Weeks after the massive looting in South Africa, following riots that greeted the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma, Samsung Electronics has commenced blocking all its looted TV sets.

Samsung South Africa has announced the implementation of a Television Block Function on all Samsung TV sets. The blocking system is intended to be implemented in respect of televisions that have been obtained by users through unlawful means and in some cases, stolen from the Samsung warehouses, the South Korean company said.

TV Block is a remote, security solution that detects if Samsung TV units have been unduly activated, and ensures that the television sets can only be used by the rightful owners with a valid proof of purchase.

The aim of the technology is to mitigate against the creation of secondary markets linked to the sale of illegal goods, both in South Africa and beyond its borders. This technology is already pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products.

“In keeping with our values to leverage the power of technology to resolve societal challenges, we will continuously develop and expand strategic products in our consumer electronics division with defence-grade security, purpose-built, with innovative and intuitive business tools designed for a new world. This technology can have a positive impact at this time, and will also be of use to both the industry and customers in the future, “said Mike Van Lier, Director of Consumer Electronics at Samsung South Africa.

The company said it is committed to re-opening businesses and minimizing the loss of jobs, in line with the plea to #RebuildSouthAfrica. To achieve this aim, Samsung has activated TV Block on all Samsung television sets looted from our Cato Ridge distribution centre in KZN since the 11th of July 2021. Samsung Television Block works as follows:

A TV blocking system has been activated on Samsung television sets stolen from our warehouse

The blocking will come into effect when the user of a stolen television connects to the internet, in order to operate the television

Once connected, the serial number of the television is identified on the Samsung server and the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions

Should a customer’s TV be incorrectly blocked, the functionality can be reinstated once proof of purchase and a valid TV license is shared to serv.manager@samsung.com or click here for more information

“As an organization we acknowledge the critical role in giving our customers and client the peace of mind. Working together, we can overcome the impact of the unprecedented disruption to business, as experienced by many of us recently. We will continue to review the situation and will make adjustments as necessary to ensure business continuity for all, “concludes Van Lier.

The approach has been applauded as a smart way to dissuade rioters from vandalizing electronics shops in the future. It is expected that other electronics companies that were affected by the riot follow the steps of Samsung.

We are very sorry for scheduling issues for this webinar. We started it very late and will redo it next week as follows. It was planned for 90 minutes and we want to have the full time to deliver it.

• Topic: African Empires of the Future: Path to the Castles
• Presenter: Ndubuisi Ekekwe
• Date: Saturday, Sept 4, 2021
• Time: 2.30pm WAT
• Zoom link:  use this link (Only the first 100 will be on Zoom. Other members will watch via a webcast we will synch here via YouTube)

Statement on Lateness : Good People, let me apologize for the breakdown in our programming today. We scheduled an open webinar today (Aug 28) at 4.30pm WAT but someone I did not make it. My team mistakenly logged the time as 4.30pm my US time in Calendly. Sure, it was all my fault.

By the time I was alerted, I got there 90 minutes late. Yet,  many were still waiting. We began, but I stopped the event since completing the 90-minute presentation would have taken all the Saturdays from families. The event is now rescheduled as as noted above.

Again, my apologies.

Webinar Overview

Digital technology is facilitating the process of socio-economic development in nations. It has offered new ways of exchanging information, and transacting businesses, efficiently and cheaply. It has also changed the dynamic natures of financial, supply chain and many industries, and provided better means of using the human and institutional capabilities of countries in both the public and private sectors.

Increasingly, this technology is rapidly moving nations towards knowledge-based economic structures and information societies, comprising networks of individuals, firms and states that are linked electronically and in interdependent global relationships. This remarkable success has cushioned advancements across many industrial sectors, accelerating productivities, and redesigning economic architectures. New species of firms are born and new empires are emerging!

Ndubuisi Ekekwe will examine how this transformation is powering African empires of the future. He will also explain the path into the castles on how people, firms and nations can capture value.

Images from the mechanical assembly factory. We call it Cloud Hospital and what we are doing is to make it possible to set up a “hospital” in hours. LaFiya TeleHealth Kiosk takes geography out of healthcare services. If your Abuja doctor had moved to Saudi Arabia (you can add Australia, UK, Canada, etc), with Lafiya in your church, mosque, Wuse market, office, etc, he/she can still support you with capabilities to do diagnostics, etc in real time. We did three core things: satellite connectivity, solar power, and proprietary healthtech engines.

We loaded this device with the following, among others:

• 12 lead ECG, URT (Urine Routine) & GLU (Glucose).
•  UA (Uric Acid) & Blood Lipid (TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, TCHO).
•  Non-invasive Blood Pressure (NIBP) & Infrared Forehead TEMP.
•  Pulse Oximeter/SPO2, Heart Rate (HR) & Pulse Rate (PR).
•  GLU (Blood Glucose) & UA (Uric Acid).
•  GLU Strip 50pcs/bottle & UA Strip – 50pcs/bottle.
•  Urine Analyzer & 11 items urine test strip 100pcs/bottle.
•  Dry Biochemical Analyzer & Blood lipid strip 15pcs/bottle & Adapter.
•  Hemoglobin Analyzer & HB strip 50pcs/bottle.
•  WBC Analyzer & WBC strip 100pcs/bottle for 100 persons..
•  ETC

We designed originally for Africa but US states like Texas, Mississippi, Indiana, etc are ordering. We need the doctors to stay in Nigeria/Africa, and let me assure that we can use technology to deepen productivity and pay those which remain better.  Yes, we can triple their benefits even as tech helps them to generate more than 10x output.

A healthy future is a promise; Tekedia Capital is funding the future.

Let us have a conversation about Africa’s economic agenda. I have postulated in Harvard that the path we are taking today might have expired. Yes, replicating what China did about three decades ago may not be impactful when you model the perturbations technology systems have provided over the years.

On Monday, that message and more will be live on DSTV,  StarTimes, GOtv, NTA, etc as Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)’s Tunde Bakare speaks with Ndubuisi Ekekwe. Tune it at 11am WAT.

By 2030, I expect 80% of richest Nigerians to have made money from technology. Nigeria is having its finest cambrian moment on the formation of enduring companies. The last time we were this bold, on entrepreneurial capitalism, was in the early 1990s when some of Nigeria’s current leading banks were established.

The 1990s gave us the new generation banks. The 2000s brought voice telephony. The 2010s ushered mobile internet. The 2020s would deliver the era of application utility across industry sectors and market territories.

At Tekedia Capital, we are democratizing how to become part of this future. Taka action here.