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SES, CWG Launch Maiden Digital TV Platform for West Africa

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SES, a global satellite company, in cooperation with Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG), a leading pan-African ICT company, launched a new digital television platform, on SES’s ASTRA 2F satellite, at 28.2 degrees East that would provide access to a greater number of stations to households in Nigeria and across west Africa, at a relatively low cost.

The Launching which took place alongside the Broadcast Summit, 2014 at the intercontinental hotel in Lagos yesterday witnessed the attendance of broadcasters, IT professionals, advertisers and administrators from different parts of the country.

In his opening remark, Mr. James Agada, chief technology officer, CWG Plc,  noted that true to her vision, “CWG Plc is evolving away from the traditional IT Company in the Nigerian context to becoming a utility enabler, under the CWG 2.0 initiative. 

According to him, “The brand new digital ‘Direct To Home’ (DTH) free-to-air platform is ultimately designed to help accelerate and alleviate the challenges broadcasters and content owners face in the digital migration process. The platform is packaged as an innovative approach in order to address the challenges of the cost of migration, operation, operational and support challenges, platform agility and flexibility and platform neutrality”.

The digital TV platform is a product of a collaborative effort of SES and CWG. SES will provide the space segment and specific ground services, while CWG will manage the teleport services required to project the signals to users, using high operational standards.

According to Russell Southwood, CEO, SES Balancing Act, “SES shares a partnership history with CWG that spans about ten years and CWG has proven to be a dependable teleport partner for this project”.

The SES Television platform will be the country’s first free-to-air (FTA) DTH digital TV platform.

According to Theodore Asampong, SES sales Director, Africa, “All that the subscriber is required to pay for is the cost of acquiring a decoder and installing a dish to receive broadcast signals. After this, they will have access to all channels available on the platform, without subscription fees”.

In addition, the new digital TV platform will afford broadcasters the opportunity of reaching a broader audience; millions of satellite homes in West Africa that receive broadcast signals with their dishes facing 28.2 degrees East.

This will in-turn extend their frontiers of influence and enhance their bargaining chances with prospects advertisers.

Speaking on the importance of the project, Mr. Austin Okere, founder and chief executive officer of CWG Plc, said, “For years, the majority of households in West Africa has been shut out of the digital broadcasting experience. Together with SES, we are excited to enable broadcasters to deliver their content cost-effectively, and in excellent technical quality to millions of households across the region.” 

“With the technology and platform  that SES is bringing  to Nigeria and West Africa, content can be made available to millions of household and with this system we will have over 400 channels available from the existing hundred and ten” , he said.
 
Ferdinand Kayser, chief commercial officer of SES, said, “Broadcasting via satellite provides High Definition (HD) picture quality and a100 percent coverage of even the most remote areas and regions. The long-term partnership with CWG will open up new possibilities for local and international broadcasters and allow them to drive digitalisation and reach their audiences across West Africa quickly and cost-effectively.”

The platform offers end-to-end contribution, ground and space services to local, regional, national and international TV broadcasters across West Africa at cheap rates. It will also afford broadcasters the privilege to migrate from analogue to digital TV to meet the digital migration deadline of June 2015.

Moreover, the inception of the SES TV platform will have broader social impact on the region.

According to Andy Anderson, Marketing head for Africa, SES, the project is also aimed at providing employment for unemployed youths who will be trained to install the dish needed for signal reception, for free.

According to him, “being able to perform physical activities and communicate effectively at a minimal level is all an individual require to qualify for the training”.


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NASENI, Nasarawa State, Firm to Establish Tractor Manufacturing Plant in North-Central Geo-political Zone

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National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is set to collaborate with Nasarawa state government and Bobtrack Tractors, a division of Saint Bob Motors Limited to start the manufacturing and assembling of tractors in the north-central geo-political zone.

Left to Right: The Chief Executive Officer, Bob Track Ltd, Mr. Ibifiri A.C Bob Manuel; the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu; the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, and Mr. Jerry of Bob Track Ltd, during a courtesy visit at NASENI Headquarters on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.

The facilities and infrastructure available at one of NASENI’s Institutes, Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI), Lafia, Nasarawa state will be used for assembling and manufacturing of the tractors.

According to the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, the project which is aimed at creating wealth and jobs for Nigerian youths is in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda of ensuring food security and promotion of mechanized farming and agro-business in the country. Halilu disclosed this when the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdulahi A. Sule led a delegation comprising of Bob Track Tractors to pay a visit to the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.

Mr. Halilu who assured Governor Sule and the delegation of NASENI’s readiness to do business with them, said, “the Agency is willing to partner with you and sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) so that in the next couple of weeks we will move into action.”

He disclosed that Mr. President had recognized NASENI as a national brand and its National Tractor Recovery Programme wherein 55,000 tractors would be refurbished for mechanized farming nationwide.

In his remarks, Governor Sule said, he aligned with NASENI’s vision of collaborating and promoting made-in-Nigeria goods and also believed that government’s role is to provide a level playing field necessary for businesses to thrive.

The objective of his visit, he said, was to introduce the Bob Track Tractors which deals in assembling and manufacturing of tractor and farm implements with offices in Port Harcourt to NASENI so that it could utilize the existing facilities at AMEDI, Lafia for assembling of tractors instead of acquiring a new land for the business.

The CEO of Bob Track Tractors, Mr. Ibifiri A.C. Bob Manuel said, “We are ready to take up the facility that you have in Nasarawa State, create employment and wealth for the youths in the area and also use it as a hub to drive mechanized agricultural vision of the present administration. We are willing to invest in Nasarawa state with help of His Excellency, his team and NASENI.”


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ARISE News Channel Goes Live in SA, 9 Other Southern African Countries

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ARISE News Channel, Africa’s premier broadcaster, has announced its expansion into South Africa and nine other Southern African countries.

ARISE News Channel Goes Live in SA, 9 Other Southern African Countries

The channel is now available on Multichoice/DSTV Channel 416 in South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

With this expansion, ARISE News Channel is now live in 54 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon, Sudan, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire, among others.

Celebrating its 11th anniversary on January 31, ARISE News Channel continues to showcase Africa’s diversity in business, politics, technology, commerce, science, sports, show business, and fashion, while projecting the best of Africa and its cultures globally.

Nduka Obaigbena, chairman and editor-in-chief of ARISE News Channel,, expressed determination to launch the channel in all countries worldwide, stating, “The move to Southern Africa reaffirms ARISE News Channel’s position as the leading broadcaster in Africa with independence and clear thinking. We are determined to celebrate the best of Africa and tell the African story in the global marketplace.”

He added, “We shall continually showcase the emerging African century where Nigeria and other African countries will be some of the leading economies around the world. This is a marathon and not a dash: we will do for Nigeria and Africa what the CNN, the BBCs, and Aljazeeras have done for their nations and regions. In the emerging African AI- driven new information highway, no one will shape your narrative better than you.”


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Simi to Feature on Glo Sponsored African Voices

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This week, the incredible talents of Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, better known by her stage name, Simi, will be highlighted on African Voices Changemakers, an interview program sponsored by Globacom on Cable News Network (CNN).

Simi began her career initially as a gospel singer. Her debut studio album, “Ogaju”, was released in 2008. After she got a record deal with X3M Music in 2014, she released the album “Tiff,” which was nominated for a 2015 Headies Best Alternative Song award.

Her debut studio album, “Omo Charlie Champagne”, Vol. 1, was released to mark her 31st birthday on April 19, 2019, and her second album, “Simisola”, was also released the same year. She became the CEO of her own label, Studio Brat, which she launched in June 2019.

Simi was one of the judges of the Season 7 of the Nigerian idol TV show in 2022.

Mother of a girl named Dejare, Simi married popular musician, Adekunle Gold in 2019 having graduated from Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State. Some of her works include “Joromi”, “Know You”, “Jericho”, and “Duduke”.

On Saturday at 8.30 a.m., the 30-minute magazine show will air on the global channel. Reruns can be seen on Saturday at noon, Sunday at 4.30 a.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Another rerun will air at 4 a.m. on Monday of the following week, 8.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, and 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.


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