In 5 steps, you can now share your world on Google Maps

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In 5 steps, you can now share your world on Google Maps

Google Maps is inviting interested individuals to join its network of local guides.

According to a statement released by the company to announce its Map Your World event, local guides will serve as contributors who will add information to Google Maps.

“Google Maps is hosting Map Your World events for active local guides in nine cities across four continents.

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“Local Guides are passionate contributors who add their local tips and insider knowledge about their communities and neighborhoods to Google Maps.

“At these events, local guides will be invited to come together to connect with other passionate local guides in their communities and learn more ways to share their favorite places and hidden local gems with the world through Google Maps.

“Anyone can sign up to be a local guide. There are five ways to contribute: adding a place, editing info about a place, answering local questions, writing a review or adding a photo.”

The Map Your World event has been scheduled to take place in nine cities including Lagos, Sao Paulo and Mexico city.

“In Lagos, top contributing local guides will participate in a map editing event where they’ll learn about new map editing features in Google Maps and work together to add missing places and edit information about existing places.

“They’ll be focused on mapping different themes, including hospitals, police stations, community centers, etc. in partnership with local NGO Stand to End Rape (STER).”

(TheCableNg)

Forcing down food prices instead of increasing production

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Forcing down food prices instead of increasing production

While holding forth as acting President, Yemi Osinbajo raised a task force of selected ministers to advise the Federal Government on how to stem the rising cost of foodstuff in the country. The decision portrayed government as embarking on a mission to regulate food prices, instead of ramping up production.

Nigeria has a deficit across every type of food produce. In fact, the Agriculture Promotion Policy released last year shows a 20.14 million metric tonne deficit across 13 major crops and 60 million poultry bird deficit.

The policy and strategy document released by the ministry of agriculture shows that rice production in the country which stands at 2.3 million metric tonnes has a four million ton gap from the 6.3 million metric tonnes demand. The deficit has been attributed to insufficient supply chain integration which remains a nagging issue in achieving sustenance. Wheat has a deficit of 4.64 million metric tonnes, driven by demand for various types of wheat (white, hard, durum) for bread, biscuits and semovita. Soya Beans, which has the lowest deficit at 150,000 metric tonnes has its demand driven by animal feed and its usage as a protein cost alternative. Chicken production in the country has a deficit of 60 million birds, a gap filled by illegal imports that enter the market at lower price points than domestic products.

Fish supply in the country has a 1.9 million metric tonnes deficit, attributed largely to a fall off in ocean catch and weakness in aquaculture yields; due to cost of fish feed which is a constraint on growth. Tomato also has a 1.4 million metric ton deficit, which is amplified by post-harvest losses of 700,000 metric tonnes. Yams, a two million ton deficit, Oil Palm, which refers to fresh fruit bunch (FFB) from which oil is extracted at a 10% – 15% efficiency rate has a 3.5 million ton deficit, and cocoa has a 3.35 million deficit.

The deficits have implied massive food importation in excess of $5 billion, a situation unlikely to change as long as the country fails to produce enough food. Analysts have also expressed the view that if committees could bring down prices, the country won’t have inflation in the first place. But as this is not case, it would have been expected that any committee being set up would be focusing on how to boost production so that over-dependence on food imports abates, instead of forcing the market to lower prices of possibly “scarce food items”.

(Businessdayonline)

Nigerians Participate in Mastercard Wellness Month Initiative

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Nigerians Participate in Mastercard Wellness Month Initiative

For the second year running, Kamdora has partnered with Mastercard to motivate more Nigerians to adopt healthy and active lifestyles through the Mastercard Wellness Month initiative throughout the month of March into April 2017.

This annual programme includes a series of events, promotions and activities focused on helping Nigerians attain their fitness and wellness goals.

The month of March promises to be exciting one for Mastercard cardholders as they are guaranteed exclusive discounts for healthy meals and drinks from selected vendors as well as spas and gyms.

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The Mastercard Wellness Month kicked off on Saturday, 4 March, 2017, with an exclusive fitness event at the Bodyline Gym, Ikoyi, hosted by popular celebrity dance instructor, Kaffy. Participants at the exclusive fitness event were treated to interesting dance sessions with Kaffy as well as rigorous workout sessions at the boot camp, and other exercise regimens such as cycling and swimming.

The event also featured health and fitness talks from Ladipo Soetan, Captain of the Cycology Riding Club, and other speakers.

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“The average Nigerian has a sedentary lifestyle, involving going to work and retiring home to the family. Through the Mastercard Wellness Month, we will spread the awareness around the need to cautiously live healthier and more fulfilling lives by engaging in workouts as well as stress-relieving exercises, accompanied by the intake of healthy meals,” said, Denike Fadina, Head of Sales and sponsorships for Kamdora.com.

The number of vendors who have signed up to participate in the Mastercard Wellness Month increased from 30 in 2016 to 50 in 2017. Some of the vendors that will participate in this year’s edition include Medplus, Sportsworld, Arabale Lifestyle, Venivici Spa, Total Beauty Therapy and Shreddergang, among others.

To add excitement to this year’s edition, the 20-Day Fitness Challenge with Kaffy will run until 25 March.

The celebrity dance instructor will challenge her followers to keep fit through live workout sessions at 6am every morning. Interested individuals can participate by following her Instagram handle (@kaffydance) to catch-up on all the latest fitness moves.

“We are committed to ensuring that cardholders receive great health and fitness specials. This month we encourage all participants to exercise more and to eat better meals for body and mind health,” said concludes Adebanjo.

(Nigeriacommunicationsweek)

Twinpine Partners Afmobi to Offer Brands In Africa Premium Mobile Audiences

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Twinpine Partners Afmobi to Offer Brands In Africa Premium Mobile Audiences

Twinpine, a Terragon Group Company, Africa’s pioneer and premium mobile marketing company, has recently partnered with Afmobi, a mobile internet business with one of the largest portfolio of products in Africa, to offer brands and agencies access to premium local inventory on the Tecno Mobile phones browser, Palm Play content store and the PalmChat Social.

This browser is pre-installed on 27 million devices that have over 700,000 unique users daily and 50,000,000 impressions monthly. Palmchat is a social channel that reaches core marketing demographics {80% of its users aged 16-30} anywhere in Nigeria. Ad campaigns that run on the PalmPlay store are able to reach a wide audience of over 400,000 daily active users. These channels are accessible on both Smart and Feature phones.

“Afmobi is pleased to partner with one of Africa’s leading Mobile advertising company in delivering value to brands and agencies through its multiple-channel touch points. With access to over 50 million unique users in Africa with over 30% of those users in Nigeria, we know that our channels would offer tremendous engagement opportunities for brands” said Philicia Lai, AGM, Afmobi Africa.

Also commenting on the partnership, Oduntan Odubanjo, Chief Operation Officer, Twinpine said the collaboration is another step to create more value for our customers by ensuring access to premium yet local inventory that helps brands target the right audience.

“For brands and advertisers, buying media across these platforms which are local yet premium ensures that issues like fluctuations in foreign exchange rates will not affect their campaign. At Twinpine, we will continue to present premium opportunities for brands to get value for money spent when running marketing campaigns on our platform. It’s important to note that the consumers’ experience with our ad formats will be as engaging as possible” he said.

Twinpine recently unveiled its new ad formats (Native Ads, 3D Ads, Brand Cast, Call-to-Action Ads) as well as its Mobile Intelligence Portal, Programmatic Platform and Adrenaline product at an event tagged “An Evening of Innovation with Twinpine” which brought together a number of digital marketing agencies, brand owners, IT experts and media practitioners.

About Twinpine
Twinpine, a Terragon Group Company, is Africa’s premium mobile advertising network reaching millions of Africans on mobile devices via the mobile web. Twinpine helps brands and publishers run and manage tailored mobile advertising campaigns, enabling them to connect with the right audience, increase conversion rates and ultimately, make the most of Mobile.
Twinpine works with several leading advertising agencies, brands and publishers locally and internationally connecting them with their African audience delivering exceptional results for them. Twinpine has delivered campaigns in several African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, among others.

FG splits NIPOST into 7 zones, 6 business units

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FG splits NIPOST into 7 zones, 6 business units

The federal government has split the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) into seven zones and six commercial business units.

A statement on Monday by NIPOST spokesperson, Frank Alao, said that Bisi Adegbuyi, the postmaster-general, had approved the unbundling of its offices across the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Alao said the aim of the unbundling was to attain competitiveness and value for service, increase operational efficiency and enhance the agency’s revenue-generating capacity.

The directive will see the states captured into zones and manned by zonal managers who will report directly to the PMG.

According to the statement, the zonal arrangement is aimed at entrenching the principle of delegation and devolution of powers.

The reform will also quicken decision-making process particularly in key operations areas like mail routes delineation, deliveries and postal enquiries, added the statement.

“The new CBUs are significantly existing ventures/services either merged and or strengthened for the purposes of enhancing their service delivery capacities/ competitiveness in consistent with industry global best practices as well as improving on their revenue profiles,” it said.

(Thecableng)

Nigeria Households: Rapid Urbanisation Drives Single – Person Homes

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Nigeria Households: Rapid Urbanisation Drives Single – Person Homes

Nigerian households are experiencing some of the fastest urbanisation rates in the world, as workers are flocking to expanding first- and second-tier cities across the country. This is creating a large and growing number of single-person households, largely inhabited by males. However, many Nigerian homes are also extremely crowded, as large families squeeze into small housing units. Room sizes per household are typically low in number, while persons per household are usually six or more.

Average Household size in Nigeria in 2015 was 4.8 overall, 4.6 urban and 4.9 rural. By 2030, urban households will overtake rural households. In 2030, the majority of homes in Nigeria will by 2 rooms and the majority of households will consist of 6 or more people.

Have a question or a thought to add? Leave us a comment below…

(Euromonitor)

Food prices still up as inflation rate falls for the first time in 15 months

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Food prices still up as inflation rate falls for the first time in 15 months

For the first time since 2015, consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation in the economy, fell, signalling a recovery in the Nigerian economy.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the inflation rate dropped from 18.72 percent in January 2017, to 17.78 percent in February 2017.

“On a Headline basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 17.78 percent (year-on-year) albeit at a slower pace in February 2017, 0.94 percent points lower from the rate recorded in January (18.72) percent,” NBS said on Tuesday.

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“This represents the first time in 15 months that the headline CPI has declined on year on year basis representing the effects of slower rises in already high food and non food prices and favourable base effects over 2016 prices.”

The country however recorded price increases in “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel, education, food and alcoholic beverages, clothing and frontware and transportation services”.

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Despite the signs of recovery seen in the core inflation rate, food prices remain on the rise, with a surge in the food index, from 17.82 percent in January to 18.53 percent (year-on-year) in February.

The increase was driven by “increases in the prices of bread, cereals, meat, fish, potatoes, yams and other tubers and wine, while the slowest increase in food prices year-on-year were recorded by Soft Drinks, Coffee, Tea and Cocoa”.

Despite the fall, inflation rate remains at one of the highest points since Olusegun Obasanjo’s era as the Nigerian President.

(TheCable)

FG rolls-out Economic Recovery plan to raise VAT on Champagne, alcoholic beverages, others

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FG rolls-out Economic Recovery plan to raise VAT on Champagne, alcoholic beverages, others

The Federal Government on Tuesday unveiled its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan after consultations with stakeholders from both the public and private sectors of the economy.

The plan includes raising the Value Added TAX (VAT) rate on luxury items from current 5% to 15%. The Government is projecting raising N350bn through the increase in VAT rate on luxury items and improvement in company’s income tax, which would commence in 2018.

The former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan had in 2014, while mulling austerity measures meant to generate additional funds for the Federal Government identified some items that were to be taxed as luxury goods to include champagne, alcoholic beverages, private jets, luxury cars based on engine capacity, and yachts.

The current Government of Muhammadu Buhari said it would increase non-oil tax revenues by improving tax compliance and expanding the tax base by using appropriate technology, tightening the tax code, as well as taxing luxury items and other indirect taxes with the aim of capturing a wider share of the non-formal economy.

According to the released document, the Government is targeting real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of N81.38tn by 2020.

The content of the document which was released by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning contains the economic blueprint of the government for the three-year period, 2017 to 2020 and is meant to get the country out of recession.

(Beverageindustrynews)

Seven-Up Bottling Company appoints Ziad Maalouf Managing Director

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Seven-Up Bottling Company appoints Ziad Maalouf Managing Director

Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc has appointed Mr. Ziad Maalouf as the new Managing Director of the 57 year old company. Up until his recent appointment, he was the company’s Chief Operating Officer and had joined the company in 2008 as it’s National Sales and Distribution Manager.

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Mr. Maalouf has over 20 years work experience in corporate finance, organizational leadership and strategic management, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut.

The company also elevated the current Managing Director, Mr. Sunil Sawhney to the position of Vice Chairman of Seven-Up Botting Co.

Mr. Sawhney has served as the Managing Director of the firm from 2009 up until his current appointment.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration and his work experience cuts across Manufacturing, Sales and Administration.

According to the announcement released by the company, both appointments take effect from 1st April, 2017.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO receives National Productivity Merit Award

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FrieslandCampina WAMCO receives National Productivity Merit Award

Nigeria’s foremost dairy nutrition company, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, has been conferred with the illustrious National Productivity Merit Award.

This recognition by the Federal Ministry of Labour was made during the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) awards, which held at the conference hall, NICON Luxury Hotels, Abuja on 21st February, 2017.

The National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) is an award of honour, excellence and dignity instituted for the most productive organizations or individuals drawn from all sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Upon receiving the award on behalf of his company, the Human Resources Director of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, Mr. Tomi Oni said that the award of excellence is a motivation for the company to strive even harder in upholding its mission of nourishing Nigerians with quality dairy nutrition.

“In times as this when the economy is sensitive and industries are struggling to stay up and break even, it is a lot of effort to keep staff motivated and more so earning a national recognition. It’s a great honour to be awarded with the National Productivity Order of Merit.”, said Oni.


Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN GCON, Human Resource Director FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, Tominiyi Oni, and Minister for Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige At the 16th National Productivity Day (NPD)/ and Conferment of National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award Tues. 21Feb2017 at Conference Hall, Nicon Luxury Hotel Abuja
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