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Yudala, Company to Watch- Uwaje

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Dr. Chris Uwaje, former President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), in an interaction with young technology students has disclosed that e-commerce company Yudala has the potential of breaking the boundaries of the Nigerian Stock market in the next few years, given its strategic positioning and futuristic combination of online and offline in the Nigerian e-commerce industry.

According to Uwaje, the remarkable achievements and disruptions by Yudala, a fledging start-up launched at a time the Nigerian economy entered the current recession, makes it a company to look out for in the business space.

“Yudala’s achievements should instruct you to anticipate a golden future for your tech-savvy generation. It is important you think outside the box and innovate like the founders of Yudala have done.

“Today, the centre of gravity of the digital knowledge domain resides in understanding the chemistry of IT and Software Development Ecosystem. Humanity today, lives in a ‘Software-first’ world, where innovation, bold and disruptive creativity have become the centre of gravity of life and significance of human existence where over 3.6 billion people are connected to the Internet, making e-Commerce the ultimate game-changer.

“For example, the Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to connect about 50 billion devices by 2020 at an estimated market value of about $19 trillion USD.  In my professional evaluation, this represents the most constructive, disruptive, and strategic pathway to Africa’s future.  A future dictated by technological know-how and where Nigeria must take the lead and protect her survivability. Our future resides in the mastery, application and sustainable control of our intellectual capital. This is why Yudala has become the most creative and potent milestone in the innovation landscape and a company for major case study in 21st century.

“I encourage you to increase your passion for the technology sector and fuel your hunger to achieve because technology leaders are global citizens. A company like Yudala is essentially a technology company founded on a strong technology backbone, sound human capital and a clear duplex retail roadmap. The company’s impressive strategies and sustained market relevance even where others have failed, is a pride to the nation and I would not be surprised if the company becomes the biggest company on the Stock Exchange in the nearest future.

“If the Yudala business was launched by a white man, it would have been lauded to the high heavens and would have certainly diminished the intellectual confidence of the average Nigerian. So we must take pride in this purely Nigerian company which I hear, was founded by a 23-year old Nigerian.”

Taking the students down memory lane, Dr. Uwaje, a former President of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and distinguished Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), recounted the impacts of notable personalities whose actions helped shape the developments in the Nigerian technology industry. Charging them to study the Yudala strategy, he noted that today’s youth are better placed to surpass the achievements of the older generation.

“When you consider the trajectory of the Nigerian technology sector; our generation started small as we did not have the kind of exposure you have today. People like myself, Chief Don Etiebet and Leo Stan Ekeh, among others, did our best to lay the foundation but your generation is better placed to achieve so much more within a shorter period. You have the tools, access to knowledge and required exposure.

“If the Management eventually decides to go public as was widely published some time ago, I think Yudala has the potential of becoming one of the most valuable companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the near future. And I am sure a lot of you would create even bigger companies and this shall resolve the unemployment challenges, branding issues and stronger future of our nation as a true member of the global community.”

Speaking further, Uwaje called on the Federal Government to see reasons for it to throw its weight behind sterling start-ups in the technology sector such as Yudala in line with the huge potential of the sector as a major employer of labour.

“The problem is for the Government to realize the importance of the ICT sector as a mass employer of labour and support the growth of companies in the sector.

“The current economic recession has taken a huge toll on businesses, with many of them having no choice than to embark on staff cuts or retrenchment. Many companies in the ICT sector have helped to reduce the burden of many families as they not only employed a lot of Nigerians but also refrained from mass sacks throughout this period.

“Companies such as these should get special concessions from the Government as a means of encouraging them to do more. These concessions could be in form of tax holidays or other waivers. This is one way of promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship in Nigeria as the success of a well-structured business holds positive signs for the growth of the Nigerian economy,” he concluded.


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E-Business

StarNews, Global Black Economic Forum Launch Business Competition In Partnership with MTN & USAID

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Africa’s leading video streaming platform, StarNews Mobile and the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), have announced a call for applications for the launch of their Business Competition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Held in partnership with MTN and United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID), the initiative will empower Nigeria’s most promising businesses that are classified as Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with invaluable investment and partnership opportunities from the USA.

Held over 10 weeks between April 8th to June 14th, hosted exclusively on the StarNews Biz Channel on the StarNews platform, this competition offers a platform for emerging entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures and gain national visibility.

With subscribers voting for their favourite candidates, the top 20 contestants will seize the spotlight and make their mark on the business landscape.

The StarNews Business Competition in partnership with GBEF delivers a unique opportunity for thriving Nigerian SMEs to access mentoring, funding, partnerships and socio-economic development tools through the Global Black Economic Forum.

With the prospect of securing cash prizes through StarNews worth up to NGN5,000,000, getting access to StarNews’s network of investors and the opportunity to gain national visibility by having their business on the StarNews web platform.

The top three winners will also receive coaching from GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence and become part of GBEF’s ecosystem of global leaders committed to social and economic justice across the Black Diaspora.

Previous speakers at GBEF convenings from the entertainment sector include Wyclef Jean (Haitian Musician & Activist), Debra Lee (Former CEO of Black Entertainment Television – BET) and Ceci Kurzman (Founder of Nexus Management Group). Applications will close on April 5th 2024.

Speaking on the competition’s launch, Guy Kamgaing, Founder and CEO at StarNews Mobile, says “The StarNews Business Competition is a passion project close to our hearts at StarNews Mobile.

It’s about discovering the most promising business entrepreneurs and creators in Nigeria, opening up global opportunities for them and providing them with the resources and tools to achieve their goals.

By partnering with MTN, USAID and GBEF, we want to be a platform of empowerment for these SMEs by helping them give back to the communities that are supporting them.”

According to the US Embassy and Consulate for Nigeria, over 80% of Nigerian startups are incorporated in the United States and more than 60% of venture capital funding in Nigerian startups accounted for by the US.

In 2023 alone, Nigerian startups raised a total of $398mn however, this signalled a 66% funding decline compared to 2022 due to the global economic downturn, reinforcing the massive need for a fresh injection of capital and business support for Nigeria’s emerging SMEs.

Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum notes that, “Our partnership with StarNews Mobile is a critical resource as we continue to build the collective strength of entrepreneurship across the Diaspora.

“Building a sustainable ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs in the United States and across the African continent is essential to create a future that makes economic opportunity and economic freedom a reality for all.”

A sister company to ESSENCE, GBEF advances its work by convening global summits and conferences, bringing together world leaders, business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities and civic leaders to address the most challenging problems facing our communities.

GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence facilitates workforce and leadership development strategy, addressing the talent pipeline & employee lifecycle, providing leadership development & coaching, and conducting institutional assessments & research.

GBEF also develops and implements economic and social justice policy recommendations with partners ranging from civil and human rights organisations to government entities and corporations that advocate for economic opportunity, social justice, and health equity through thought leadership, advocacy and litigation.

Launched in 2017, StarNews Mobile empowers African content creators with the unique opportunity to monetize their work through a subscription model, boasting over 4 million subscribers and a thriving community of more than 120 content creators.

With a strong presence across six countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Congo, Benin and Ghana, the platform has also established key partnerships with major telecom operators such as MTN and Orange.

To-date, StarNews Mobile has secured over $8mn in funding with its most recent raise – a $3mn pre-Series A funding round in October 2023 – led by Janngo Capital with participation from French football players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé and Mike Maignan.

 


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Companies Invest More than $100,000 Yearly to Upskill their Cybersecurity Teams – Study Reveals

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Over 70% of businesses pay more than USD $100,000 for additional training annually to keep skills of their cybersecurity employees up to date, a recent global Kaspersky study has revealed.

However, the surveyed companies also highlighted that there was a lack of relevant courses covering new challenging spheres in the educational market and stated that training does not always bring them the expected result.

In its recent study ‘The portrait of the modern Information Security professional’, Kaspersky examined the topic of the global cybersecurity staff shortage, analysing the exact reasons businesses lack cybersecurity experts, and identifying the ways they evaluate and upskill their cybersecurity workforce¹.

According to the research, companies are investing significant amounts in upskilling their cybersecurity teams: 43% of organisations globally say they usually spend between $100,000 and $200,000 per year on information security courses, while 31% even invest over $200,000 for training programs. The remaining 26% state they usually pay less than $100,000 for educational initiatives².

However, cybersecurity practitioners also note that the educational market is struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing industry and fail to deliver the necessary training programs on time.

Survey results for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa (META) region shows that the scarcity of courses covering new challenging spheres (48%) was the main problem for those searching for cybersecurity training.

50% of respondents from the META region also stated that trainees tend to forget what they learned because they had no opportunity to apply newly acquired knowledge, therefore the courses were useless to them.

The need for special training pre-requisites such as coding and advanced mathematics, which were not specified at the pre-registration stage were also problematic for 37% of practitioners from the META region.

“With a constantly evolving threat landscape, businesses should continually improve the skills of their cybersecurity personnel in order to be well prepared for sophisticated cyberattacks.

“Developing high-profile specialists within the company and building internal expertise can be an effective strategy for organisations that aim to retain existing employees and allow them to grow professionally, instead of constantly hunting for new candidates and checking their professional backgrounds and practical skills.

“For organisations served by Managed Service Providers it is also important to maintain a pretty high level of expertise internally and use the same language when discussing the scope of services and Service Level Agreement with them,” comments Veniamin Levtsov, VP, Center of Corporate Business Expertise at Kaspersky.


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Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

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Heirs Insurance Group, Nigeria’s fastest growing insurance group, has launched a new website that delivers the most user-friendly insurance experience in the industry.

Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

In addition to its features that aid simple navigation, the website also personalizes the insurance experience taking customers through a short journey that enables them to make decisions quickly on the best insurance plan to support their personal and business success, or access competent insurance advisors to speak with.

According to Ifesinachi Okpagu, chief marketing officer, Heirs Insurance Group, the website, www.heirs insurance group.com, embodies the ethos of the brand: the delivery of simple, quick, and accessible insurance service that delights customers and brings the uninsured much closer to taking up insurance plans.

She said: “Today’s customers want simplicity and this new website delivers on that request, ensuring that people find the right insurance solutionsfor their needs in a few minutes. We are empowering customers to take control of their lives, their businesses, assets, and their most cherished people.” Heirs Insurance Group has been at the forefront of pioneering a new era of insurance solutions since its launch with the roll-out of various initiatives including a seamless mobile app, USSD; Prince, its intuitive chatbot; InConnect, its partnership portal Digital Experience Centre; and more. With the launch of this website, Heirs Insurance Group solidifies its position as the leading digital insurance company in Nigeria, democratising access to insurance for all.


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