap in Nigeria’s employment and entrepreneurship landscape. In its debut phase, at least 500 women entrepreneurs were able to build capacity, with 101 receiving funding worth N2 million for their respective businesses under the empowerment programme.

MTN’s contribution to the development of grassroots football in Nigeria and its partnership with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as the Official Communications Partner earned it a Certificate of Excellence in the Special Event/Sponsorship category.

Over the past two decades, MTN has demonstrated its commitment to elevating Nigeria’s standing in world football by collaborating with the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and investing in various football camps and scholarship programs to develop young footballing talents in the country. The most recent of such transformative programmes by the ICT company was the establishment of the NPFL/La Liga U-15 tournament in 2022 to identify and train the best young football talents in Nigeria.

In a related event, Funso Aina, MTN Nigeria’s senior manager, external relations, became the first African to win the “Innovator of the Year” award in the brands’ category at the 2023 SABRE IN2 Awards.

Speaking on the SABRE recognition, Tobechukwu Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services Officer, MTN Nigeria, said, “We are deeply honoured to have been recognised across multiple categories at the SABRE Africa awards. These accolades are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team and the contributions of all our partners towards our success.

At MTN, we remain committed to delivering innovative and impactful solutions that enhance the lives of communities where we operate. These certificates are a clear validation of our efforts and we will continue to strive towards excellence in all that we do.”

Effective PR and communication strategies are critical in driving brand awareness, facilitating partnerships, and expanding market share. Due to its increased adoption and its potential to impact brand growth, the global public relations market size is expected to grow to $133 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 5.7%.

The 2023 SABRE Africa awards ceremony was held in Lusaka, Zambia, as part of the 2023 African Public Relations Association (APRA) Conference. The annual event, organised by PRovoke Media, celebrates public relations and communication excellence in Africa, particularly in the areas of branding, reputation, and engagement.

Google on Monday announced the expansion of its Flood Hub platform to cover 80 countries worldwide, including the addition of 8 new countries in Africa. To date, 23 African countries are on the Flood Hub.

This expansion comes as part of AI-enabled efforts to address the devastating impacts of floods and provide critical support to vulnerable communities.

The Flood Hub platform now offers forecasts up to 7 days in advance, benefitting a population of 460 million people globally.

This expansion extends the reach of Flood Hub’s valuable services to countries such as Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan and Thailand.

The Flood Hub platform has been available in several African countries prior to this expansion, including Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, South Africa, and now, with the expansion, it encompasses 60 additional countries.

These new countries include Burundi, Eswatini, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Madagascar, Rwanda, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. The inclusion of these countries ensures that a broader range of African communities facing high flood risk and extreme weather conditions can benefit from Flood Hub’s accurate and timely flood forecasting services.

Floods claim tens of thousands of lives and cause billions of dollars in damages each year across the world. Their impacts are particularly severe in low-resource regions that often lack effective early warning systems.

By equipping governments, aid organisations, and individuals with advanced flood forecasting tools, Flood Hub empowers communities to take proactive measures and make informed decisions to reduce the devastating effects of floods.

To further enhance flood preparedness, Google is expanding flood alerts through Search and Maps notifications, ensuring that individuals have convenient access to timely and critical flood information. This expansion aims to empower more people to take necessary precautions and safeguard lives and property.

“We recognise the significant impact that floods have on communities worldwide, especially in regions with limited resources and vulnerable populations,” said Yossi Mattias, VP Engineering & Research and Crisis Response Lead.

“We are committed to expanding the reach of the Flood Hub platform to support these communities and provide accurate flood forecasting that can help save lives and protect livelihoods.”

Since 2019, nonprofit organisations have been working with Google.org to establish offline alerting networks, acknowledging the limited access to cell phones or the internet in some communities. These networks are designed to leverage trained and trusted community volunteers who play a crucial role in amplifying the reach of Flood Hub’s warnings.

As a result, even individuals without digital connectivity are able to receive life-saving flood alerts, ensuring their safety during times of crisis.

For more information on the Flood Hub check out this video and please visit the Google Keyword blog.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that it intends to collaborate with other agencies like the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) to put an end to the incidence of rejection of food exports from Nigeria in some European countries and the United States of America.

According to NAFDAC, the ugly trend may soon become a thing of the past if collaboration between it and other government agencies at the ports is strengthened.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director General, NAFDAC, made the assertion at the inauguration of the new NAFDAC office complex at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport/NAHCO, Lagos where she lamented that over 70 per cent of food exports from Nigeria are rejected abroad with huge financial losses to the exporters and the country at large.

A statement by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, on Sunday, quoted the DG as saying that the deplorable state of export trade facilitation for regulated products leaving the country has continued to be a serious cause for concern for her agency, adding that a trip to NAFDAC export warehouses within the international airport will explain unequivocally the major reason for the continuous rejection of Nigerian exports abroad.

She, however, noted that the agency is responding to this great challenge by initiating a collaborative adventure with the government agencies at the ports towards ensuring that goods are of requisite quality and meet the regulatory requirements of the importing countries and destinations before such are even packaged and hauled to the ports for shipment.

Adeyeye stated that this raises the need for a more enhanced regulation of export – packaging, pre-shipment testing and certification — to provide some quality assurance and minimize rejects.

To save the nation’s reputation in international commerce, she called on all stakeholders in the export trade to see this as a call to duty and collaborate with NAFDAC for the sake of the country and its collective future.

‘’The mandate to safeguard the health of the populace through ensuring that food, medicines, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals and packaged water are safe, efficacious and of the right quality in an economy that is overwhelmingly dependent on importation of the bulk of its finished products and raw materials could never have been actualized without effective presence of NAFDAC at the ports and land borders,’’ she said.

Adeyeye commended the NCS for the symbiotic relationship that exists between its management and the agency, adding that: ‘’Without Customs, we will not be able to do a lot of what we have been able to do. The collaboration between Customs and NAFDAC is huge.

“NAFDAC is a complex organization. We are scientific. We are police and we work with DSS. We work with Interpol  and FBI because of the few  stakeholders that are unscrupulous. NAFDAC collaborates with Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services to ensure that due diligence is done because over 70 per cent of the products that leave our ports get rejected.

“Considering the money spent on getting those products out of the country, it is a double loss for both the exporter and the country.

‘’Without the police, we cannot do much in terms of investigation and enforcement. We have over 80 policemen with us in NAFDAC. They help us a lot when we are doing raids or investigations as the case may be.”