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Datastream has today announced the launch of its digital payment solution ‘Datastream Recharge’ to provide a seamless and unique option for Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora to settle all digital and lifestyle payment needs.


Founded in June 2021, it kicked off its beta test in September and has since seen a trove of sign ups based on referrals and word of mouth.


Datastream product offerings include digital products such as airtime, data and bills like electricity and cable TV . Users are also able to top up mobile lines to more than 50 international destinations as well as buy gift cards of major brands across the world. With the platform, Nigerians home and abroad can send airtime top ups as gifts and pay their electricity, Cable TV and internet services so long as they have a naira denominated account. The platform currently boasts of connectivity to all the major discos in Nigeria.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/10/12/fintech-startup-datastream-launches-platform-to-simplify-digital-payments-for-nigerians-with-exciting-cash-back-offer/

So I was at a seminar a few days back where a certain software that helps users trade currencies was being presented to a select audience.

The host like many others went on and on about how this was the next best thing and how it was fool proof and had no risk factor. He totally enraptured the audience, excluding myself about how one could make a billion naira in the next four years using the software.

Read more here: https:///pb1wYb-Xa

Paid internships positions are open to tertiary level students, recent college or university graduates, and young people




Top Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturer, Nestle has announced calls for applications into its internship positions.

According to the International Labor Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected labor markets around the world, hurting young people more than other age groups. Even before the pandemic, it was always quite challenging for the average young African to enter the workforce with a first job and to transition the theories they have learned in school into practical skills. To respond to this situation, Nestlé (www.Nestle-CWA.com) Zone Asia, Oceania, and sub-Saharan Africa (Zone AOA), in 2020, kickstarted the “Nesternship” (Nestlé Internship) program offering a virtual working environment to youth.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/08/13/paid-internships-at-nestle-anyone/

can be quite daunting making ends meet in a city like Lagos or even anywhere in the world. But quite interestingly, there are still business opportunities out there waiting to be explored. The only thing standing between many people and these opportunities unfortunately is information, access to the appropriate information at the right time.

And that is why you should consider this article a precious gem you shouldn’t toy with.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/07/03/how-young-nigerians-are-making-cool-earnings-via-sports-betting/

Serial entrepreneurs and leading Nigerian business men Tony Elumelu (CEO, Heirs Holdings), Aliko Dangote (President, Dangote Nigeria), BUA Chairman, Abdulsamad Rabiu and Globacom boss, Mike Adenuga flew the Nigerian flag at the Choose France Summit.

Read more:
https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/29/photos-tony-elumelu-mike-adenuga-aliko-dangote-storm-the-choose-france-int-business-summit/

The University of Lagos has developed a zero emission, electric and eco-friendly vehicle which it is currently test running.

The University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Academics and Reaserch), Oluwole Familoni revealed the giant stride to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos

According to the DVC, the production of the vehicle is an invaluable addition to the university's efforts at contributing to the prevention of the release of toxic emissions to the environment.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/29/all-you-need-to-know-about-unilags-zero-emission-vehicle-unilag-zev/

One of the keys to growth in any community or society is certainly the creation of employment which in turn brings about empowerment for individuals.

For a nation like Nigeria with a projected population 399 million people and Gross Domestic Product of $3.3trn by 2050, the gap between the reality of being Africa's largest economy remains far-fetched for many living in abject poverty and less than $1 a day which is the United Nations benchmark for living just above poverty. For many, basic everyday survival is a struggle.

One company that appears to be empowering Nigerians with employment albeit silently in Nigeria is the Mamuda Group of Companies. With a reported direct employment of well over 11,000 Nigerians, the company is certainly making an impact in Nigeria's socio-economic landscape.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/29/hassan-hammoud-quintessential-lebanese-nigerian-entrepreneur-empowering-nigerians-one-business-at-a-time/

The INEC continuous voter register kicks off this Monday 28th June, 2021. Speaking on Thursday, June 24, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu while speaking with journalists in Abuja said that the portal was launched for prospective registrants to commence the process online and book an appointment to visit INEC office to conclude it.

The registration exercise according to the regulatory body will be a continuous exercise. Below are the categories of people eligible for the enrollment:

How To Know If You Are Qualified To Register. You are qualified for the Continuous Voter Registration if:

You are a Nigerian and above the age of 18

If you had accreditation issues earlier

Are a registered voter but seeking to transfer

If your voter card is defaced or now has defects or your wish to correct your bio data.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/28/all-you-need-to-know-about-inecs-continuous-voter-registration-exercise/

Feature to work like a spam filter to help users focus on important messages




Truecaller (Truecaller.com), Caller ID and telephone search engine, has announced that it is rolling out a new feature to further augment user experience on the app. The company says the new feature Smart SMS has been introduced based on user feedback and is thus designed to cater to the evolving needs of our consumers. It offers a host of new services to make day-to-day communication a lot more convenient.

Smart SMS is powered by state-of-the-art machine learning models that adapt based on the feedback you give it. It supports users with important messages from banks, billers, travel companies, delivery companies and so much more.

Read more here: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/25/all-you-need-to-know-about-truecallers-smart-sms-feature/

A constant feature that has been mentioned continually within business circles is the fact that Africa is indeed blessed with talents. However, how to harness this and structure appropriately on the part to economic dominance appears to be one struggle the continent continues to battle with.

One area this can be realized is the area of capacity building. And one young African who is making giant strides in this regard appears to be Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph. A young Nigerian making giant strides in the tech space.

He is the co-founder and CEO of Africave, a technology talent company that connects global companies with tech talents and elite software engineering quickly and efficiently helping such companies scale their hiring, inclusion and engineering efforts at a fraction of current costs.

Read concluding part: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/24/kennedy-ekezie-joseph-former-tiktoks-point-man-now-building-africas-tech-capacity-with-africave/

https://www.nairaland.com/6616671/adamu-garba-paid-build-crowwe

Former presidnetial candidate, Adamu Garba's Crowwe was funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria, according to Peoples Gazette.

According to the platform, the Buhari administration provided seed capital for Adamu Garba's Crowwe app in a bid to control the digital narrative and provide an home grown solution to counter the dominance of social media giants like Facebook and Twitter in Nigeria.

According to the Gazettw, bank documents that carried a transfer of funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria to Mr Garba’s IPI Solutions, a software engineering firm were sighted by it. The company developed and deployed the Crowwe social media app.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/23/how-buharis-govt-allegedly-sponsored-adamu-garbas-crowwe-app/

Following the federal government's ban of Twitter on June 4th, and its subsequent registration on the Indian app, Koo has initiated a massive campaign targeted at Nigerians to onboard them onto the app.

The app in a bid to lure and attract more Nigerians unto the app has initiated a campaign via facebook to get them to join. This, several Nigerians have confirmed to Exclusive Africa of being served Koo's banner ad on their facebook timeline. Below are copies of the app's facebook ad campaign copies:

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/23/twitter-wannabe-app-koo-initiates-campaign-to-attract-more-nigerians/

Things are currently being revealed at the BB Naija Renion show with several housemates really exposing one another and at each others throat.

The shocker for this evening came with Dorathy revealing that she had once given BrightO a 'head' in the house. This is coming as a big surprise to many viewers as they never saw this coming as the focus of the programme directors apparently played a different narrative to the home audience.

Accordingly, the show's now famous director, Kayode has begun trending on Twitter with many calling him out for focusing and diverting attention from the real scenarios in the house.

Read more here: https://www.theexclusiveafrica.net/periscope/2021/06/22/bbnaija-director-kayode-trends-as-dorathy-reveals-shocking-details-of-what-she-did-to-brighto/

Buhari’s Aide, Bashir Ahmad Dragged Mercilessly On ‘Koo'



President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide on social media, Bashir Ahmad who along with some other young aides of the Buhari presidency moved on to create account an account on Twitter look-alike and Indian owned Koo app has been dragged mercilessly on the platform.

The presidential aide had ‘kood’, Koo’s word for ‘writing’ saying he’s feeling uncomfortable without the verification mark and proceeded to appeal to the official handles of the platform begging to be verified.

https://www.theexclusiveafrica.net/periscope/2021/06/11/buharis-aide-bashir-ahmad-dragged-mercilessly-on-koo/

In a bid to create a quality sport-broadcasting experience for Nigerians, leading-media firms, Nigeria Info and Wazobia Max, under the auspices of AIM Group, have been awarded the broadcast rights from the official UEFA-licensed owner in Nigeria, Media Business Solutions (MBS), to freely air the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament across the country.




The competition would be broadcast across Wazobia FM, Arewa Radio, Cool FM Kano, and Wazobia Max both in English and selected local languages, including Pidgin English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, in order to cater for the sporting needs of a wide-spectrum of Nigerians.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/09/nigeria-info-and-wazobia-max-secure-broadcast-rights-for-euro-2020/

With the present development going on in the country, specifically the suspension of social micro-blogging platform, Twitter, many have begun asking young Nigerians to stand up to the occasion and innovatively come up with platform ideas that can fill the vacuum in terms of communication amongst millennials.

Truly, Nigeria is home to some of the brightest tech minds around the world and this is not in doubt as several Nigerians are scattered across the world holding strategic positions in top tech firms like Google and Facebook.
Read more here: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/09/is-nairaland-nigerias-answer-to-search-for-a-home-grown-social-network-solution/

Can we meet you?

My name is Tochukwu Nkwocha. I run a shipping and procurement company called Spreadit Limited and our website is spreaditglobal.com. Yeah, so that's in a nutshell who I am.

Can you tell us a little about your professional background? What were you up to before Spreadit global was birthed?

Well, I studied physics and astronomy at UNN. After NYSC, I became a software programmer. I programmed for about a year or two and then went into sales for a leading software company called Appzone which is a leading software company today. They’ve just raised about $10 million in investment. So I worked with them for a year before I went into entrepreneurship. Of course, I first went into audiobooks. I had an audiobook business where I created audiobooks for most of the big churches in Nigeria like Winners Chapel, MFM, Assemblies of God Church, and so on.

So I was doing audiobooks but at a point, audiobook became quite a tough business because Nigeria is not so much of a knowledge economy. So it wasn’t possible to continue. I was part of the first recipients of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s seed fund of $5000 and from there I started SpreadIt in 2018. I registered the company in January 2018 and we started operations in April. So we are three years old now. So, that has been my journey so far.

 

How has the entrepreneurship journey been for you?

Well like I said it's tough, it's tough anywhere in the world anyway where you are trying to bring anything to life. It all depends on your persistence and belief in what you are pursuing. So for me its been like what any entrepreneur will face. Yes, we’ll say Nigeria has its peculiarities, people always complain about access to funding, well I didn’t have a problem with access to funding because I was my own investor. I didn’t mention that after audio-books, I started distributing music online and also providing content for several websites abroad. I also distribute ebooks, I still distribute music and e-books today. I manage some of the biggest gospel artists today in Africa, online. So somewhat, the monies we were getting from these sources helped us to drive spreadit before it became profitable. This is because it took us about two years of paying salaries, of pushing and pushing, advertising aggressively before we could break even and we became profitable.




So what inspired spreadit?

Well, I also do some speaking. I speak to audiences a lot even though I have slowed down now to focus more on building the business but before this time, I usually have the opportunity to speak to audiences across Nigeria. So I was invited to Aba in 2017, no 2018 January. There’s this programme that is organised by a Pastor in Aba, he reaches out to a lot of people in Aba in January. So I was asked to come and speak to them about opportunities available on the internet for making money. Of course, you know people from the eastern part of the country are known for their Ariaria market where you have to go physically.

Read the concluding part here: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/03/tochukwu-nkwocha-empowering-small-businesses-one-shipment-at-a-time/

This Friday, the Federal Government via the Ministry of Information and Culture announced it had suspended indefinitely, the operations of social micro-blogging platform, Twitter in Nigeria.

Below is the full text of the statement signed by Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant To The President (Media) Office of the Minister of Information and Culture Abuja and posted on its Twitter handle:

FG Suspends @Twitter Operations in Nigeria

The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence.

The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting l Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/04/guess-which-app-funny-tweets-we-saw-on-fgs-twitter-suspension/

Nigeria may soon begin the production of SIM cards and smart phones in the country, and this is going by what the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami says.

According to Pantami, Nigeria now has the capacity to produce about 200 million SIMS yearly.

He made this known during a media briefing organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) professional forum held at the party's national secretariat in Abuja.

According to him, this was besides the country's capacity to produce 60-79 per cent of smartphone components and SIM cards locally.

He said this was besides the country’s capacity to produce 60-70 per cent of smartphone components and SIM cards locally.

Read more at: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/04/production-of-sim-cards-smartphones-to-begin-in-nigeria-isa-pantami/

Telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria has finally implemented a N6.93 service fee for all USSD transactions carried out on it's network.

This is evident as the Telco now informs every subscriber of the fee before proceeding with the transaction, findings by Exclusive Africa reveals.

https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/03/mtn-finally-effects-n6-93-charge-on-ussd-services/

Special Advicer to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has written to defend his principal over his recent comments which has been tagged ‘genocidal’ by Nigerians.

President Buhari had threatened to deal with dissidents ‘in the language they understand’ on Wednesday after he was briefed by INEC chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu on the recent destruction of it’s offices.

Defending the president, Femi Adesina in a post titled, ‘I Suddenly Remembered Why I Fell In Love With The President’s noted that it’s the Presidents duty to seek to protect the country which he swore to do when he was sworn in.

Adesina also mentioned that everyone across the country is affected and has grouse against the system as it is and as such no part of the country is left out.

See the full text of his post below:

https://www.theexclusiveafrica.net/periscope/2021/06/03/president-buhari-is-not-genocidal-and-cannot-be-accused-of-such-adesina-declares-reveals-why-he-loves-the-president/

Ideas get triggered somehow. This is how the idea for The Palms Mall (many Lagosians call it Shoprite because that's the anchor tenant) grabbed Tayo Amusan (gesticulating here), fondly called "Chairman" by his staff, friends and associates - he's chairman, Persianas Group.






He told the story to me, Ifeanyi Mbanefo (in ankara here; and I had last week told a little of his story) and Kunle Adeyemi, the futurist architect who conceptualised and developed the Makoko Floating School ( if you Google this, you'd read more on it).










"Chairman" was returning to Nigeria from a UK trip and he had no luggage. The airline staff was like "are you serious, look behind you and see the mountains of luggage your fellow passengers are checking in." The lady at the counter wondered if he was not a Nigerian until "Chairman" presented his Nigerian passport. One or two people who had excess luggage had approached him to help check in their luggage. (Not sure if he did; we didn't get to that).








He returned to Lagos and not long after, the wife of one of the tenants of Persianas's sprawling estate on Danmole Street, off Idejo, Victoria Island, Lagos, where this meeting took place, lamented to "Chairman" that for six months she had been trying to furnish her apartment without luck: no furniture/interior decoration stores.
Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/02/how-popular-palms-shopping-mall-was-birthed/

Popular supermarket chain, Shoprite now has a new owner. Ketron Investment, a subsidiary of Persia as Investment Limited, on Tuesday announced it's acquisition of the popular brand.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tayo Amusan, chairman, Ketron Investment Limited, said that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission had approved a change of ownership.


“We are thrilled to complete the acquisition of Shoprite, ensuring the continued operations of one of the biggest retail success stories in Nigeria,” he said.


“We look forward to building an even stronger company following our acquisition and are excited about the greater impact we will achieve to the benefit of our customers and other stakeholders now and well into the future.”
Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/06/02/tayo-amusan-meet-the-new-owner-of-shoprite-as-retail-brand-exits-nigeria/

Mobile money payment platform, Paga has announced the launch of a new feature for developers called the Collect API . According to the brand, the Collect API will enable business to initiate a payment request from customers and automatically get notified when the payment request is fulfilled. Such businesses can choose to have payment sent instantly to a bank or mobile money account thus enabling P2P without any customer giving out their bank login details.

With the Collect API function, payer can either pay from any bank or mobile money account, use their card, pay via QR or offline at agent locations.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/28/paga-unveils-collect-api-for-businesses-to-initiate-payments-in-their-applications/

Reactions have trailed the recent report indicating that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation intends to buy a 20% equity stake in the Dangote refinery. The refinery which has been under construction for some years now with its resumption date shifted thrice now has a 2022 date for launch.

The Dangote refinery is reputed to be Africa's biggest and the world's largest single-train plant. According to Thisday, the NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals, Mr. Mustapha Yakubu made the investment plans known at the end of a two-day Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) tagged: “Leveraging Opportunities and Synergies for Post Pandemic Recovery of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.”

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/28/mixed-reactions-trail-nnpcs-move-to-acquire-20-equity-stake-in-dangote-refinery/

On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chef of Army Staff. This followed the unfortunate demise of the former army chief, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru and ten other military personnel in a military aircraft.

Here are 6 things you should know about the new army chief who effectively takes over the command of the fight against Boko Haram:

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/27/6-things-you-should-know-about-the-new-chief-of-army-staff-major-gen-farouk-yahaya/

Tanzanians can conveniently access to to a suite of online content on Mondia's network thanks to partnership agreement between the brand and M-Pesa.

With the growing fintech explosion and digitalisation, many countries are expanding connectivity and access to devices with pressures from COVID-19 shifting more and more customers' focus online. This for many is a welcome development as Tanzanians look for fresh content to consume online.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/27/mondia-pay-partners-tanzanias-vodacom-to-increase-access-to-digital-entertainment/

Nigeria's airspace newest entrant, Green Africa Airways Ltd is already making bold steps as it plans to make its debut flight beginning from June this year and it is winning the hearts of Nigerians.

Founded in 2015, Green Africa Airways is a Nigerian start-up based in Lagos, Nigeria was founded by Babawande Afolabi who is the Chief Executive Officer. It describes itself as a low-cost carrier targeting the Nigerian air travel market.

Read more at: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/27/babawande-afolabi-the-man-behind-green-africa-airways-nigerias-newest-airline/

Educational tech company, uLesson founded by Sim Shagaya is currently hiring for the position of Chief of Staff to the CEO.

According to the company, it seeks for talented individuals who are passionate about media, technology, education, and the African continent to join the team.

Read details here: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/26/hiring-now-chief-of-staff-to-the-ceo-at-ulesson/

Serial entrepreneur and founder of e-commerce platform Konga, Sim Sagaya has announced the launch of a new platform, DevKids.com, a personalized live tutoring service that teaches coding to Grades 4-12. This follows the success so far recorded with his uLesson platform.

Making the announcement via his Twitter handle, Sim says its a platform where kids will be able to explore Scratch, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python. Plus a dive in into cyber security, AI and machine learning.

Read more: https://theexclusiveafrica.net/2021/05/26/ex-konga-ceo-sim-shagaya-announces-launch-of-new-platform-devkids-com/