Broadcasting
Celebrating the World Food Day
By Juliet Ehimuan, Director, West Africa, Google
Food and what we consume has shaped human history, culture, diversity and aesthetics. It is necessary for our very survival. It brings families together. It defines cultures. In recognition of the influence food has in all of our lives, in 1979 on October 16 people in over 150 countries started a movement to celebrate World Food Day – to raise awareness of food security issues and strengthen solidarity in the fight against hunger.
This year due to the continuous global warming issues and the war in Ukraine, security of supply chains have been put under threat and the prices on food commodities have risen at an unprecedented rate (World Bank, 2022). We can see it through Search too: in the Middle East and in African countries people are particularly worried about the effects of the food crisis. In 2022 the search interest for terms in the food vertical like “cooking oil” (+122%) and “maize flour” (+100%) grew in Kenya and “oil prices” (+162%) in South Africa. While Egyptians were concerned about prices of tomatoes (+125%), milk (+82%) and coffee (+82%), users in the United Arab Emirates, hosting a large number of expats, searched for prices on cooking oil, onions and sugar in their home country.
The range of food-related concerns, addressed by the tech community – Google included – spans today from improvements across the whole agro ecosystem to choosing more sustainable dishes by consumers.
In July 2022 we commissioned research that studies how food companies can feed over 7 billion people while managing uncertainty and complexity of the modern world. It is clear that food and agriculture companies need solutions throughout the whole farm- to -table journey to help them make food production more efficient; adapt to shifting trends in consumer diets and how/where they buy their food; build in flexibility and resilience in an increasingly unpredictable world of weather events, trade restrictions, even wars and do all of this while reducing the environmental impact across the agri-food value chains. The food and agricultural companies that succeed are the ones that improve their business predictions and decision-making through connecting their internal data with external trend data.
As Gulf countries are disproportionately impacted by the adverse effects of climate change, Google started supporting the Saudi government to help them address environmental, water and agricultural challenges resulting from climate change and using artificial intelligence.
Embracing technological opportunities, startups from Africa such as OKO, provide insurance to smallholder farmers helping them to become more resilient in the face of weather vagaries, providing access to loans and even creating jobs for youngsters. Google invested in this and other start-ups in the region, working toward reaching the Sustainable Goal of the UN. Moreover, earlier this week Google Cloud announced its collaboration with Kenyan Twiga Foods, an e-commerce platform which connects farmers directly with vendors to bring high quality, locally harvested fresh produce to people every day—increasing accessibility to food items in Kenya. With the recently announced intent to establish new Google Cloud regions in South Africa, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, we hope to help more businesses build use cases for technology in food production in the future.
So whether you are an individual in UAE, a small farmer in Uganda or a large government institution in Saudi, it is your choice and opportunity to make a proportional impact – today!
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has announced the postponement of its maiden annual Public Relations, Reputation, Ideas, Concepts and Excellence (PRICE) Awards and Prizes to January 25, 2026.
NIPR
The event, earlier scheduled for December 7, 2025, was deferred to accommodate stakeholders whose observance of Christmas festivities had commenced earlier than expected.
Chairman of the Organising Committee, Mr. Israel Opayemi, urged stakeholders to note the new date and prepare to participate in the ceremony.
He said the awards would motivate professionals, practitioners and scholars, while enhancing Nigeria’s global competitiveness in the public relations ecosystem and strengthening brand equity for all stakeholders.
Opayemi reaffirmed the Committee’s commitment to delivering a best-in-class award administration and ceremony, describing the PRICE Awards as a credible and enduring platform to identify, celebrate and elevate outstanding individuals, campaigns and organisations shaping the public relations landscape across sectors.
The development of the PRICE Awards peaked in September 2025 when the NIPR President and Chairman, Council, Dr. Ike Neliaku, inaugurated a 12-man committee to organise the maiden edition. The inauguration followed the Council’s adoption of the report of a technical team tasked with establishing the awards.
Netflix has announced a landmark agreement to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO Max in a transaction valued at $82.7 billion, a move analysts say will reshape the global entertainment industry.
Netflix
The deal, which includes Warner Bros.’ film and television studios, HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Games, was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. Under the terms, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shareholders will receive $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix shares for each WBD share.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos described the acquisition as “a defining moment” for the streaming giant, noting that the company intends to maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations while expanding its production capacity.
“By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies with Netflix’s culture-defining titles, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” Sarandos said.
The transaction is expected to close within 12 to 18 months, following the planned spin-off of WBD’s TV networks division, Discovery Global, in 2026. Netflix projects annual cost savings of $2–3 billion by the third year after completion and expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share by year two.
Industry groups, including the Directors Guild of America and Cinema United, have raised concerns about the impact on movie theaters, while regulators are expected to scrutinize the deal over antitrust issues. Netflix has pledged to continue supporting theatrical releases, with Warner Bros.’ cinema commitments running through 2029.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hailed the agreement, saying it “combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world to bring to even more people the entertainment they love.”
Observers note that the acquisition comes 15 years after former Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes dismissed Netflix as “the Albanian army,” underscoring the dramatic shift in the entertainment landscape.
A major shake‑up rocks viewers and subscribers of DSTV/GOTV as many channels are set to shut down and be removed on January 1, 2026.
The trigger for the upcoming shut‑down is a breakdown in negotiations between the owners of multiple global channels and the pay‑TV operator.
As of December 2025, the deal between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and DStv/GOtv has expired and the two parties have not reached a renewal agreement.
Without a new carriage/distribution agreement, the channels belonging to WBD risk being pulled off the DStv/GOtv line‑up.
This is the most significant content cutback the service has seen in years.
The affected channels are:
Discovery Channel
TLC
Cartoonito
Cartoon Network
CNN International
Food Network
The Travel Channel
TNT
Investigation Discovery
Real Time
HGTV
Discovery Family
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