The appointment was made at a forum held in the margins of the One Planet Summit 20201 to mobilise support for the ambitious project to plant an 8,000 km swathe of trees and other vegetation across the Sahara and Sahel regions of Africa. The green wall will act as a barrier against desertification and aims to create over 10 million green jobs in the region.
Source: African Development Bank Group (AfDB)
“I would also like to welcome the commitment of Dr. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, who has agreed to take on the role of resource mobilization champion and help raise, by 2030, all the necessary funds for the realization of the Great Green Wall,” French President Emmanuel Macron told participants.
In the role of champion, Adesina will lead the mobilisation of political and economic support for the initiative.
“The Great Green Wall Initiative is the first step on the way to nature-based solutions as well as solutions based on the vitality of African eco-solutions,” said Macron. “France is very committed to this region from the standpoint of security and sustainability. We need to beef up the initiative for all the 11 countries.”
During the forum, Adesina announced that the Bank would mobilize up to $6.5 billion over the next 5 years for the Great Green Wall Initiative, joining multilateral development institutions, governments and development partners that have pledged over $14 billion. The World Bank, for instance, pledged over $5 billion in funding to advance the land restoration and degradation issues and to address challenges around Lake Chad.
Adesina praised the initiative. “The Great Green Wall is part of Africa’s environmental defence system — a shield against the onslaughts of desertification and degradation,” he said. “The future of the Sahel region of Africa depends on the Great Green Wall. Without the Great Green Wall, in the face of climate change and desertification, the Sahel may disappear.”
The Bank will extend resources through a range of mechanisms, partnerships and operations, and draw on internal and external sources of funding, including the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), among others.
Adesina noted that ongoing Bank initiatives such as Desert to Power, a programme to build the largest solar zone in the world in the Sahel, will enhance and complement the Great Green Wall.
“This will provide electricity for 250 million people and help to protect the Great Green Wall. If there is no access to energy, the Great Green Wall will be no more than trees waiting to be turned into charcoal.” The Bank has committed to mobilize $25 billion for climate finance by 2025.
The One Planet Summit 2021 is hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The Summit, held annually, brings together political leaders, private sector decision-makers, foundations, NGOs and citizens to identify and accelerate funding for climate, biodiversity and ocean solutions and mobilize all stakeholders in public life and the economic world in collaborative efforts.
Other Great Green Wall Champions include musicians Baaba Maal and Ricky Kej and environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim.
2020 will be described as the year of unprecedented shifts and shocks. COVID-19 effects were evident in the economy and real estate markets world over. Crude oil prices hovered around $42p and employment numbers weakened. And while new business opportunities opened up, few firms are likely to return to the organisational structures of 2019.
For a frontier market dependent on oil revenues, this formed an unwieldy canvass for much of the year. The $30Trn global commercial-property market was tested once more as occupiers required less space understanding that WFH may become the norm.
Global: Investment allocation by property use (%)
SOURCE: IMF, World Bank, Northcourt
The nation moved from 6th to 3rd in 2019 on Absa’s Financial Markets 2020 Index. One commonality across all funding reports is the rise and domination of Nigeria as an investment destination.
Nigeria is the leading destination for startup venture capital investment on the continent. But the currency remains a sore point and manoeuvrings by the CBN, while well-meaning has done little to stem its.
Police brutality against Nigeria’s young demographic vaulted the country to the international stage as the government sought to recover from poorly handling peaceful protests.
This brought to the fore recurring issues in government transparency. The youth would return to making the most of the Nigeria economy, contributing to much of the businesses online. Transactions value increased from $77Bn in Q2 to $116Bn in Q3 2020.
Big brand hospitality chains saw bookings drop by over 94% and are unlikely to see pre-COVID levels until Q3 2021 at the earliest. There has been no demand for student housing, a result of the universities’ strike over funding agreements with the central government.
It is hoped that the armistice between the regulators and the lecturers will be more permanent than in previous seasons. Central business districts areno longer the undisputed destination for newdevelopments.
Some suburbs are now under strong consideration as developers are choosing, as they did in the 2018 recession, to make more research-driven decisions. Both retail and office landlords are changing to remain attractive. Real estate investment managers are embracing technology more intently to accurately forecast performance metrics.
In the latest global report on media cities by Savills, Lagos comes in at 20th being the centre of Nigeria’s media industry and gaining popularity both through the Nigerian diaspora and streaming services. Nigeria’s film industry has made much of the government funding it’s received in recent years and is a key employer in the Nigerian economy.
COVID-19 Vulnerability scores (10=Maximum)
Source: The Economist, Haver, IMF, Oxford Economics
Rack Centre will be expanding its data centre with a $100M investment, creating a total net lettable space of 6,000sqm. Hyprop reached an agreement with an undisclosed buyer to sell its stake in the Ikeja City Mall for $115M, good news overshadowed only by the fact that it bought said stake for $155M in 2015.
Enquiriesfor residential leases have been steady for muchof the year, but more so for an extra room.
Tenants in 1-bed apartments are looking to add one more room and those in 2 beds are going for three – possibly to make room for WFH. Buyers appear more interested in 4 – b e d r o om apartments, especially in the city centres. Most prospects now prefer locations that are either insecure gated communities, a safe distance from the highways or both.
There is a general shift toward the local investor as a source of investment. Treasuries aren’t offering attractive rates and well-directed real estate investments are no longer as hard a sell.
The demand for last-mile industrial real estate is expected to grow, a result of the growth in online retail, logistics and pharma. Healthcare, neighbourhood retail and residential developments are posting respectable results, encouraged by the schisms in the global supply chain and the added motivations to look local first.
But this forms something of a quandary for the execution of the recently ratified AFCFTA. As the vaccines course their way through some parts of the world in 2021, (Mrs Okonjo Iweala, the incoming WTO head has assured that Nigeria will receive the vaccine), the expectation is that the economy will improve.
Select nodes in Lagos: Price of 4 Bed Apartment (N’M)
Source: Northcourt
Demand for residential leases in secure gated communities will continue to grow along with locations a safe distance from major thoroughfares. The Grade office market will return much different than what it was before the pandemic – less occupied, not as pricey.
We expect that data centres, cell towers, power cabins and the like will continue benefiting from the heightened use of technology. Single-usedevelopments have become a fading concept.
The projects that will weather the present, and increasingly, the future will be mixed-use, combining residential, retail, office, and healthcare. We suspect that the future of real estate investment management will parallel the evolution of financial services where transparent data platforms were created to support trading assets in capital markets.
Gated Communities to witness an increased demand in 2021
The further discourse around the Outlook Report was had on the 6th of January 2021 at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi Lagos during the Annual Nigeria Real Estate Market Outlook Breakfast meeting, which brings together industry leaders from diverse fields in the Nigeria real estate market to discuss investment opportunities for the new year ahead. The event
The Nigeria real estate market has had to switch gears. Whether it’s the movement of demand away from Grade A office, retail and big brand hospitality to the adoption of technology.
While pushing the conversation on healthcare, infrastructure, security and mortgages, more changes have been attempted (and actioned) over the last 10 months than in the last 3 years.
Within social distancing restrictions, the event was streamed live where 6 speakers were present. Sandra Momah, Associate Director, Ernst & Young, Tayo Odunsi CEO, Northcourt, Temitope Runsewe CEO, Dutum Construction, Funke Okubadejo Director, Actis and Ayo Ibaru COO, Northcourt who also moderated were available physically while Olaide Agboola, CEO Purple joined the panel online from the UK.
Ibaru kicked off the event with a technical presentation on the performance of Nigeria’s real estate market in 2020 discussing the residential, retail, office, industrial and healthcare sub-markets.
Highlighting the increase in investor demand for research, and the ongoing projects, as a result, the presentation ended with 3 scenarios for 2021 (Economic recovery, No change and economic decline) and their effects on the real estate market.
Tope Runsewe, CEO Dutum Construction discussed the workings of Nigeria’s construction industry from bidding, planning and team selection to executing and monitoring. He further shared his perspectives on the past and ongoing construction projects in their portfolio education, retail, hospitality, aviation, and infrastructure aspects of Nigeria’s real estate market.
Looking into 2021, he emphasised the following as key points – growth in the demand for quality delivery, rise in the price of important materials (local suppliers, backward integration), a rise in the demand for indigenous construction firms and an improvement in the local expert pool due to the return of indigenous experts with international experience.
In panel session of real estate industry players, the panellists from their practice experience gave perspectives and nuances resulting those perspectives to make projections for the new year, 2021 which include: the demand for residential real estate is expected to increase and gated communities will see more demand especially for 3 and 4 beds.
Mixed-use projects with well planned residential components are projected to deliver above-average results. Grade A office vacancies are expected to increase and those with rentals above $350psm may find it difficult securing tenants. The pace of conversions from residential to the office will accelerate.
Industrial real estate is projected to grow based on sustained online retail and last-mile delivery considerations. This is expected to drive infrastructure development.
Hospitality’s growth will depend on the release of a vaccine for Nigeria and the degree of innovation as pivoting to allied services. The land is expected to remain a resilient store of value and continue to attract investment.
What will 2021 look like for the market research industry? For over 20 years, market researchers have been under constant pressure to prove the value of our services. As we face a pandemic that has cut into corporate and client profits, researchers are once again called upon to innovate and show their value.
Budgets for 2021 are almost certain to be lower than in 2020. In the U.S., Gartner’s research presents a sad but realistic picture with almost half of CMOs experiencing mid-year budget cuts as a result of the pandemic.
2021 Happy New Year. Light bulb on a green background. Festive background.
According to a survey by Dun & Bradstreet, 70% of senior marketers in the U.K. say their budgets have been cut as a result of COVID-19. Yet, 76% are facing increased pressure to deliver leads even during the pandemic. These cuts affect funds that could be used for market research.
However, there are ways to adapt during this prolonged period of turmoil. Here five trends and predictions for market research in 2021:
1. Be prepared for budget cuts.
We should all plan for budgetary pressures. As CMOs plan their own future budgetary cuts rather than gambling on budgets bouncing back, they will eliminate non-essential costs and attempt to renegotiate current contracts and plans.
Marketing researchers and firms need to act now to plan for how these cuts will affect their work and businesses. There may not be more PPP or other government support, so banking on one to make EBIT goals would be reckless. These budget changes will drive most market research trends in 2021, acting as a catalyst for continuing what we’ve seen so far.
2. Automation and AI adoption will increase.
Budget pressures will further accelerate the rise in spending on new, DIY and automated platforms that are more affordable than full-service market research partners. Client-side market research professionals may also look more aggressively for customizable platforms that can help automate their market research needs.
There’s potential for market research agencies that can crack and simplify the automation process of converting data into usable insights as current tools are too technical, clunky and labour-intensive. Keep in mind:
Over the next decade, the raw data material for market research will grow dramatically in volume and become even more affordable.
Data mining, social-media listening, web analytics, point-of-sale data, customer relationship management, insight communities and neuromarketing will expand rapidly. These tools will reduce – but not eliminate – the use of survey research.
The power of multi-sourced data will be in merging it and presenting holistic insights across sources. Emerging tools must be able to handle a myriad of data types and the enormous volume of input.
3. Digital transformation and going virtual.
The pandemic has accelerated many organizations’ moves online. Gartner notes, “In 2020, investments in paid, owned and earned digital channels now account for almost 80% of multichannel budgets, with digital advertising and search advertising taking nearly a quarter (22%), social marketing (11.3%) and website (10.4%) topping the list.”
If clients and marketers are diving into digital, then market research needs to better cater to these channels. Digital tagging is a start, but GDPR and recent government oversight on privacy mean tagging is available on just a fraction of digital platforms, so we need to develop additional strategies.
Market researchers shouldn’t wait for face-to-face groups to come back. They need to start moving qualitative projects to a virtual setting now. When face-to-face meetings finally become normal again, some of the more traditional market research practices can be reincorporated.
Market researchers should be flexible and ready to embrace virtual tactics while preparing to grasp the opportunities this variable environment provides by combining old and new techniques.
4. Diverged offerings leads to specialization.
The market will continue to diverge between automated data collection platforms and insights consultants. CMOs don’t just want cost savings, they want increased value and ROI. Automated platforms can’t always provide transformative insights, but consultants can.
This will inevitably mean more specialization. Large “do it all” conglomerates are already being broken up. To diverge and provide true insights, a market research consultant will need to specialize, knowing their area of expertise better than the client knows their business.
5. True agility.
Being adaptable is a good idea at the best of times – during unstable times it’s a necessity. Prepare in advance for all eventualities. Don’t just expect disruptions, but actively go looking for them. Be a source of innovation. Different pressures require different responses and difficult decisions. Move fast when the time is right to get ahead or you will likely be left behind.
Proving the value of marketing research
As we look ahead to next year’s trends and predictions, one thing is certain – the pandemic has had a significant impact on all businesses, including research and insights. Marketing researchers need to expect budget cuts and must adapt to continue to prove value.
Digital and virtual offerings; automation and AI adoption; specialization and agility will all play a huge role in the year to come. The most important thing a researcher can do now is to accept the change and look for ways to meet the moment.
Chris Hubble is CEO of market research and consumer insights agency Bastion db5, Los Angeles.
The FGN bond space opened the new week on a drab note dragging for the most significant part of the trading session. Most Market participants stayed on the side-lines watching the general market perception of the bond auction rumours that incinerated that the DMO would most likely increase the offer in this month’s auction.
The market opened one-side mainly offered across the benchmark bond from the 2027s to 2050s paper. However, we saw a few trade prints on the 2027s papers at 6.45% increasing approximately c.35bps compared to Friday’s offer. By and Large, yields expanded by an average of c.5bps across the benchmark curve.
We expect the market to continue in this sequence tomorrow, although slight demand trickles as coupon inflows enter the market on Friday.
Treasury Bills
The treasury bills market was flooded with a bucket of offers across the curve with no matching bills for these offers. Trickles of demand were seen for longer-dated bills, albeit no trades, as these demands were too opportunistic compared to the axes available for them.
This lack of order may be linked mainly to the short-squeeze in the interbank market due to huge debts that hit that space last week. Short-dated bills around 0.20% level, mid-dated bills within the range of 0.50%-0.70%, while the longer-dated bills were offered within the range of 1.10%-1.80%.
We expect market activities to pick tomorrow as inflows from OMO maturities hit the system for the week.
Money Markets
As expected, the interbank market opened the week. N134.67 positive as system liquidity squeezed out, following the CRR and Retail auction debit that hit the market on Friday.
However, although rates dropped c.578bps, these new levels are still way the sub 1% level the market had hinged on for the past couple of months. OBB and OVN rates closed the day at 2.50% and 3.25%, respectively.
We expect the rates to slide down further tomorrow as inflows from OMO maturities boost the interbank market liquidity.
FX Market
The FX space remained poorly supplied across all market segments. The IEFX window continued to trade very leanly as trade volumes remained depressed while most market participants stayed bided at N350.27/$ and N411.00/$, although its rates appreciated slightly by 6% D/D.
However, for other market segments, rates remained unchanged for another trading session except for the cash market that lost N1 compared to Friday’s closing.
Eurobonds
The NIGERIA Sovereigns Eurobond curve continued its bullish run-in today’s trading session, improving demand and more aggressive bids on the mid and long-dated bonds as oil prices continue to show a positive outlook in the international market. The belly of the curve remained the major winner shedding an average of c.04bps compared to Friday. Overall, yields compressed by an average of c.01bps across the sovereign curve.
The NIGERIA Corporates had a quiet session today, although the market continues to show interest in most tracked papers. The FBNNL 25s was the major gainer among the tracked papers, dropping by c.28bps compared to Friday’s closing.
The market closed on a positive note amid bargain hunting in large and mid-cap stocks. The benchmark All Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.8 bps to 40,150.78 with market capitalization gaining N15.98bn to settle at N20.99tn. In summary, the Year to Date (YtD) performance closed at -0.30%.
Performance across different sectors was broadly bullish with 3 out of the 5 sectors under coverage closing in the green zone. Oil & gas, banking and consumer goods indices went up by 0.85%, 0.19% and 0.46% following buy sentiments in the shares of ARDOVA (+9.79%), ZENITH BANK (+0.78%) and GUINNESS (+2.78).
Conversely, insurance index waned by 72 bps on the back of selloffs in LINKASSURE (-10.00%) and MANSARD (-3.36%).
Investors’ sentiment improves as 28 stocks advanced while only 24 stocks declined to indicate a 1.17x market breadth. Activity level was however mixed as the volume of transactions advanced by 0.72% amid 31.75% decline in value.
The bond market traded on a mixed note as yield advanced on mid and long-dated instruments while those on short maturities inched lower.
Notably, the yield on the FGN-JAN-2022 and MAR-2024 declined by 0.01% and 0.02% to close at 2.48% and 4.40%. However, Yield on the FGN-MAR-2025 and FEB-2028 advanced to 5.50% and 6.93% respectively.
Market Snapshot
Nigerian Equities Market Closed Positive…ASI Up by 8bps
The bond market traded on a mixed note as yield advanced on longer maturities
U.S. Stocks Contract on Covid-19 pressure
Oil reverse uptrend as Rally Takes a Breath
Naira depreciated by 63bps against the USD at the parallel market to close at N475/$
Cryptocurrency markets have suffered significant losses during the last 24 hours, as the entire crypto market cap has dropped below a trillion to $823 billion losing roughly 9.9% in value. Since the bitcoin price height on Sunday, January 10, bitcoin’s price plummeted over 25%, seeing the largest price dive of the year.
Digital currency markets are in the red on Monday, as crypto assets have lost anywhere between 15% to over 35% during the last 24 hours. The leading digital asset by market valuation, bitcoin (BTC) is down over 20% at the time of publication.
Publicly traded companies move more cash reserves into Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to a low of $30,261 on Monday afternoon (EST) losing 25.2% after reaching a high of $41,056 on Sunday. At the time of writing, BTC is swapping for prices above $32k per unit with $38 billion in global BTC trade volume.
Ethereum lost significant value during the last 24 hours as well as the crypto asset is currently down 27%. Ethereum (ETH) is swapping for $933 per unit after reaching well above the $13k handle the day prior.
XRP took a 15% loss as it trades for $0.27 per token and bitcoin cash (BCH) is down 30% today. BCH hit a 2021 high on Sunday, capturing a value of over $625 per coin. Right now, however, bitcoin cash (BCH) is changing hands at $413 per unit.
The biggest gainers today are up between 8% to 91% on Monday with the token stakenet leading the pack. This is followed by other crypto-assets that have seen gains on Monday including STK, ZEN, MXC, and DAG.
The biggest losing token today in the crypto economy is CTXC which has lost 47%. Following CTXC, coins such as DMT, BCD, RCN, and MKR have seen some deep losses as well.
Since bitcoin’s (BTC) significant drop this past weekend, there’s now an upside gap on the CME Group bitcoin futures chart. The two large gaps on both sides are between $23,670 – $26,645 (downside) and between $39,165 – $40,535 (upside).
Simon Peters, an analyst at Etoro, explained in a note to investors that crypto markets are still in a healthy position.
“Despite the dip yesterday— we are still in a healthy position,” Peters wrote. “Not only are we continuing to see institutional investment, but bitcoin being held on exchanges is decreasing as investors move their tokens to wallets, with Glassnode data showing an increasing level of illiquid bitcoin as more and more investors hodl.”
The Etoro analyst further added he wouldn’t be surprised to see BTC prices above the $70k range at the end of the year. “I believe we can look to the $70,000-90,000 range as a price target for the end of 2021,” Peters said. “There will inevitably be bumps along the road, and no doubt a number of retracements will occur, but there are also gains still to be had.”
NEM Insurance Plc said on Monday that its Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Tope Smart had acquired 4,000,000 ordinary shares, worth ₦ 9,240,000.00.
Tope Smart purchased the shares via the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at an average price of ₦2.31.
Transaction Breakdown:
Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Tope Smart | www.brandspurng.com
Tope Smart, a graduate and an award winner from the University of Lagos also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is an Associate member of both the Chartered Insurance Institute of London and the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.
Tope, an astute professional, believes very strongly in the entrenchment of insurance in the mind of every Nigerian. He is a Council member, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Councilmember, West African Insurance Companies Association (Ghana), Councilmember, Nigeria-Britain Association, Vice President, African Insurance Organization (AIO) and a past Chairman of the Nigeria Insurers Association to mention but a few.
Tope sits on the board of several companies amongst which are RegencyNem Insurance (Ghana) Limited and NEM Asset Management Limited. In 2014, he was appointed by the Federal Government as Co-Chairman of Insurance Industry Transformation Committee. He was also recently appointed as Chairman, Planning Committee of the University of Lagos Alumni Association’s Golden Jubilee Anniversary.
In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Tope has won several awards amongst which are Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Lagos, University of Lagos Alumni Association Golden Jubilee Special Recognition Award amongst others. He is also a two-time winner of the Businessday Top 25 CEOs award.
Every state across northern Nigeria must spend a minimum of 20% of its annual budget on education. Six mega cattle ranches will be established in Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Borno and Yobe states with a plan to get every single herdsman in the country located within them.
A Nigerian Fulani Dairy Company will be created with a target of becoming the world’s leading milk producer. It will be a private-sector endeavour with state governments allowed to take out minority stakes in the venture. This company will be floated on the Lagos, London, New York, Frankfurt and Tokyo stock exchanges.
A Nigerian Leather Tannery Company will also be floated by the private sector. It will aim to become the world’s number one manufacturer of leather goods.
All these six cattle ranches will merge into the Nigerian Livestock Company. Its goal will be to produce 200m head of cattle by 2024 with the aim of making Nigeria the world’s largest beef exporter.
Each local government area in the 19 states of northern Nigeria will have at least one technical college where animal husbandry will be offered as a course. Graduates will receive a City & Guild in Animal Husbandry.
Every state in northern Nigeria must by law have a solar farm of at least 100 acres. Manufacturing plants making solar panels must be opened on adjoining industrial estates.
A Nigerian Cotton Exchange will be opened in Kaduna. Farmers will deliver their cotton to this facility where it will be purchased at the going market price. Cotton collected will be sent to textile mills mandated to generate at least $10bn a year in export earnings after meeting domestic demand.
A Nigerian Suya Company will also be formed with a mandate to making the delicacy a globally acclaimed brand kind of similar to snacks like Kit Kat, Smarties, etc.
A Fulani Livestock Bank will be floated by the 19 states of northern Nigeria to offer single-digit loans to pastoralists, herdsmen, farmers and processors. By law, this bank will not be allowed to charge interest rates in excess of 5%.
Written by:
Ayo Akinfe, born in Salford, Manchester, is a London-based journalist who has worked as a magazine and newspaper editor for the last 20 years. Ayo attended Federal Government College Kaduna and obtained his first degree in history from the University of Ibadan.
It hardly seems possible that as recently as twenty years ago there were no online casinos in the world. If one wanted to play games like roulette, blackjack or the slots then one had to seek out a so-called “bricks and mortar” casino and venture there from home.
But, as with so many things, the internet changed all that and today it seems like the land-based casino might be in a decline while the online version is very much in the ascendant. In recent years even the unofficial capital of casino gambling, Las Vegas, has seen its revenues falling while the profits of the online casino operators have been on the rise.
It’s all about convenience.
There have been many reasons put forward for the continuing growth of the sector and the first of these must surely be the convenience. How much easier it is to register for an online casino and be able to start playing almost immediately than to go through the process of actually visiting a casino. The fact that the online version is open and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year simply strengthens their appeal.
Of course, a great deal of success is also down to the advance of the players’ own technology. Whereas it was once only possible to play on a PC or laptop, the arrival and advance of the smartphone and tablet meant that truly mobile play became possible. This not only encouraged many more people to try online casinos, it has also increased the opportunities for play.
It’s also led to many more games being made possible as well as making them more sophisticated in the process. This has particularly been the case for online slots, as the most popular games for players, and the most reliably profitable for casinos, a great deal of time, money and effort goes into making sure there is a steady stream of new titles being introduced.
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
The themes for these are wide-ranging, but one of the most popular trends has been to tie these in with big-budget Hollywood movies like The Avengers series to draw movie and comic fans into playing.
Going live
Another major advance has been the rise of the “live” online casino. It has always been the aim of sites to re-create the atmosphere and ambience of a real casino as closely as possible.
So, when internet speeds and bandwidth increased to a high enough level, it meant that this came to a step closer with live streaming. So today all of the leading online casinos offer games including roulette, blackjack and baccarat that feature real dealers playing in actual time.
A clever piece of technology – similar to the car number plate recognition cameras in use today – captures the values of the cards or the number in which the roulette ball has landed and digitizes the information for online play. The addition of a chat function also makes it possible to converse with the dealer, just as one would do in a real casino.
The world’s online casino hotspots
In terms of where in the world the online casino is booming, the leading country is undoubtedly the UK. According to official figures, between October 2018 and September 2019, the gross gambling revenue was £3.2 billion, a near 4% increase on the figure for April 2018 and March 2019 figure.
In contrast, the revenue generated by actual casinos over the same period was only £1.1 billion, a fall of 0.6%. Another country where it’s very popular in Australia which has a long history of playing the “pokies” – another name for slots games.
What lies ahead?
Looking to the future, there are a number of exciting developments that promise to catapult online casinos to even higher levels of popularity and success. The first of these is the increasing use of virtual and augmented reality.
It’s likely that the very first VR casino is only round the corner and this is likely to be a real game-changer. The potential is limitless and will make the live online casino experience more realistic than it has ever been.
At the moment, the majority of online casino players are in the 40+ age group so we can expect to see efforts being made to attract a younger group of millennials as well. One area being investigated is that of skill-based slots games.
The theory is that a generation brought up on video games will be keener to play casino games over which they have some control and can use their video game-playing skills. So, again, we can expect to see these becoming more widely available very soon.
But, whatever happens, one thing is for certain. Online casinos are here to stay and the sky is the limit for how successful they will continue to be.
Patrick’s Pfizer experience spans more than 20 years in leadership roles with multiple successes across geographies
January 11, 2021 – Pfizer announced today the appointment of Patrick van der Loo as Regional President for Africa and the Middle East (AfME) region. Patrick’s Pfizer experience spans more than 20 years in leadership roles with multiple successes across geographies.
In his new role as Regional President for AfME, Patrick will lead commercial operations to bring scientific breakthroughs in vaccines, oncology, rare diseases, internal medicine, hospitals, and inflammation & immunology, to serve patients.
Patrick Van Der Loo, Regional President for Africa and the Middle East | www.brandspurng.com
Commenting on his appointment, Patrick said:
“This year has made me even more grateful and proud to be part of Pfizer. The global pandemic has accentuated our purpose as a company and reinforced our commitment to patients and communities worldwide.
AfME is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing markets with increasing demand for innovative health treatments and services. Overall, the region has shown remarkable resilience due to strong leadership and sound policies.”
He added:
“Pfizer has been operating for over 60 years in AfME. I look forward to continuing this journey and bringing our breakthroughs to address unmet patient needs. My top priority will remain to work with our teams to ensure greater access to our medicines across our strategic therapeutic areas.
We will seek even stronger collaboration with healthcare professionals, communities, and governments to change the lives of millions of people and protect them from tomorrow’s health threats.”
Patrick has been passionate about the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry from the start of his career. He has managed some of Pfizer’s largest therapeutic areas in cardiovascular and neuroscience globally and led the commercial development efforts of a 500+ molecule business.
In his previous role, Patrick served as the Developed Asia Cluster Lead and General Manager for Pfizer’s Hospital Business Unit, responsible for leading and executing Pfizer’s commercial and cultural strategy in Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Before this role, Patrick worked as the Emerging Asia Cluster Lead for the Pfizer Essential Health business.
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