Economy

Sage Tutors Customers on Business Solutions

Published

8 years ago

10/03/2017

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Market and technology leader for integrated accounting, payroll & HR, and payment systems, Sage, has underlined its strong commitment to future technologies with a focus on solutions that move business builders closer to a future of invisible admin at Sage Summit Tour in Africa and Middle East at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Sage spoke about how all Sage products will be connected to the cloud, with new mobile, social, chatbot and IoT (Internet of Things) offerings in the pipeline for the entire product portfolio. It also highlighted a vision to empower business builders around the world to automate back-office functions, where accounting is invisible.

Sage used the Sage Summit Tour to discuss key product launches and developments. These include Sage Live, Sage One Payroll in East Africa and West Africa, the Sage X3 Fast Start configuration and more.

Users got to see new technology in action, such as Pegg the smart bot from Sage that helps you to track and manage expenses. These technologies allow businesses to automate processes, improve efficiency and become more agile.

“We want to enable entrepreneurs and business builders to spend less time on admin and more time on growing their businesses, developing innovative products and interacting with their customers,” said Anton van Heerden, Managing Director and Executive Vice-President, Africa & Middle East at Sage. “Using the latest cloud technologies, we are focusing on addressing the immediate challenges our customers are facing today.”

In his keynote speech, Sage CEO Stephen Kelly, outlined a bold vision for a world of invisible accounting, powered by the cloud, bots and mobile technology. “Artificial intelligence is the game changer for the next decade. Technology has made accounting business solutions much smarter, with admin capabilities that manage your business, enabling you to get on with your business and follow your dreams,” he said.

A panel discussion on the future of work saw industry experts explore the implications of automation alongside Sage experts.

The accelerating pace of change and innovation means humans face an uncertain future and participants debated the challenges and opportunities this presents to leaders and organisations. Panel moderator Vincent Hofmann, Director of Inquisition, concluded that while automation will surely replace many of the routine tasks that we do at work there is a case for optimism: new industries, new jobs will be created and people will be encouraged to refocus their time on creative problem solving and deriving more fulfilment from work. The recording of the discussion will be available next week as a podcast in Sage’s Invisible Admin podcast series.

Other speakers at the conference also issued a clarion call for digital transformation to businesses in Africa and the Middle East. “Don’t be a digital dinosaur. Never use the phrase ‘in my day’. If you’re alive, it’s your day,” said Nick Goode, ‎Executive Vice President, Product Management at Sage.

Justin Spratt, Head of Business, Sub-Saharan Africa at Uber and Luke McKend, Country Director at Google South Africa both highlighted how growing connectivity are disrupting the world and creating new entrepreneurial opportunities.

“We need to take advantage of the fact that we’re more connected than ever, all the time,” said McKend, while Spratt pointed out that there will be mobile penetration of 90% by the end of 2017.

To thrive in this environment, every business should see itself as a tech company, said Gil Oved, co-founder and co-CEO of The Creative Counsel.

“Those who are crazy and brave enough to think they can change the world are the ones who actually do,” he added.

“Technologies such as the cloud, mobility and artificial intelligence are all unlocking innovation, driving better performance and helping the region’s businesses to become more competitive,” said Van Heerden. “Sage will provide business builders with ‘invisible accounting’ so they can focus on following their visions and changing the world.”

Economy

Aradel Holdings Acquires Equity Stake in Chappal Energies

Published

3 seconds ago

11/12/2024

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A minority equity stake in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited has been acquired by a Nigerian energy firm, Aradel Holdings Plc.

This deal came a few days after Chappal Energies purchased a 53.85 per cent equity stake in Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited (ENEC).

Chappal Energies went into the deal with Equinor to take part in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitised 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron.

Since production started in 2008, the Agbami field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, creating value for Nigerian society and various stakeholders.

As part of the deal, Chappal will assume the operatorship of OML 129, which includes several significant prospects and undeveloped discoveries (Nnwa, Bilah and Sehki).

The Nnwa discovery is part of the giant Nnwa-Doro field, a major gas resource with significant potential to deliver value for Nigeria.

In a separate transaction, on July 17, 2024, Chappal and Total Energies sealed an SPA for the acquisition by Chappal of 10 per cent of the SPDC JV.

The relevant parties to this transaction are working towards closing out this transaction and Ministerial Approval and NNPC consent to accede to the Joint Operating Agreement have been obtained.

“This acquisition is in line with diversifying our asset base, deepening our gas competencies and gaining access to offshore basins using low-risk approaches.

“We recognise the strategic role of gas in Nigeria’s energy future and are happy to expand our equity holding in this critical resource.

“We are committed to the cause of developing the significant value inherent in the assets, which will be extremely beneficial to the country.

“Aradel hopes to bring its proven execution competencies to bear in supporting Chappal’s development of these opportunities,” the chief executive of Aradel Holdings, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated.

Economy

Afriland Properties Lifts NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.04%

Published

4 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.

As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.

But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.

The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.

During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.

However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.

Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.

Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,542/$1 as FX Speculators Dump Dollars in Panic

Published

4 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira continued to appreciate on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), gaining 0.7 per cent or N10.23 on Tuesday, December 10 to trade at N1,542.27/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.50/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market has been attributed as the source of the Naira’s appreciation.

Speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency. This is forcing them to dump greenback into the system and take the domestic currency alternative- a move that has seen available FX increase.

Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading day by N6.81 to sell for N1,955.12/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,961.93/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.84 to close at N1,613.00/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,623.84/€1.

Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex transactions significantly increased yesterday by $228.85 million or 257.2 per cent to $401.17 million from the preceding session’s $112.32 million.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to settle at N1,625/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,620/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to sell at $0.39116, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at $110.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 2.3 per cent to $681.44, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.6 per cent to finish at $3,671.08, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.5 per cent to $0.8837

Conversely, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 5.4 per cent to $2.23 amid a continued shift for the coin with its parent company seeing the benefits of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.

XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company targeted by the SEC in 2020 on allegations of selling the token as a security to U.S. investors. Ripple fully cleared a long-drawn court case in 2024.

Further, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $219.75, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.4 per cent to $97,446.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.