Mobile tech changing Brands, consumer relations

Nigeria based Digital Media Agency, Terragon Group, is part of the mobile revolutionists who are currently converging in Barcelona Spain, predicting the size and shape of the new world to comeAs different predictions are flying on what to expect with the bursting mobile revolutions, the Nigerian company through its Group MD, visitors at Terragon stand at the ongoing Mobile world congress in Barcelona, Spain visitors at Terragon stand at the ongoing Mobile world congress in Barcelona, Spain, Mr Elo Umeh has added its own voice.

It says that Mobile technology would be the next step in the marketing evolution and a definitive medium that would redefine the way brands interact and engage their target audiences in Africa.

Incidentally, Africa is a continent where over half of its inhabitants will access the internet for the first time on the mobile device.

Umeh’s prediction is based on his observation that the industry is experiencing a tremendous shift in media consumption by the mass market to mobile like never before, especially in Africa which currently accounts for the highest growth of smart phones globally.

He said that “Mobile penetration in Africa is stipulated to be about 80% in 2013 and growing. Right now there are more mobile devices than there are television sets. Mobile and digital services have the potential to generate significant earnings and boost the economies in Africa”.

He added that a recent research by Gartner Inc, specifically predicted that African Telecoms firms would generate over $1.3 billion in mobile advertising revenue alone by 2016.

His deduction was that “the global market for mobile advertising will reach $18 billion in 2014 and grow to $41.9 billion by the end of 2017, which goes to show the potential that mobile advertising has, not only in Africa but globally”.

Terragon is making its debut appearance and is showcasing its three business units at the Mobile World Congress with the aim of showing the Global community the business potential of the African market. Terragon’s focus is on Digital Media Marketing, Mobile Content Aggregation and Marketing as well as Mobile Advertising.

Terragon Group boasts of Africa’s first indigenously owned mobile advertising network Twinpine, which provides a platform for owners of mobile platforms including mobile sites, mobile apps and social networks, to make money from advertisers by serving ads on their various platforms for the African audience. Part of the exhibition from Twinpine includes a demonstration of the first mobile advertising platform custom built for the African consumers with unique value add and specific market solutions for the African continent.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/mobile-tech-changing-brands-consumer-relations/#sthash.MwkEdRF6.dpuf

Nigeria and African video games market

LAGOS (AFP) – It’s a common enough scenario in Nigeria and across Africa: how to get rid of pesky mosquitoes whose buzzing disturbs sleep and whose bites can carry malaria and other diseases.

Two Nigerian start-ups have tapped this — and other aspects and quirks of daily life in Africa — to create online and mobile phone video games that are winning fans around the world.

It’s easy to see why “Mosquito Smasher” — which has earned comparisons to “Angry Birds”, the worldwide mobile app success of recent years — might be a hit.

The graphics are simple, the aim clear and the reward immediate: squash as many of the blood-sucking parasites as possible under your thumb with a satisfying “Splat!”

Another, the highly popular “Okada Ride”, has players guide a motorcycle-taxi driver around roadside street vendors, road-blocks and police in the notorious traffic of Lagos, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 20 million people.

“What I like about Nigerian video games, it’s one: the local content, because it tends to give you that everyday feel,” said Chucks Olloh, 32, a big fan.

“For example the ‘Okada’ hussle, it tells you how you ride on your bike, trying to avoid so many obstacles on your way home or on your way to work,” said the computer programmer from Lagos.

“Two: it’s very simple. All you have to do is to gain as much points as possible and avoid the obstacles.”

- An African flavour -

The worldwide video games industry, worth more than $63 billion (46 billion euros) in 2012, is expected to reach nearly $87 billion in 2017, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a recent study.

And while the African market has not figured prominently on the radar of game developers, the founders of Maliyo — the makers of “Mosquito Smasher” and “Okada Ride” — and Kuluya are hoping to change that.

Both firms were launched about 18 months ago and draw inspiration from life in Lagos. Kuluya — “action” in the Igbo language of southern Nigeria — has already created some 70 games.

It hopes to reach one million mobile telephone users by the end of June and has fans well beyond Nigeria’s borders.

“In Africa, we have a lot of downloads from Ghana, Kenya and South Africa,” said Lakunle Ogungbamila, who runs Kuluya.

“There was a particular game that a lot of people downloaded in Ethiopia, I’m not sure why. It’s called ‘Ma Hauchi’: it’s a hunter who is shooting vultures. A very simple game…

“Also, we get a lot of downloads from China, India, Thailand, Taiwan.”

- ‘Mobile is massive’ -

Adapting the games to the platforms that Africans use is vital, said Ogungbamila and Maliyo founder Hugo Obi.

Unlike in Europe or the United States, sales of games consoles are low in Africa and there is a preference for playing on-line.

Internet access comes rarely via home broadband hubs but instead — and increasingly — via smartphones.

“Mobile is massive in this part of the world. It has the highest penetration, especially for Internet users. And we are exporting a lot of our games onto mobiles,” Maliyo’s Obi told AFP.

Figures clearly show the trend in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with 170 million residents and nearly 100 million mobile phone users in 2012.

In 2011, it is estimated that 46 million people used Internet, up from 2008 when there were only 11 million Internet users.

Obi, who invented “Mosquito Smasher”, spent 10 years in Britain running a recruitment company before returning home in 2012 to set up his on-line games company.

To share Nigeria’s high operating costs, with daily power cuts the norm and investment in diesel-powered generators a must, his five-member firm shares workspace with eight other companies.

From an office in the Lagos suburb of Yaba, Maliyo now offers 10 free on-line games to some 20,000 users across Nigeria but also in Britain and the United States.

It is preparing to launch smartphone versions of its most popular games.

- Expansion plans -

Kuluya, meanwhile, started with an investment of $250,000 but is now worth an estimated $2 million and employs about a dozen people in its Lagos office.

Sitting behind large Apple Mac screens and armed with giant tablets and light pens, the creative team, all Nigerian, find inspiration from what dominates their daily life but also comb the web for information about other African countries.

Along with the typically Nigerian games, their catalogue now nods to Kenyan culture with the game “Masai” and another called “Matatus”, which features the minibuses that travel around Nairobi. Their “Zulu” game, meanwhile, has clear references to South Africa.

For the moment, Kuluya, which is seeking new investment, earns little money from advertising. Maliyo, for its part, funds itself by creating games for businesses.

The next stage for Kuluya is to introduce payment by text message for more sophisticated versions of its games

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/nigeria-african-video-games-market/#sthash.JxpUmNPd.dpuf

N100m IT centre at Landmark University

A N100m IT centre at Landmark University is been opened by New Horizons 

One of the the leading private owned information technology (IT) training institute, New Horizons Nigeria, at the weekend opened an international IT resource centre valued at over N100 million at Landmark University, Kwara State.
The centre is expected to empower students of the institution with the most sought after IT skills and professional certifications.
At the commissioning ceremony, the Pro Chancellor of Landmark University, Professor Yemi Nathaniel who commissioned the IT resource centre alongside the vice chancellor, Professor Mathew Ajayi; the acting registrar, Dr. Mrs. Rachael Adebayo and many other professors, academic and non-academic staff and students enjoined the students to avail themselves of the opportunities that new Horizons brings to their future.
The vice chancellor who welcomed the New Horizons team led by Mr. Tim Akano, its managing director said the journey to actualise the project began four years ago.
“I want to specially commend the New Horizons team for their tenacity and for not giving up even when things seems not to be going the way they were expecting. I know the impact New Horizons is making Covenant University has been wonderful. “That is why when I resumed here I stated that certified IT professional courses must be part of our curriculum.
“I want our students to take maximum advantage of the opportunities available at the IT resource centre. I believe even if you are studying History with the skills and certification programmes offered by the New Horizons/Landmark University you can work anywhere in the world including the oil industry.” He said the role IT plays higher institutions like Landmark University cannot be overemphasized.
Prof Ajayi said right from inception, the school invested millions of naira in ICT connecting the school’s classrooms, lecture halls, halls of residence and offices with fibre optic cables to provide high speed internet to aid instructions. “Every organisation is seeking competitive advantage; I believe with this partnership with New Horizons, we are in for a good time. We are blessed to have New Horizons.
Tim Akano in his brief speech spoke on how the ICT world is being controlled by young innovators who have founded companies like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. He urged the students to empower themselves with IT professional certifications to be relevant in today’s world.
“You can be self-employed after graduation. You can create your own companies and become employers of labour. Some days ago, Facebook acquired WhatsApp, a messaging company founded by two young people for $19bn, that is about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.”
“Few months ago, Apple Inc. bought a mapping company owned by a young Nigerian by name Chinedu for $1bn. Google also bought a company called WAZE for $1bn. You can begin to do similar innovations by dreaming big” he said. Akano to the elation of the university said he was at Hebrew University, Israel few weeks ago and held discussions on how they can enhance Nigerian higher institutions competencies in agriculture technologies.
He has also held discussion with the Israeli ambassador to Nigeria who has promised to come and deliver a lecture at Landmark University the same topic. He added that New Horizons is committed to improving the skills of the students and lecturers alike. The pro chancellor on his part enjoined the students to make best use of the opportunities available from the partnership urging the students to go out and make names for themselves and the country.

N100m IT centre at Landmark University

A N100m IT centre at Landmark University is been opened by New Horizons 

One of the the leading private owned information technology (IT) training institute, New Horizons Nigeria, at the weekend opened an international IT resource centre valued at over N100 million at Landmark University, Kwara State.
The centre is expected to empower students of the institution with the most sought after IT skills and professional certifications.
At the commissioning ceremony, the Pro Chancellor of Landmark University, Professor Yemi Nathaniel who commissioned the IT resource centre alongside the vice chancellor, Professor Mathew Ajayi; the acting registrar, Dr. Mrs. Rachael Adebayo and many other professors, academic and non-academic staff and students enjoined the students to avail themselves of the opportunities that new Horizons brings to their future.
The vice chancellor who welcomed the New Horizons team led by Mr. Tim Akano, its managing director said the journey to actualise the project began four years ago.
“I want to specially commend the New Horizons team for their tenacity and for not giving up even when things seems not to be going the way they were expecting. I know the impact New Horizons is making Covenant University has been wonderful. “That is why when I resumed here I stated that certified IT professional courses must be part of our curriculum.
“I want our students to take maximum advantage of the opportunities available at the IT resource centre. I believe even if you are studying History with the skills and certification programmes offered by the New Horizons/Landmark University you can work anywhere in the world including the oil industry.” He said the role IT plays higher institutions like Landmark University cannot be overemphasized.
Prof Ajayi said right from inception, the school invested millions of naira in ICT connecting the school’s classrooms, lecture halls, halls of residence and offices with fibre optic cables to provide high speed internet to aid instructions. “Every organisation is seeking competitive advantage; I believe with this partnership with New Horizons, we are in for a good time. We are blessed to have New Horizons.
Tim Akano in his brief speech spoke on how the ICT world is being controlled by young innovators who have founded companies like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. He urged the students to empower themselves with IT professional certifications to be relevant in today’s world.
“You can be self-employed after graduation. You can create your own companies and become employers of labour. Some days ago, Facebook acquired WhatsApp, a messaging company founded by two young people for $19bn, that is about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.”
“Few months ago, Apple Inc. bought a mapping company owned by a young Nigerian by name Chinedu for $1bn. Google also bought a company called WAZE for $1bn. You can begin to do similar innovations by dreaming big” he said. Akano to the elation of the university said he was at Hebrew University, Israel few weeks ago and held discussions on how they can enhance Nigerian higher institutions competencies in agriculture technologies.
He has also held discussion with the Israeli ambassador to Nigeria who has promised to come and deliver a lecture at Landmark University the same topic. He added that New Horizons is committed to improving the skills of the students and lecturers alike. The pro chancellor on his part enjoined the students to make best use of the opportunities available from the partnership urging the students to go out and make names for themselves and the country.

N100m IT centre at Landmark University

A N100m IT centre at Landmark University is been opened by New Horizons 

One of the the leading private owned information technology (IT) training institute, New Horizons Nigeria, at the weekend opened an international IT resource centre valued at over N100 million at Landmark University, Kwara State.
The centre is expected to empower students of the institution with the most sought after IT skills and professional certifications.
At the commissioning ceremony, the Pro Chancellor of Landmark University, Professor Yemi Nathaniel who commissioned the IT resource centre alongside the vice chancellor, Professor Mathew Ajayi; the acting registrar, Dr. Mrs. Rachael Adebayo and many other professors, academic and non-academic staff and students enjoined the students to avail themselves of the opportunities that new Horizons brings to their future.
The vice chancellor who welcomed the New Horizons team led by Mr. Tim Akano, its managing director said the journey to actualise the project began four years ago.
“I want to specially commend the New Horizons team for their tenacity and for not giving up even when things seems not to be going the way they were expecting. I know the impact New Horizons is making Covenant University has been wonderful. “That is why when I resumed here I stated that certified IT professional courses must be part of our curriculum.
“I want our students to take maximum advantage of the opportunities available at the IT resource centre. I believe even if you are studying History with the skills and certification programmes offered by the New Horizons/Landmark University you can work anywhere in the world including the oil industry.” He said the role IT plays higher institutions like Landmark University cannot be overemphasized.
Prof Ajayi said right from inception, the school invested millions of naira in ICT connecting the school’s classrooms, lecture halls, halls of residence and offices with fibre optic cables to provide high speed internet to aid instructions. “Every organisation is seeking competitive advantage; I believe with this partnership with New Horizons, we are in for a good time. We are blessed to have New Horizons.
Tim Akano in his brief speech spoke on how the ICT world is being controlled by young innovators who have founded companies like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. He urged the students to empower themselves with IT professional certifications to be relevant in today’s world.
“You can be self-employed after graduation. You can create your own companies and become employers of labour. Some days ago, Facebook acquired WhatsApp, a messaging company founded by two young people for $19bn, that is about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.”
“Few months ago, Apple Inc. bought a mapping company owned by a young Nigerian by name Chinedu for $1bn. Google also bought a company called WAZE for $1bn. You can begin to do similar innovations by dreaming big” he said. Akano to the elation of the university said he was at Hebrew University, Israel few weeks ago and held discussions on how they can enhance Nigerian higher institutions competencies in agriculture technologies.
He has also held discussion with the Israeli ambassador to Nigeria who has promised to come and deliver a lecture at Landmark University the same topic. He added that New Horizons is committed to improving the skills of the students and lecturers alike. The pro chancellor on his part enjoined the students to make best use of the opportunities available from the partnership urging the students to go out and make names for themselves and the country.