The Professional E-hailing Drivers and Partners Association (PEDPA), under whose umbrella Uber and Bolt drivers fall, recently commenced a strike action.
Uber and Bolt have remained the biggest players in the ride-hailing industry in Nigeria since their arrival till date.
They have established their dominance over the industry thus making it hard for new entrants to breathe.
These two brands compete a lot using pricing rather than clear differentiation. The pricing war birthed a lot of promos and low fare prices aimed at attracting customers to use their platform. This pricing war, however, has affected the drivers who do the actual work of taking passengers to their destination.
The Umbrella body housing Uber and Bolt drivers have written severally to both companies on having a roundtable discussion about reviewing their fares in order to reduce the impact of the current inflation rate and fuel price hike as these two factors were negatively impacting the drivers.
The association wanted Uber and Bolt to increase their base fare from 500 Naira to 1000 Naira. However, every means to get Uber and Bolt to discuss a fare review failed. The lack of action and response from Uber and Bolt has led to the current downing of tools by the drivers.
Uber And Bolt Drivers Protest: Photo Source: Source Guardian Nigeria
It seems Uber and Bolt have refused to negotiate because they felt any upward review of the base fare will affect their business, considering the fact that there are more competitive e-hailing companies springing up and making prices low would help keep the new competition out of business.
While this low-cost approach to business might be a business strategy for Uber and Bolt, the low fare and high commission remitted to Uber and Bolt is seriously affecting the drivers. Uber charges 25% commission per trip while Bolt charges 20% commission per trip and in as much as these companies are in this for profit, their business can only thrive when the benefits are mutual and the drivers are also happy.
The association created was made in order to support and fight for the drivers. However in a chat with Obagunla Opayemi, a driver who does not belong to the association, he made known that “most drivers don’t believe in the association because many believe that those who formed the association are in for their selfish interest”. This is probably why we can see a lot of drivers staying away from the protest thereby reducing the impact of the protest.
A happy Driver relates with the passenger well and is helpful in rendering further assistance to the passengers and that would keep this brand in the business because the brand would be in the good book of the passengers and that is why the happiness of the drivers should be prioritized.
Many Uber and Bolt drivers get their cars from high purchase agreements that require them to pay weekly while some remit money to car owners who give their cars out for business and expect an agreed weekly return.
These factors coupled with high commission, low fares, and car maintenance have made drivers overwork themselves just to make a living.
It is evident that a new competitor might be able to latch upon this opportunity if more drivers are able to partake in this protest. According to Mr. Obagunla Opeyemi, there is an e-hailing company trying to compete in this space named “inDriver” and this competitor is probably trying to understand the current landscape by currently not receiving any commission for now however the challenge with this new platform is that it does not automatically link drivers with passengers thereby allowing the drivers to stick with Uber and Bolt.
The Strike action is probably an opportunity for this new entrant to understand the grievances of the drivers and work towards coming with a better package in order to fully compete with Uber and Bolt. For any of the ride-hailing companies, attracting customers is important but so is making the drivers happy. The ability to balance these two variables would help build a business that can withstand competitive pressure.
The constant overworking culture is one that needs to be stopped and the strike by this association is a valid argument against how people get overworked and earn peanuts. The way this issue might be addressed is going to determine whether the culture of overworking for drivers will continue and how future negotiations would go.
Currency effects are significant, reducing the company’s level of revenue by 5.7%, reflecting the decline in the value of most emerging market currencies and also that of the US dollar against the Euro. The effects of changes in the scope of consolidation are slight (+0.4%).
At constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, Ipsos’ organic growth in Q1 was 14.1%. Q1 2020 already bore the scars of the global epidemic crisis. Some Chinese regions had been locked down from January 2020. Italy closed at the beginning of March, with France and other European countries adopting very restrictive provisions a few days later. Similar measures in other continents, including the Americas, were introduced in late March or April, depending on the country. The “great lockdown” halted Ipsos’ growth.
For the first three months of 2020, activity remained stable compared to the same period of 2019 due to, as we pointed out at the time, two good months in January and February and a poor month in March. Ipsos’ activity in the first quarter of 2021 grew organically by more than 14% compared to the same periods in 2019 and 2020 thanks to a very good month in March.
PERFORMANCE BY REGION
Breakdown of Service Lines by audience segment: 1- Brand Health Tracking, Creative Excellence, Innovation, Ipsos UU, Ipsos MMA, Market Strategy & Understanding, Observer (excl. public sector), Social Intelligence Analytics 2- Automotive & Mobility Development, Audience Measurement, Customer Experience, Channel Performance (including Retail Performance and Mystery Shopping), Media development, Capabilities 3- Public Affairs, Corporate Reputation 4- Pharma (quantitative and qualitative)
Performance by region reflects the course of the pandemic. The regions that were hit earliest are also those that are rebounding most strongly, provided they are able to control the contagion.
In Asia, Ipsos grew by 9%, driven by an excellent performance in China and somewhat hampered by a lack of activity in North Asia, Australia and Hong Kong. In total, Asia is the only region where Ipsos’ activity in 2021 is slightly lower than in 2019.
Activity grew in the Americas in 2020 (+4%). It stabilized in 2021 and is better in the North than in the South. Despite encouraging signs, Ipsos’ revenues in Latin America will only return to a satisfactory level and resume growth if the health situation improves.
Finally, the EMEA region is in very positive territory. Its total growth was 24.8% and 28% organically. All markets experienced double-digit growth with the exception of Central and Eastern Europe, which grew by “only” 7.5%.
In Western Europe in particular, but also, on a more limited scale, in the Middle East and most African countries, Ipsos is well placed to benefit from the resumption in demand from private commercial companies and simultaneously from the explosion in the information needs of public institutions, especially those engaged in the fight against Covid-19.
PERFORMANCE BY AUDIENCE
The evolution of performance by the audience reflects this two-fold movement. The revenue generated by the services that study people as citizens and patients is developing very favourably.
States, non-governmental organizations and international institutions engaged in the fight against the epidemic are feeding a continuous flow of requests for measurements and information of various kinds. Pharmaceutical companies, whether or not they are involved in the fight against Covid-19, are also very active.
Services that qualify people as consumers are regaining momentum, quarter after quarter. Ipsos’ revenue from this audience was down slightly last year. The gap, recorded in 2020, compared to the medium-term growth potential of our company, has now been overcome.
In the end, the only services that remain in decline are those related to customer and employee services. They were already struggling in 2020 for technical and sectoral reasons. In this segment, many of Ipsos’ services require physical contact between, for example, interviewers and locations.
These services are, therefore, much less usable at the moment given the continuation of restrictive health policies. In addition, a significant number of companies interested in these audiences operate in sectors such as transport, hotels, restaurants or tourism which obviously have not yet returned to their pre-Covid-19 level of activity. Here, the timeframe for the return to pre-Covid-19 revenue levels is hard to predict.
OTHER DESCRIPTIVE ELEMENTS OF THE BUSINESS CONDITIONS DURING THE FIRST QUARTER
Profitability is in line with the objectives for the year and significantly higher than in the same period last year. In March 2020, the suddenness of this decline in activity did not allow us to immediately reduce our costs to a similar extent, as they are partly fixed and were proportionate to the growth forecast for the year 2020.
Additionally, the savings plan put in place to deal with the impact of the pandemic continues to bear fruit. Over the whole of 2021, savings of around 20 million compared to 2019 operating expenses are expected.
Free cash flow generation is also in line with expectations and is particularly high due to the good level of sales at the end of 2020, which materialized in cash receipts during this quarter.
The company invested approximately €5 million through two acquisitions (Fistnet – DotMetrics and MGE Data) and the buyout of minority interests in Croatia and Serbia during Q1. The two new companies are included in the consolidated financial statements as of January 1, 2021.
The net debt ratio at March 31, 2021, was 20%, down from 31% at December 31, 2020, and 47% at March 31, 2020.
The company has good liquidity with €327 million in cash and around €300 million in undrawn bank facilities, enabling it to meet its 2021 and 2022 debt maturities.
OUTLOOK 2021
Defining prospects is always a difficult exercise, especially for companies that, like Ipsos, manage a diversified portfolio of products and/or services in a large number of markets.
Context always plays a major role and explains a significant part of the performance. Usually, changes in the political, economic, financial and societal context are, if not predictable, at least manageable because they fall within limits that are rarely exceeded. It took a major financial crisis in 2008 / 2009 to bring growth in many markets to an unexpected halt for several consecutive quarters.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a more brutal, longer, more sinusoidal phenomenon than the “great recession” of 2009. Forecasting exercises are tricky.
Mass vaccination is currently the only solution to successfully combat Covid-19 and its multiple variants. The difficulty is, of course, that the prospects of mass vaccination, unfortunately, face many obstacles: the variants; the efficacy and also the safety of vaccines; their availability to the greatest number of people, including in the most populous and least developed countries; and finally, the appetite or acceptance of people to be vaccinated, especially when concerns about their dangerousness spread in public opinion.
Will the pandemic end? Yes, of course. Within what timeframe? We do not know. The only good questions are rather: how will individual countries, their citizens and their businesses function until the day the word “end” means the positive and final outcome of the fight against Covid-19? How does Ipsos organize itself in this interim period to meet the information needs of its clients: commercial companies, public institutions and non-governmental institutions?
In 2020, Ipsos managed to control its costs and also to quickly adapt to this unexpected and massive crisis.
Our action consisted of working on the different factors of the equation that allow Ipsos to be more successful than others.
Our company has strengthened its ties with its clients and adapted its solutions so that they are simple to implement and provide information that is secure, relevant, easy to use and as up-to-date as possible. Above all, our company has multiplied initiatives to make its employees and partners feel supported, included and associated with its success.
Ipsos is an independent company and intends to remain so. Ipsos is a company that has defined its raison d’être: “To deliver reliable information, that provides a true understanding of Society, Markets and People” and intends to remain true to this.
We are convinced that our capabilities, our solutions, our expertise, our reputation, our investments in partner companies and in new technological solutions, our insistence on promoting the idea that only the quality of information and the ways to make it understandable are incomparable assets in the current period and in the turbulent times that will follow the end of the pandemic.
The demand for our services has been strong since last autumn. Our performance in Q1 2021 is excellent. It is the result of a positive combination of strong private demand and very strong public demand, which is exceptional in part because it is directly linked to the management of the epidemic.
Our order book is also high at the moment. Consequently, despite the inevitable uncertainties linked to the health situation and its consequences on society, economic activity and, more generally, social stability, Ipsos is in a position to do better in terms of revenue than in 2020 and also in 2019. The growth of its business should be accompanied by an improvement in its operating margin compared to 2020.
In the first three months of the year 2021, Nigerian Breweries Plc recorded a 38.6 per cent growth in profit before tax to N11.5 billion from N8.3 billion achieved in the first quarter of 2020.
The Brewer’s profit after tax climbed to N7.7 billion, 39.1 per cent higher than N5.5 billion recorded in the same period of 2020.
Nigerian Breweries’ net revenue for the period jumped to N105.6 billion, 27 per cent stronger than the figure posted in the first quarter of last year, Nigeria’s biggest beer-maker stated in its unaudited earnings report.
According to the financial statements analysed by Brand Spur Nigeria, the revenue increased to N105.7 billion from N83.2 billion, while the cost of sale rose to N66.0 billion from N48.3 billion, leaving the organisation with a gross profit of N39.7 billion compared with N48.3 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
Total assets contracted by 0.10 per cent, largely resulting from a tumble in cash and cash equivalents from N30.4 billion to N18.4 billion.
“The impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on the economy and by implication, the Company continued during the period under review,” the brewer said in a statement signed by Uaboi Agbebaku, the company secretary.
“Our priority remained to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees, customers and partners. We regularly monitored and evaluated the Company’s financial position and performance in the light of the pandemic; our Balance Sheet remained strong.”
Finance income increased during the first three months of the year to N25.4 million from N7.9 million, while the finance costs, which is also the borrowing costs, moved up by N3.0 billion from N2.7 billion and this left the net finance expenses bleeding by N3.0 billion compared with negative net finance costs of N2.6 billion in Q1 of 2020.
Earnings per share (basic and diluted) stood at N0.96, compared to the N0.69 of the same period of 2020.
Last year, the brewer commissioned an automated bottling in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State valued at N5.1 billion. It is anticipated to produce 24,000 bottles per hour.
There is no country where this is most evident than Tanzania where the government became infamous for its denial of the existence of the disease and downplayed its seriousness.
In February 2021 Tanzania’s Health Minister, Dr. Dorothy Gwajima, issued a statement that Tanzania had no plans to procure COVID vaccines. Despite the government’s long-standing position against COVID-19 testing, treatments, and vaccines; the citizens are clear that they are concerned about their health as 83% of Tanzanian respondents stated their willingness to take the vaccine if it were available in their country.
This is significantly higher than the 51% of respondents from neighbouring Kenya, who cited their willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
In God We Trust – Why Tanzanians will not Test, Treat, or Vaccinate against COVID-19
Tanzania under former President John Magufuli had a very unique approach to COVID-19. A year ago, the then President, John Magufuli declared that Tanzania was COVID-free following three days of national prayers.
Tanzania’s President Late John Magufuli | Brand Spur Nigeria
Following this, the country stopped COVID-19 testing and reporting on COVID-19 cases and deaths. The government reopened schools and encouraged people to continue living life as normal, holding public religious and sporting events.
This is confirmed in the Kasi Insight survey, where 68% of Tanzanians stated that they had not changed their lifestyle or daily routine, like wearing face masks, frequently washing hands, or sanitizing due to COVID-19, this is in contrast to only 27% of other African countries.
Though the country’s former President declared that the country was COVID-free since April 2020, citizens appear to have different beliefs. 7% of Tanzanian respondents in the Kasi Insight COVID-19 survey cited that they personally knew someone who had been diagnosed with coronavirus. This should not be possible in a country where there are no COVID-19 testing centres.
Recently, Health Minister, Dr. Dorothy Gwajima, held a press briefing encouraging citizens to drink vegetable smoothies made of ginger, onion, lemon, and pepper to ward off coronavirus. However, the Tanzanian citizens are not taking the disease lightly as the majority are fearful of the disease. Two-thirds of Tanzanian respondents in the Kasi Insight survey believe COVID-19 to be one of the deadliest diseases in Africa.
Tanzanian citizens taking their health into their hands
The second wave of COVID appeared to have had a much greater impact on Tanzanians, as the Zanzibar health ministry issued a statement of n announcement that there had seen an increase in people suffering from ‘breathing difficulties, and an increase in the number of people dying of ‘pneumonia-related diseases, though they’re still denied it was as a result of coronavirus.
Despite the government stance Tanzanian respondents in the Kasi Insight survey appear to be more health-conscious as 82% of respondents cited that they had been to see a doctor in the past 3 months, significantly higher than the African country average of just 50%.
Next Steps for Tanzania – Hope to curb COVID-19 in Africa and the World.
There is some hope for a change in Tanzania’s COVID-19 strategy, which will benefit all Africans since most African countries share porous borders. As long as there is no COVID-19 program in Tanzania the virus will continue to endanger its citizens and work against the current vaccine rollout programs in neighbouring countries and beyond.
Earlier this month, Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan, announced that she would be forming a COVID-19 committee to research the course Tanzania should follow against the pandemic, indicating a shift from President John Magufuli’s approach.
President Hassan has also suggested that the country may start publishing data on the number of positive COVID cases and that the government will take a more science-based approach to the response going forward.
Consumer spending represents 70% of the United States GDP (gross domestic product) and fuels most developed service-based economies.
Measuring consumer spending is straightforward, however, due to the scattered human nature of consumers, predicting the future spending habits of consumers is much more difficult.
Economists resolved this challenge by developing the Consumer Confidence Index, which is a list of surveys and questions for consumers.
Consumer confidence is an economic indicator used to measure how confident or not consumers are about the overall state of the economy, as well as their own personal financial stability.
The CCI (consumer confidence index) is helpful because consumers’ confidence impacts their economic decisions and spending habits which ultimately, shape an entire country’s economy.
All in all, when consumers are confident about their futures, they tend to spend more, and spending more stimulates the growth of the economy.
How is Consumer Confidence Measured?
There are various consumer confidence surveys floating around the globe, but most of them function similarly.
The surveys ask a random sample of individuals questions which ultimately construct the consumer’s current and future perspectives on their finances, as well as the state of the overall economy.
Typically, the question includes insight to:
Current Business Conditions
Business Conditions Over the Next 6-12 Months
Current Employment Conditions
Employment Conditions Over the Next 6-12 Months
Total Family Income Over the Next 6-12 Months
Consumers are asked to answer each question as “positive”, “negative” or “neutral”, and in turn, are respectfully scored as “1”, “-1” and “0”.
When these amounts are added up, they calculate what is known as a “relative value”. This value is compared to the Index Value that comes from the CCI and is often created when the first surveys began, decades ago.
Finally, these values are averaged to produce an accumulated amount that is reported for each given country.
Why is Consumer Confidence Important?
Consumer confidence is important because it contributes to the economy, whether it is good or bad.
Consumer confidence gives economists insight into consumer spending habits, their overall outlook on finances, and what they think of the future of the economy, all of which affect the economy as a whole.
How Does Consumer Confidence Affect the Economy?
Due to its ability to predict consumer spending patterns, consumer confidence data is a crucial indicator for businesses and investors.
Consumer spending habits can be useful predictors for GDP growth, as well as the effectiveness of monetary policies and inflation.
Consumer assessments, research studies, and other insights are used by investors, manufacturers, retailers, banks, governmental agencies and more, in order for these businesses to better plan for current and future actions.
For instance, a weaker consumer confidence score predicts a decline in consumer spending, therefore, businesses could be proactive by decreasing their inventories beforehand, delaying investments on new projects or facilities, or preparing for a reduction in lending activities.
However, if consumer confidence is increasing, businesses could boost their production and inventories, plan to increase hiring rates, or start preparing for higher housing construction rates.
Common Uses for Consumer Confidence:
Leading Indicator: Consumer confidence scores can be used as a leading indicator for an extensive economic turnaround.
Policy Effectiveness: Consumer confidence can be used to measure the effectiveness of policies used by regulators in order to kickstart economic growth.
Luxury & Retail Sectors: The retail and luxury goods industries rely on consumer confidence throughout the economy because their revenues are correlated with leisure spending patterns.
At Kasi Insight, we’re always dedicated to using the resources which allow us to better understand the market(s) that we are studying.
Consumer confidence is a measure that affects every country’s economy and while it affects some countries more than others, it is still a helpful tool to observing markets all over the world.
The last episode of the leading international singing competition, ‘The Voice Nigeria’, which aired on Saturday, April 17, had several fans in a frenzy, and with an upcoming episode 5 scheduled to air this coming weekend, fans can catch all the excitement on Airtel TV.
In the previous episode, music lovers witnessed a handful of electrifying performances, with the talents bringing their A-game to showcase their singing prowess.
Adjudged by music megastars, Waje, Falz, Yemi Alade, and Dare Art Alade, the performances elicited a wide range of reactions from fans and music aficionados alike, with many taking to social media to share their excitement.
Six contestants vied for their spot in the next stage, and the judges were vested with the hallowed duty of combing through each performance meticulously to determine those who are truly worthy of making it there. However, despite the gobsmacking vocal range some contestants showcased, only three managed to win over the hearts of the judges with a sheer display of raw talent.
The first performing contestant, Charles Loven Akinloye delivered an exhilarating rendition of Fireboy’s ‘Need You’ and almost instantly got three votes from four of the judges, with Dare Art Alade giving his vote lastly.
Another contestant, Jeremiah Ranti Akerele performed Sam Smith’s 2014 hit, ‘I’m Not the Only One’ and managed to pique the interest of only one of the coaches, Dare Art Alade. The last performer, Ayomikun, who effortlessly stole the show with a full-hearted rendition of Nosa’s 2014 hit, ‘Pray for Me’, arguably got the most reaction out of fans on social media. With a charming charisma, impassioned vocal performance, and a cherubic smile, the youngster swept all four judges off their feet, however, he sheepishly picked Dare Art Alade as his coach of choice.
Episode 5 of the blind auditions are scheduled to air on Saturday, April 24, and will also be available on Sunday on Airtel TV by 8 PM. The new episode can also be watched on-demand from 9pm on Sunday after the live broadcast to enable fans to watch at any time if they missed the live broadcast.
To watch new episodes on Airtel TV, fans can simply download the Airtel TV app, which is available on Google Play Store and Apple Store, then register with their Airtel number. Once registration is complete, they can browse the app to catch all-new episodes of ‘The Voice Nigeria’ and browse through the catalog to stream any other content or channel of choice.
The Airtel TV app is subscription-free and offers registered users unlimited access to live TV, news, and the entire Airtel TV content library
One of the many silver linings of the pandemic for publishers has been the ability of their organizations to adapt quickly to this changing environment. For many, this meant speeding up their digital transformation efforts.
In our just-published World Press Trends Outlook report, publishers told us that accelerating their digital transformation strategy was the most important change to make.
Photo by Sam McGhee
We delayed this year’s edition of World Press Trends to allow publishers to give us their latest insights and data on 2020 and their focus on the year ahead, as well as collecting the latest data from our partners, national associations and other sources.
Much of our report is based on a comprehensive survey we sent to publishers in the late fall focusing on the impact of the pandemic, their forecasts for this year and beyond, and insights on their strategies moving forward. Hence the addition of “Outlook” to our report name. More than 90 top news executives from 51 countries responded.
World Press Trends Outlook: Digital Transformation In The Driver’s Seat-Brand Spur Nigeria
For the YoY performance indicators, we present our best estimates considering this rather unpredictable situation. As we have learned over the years with World Press Trends, global figures tell one story, but they don’t always describe the experiences of individual publishers in different markets. In 2020, that’s perhaps more true than ever.
Here are some of the key findings from the report (members can download the report for free here;
Outlook
44% of respondents said accelerating their digital transformation strategy was the most important change they needed to make moving forward.
“Digital transformation” is an overarching strategy for most companies but the specifics of that are increasingly audiences-first, reader revenue, data and product dev. It is no coincidence that the three next most important changes for 2021 mirror those of top investment plans: accelerating reader revenue plans, the same for data analytics, and more tech investment.
News executives don’t consider the short-term impact of the pandemic as the biggest risk to their organisation’s future success. Instead, the respondents to our survey say their organisation’s greatest threats are the ongoing decline of news publishers’ share of the advertising market, 30.6%, (in which the pandemic plays a key role naturally) and their organisation’s inability to diversity revenues (21%).
2020 Results And Pandemic
43% of respondents from our WPT Publishers Outlook survey said their revenues declined by more than 20% “in the last 12 months”; another 7% said theirs declined by more than 10%.
On average, overall revenue was down by 11%, publishers reported.
However, 17% of publishers reported an increase in revenues last year, according to our Outlook survey, with 11% actually saying revenues were up more than 20%.
Digital circulation revenue has been a positive development for many news organisations as publishers report a 26.9% YoY increase in 2020. While that figure is impressive, it’s worth noting that globally the industry is still predominantly dependent on advertising and print revenue: Digital circulation revenue makes up just 6.1% of publishers overall revenue (core revenue streams).
According to our Outlook survey, 65% of publishers believe their business will fully recover from the pandemic; 35% don’t.
Nearly 60% of publishers (Outlook) say their staff will either work from home or have the option to work from home going forward. Only 5% of our respondents expect to move everyone back to the office and 16% believe they’ll use less real estate going forward.
For the first time in our survey, we asked publishers to share their general cost allocation across the business, and editorial was the single largest expense, accounting for just over a third of all costs (33.5%). Print production costs make up just 21.4%.
That is just some of the findings. Naturally, World Press Trends delves into some of the key issues that are driving the industry. Our World Press Trends database features historical data dating from 2005-2017. We would like to thank our technology partner, Protecmedia, for their generous support of this project. We also appreciate the collaboration of our data partners, input from publishers and national associations, and all analysts who contributed to this report.
Purpose-built, fully equipped facility on Victoria Island is Nigeria’s first one-stop centre for cancer diagnosis & treatment
Facilities utilise cutting edge technology include an imaging centre with CT, mammogram, ultrasound, X-Ray machines, a laboratory and blood bank, two modular operating theatres, an eight-bed chemotherapy suite, a radiotherapy centre with a linear accelerator, fifteen en-suite inpatient rooms and in-house oncology and general pharmacies
Travel restrictions during the Covid 19 pandemic underscore the importance of in-country diagnosis of cancer and other chronic diseases
Lagos, Nigeria – April 23, 2021 –In support of the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital (MRCC), the country’s first fully-equipped private oncology centre, GE Healthcare has completed the delivery and installation of advanced radiology and radiopharmacy equipment in Nigeria which will accelerate diagnostic care for cancer.
L-R: Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila; Co-Founder and Chairman, Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital, Bolaji Odunsi; Co-Founder and CEO, Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital, Modupe Elebute; Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo Olu and General Manager, GE Healthcare Sub-Saharan, Africa, Eyong Ebai at the official unveiling of Marcelle Ruth Cancer Center & Specialist Hospital in Lagos today. | Brand News Day
Founded by renowned physician Dr. Modupe Elebute-Odunsi and her financier husband, Bolaji Odunsi, MRCC combines the highest standard of care with the latest treatments and technology in comfortable surroundings designed to promote healing.
The clinically trained members of the founding team all qualified from medical colleges in Nigeria and completed postgraduate training specialized in oncology and haematology overseas. The exceptional team of highly skilled personnel include consultant medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, family physicians, radiation therapists, nurses, pharmacists, imaging technicians, laboratory scientists, nutritionists, counsellors, and healthcare administrations, working together to treat and care for patients.
Supporting the planning, development, building and equipping of the oncology diagnostic and treatment facility at MRCC, GE Healthcare is providing the comprehensive suite of solutions such as the award-winning Senographe Pristina 3D, the first patient-assisted compression device in mammography; the advanced LOGIQ F8 ultrasound, the comprehensive radiation therapy solution Discovery RT; and the BRIVO XR575 X-Ray and OEC 785-C Arm, two easy-to-use systems that deliver superior image quality. All of MRCC’s medical professionals have completed advanced training on the machines.
Commenting on the Facility, Dr. Modupe-Odunsi said:
“We built the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital to help address the gap in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer in Nigeria. Patients who previously would have had to travel abroad to receive world-class treatment are now able to get the critical care they need here at home. Early detection is vital to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.”
The Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist hospital has finalized partnerships with the leading healthcare insurance providers in Nigeria including BUPA, Allianz, AXA Mansard, AETNA, CIGNA and UnitedHealth Group.
Bolaji Odunsi, the Co-Founder, commented:
“We are delighted to see our vision of the MRCC finally come to life. Our mission was simple: bring together an exceptional team of Nigerian medical professionals with international training and experience to deliver the highest quality care to patients here in Nigeria. This expertise supported by new technology now makes world-class treatment here in Nigeria possible and affordable.”
Eyong Ebai, General Manager of GE Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa, said:
“We are proud to continue supporting the development of Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure. Our partnership with the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital is a true landmark as it underlines the role that the private sector can play in delivering world-class healthcare delivery in the country. These new solutions are designed to expand capacity and improve quality for diagnosis and treatment at MRCC and help meet the needs of the community within the country and region.”
According to a study by the World Health Organization, it is possible to prevent a third of cancer cases and treat many other cases with early diagnosis and treatment. The latest statistics reveal that cancer accounts for 18.2% of premature deaths attributable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and in 2018, of the 115,950 cancer cases reported, 70,327 patients did not survive.
GE Healthcare is a long-term partner in building Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure and continues to provide external expertise in hospital design, hospital planning and training. More than 5,800 GE Healthcare technologies are deployed in hospitals and clinics across the country.
Venmo, a service by Paypal, announced Tuesday the launch of “crypto on Venmo,” which it described as “a new way for Venmo’s more than 70 million customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly within the Venmo app.”
Photo by Tech Daily
Users can start investing in cryptocurrencies with just $1 using the Venmo app. Customers can use funds from their Venmo balance or link a bank account or a debit card for the purchase.
Darrell Esch, senior vice president and general manager at Venmo, commented: “Our goal is to provide our customers with an easy-to-use platform that simplifies the process of buying and selling cryptocurrencies and demystifies some of the common questions and misconceptions that consumers may have.”
Venmo is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services, its website explains, noting that buying, selling, and holding cryptocurrency with Venmo is not available in Hawaii and where prohibited by law. “Crypto on Venmo is enabled through Paypal’s partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a regulated provider of cryptocurrency products and services,” the announcement notes.
More than 30% of Venmo customers have already started purchasing cryptocurrencies or equities, 20% of which started during the pandemic, the 2020 Venmo Customer Behavior Study reveals.
What do you think about Venmo launching this crypto service?
In pursuance of the aim of providing a solution to the age-long marketing industry need for offline measurement, the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) and Interaction Channel Limited (ICL), an advertising technology company have embarked on a strategic collaboration to provide a currency of measurement for the OOH sector in Nigeria using the innovative ‘Moving Audiences’ platform.
The collaboration was announced at the press briefing in Lagos held on Thursday 22nd April where the two parties disclosed that they will leverage best in class global technology, data and tools to drive strategy, planning and buying of Out-of-Home Advertising for advertisers and brands.
L-R: President, Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Femi Adelusi; Director, Regulation, Monitoring and Enforcement, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Ijedi Iyoha; Managing Director, Interaction Channel Limited (ICL), Tosan Omagbemi and President, Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Emmanuel Ajufo at the press briefing to announce the OAAN and ICL collaboration on Data Standards for Out-of-home advertising held in Lagos yesterday. | Brand Spur Nigeria
To bring technological innovation to the Nigerian market, ICL had partnered with Moving Walls, having signed a deal with the international agency to provide upscale location intelligence for media and marketing services.
The President of OAAN, Emmanuel Ajufo disclosed that the innovation is timely considering the challenges of providing adequate data on audience engagement with its boards and others. He stated that it is a new dawn for OOH advertising in the country and it will further help practitioners and its members to offer unique and measurable services to clients.
Adding that the association is strongly in support of the initiative, he stated that it will transform the sector as practitioners will offer more value to clients. “The association is behind this whole initiative, we want everybody to know that the collaboration is for the good of the industry. For us, our interest is value for our client and we are set to deliver much more with credible audience measurement in place.”
Similarly, the Managing Director of ICL, Tosan Omagbemi stated that now the OOH advertising industry can boast of having standards of measurement in line with global best practices which will further help it grow remarkably.
“It is evident that OOH Advertising delivers results. This is what the OAAN/ICL collaboration intends to amplify through global best standards of measurement. OOH now has measurement in Nigeria!
“At Interaction Channel Limited, we believe that we are engaging an ever-dynamic audience. Brands that intend to get the right space per time within the consumer/media ecosystem must employ dynamic solutions which our advertising technology company is all about – dynamic solutions for a dynamic audience. This is the next phase for brand custodians that would not only deliver their numbers but be part of the consumers’ play,”he explained.
He added that its upscale location intelligence platform leverages 5th Generation cutting edge technology to offer a marketing lifestyle solution for OOH strategy, planning and buying, Mobile Advertising, Retail Analytics and Events Measurement.
“Using these tools, brands will be able to deploy their consumer initiatives with an unprecedented higher level of precision. A robust synergy is now also possible across media types, for example, OOH Media + Mobile. Furthermore, advertisers will be able to customize audience segments and leverage day-part understanding to reach specific audiences especially on DOOH.”
Commending the initiative, the President of Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Femi Adelusi had some words to say:
“In line with the MIPAN’s tradition, we are delighted to see the arrival of credible media audience measure on OOH. The ICL platform provides end-to-end planning for Moving Audiences from Strategic/Planning to Buying and Measurement on the OOH media.
“I am convinced that Advertiser and first-tier advertisers, who continue to invest about 40-55% of DME in Outdoor Advertising in Nigeria over many decades, are super excited by the availability of a credible means of measuring and substantiating their investment on the OOH channels.
“The job of the media /marketing professionals will also be made more exciting with this technology and data-enabled decision-making tool which will ultimately drive better effectiveness and efficiencies,”he concluded.
In the same vein, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) Registrar, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo who was represented by the Director, Regulation, Monitoring and Enforcement, Ijedi Iyoha, applauded the partnership and assured them of the council’s support, stating that the collaboration will help boost advertising industry in the country.
She added that it came at the right time APCON has been directed to manage the audience measurement of media which also includes OOH. “APCON is giving its 100 percent support to this. I want to believe that with this collaboration if it is well implemented it will go a long way to enhance growth and innovation in the industry.”
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