By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Some routers loaded with 100GB of data and a two-month roll-over access fee have been donated to a government-owned secondary school in Lagos, Kuramo College, by employees of Airtel Nigeria.

The items were given to the school by Airtel employees under the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Employee Volunteer Scheme Initiative.

The routers, specifically donated by the Airtel Information and Technology team, are expected to aid digital learning in the school and boost the knowledge of the students.

“Airtel aims to empower young minds by equipping them with the connectivity to imagine and unlock a world of knowledge and opportunities.

“For Airtel, it is no longer about being a smartphone network but giving people a reason to imagine so that people can explore the possibilities powered by technology and connectivity.

“The world is evolving; young Nigerians now have access to unlimited possibilities and can now create their job titles and descriptions, which is why we now have YouTubers, social media Influencers and the likes,” the Director of Information and Technology at Airtel Nigeria, Mr Seun Solanke, said.

He encouraged the students to maximize the provision of connectivity to back up their future imaginations with the right information and resources to ensure a bright future.

The activities under the Airtel Nigeria Employee Volunteer Scheme, said Airtel management, aligns with the company’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in the country and enabling students to leverage the power of the internet, as the distribution of routers with data plans will ensure that students have uninterrupted access to educational resources, research materials, and online learning platforms, regardless of their socio-economic background.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

More and more people are embracing the products of Zoho Corporation, a leading global technology company, as the company now boasts more than 90 million users across more than 600,000 global businesses of all sizes.

Also, the organisation has recorded a three-year CAGR of 65 per cent in mid-market and enterprise segments, representing one-third of the entire business.

This is because of the steady upmarket growth Zoho is recording across the Middle East and Africa region, with its seventh office in Nairobi, Kenya, officially launched.

It was observed that Zoho is witnessing an uptick due to its investments in go-to-market services, new products, platform extensibility, privacy and security to improve the customer experience and enable success.

The Country Manager for Zoho Nigeria, Mr Kehinde Ogundare, said, “With our strong DNA as a technology platform company, we have been able to steadily improve our maturity and readiness for large organisations by investing in adjacent areas.”

“Our humble roots in SMB have helped us systematically build powerful software with strong everyday usability.

“Across our products, extensibility, usability, packaging, and go-to-market approach, Zoho aims to be the simplest enterprise software vendor in the market,” he added.

Speaking further, he said, “Today’s announcement serves as a testament to that goal, helping our customers adopt more of our software, add new capabilities, extend our platform to suit their granular workflows and get ready for the future.

“Whether customers buy our software for one department or the entire organisation, one workflow or a collection of customer journeys, the experience with Zoho will be far simpler than with any other large vendor.”

Zoho said it aims to expand EBS across skills, industry depth, and regional presence to help enterprise businesses manage their technology stack better in today’s economic climate. EBS provides expertise to large organisations across solutions engineering, account management, and customer success.

The platform accepts payment in over 15 currencies worldwide, facilitating global procurement efforts for enterprise organisations with regional operations through unified multi-currency invoicing.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Lagos Leather Fair, a platform created to showcase leather designers and the potential value of the leather industry in Nigeria and Africa, has announced dates for the 2023 edition.

In its sixth year, Lagos Leather Fair has consistently maintained its leading position as the driving force behind the realization of the untapped opportunities in the Nigerian leather ecosystem and Africa.

Themed Staying Ahead: Creativity | Collaboration | Commitment, this year’s edition will take place from June 17-18 at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Leather Fair will bring together indigenous brands, emerging and established designers, as well as international brands to showcase their products and services to the defined audience.

Lagos Leather Fair 2023 will also be launching the LLF Accelerator Programme — a mentoring design and development programme where six selected leather brands – 3 in footwear and 3 in handbags, will grow and strengthen their skills and acquire critical knowledge with the help of entrepreneurs who possess the relevant industry experience.

Speaking on the announcement of LLF2023, the founder of Lagos Leather Fair, Mr Femi Olayebi, said, “The annual celebration of Lagos Leather Fair is a proof point of our unflinching commitment towards finding sustainable solutions to scale the African leather industry and ensure that the Made-in-Nigeria Project and Zero-Oil Initiative becomes a reality.

“For over five years, we have created an enabling environment for key players to maximise the potential of the leather industry; we are delighted about LLF2023 and look forward to the significant impact it will make in Nigeria and across Africa.”

LLF2023 will feature a series of engaging conversations and masterclasses where selected speakers will be available to share insights on relevant and key topics that affect the African leather industry while featuring a well-curated series of workshops for creatives.

These workshops will focus on the techniques and fundamentals of shoemaking and on growth and marketing strategies with the aid of social media using case studies. A very special workshop – Cracking Global Markets: How African Brands can go from Local to Global – is also being organised for twenty-five (25) selected brands. This workshop will be facilitated by an International fashion and retail consultancy.

In addition, LLF2023 will feature Pitch-A-LeatherBiz, a pitching session where Individual brands will pitch their business ideas to prospective investors before an audience. Lagos Leather Fair will also be introducing LLF Awards, aimed at recognising excellence and innovation and honouring outstanding leather designers.

For about six years, Lagos Leather Fair has had a significant impact on the Nigerian leather industry, which is the third largest in Africa after South Africa and Ethiopia.

The platform has impacted relevant stakeholders through its engaging conversations, creative workshops, product exhibitions, and runway presentations.

In 2022, LLF celebrated five years of transformative existence and significant impact in the African Leather Industry. The Fair also initiated West Africa’s first-ever digital leather exhibition, LLF Digital, in 2020 to leverage growing cross-border connections and broaden the platform for participating brands.

Lagos Leather Fair remains committed to providing a solution-based platform for leather designers and other relevant players along the leather value chain in Nigeria and across Africa.