The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has imposed fresh sanctions on Niger Republic, following the expiration of the 7-day deadline issued to the military junta by the bloc.

The fresh sanctions announced by the presidential spokesperson Njuri Ngeale, come before the August 10 meeting scheduled by ECOWAS to deliberate on the next line of action to take.

Following the coup in Niger Republic, ECOWAS, backed by Western leaders issued a 7-day ultimatum to the junta to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or risk sanctions with potential military action.

However, the coup plotters disregarded ECOWAS’ warnings and asserted their determination to oppose any external interference within their borders.

They also cut diplomatic relations with Nigeria, Togo, France, and the United States, while imposing an indefinite closure of Nigerien airspace. Their defiance amid overwhelming antiwar calls forced ECOWAS to seek a new approach.

Ngeale, said Tuesday while addressing State House correspondents that more sanctions had been imposed on the individuals and entities relating to the military junta. According to him, the new sanctions are being imposed through the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said without giving details: “I can also report that following the expiration of the deadline of the ultimatum and standing on the preexisting consensus position of financial sanctions meted out on the military junta in Niger Republic by the bloc of ECOWAS Heads of State, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an additional sway of financial sanctions through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on entities and individuals related to or involved with the military junta in Niger Republic.”

“The ECOWAS mandate and ultimatum is not a Nigerian ultimatum. It is not a Nigerian mandate and the office of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also serving as the chairman of ECOWAS seeks to emphasize this point. That is due to certain domestic and international media coverage, tending toward personalization of the ECOWAS sub-regional position to his Person and to our nation individually.

“It is because of this that Mr. President has deemed it necessary to state unequivocally that the mandate and ultimatum by issued ECOWAS is that of ECOWAS’s position. While His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assumed the ECOWAS chairmanship, the position of ECOWAS conveys the consensus position of member heads of state. And a coup will not occur in one’s backyard, without one being particularly aware of it.

“The president in recent days, particularly following the expiration of the ultimatum given by ECOWAS has widened consultations internationally but most especially domestically, including interfaces with state governors in Nigeria, who govern states bordering Niger Republic on the various fallouts and outcomes of the unfortunate situation that has unfolded in Niger Republic.

“But President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, wishes to emphasize to this distinguished audience that the response of ECOWAS to the military coup in Niger has been and will remain devoid of ethnic and religious sentiments and considerations.

“The regional bloc is made up of all sub regional ethnic groups, religious groups, and all other forms of human diversity. And the response of ECOWAS, therefore, represents all of these groups, and not any of these groups individually.”

Meanwhile, the junta, ignoring the drum of sanctions, is constituting a new government. A former Minister of Economy and Finance Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine has been named Niger Republic‘s new Prime Minister.

He was officially appointed by the self-proclaimed Head of State, Abdourahmane Tiani, according to an announcement made by a spokesperson for the military junta via a late-night television statement on Monday.

The freshly appointed Prime Minister previously held a position in the cabinet of then-President Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted by the nation’s military in 2010.

Zeine assumes the role, succeeding Mahamadou Ouhoumoudou, who happened to be in Europe during the coup.

In addition, the junta has designated Amadou Didilli to lead the nation’s High Authority for Peace Consolidation (HACP), while Abou Tague Mahamadou has been selected as the inspector-general overseeing the army and national gendarmerie.

Ibro Amadou Bachirou takes on the role of the Chief of Staff for the junta leader’s private office, and Habibou Assoumane is appointed as the commander of the presidential guard.

Tiani, until his new role as Niger’s head of state, had led the presidential guard which had held democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum hostage since July 26.

WhatsApp is coming after Zoom: ”WhatsApp today introduced screen sharing as its latest feature to enhance the video calling experience on its platform — taking on traditional video conferencing apps including Microsoft Meet, Google Meet, and Zoom as well as Apple’s FaceTime.” 

Yet, I do not think this is significant as I am not sure I have used WhatsApp video in the last 6 months! So, Zoom should be fine. But what Zoom may not be fine is that WhatsApp Video may not be great to be successful.  Yes, provided that it keeps WhatsApp users to stay within the ecosystem, that will do.

This is the new strategy in bigtech: you try to offer everything so that you can keep your customers, with the understanding that the most important product feature is that many people use it. Period, that is the job to be done. 

I used to use Dropbox but when Microsoft provided OneDrive which is not as great as Dropbox, but with its core features being bundled with Microsoft 365, I had to cancel Dropbox for Microsoft. WhatsApp does not want to lose any business subscriber because of screen share, and today it has that as part of the product!

In the industrial economy, they taught us core competency. In the age of bigtech, it is ALL competency because everyone is doing everything, if not now, wait for tomorrow.

The new feature, announced this morning by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg through a Facebook post and on his Instagram channel, will allow you to share your documents, photos, and even your shopping cart with contacts available on video calls.

First released for some beta testers on Android in late May, screen sharing on WhatsApp can be accessed by tapping or clicking the ‘Share’ icon. Users can choose between sharing a specific app or their entire screen. This is similar to how screen sharing works on typical video conferencing platforms like Google Meet and Zoom.

https://twitter.com/elviscumez/status/1689002707384930306

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: As technology advances and companies expand their offerings, the concept of core competency has shifted. In the age of big tech, it’s about all-encompassing competency, where companies excel in multiple areas and cater to diverse user needs. Adaptability is crucial in an environment where technological advancements and user preferences change rapidly.

Comment 2: I think this new development by Mark will eat into Zoom’s Obtainable and addressable market. Small groups would no longer have to patronize Zoom with the desire to evade Zoom’s 40mins access limit.

The fact that we have WhatsApp Web should give Zoom more worries. It would become a game changer if this innovation is made totally free, and like Google Meet, introduce premium access either in number of participants or duration.

Recording, storage, security etc would become some crucial elements that WhatsApp must consider if it desires to disrupt the market.

He who has the data wins always!

Comment 3: I’ve been using the screen share feature on my mobile for about a month now and I don’t think it’s such a big deal. I mean, what are the chances that I need to show someone my screen while on a video call with them.
However, I think the feature can make a reasonable impact on their desktop version.

Comment 4: “Interesting perspective, Ndubuisi! While WhatsApp may be targeting Zoom, it’s true that customer habits play a crucial role in adoption. All competency is indeed the hallmark in the age of big tech. Can’t wait to see how this feature develops.”