Technology
Nigeria Among Top 20 Finalists for Jack Ma Netpreneur Prize
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria, alongside 13 other African countries, is among the top 20 finalists for the Jack Ma Foundation-promoted prize for entrepreneurs across the continent to showcase the best of their entrepreneurial spirit and drive for a chance to enter the Top 10 at the grand finale.
The 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) prize competition, a flagship philanthropic program established by the Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI), has shortlisted the top 20 entrepreneurs who now have a chance to become one of the 10 entrepreneurs entering the grand finale, and competing for their share of the $1.5 million prize pool.
The top 20 entrepreneurs have come a long way from the pool of over 22,000 applications that ABH garnered from all 54 African nations earlier this year.
The organisers lauded the level of female representation, which stood at 55 per cent and noted that the average age of the group is 34. They represent 11 key sectors and industries of the African economy, such as agriculture, fashion, education, healthcare, manufacturing, e-commerce, renewable energy, financial services, food & beverage services, retail, transportation, and span 14 countries (Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe).
Speaking on the initiative, Mr Jason Pau, Senior Advisor for International Programs with the Jack Ma Foundation, said “As we approach the final phases of the 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes competition, I am incredibly impressed by the talent and energy of the entrepreneurs we have met during the selection process.
“This is no surprise though, as we are aware of the strength of the entrepreneurial spirit of Africa and the unique drive of businesswomen and businessmen in the continent. This strengthens, even more, the commitment of the Jack Ma Foundation to spotlight today and tomorrow’s African entrepreneurs, supporting them while they build successful businesses and positively impact their local communities”.
On Tuesday, August 18, the top 20 Africa’s Business Heroes finalists had the opportunity to participate in a second virtual Bootcamp, a unique event to exchange and learn from inspiring personalities from the African entertainment, sports and entrepreneurship scene – including Ms Anita Erskine, UN SDG Advocate and ANPI’s Brand Ambassador and Official Host of “Africa’s Business Heroes” program; NBA Hall of Fame inductee and philanthropist Mr Dikembe Mutombo; Mr Sean Tong, Partner at Boyu Capital Advisory and Jack Ma Foundation’s Board Member; and the top three finalists from last year’s debut edition of ABH, Ms Temie Giwa-Tubosun, Mr Omar Sakr and Ms Christelle Kwizera.
Speakers at the Bootcamp webinar reminded candidates that despite the current unprecedented circumstances, entrepreneurs who can adapt, be flexible and react quickly will also be able to unlock opportunities. Discipline, passion and dedication are also essential elements to accomplish any dream and goal.
Moving forward in the competition, solid communications and storytelling will also be crucial for the finalists to illustrate their business in a compelling and clear way, bringing to life the values that set their business apart and create a positive impact on their communities and across Africa.
Highlighting the investor point of view, Mr Sean Tong emphasized that a great vision should always come with a relentless pursuit of excellence and execution.
He added: “I am very excited to see the excellent quality of the business projects at Africa’s Business Heroes this year, and the remarkable dedication and passion these entrepreneurs have put into turning them into successful and investable enterprises.
“While progressing through the competition, it will be very important for the candidates to demonstrate even more clearly the viability of their ventures and how they are able to match their vision with sustainability and profitability. I wish them all the best of luck on this journey and beyond – they are already Africa’s Business Heroes”.
The candidates will now progress to the semi-final stage of the competition and will face even more intense scrutiny from a 7-judge panel, which will test the solidity of their business plans, their motivation and vision, and ability to clearly articulate why the ground-breaking nature of their ideas can solve pressing problems and catalyse change for society, inspiring others to do the same.
The semi-final judges have been selected from amongst leading entrepreneurs, VCs and start-up accelerators, and distinguished public figures in Africa.
The selection process to spotlight the 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes finalists will continue over the next few weeks. Following the semi-final pitch, the top 10 finalist roster will be revealed in the next few months.
ABH will culminate in a grand finale show later this year, where the ten finalists will take the stage to pitch to business mavens, including Messrs Jack Ma, Joe Tsai, and Strive Masiyiwa.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, OpenAI, on Monday announced that it closed one of the largest private funding rounds in history to boost AI research.
According to a blog post on the company’s website, OpenAI raised $40 billion in a round that values the company at $300 billion.
Japan’s SoftBank led the round, with other participants including Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive, all of which are earlier backers in the outfit.
OpenAI said it plans to use the fresh capital to “push the frontiers of AI research even further” and scale its compute infrastructure, according to the blog post.
“[This new capital] enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week,” OpenAI wrote in the blog post.
“We’re excited to be working in partnership with SoftBank Group — few companies understand how to scale transformative technology like they do.”
About $18 billion of the funding is expected to be used for OpenAI’s commitment to Stargate.
Recall that the joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle was announced by President Donald Trump in January.
The initial funding will be $10 billion, followed by the remaining $30 billion by the end of 2025, the person said. But the round comes with a caveat.
SoftBank said in an updated disclosure that its total investment could be slashed to as low as $20 billion if OpenAI doesn’t restructure into a for-profit entity by December 31.
This come amid pressure on OpenAI to pull off the for-profit conversion, a plan that will need the blessing of Microsoft and the California Attorney General, and has been challenged in court by Mr Elon Musk, who was one of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, when it was started as a non-profit research lab.
The company’s current and unusual hybrid structure includes a capped-profit limited partnership created in 2019. The original nonprofit is the controlling shareholder and would be spun out as an independent entity if the company can restructure.
OpenAI’s venture backers have received convertible notes that would turn into equity.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Stakeholders in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria have resolved to establish a working group dedicated to addressing key industry challenges, including the vandalization and theft of infrastructure, arbitrary shutdown of base stations, fibre cuts due to road construction and the denial of access by unauthorized individuals by leveraging technology for real-time monitoring and protection, strengthening security measures around telecommunication sites and collaborating more with the security and regulatory agencies to mitigate these challenges.
This followed extensive deliberations at an event organised by IHS Nigeria, part of the IHS Holding Limited, to develop a multi-stakeholder action plan for the protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) assets in Lagos State.
The stakeholders underscored the need to prioritize deterrence and prevention of these incidents and highlighted the importance of public awareness campaigns to sensitize the host communities and public of the need to protect telecommunications infrastructure in their localities.
“The protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) has been a critical concern for all industry stakeholders.
“We are experiencing daily losses of assets, which significantly impact on the quality of service delivered to subscribers.
“Addressing these issues is paramount to sustaining Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and meeting regulatory expectations,” the Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Services Officer of HIS Nigeria, Mr Dapo Otunla, stated.
Recognizing the importance of communications infrastructure as the backbone of national security, economic growth and social cohesion, the stakeholders at the meeting convened under the umbrella of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) agreed on the urgent need for collaborative solutions to ensure the protection of these vital assets.
The meeting was attended by senior representatives from the telecommunications stakeholder groups and regulatory bodies, including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA).
Also in attendance were representatives from the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and InfraCos as well as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the security agency tasked with the protection of Critical National Infrastructure across the country.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Two of the major telecommunications companies in Africa, Airtel Africa Plc and MTN Group, have entered into agreements to share network infrastructure in Uganda and Nigeria.
The idea behind this is to cost operating costs and improve network coverage for quality mobile services to millions of customers, particularly in remote areas.
However, this would be carried out in compliance with local regulatory and statutory requirements.
The initiative is part of a growing global trend toward network sharing. By collaborating, telecoms operators can explore innovative and pro-competitive solutions to improve service quality while managing costs more effectively.
The sharing of infrastructure has the potential to enable the delivery of world-class, reliable mobile services to more and more customers across Africa.
Already, MTN and Airtel Africa are exploring various opportunities in other markets, including Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda and Zambia.
Among the types of agreements considered are RAN sharing and those aimed at establishing commercial and technical agreements for fibre infrastructure sharing and, if necessary, the construction of fibre networks.
“As we compete fiercely in the market on the strength of our brand, services and our offerings we are building common infrastructure, within the permissible regulatory framework, to provide a more robust and extensive digital highway to drive digital and financial inclusion at the same time avoiding duplication of expensive infrastructure to drive operational efficiencies and benefits for our customers,” the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Sunil Taldar, said.
His counterpart at MTN Group, Mr Ralph Mupita, while commenting on the development, said, “As MTN, we are driven by the vision of delivering digital solutions that drive Africa’s progress.
“We continue to see strong structural demand for digital and financial services across our markets. To meet this demand, we continue to invest in coverage and capacity to ensure high-quality connectivity for our customers.
“That said, there are opportunities within regulatory frameworks for sharing resources to drive higher efficiencies and improve returns.”
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