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Alibaba Cloud Revamps Global Partnership Ecosystem to Fuel AI-driven Growth

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New AI-focused initiatives with an enhanced incentive program, an AI partner accelerator program and revitalized service partner strategy to support global partners and customers

BALI, INDONESIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 December 2024 – Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group today announced the launch of its revamped AI-focused partner ecosystem plan, known as “Alibaba Cloud Partner Rainforest Plan” during the Alibaba Cloud Partner Summit 2024 through a series of new initiatives including an AI partner accelerator program, an enhanced incentive program and a revitalized global strategy for service partners. The initiatives aim to foster the growth of global partners and accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge artificial intelligence and cloud computing solutions for businesses across various industries worldwide.

“At Alibaba Cloud, we believe that collaboration is the key to unlocking innovation and driving growth. Our global partners are not just participants, they are the architects of a new digital landscape in the AI era.” Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence said during the summit, “Today, with our revamped global partner ecosystem, we are committed to supporting our global partners to jointly reap the benefits of AI era and meet the diverse business demand of global customers.”

New AI-focused Partner Ecosystem initiatives

To meet the surging demand for AI technologies from the global customers, Alibaba Cloud debuted AI Alliance Accelerator Program to build a dedicated AI partner ecosystem through collaboration with 50 AI technology partners and 50 channel partners in 2025.

This program offers selected AI technology partners enhanced technical support focused on AI, expanded distribution channels, collaborative go-to-market resources, and dedicated AI consulting services. Meanwhile, chosen channel partners will benefit from increased financial incentives and market development funds for their AI-related initiatives. By leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s AI capabilities and its global technology ecosystem, the initiative aims to enhance partner enablement and accelerate diverse partners’ digital transformation journey. It also seeks to empower global partners to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the AI era, reaching a broader customer base through Alibaba Cloud’s extensive distribution network of channel partners

Alibaba Cloud has also unveiled an enhanced global system for its service partners, introducing the Revitalized Service Partner Program. This initiative focuses on cultivating new service partners by upskilling channel partner and technology partners with targeted training and empowerment, equipping them with necessary capabilities of consulting, implementation and managed services to diversify their revenue stream and deliver a comprehensive service to the customer. It also seeks to empower existing service partners by expanding their offering to include both product reselling and service delivery. Additionally, leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s Generative AI capabilities, the company has collaborated with service partners to jointly develop the Managed Large Language Model Service and other AI-focused services to foster an AI partner ecosystem and address the diverse digital transformation needs of global customers.

Meanwhile, Alibaba Cloud pledged to extend new strategic partnerships with 18 service partners including Whale Cloud, Bespin Global, Cognizant Worldwide, Deloitte, Accenture and FPT out of the existing 50 global standard service partners via enhanced resource sharing and capability complement, aiming to build a comprehensive service system that meets diverse needs of global customers.

In addition, the company also released its Synergistic Incentive Program designed to strengthen the collaboration between its global technology partners and channel partners, fostering a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem. The program introduces an expanded go-to-market pathway, enabling technology partners to boost revenue by leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s extensive channel network while channel partners gain access to a broader product portfolio, increasing sales opportunities and enhancing profit margins. This initiative drives mutual growth and reinforces Alibaba Cloud’s commitment to empowering its partners and nurturing a robust global ecosystem.

Enhanced Collaborations with Global and Regional Partners

In order to support global customers to reap the benefit of digitalization in the AI era. Alibaba Cloud has also announced enhanced collaboration with innovative technology and channel partners, both globally and regionally, to provide cutting-edge cloud computing and AI products and solutions, fostering a thriving and sustainable ecosystem.

In Indonesia Alibaba Cloud has reached a strategic partnership with Telkom Indonesia to provide innovative and effective AI-supported cloud solutions for the Indonesian community. Additionally, this collaboration aims to develop the digital talent increasingly needed in Indonesia to realize the vision of Indonesia Emas 2045.

In Japan: Alibaba Cloud has partnered with Securai, a Japanese company that provides cloud services and information security solutions, to meet the booming digital transformation requests by Japanese businesses. In particular, Securai will localize Alibaba Cloud’s Zstack service for the Japanese market and provide operational support for the stable continuation of the service. Alibaba Cloud’s Zstack is an enterprise-grade cloud platform designed specifically for enterprise customers based on the Apsara distributed operating system for enhanced self-ownership, security compliance, and autonomous O&M.

In Thailand: Alibaba Cloud signed a MoU with Yell Group, a leading creative digital company based in Thailand. This collaboration aims to address the growing demand for Generative AI and to empower the creative media industry with scalable and reliable cloud-based solutions. Leveraging cutting-edge Generative AI, the company develops applications to support creators in their visual endeavors. To promote industry-wide adoption of AI-driven solutions, Yell Group will utilize Alibaba Cloud’s robust cloud computing capabilities to enhance scalability in the creative sector. Additionally, the partnership will introduce Alibaba Cloud’s media solutions, such as Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) and Object Storage Service (OSS), to foster innovation and growth in this dynamic field.

Alibaba Cloud currently works with about 12,000 partners worldwide, including Salesforce, Fortinet, IBM and Neo4j.

Hashtag: #alibaba

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. It offers a complete suite of cloud services to customers worldwide, including elastic computing, database, storage, network virtualization services, large-scale computing, security, big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) services. Alibaba has been named the leading IaaS provider in Asia Pacific by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to Gartner. It has also maintained its position as one of the world’s leading public cloud IaaS service providers since 2018, according to IDC.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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Economy

Subscription for FGN Savings Bonds Opens for March 2026 at 13.9%

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FGN savings bonds

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has asked retail investors interested in investing in the FGN savings bonds to begin to talk to their financial advisers.

This is because subscription for the retail bonds for March 2026 has commenced and will close on Friday, March 6, according to a circular issued by the agency on Monday.

The debt office is selling two tenors of the debt instrument, with the shorter note maturing in two years’ time and the longer maturing a year later.

Details of the notice showed that the two-year paper is being offered at a coupon of 12.906 per cent, and the three-year paper at 13.906 per cent.

Both notes are sold at a unit price of N1,000, with a minimum subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter, subject to a maximum subscription of N50 million. They can be purchased via approved stockbroking firms in Nigeria.

The FGN savings bond qualifies as a security in which trustees may invest under the Trustee Investment Act. It also serves as government securities within the meaning of the Company Income Tax Act (CITA) and the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) for tax exemption for pension funds, amongst other investors.

It can be used as a liquid asset for liquidity ratio calculation for banks, and is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited for trading at the secondary market.

The bond is backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and charged upon the general assets of the country.

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Economy

Nigeria Splits OPL 245 into Four Blocks for Eni, Shell

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OPL 245

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria has broken up the OPL 245 oil block into four new assets to be operated by Eni and Shell, potentially settling the future of the field at the centre of one of the oil industry’s biggest historic corruption trials.

According to Reuters, the agreement clears the way for the development of OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s biggest deepwater reserves that has remained untapped for almost three decades amid overlapping lawsuits in multiple countries.

The final contracts are expected to be signed starting Monday, the report said, citing a source familiar with the situation.

The Nigerian government had signalled for years that it was keen to find a solution that would bring the block into production. The source wished to remain anonymous as they are not authorised to comment on government policy before an official announcement.

Located in the Niger Delta’s deepwaters, the field has languished since its initial award in 1998 to Malabu Oil and Gas, a shadowy firm controlled by Mr Dan Etete, Nigeria’s oil minister at the time. The block is estimated to hold up to 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves—enough to rival Nigeria’s entire proven reserves if fully developed.

Mr Etete controversially awarded the lucrative licence to his own company for a nominal $20 million fee, sparking immediate controversy over conflicts of interest.

The saga escalated in 2011 when Malabu sold its rights to a Shell-Eni joint venture for $1.3 billion.

Italian and Nigerian prosecutors alleged that over $1 billion of that sum was siphoned off through bribes to politicians, middlemen, and Mr Etete himself, including hefty payments to then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s associates.

The two European energy giants and some of their former and current executives, including Eni CEO, Mr Claudio Descalzi, faced trial in Italy but all were acquitted in 2021, having denied all wrongdoing.

Shell and Eni have consistently denied wrongdoing, insisting the payments complied with due diligence.

The anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has pursued parallel probes, recovering over $200 million in frozen funds, but progress stalled amid political shifts.

Operations at the Nigerian oil block have been halted for more than a decade by a series of trials and competing legal claims.

In 2023, the federal government withdrew civil claims totalling $1.1 billion against Eni, ending the long battle.

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Economy

Dangote Refinery, NNPC Raise Petrol Pump Price by N100

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West Africa's petrol imports

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, has been increased by at least N100 per litre at the pump.

This followed the recent increase in the price of crude oil in the global market as a result of the bombardment of Iran by the United States and Israel over the weekend.

The air strikes killed the Supreme Leader of Iran, Mr Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several others.

Iran has responded by firing missiles at US facilities in some Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and others.

Crude oil prices rose to about $80 per barrel on the market from about $70 per barrel before the Middle East crisis.

Oil marketers in Nigeria have responded to the tension and have raised the prices of petroleum products.

At most MRS Oil retail stations in Lagos, the new price notice showed an increase of about N100 per litre.

As of Monday, the price of PMS was N837 per litre, but on Tuesday morning, it had changed to N938 per litre, while at NNPC retail stations, it was N930 per litre instead of the previous N830 per litre.

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