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Ndukwe leads Speakers to Wafict Congress 2009

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Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is to lead an intimidating list of experts to fashion out how best to deploy new technologies to sustain the growth in West Africa’s Information and Communications Technology industry at West African ICT Congress.
Engr Ndukwe will be delivering the keynote address at the congress, taking place alongside the ninth edition of the West African International Telecommunications and Information Communications Technology exhibition (W.Afri.Tel) in Lagos.
Ndukwe’s profile as a key and prime mover in Africa and global telecom arena has since soared to an all-time high beginning from 2001, when, as Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, he organized the most transparent auction exercise yet in Africa, which was also internationally applauded.
That singular step immediately put Nigeria on the world map; and ever since the attendant introduction of GSM in Blackman’s most populous country, the growth in mobile telephony as well as telecom generally, has continued to beat all known expert projections, with high promises of the growth curve remaining positive for many years more to come.
Ndukwe has gained recognitions both nationally and internationally. He has been Man of Year on at least two occasions at the highly respected Nigerian Information Technology and Telecom Awards, and has been honoured with the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), and was recently crowned Africa’s Best Telecom Regulator in far away Johannesburg, South Africa, a feat he first achieved last year.
But for the unassuming Engr. Ndukwe, Wafict Congress 2009 will be an opportunity to explore more opportunities and technologies that help in pushing the benefits of the telecom revolution in the sub-region to not just more people, but more places, especially the rural areas.
Other speakers for the congress also include Mr. Mohamed Jameel, the group chief operating officer of Globacom. In his capacity as group COO, Mr. Jameel oversees Nigeria’s Second National Operator’s activities across Africa. It is on record that Globacom has since become an exporter of both services and knowledge from Nigeria. To date, Globacom has operations in the Republic of Benin while its operation in Ghana, which it already has a licence, is scheduled to commence any time soon.
Indeed, Globacom, which is the platinum sponsor for Wafict Congress 2009, has an ambitious vision of building Africa’s biggest and best telecommunications network. The company is working to achieve this vision, through various products and services, as well as an aggressive rollout programme across Nigeria and Africa. Its undersea fibre cable, the Glo One, for instance, is at an advanced stage nearing landing in vital countries of the sub-region.
More so, Wale Goodluck, corporate services executive of MTN Nigeria; MTN Nigeria, which is the gold sponsor for Wafict Congress 2009, is the country’s leading mobile phone operator, a position it has held since commencing operations in 2001. MTN Nigeria has since become the leading subsidiary in the MTN Group’s operations across Africa and the Middle East.
Another key speaker is Thami Msimango, a man with double responsibilities: he is the managing director of Multi-Links Telkom as well as the MD of Telkom International Business Unit. Msimango, who took over the affairs at Multi-Links a couple of months ago, is bubbling with ideas and the plans that his company has lined up for the Nigerian telecom industry. He will be sharing these ideas during the three-day event, which Multi-Links Telkom is sponsoring also as silver sponsor.
 “We are assembling the best brains from across the world so that they can bring to West Africa what the sub-region needs to continue to be on the front burner of global telecom growth,” says Mkpe Abang, editor-in-chief of IT & Telecom Digest, adding that the list of speakers given so far is not exhaustive, as there are many more others that will be lending their expertise and experience to participants at the Wafict Congress 2009.

 


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Detained Binance executive drags EFCC, NSA to court

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Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has has dragged the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to court alleging violations of his fundamental rights.

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In a filing dated March 18 and presented by his lawyer Olujoke Aliyu from Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan sought redress before Justice Inyang Ekwo, requesting five reliefs. Similarly, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager who escaped custody on March 22, initiated a separate suit before Justice Ekwo.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, in the suits marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, had sued the Office of NSA (ONSA) and EFCC as 1st and 2nd respondents.

Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, alleged that his detention and the confiscation of his international travel passport violated Section 35 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, constituting a breach of his fundamental right to personal liberty. He further requested the court to order his immediate release and the return of his passport. Additionally, he sought an injunction preventing further detention related to any Binance investigations and demanded a public apology from the respondents, along with costs incurred.

Gambaryan stated that he visited Nigeria on February 26 alongside Nadeem Anjarwalla, representing Binance, in response to invitations from ONSA and EFCC. Despite attending the meeting as requested, both were detained afterward without formal charges.

During the court proceedings, T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, representing Anjarwalla and Gambaryan, informed the court of the respondents’ absence despite being served. Krukrubo also mentioned their notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla, filed on March 26.

Justice Ekwo noted the withdrawal of legal representation and adjourned the matter to April 8 to allow the applicants to seek new representation and give the respondents an opportunity to appear.

In Gambaryan’s case, Krukrubo stated that although the processes were served on ONSA and EFCC, they still had time to respond. He requested an adjournment, indicating that the respondents’ deadline to file their applications would expire the following week.

Consequently, Justice Ekwo scheduled the next hearing for April 8 to continue proceedings.


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AXA Mansard Empowers Female SMEs with Financial, Digital Skills

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AXA Mansard, a member of AXA has empowered 200 female Small and Medium Enterprises with financial literacy and digital business skills.

In collaboration with SME 100 Africa, the two-day training, which was held in Lagos, is part of AXA’s lined-up programmes to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

Speaking, Olusesan Ogunyooye, Head of Marketing AXA Mansard, said the training was aimed to empower female SME owners with skills to improve business output and position them for the increasing economic opportunities available in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Ogunyooye noted that the move was in line with AXA Mansard’s sustainability agenda, explaining that the company was convinced that support for women through its inclusive protection programmes was pivotal to its purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters and its mission of moving from being a payer to a partner.

He further said that focusing on digital skills was important because the company realised the importance of digital skills to the growth of the SME sector in Nigeria and wants to ensure that women were empowered enough to be a consequential part of that growth.

“It’s almost trite to say that SMEs are the engine for economic growth, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where over 45 million adults are business owners. What needs to be continually discussed is how Nigeria is going to unlock that potential for economic development and how much of that potential will be unlocked by women and for women.”

“For us at AXA Mansard, we are aware that digital will play a major role in unlocking these current opportunities and Nigeria’s economic future. So, to ensure that women are equally represented in unlocking these future potentials, that’s why we have collaborated with SME 100 Africa to support them in developing the required skills”.

“Our choice of digital and financial literacy skills is deliberate. We understand the power of the duo. We understand that helping these SMEs with the skills to attract more customers will be a faster means to empower them.

“We see that they have amazing products and services, but they need to understand how to attract value for themselves by attracting the right customers, and you will agree with me that virtually all customer segments are online in one way or another today.

“So, if we can empower them with digital business skills, we would have helped them with the heavy lifting of trying to find and attract customers”. Ogunyooye explained.

According to him, AXA Mansard believes that for the world to experience progress truly, there must be an equitable distribution of creation and access to opportunities for men and women. This quest for balance informed the SHE for Shield initiative, a women-centred inclusive protection programme of AXA Mansard.

SHE for Shield is a group of initiatives designed for the Nigerian woman. The goal is to see them grow, add value, and help them mitigate risks at every step.

According to the company, research has found that access to health care is one of the most important things to Nigerian women, regardless of their economic segment. They desire to be financially independent, secure, and respected in the community.

 


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IFC Invests in New 4DX Ventures Fund to Support Tech Startups in Africa

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IFC is investing $10.5 million in a new fund by 4DX Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage African technology companies across a broad set of sectors, including fintech, e-commerce, edtech, climate tech, and health tech.

IFC’s investment in 4DX Ventures Fund III will come from IFC’s $225 million venture capital platform, which was launched last year to strengthen emerging VC ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan.

Africa is among the regions least served by venture capital, receiving just 2% of global venture deal volume in the third quarter of 2023. Access to capital on the continent has been further exacerbated by a slowdown in global venture capital investment.

Tech ecosystems are nascent, or even nonexistent, outside of more established markets such as Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

“IFC and 4DX Ventures share the commitment to supporting tech entrepreneurs with innovations that will help Africa leapfrog in critical areas such as climate, health care, fintech, e-commerce, and education,” said Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and General Partner of 4DX Ventures.

“We look forward to partnering with IFC to help promising tech startups build transformative businesses and realize sustainable development impact on the continent.”

4DX’s new fund will invest in companies with tech solutions that can improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness across Africa. The firm’s first two funds invested in companies such as Egypt-based e-commerce platform MaxAB, an IFC portfolio company; Ghana-based health tech firm mPharma; and Kenya-based B2B e-commerce platform Wasoko, formerly known as Sokowatch.

“By supporting the development of tech ecosystems in emerging markets, IFC’s venture capital platform aims to improve access to key services, boost business competitiveness, and promote job creation through digital transformation,” said Mohamed Gouled, Vice President of Industries at IFC.

“Our investment in venture funds such as 4DX Ventures will help African entrepreneurs access more financing and resources they need to scale tech innovations and bolster sustainable growth across the continent.

In addition to providing capital, IFC will work with 4DX Ventures to implement their environmental and social management system.


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