People, 9Mobile Nigeria has started growing again. That is a very good inflection point as the 4th mobile carrier added about 33,000 users in the month of August when compared to July. For months, 9Mobile has been bleeding users. So, that it added new users in two consecutive months should be seen as a welcome development. The new CEO, Alan Sinfield, may have a magic wand here.
Running out of funds, the Ushahidi team will be shutting down Crowdmap. In its golden moments, many donors supported this entity. Of course, you could argue that they ought to have grown to be self-sustaining by now. Yet, unlike in the past, there are many options now for Crowdmap; Google offers good alternatives.
We are reaching out to let you know of important changes concerning your deployment. Due to a lack of funding, which significantly affects our ability to keep it running safely and correctly, we will be shutting down Crowdmap by January 15th, 2021. After that date, all Crowdmap deployments will no longer be available.
In preparation, we have outlined the steps to migrate to our newer version of Ushahidi’s V3+ platform for all Crowdmap deployments. Kindly read through our blogpost which entails the procedure that will take place to ensure a smooth transition.
Finally, we wanted to thank all of you, from folks who have used Ushahidi tools to send an SMS report, to those of you who run complex deployments and help hundreds of people: thank you. We would not be able to exist without you, and our impact would certainly be much lower if it were not for the amazing people who have joined and figured out ways to make a difference in their community, gather data, and raise their voices to be heard by those in power.
That tweet was not accurate. Yes, the China-Onitsha shipping axis is not operational. We have a response from the shipping giant, Maersk. In a response to an inquiry about their operations in Onitsha Inland Port, Maersk said in an email response to Tekedia that the news has been inaccurate.
“There are some inaccurate news reports going around as we are not calling at Onitsha port with our vessels as this is not operationally feasible due to the draft of our vessels.
“We do however offer a through bill product for our customers in which cargo discharged at Onne is trucked to the Clarion Depot in Onitsha, which is roughly opposite the Niger River,” Kerry Rosser, Maersk Africa Communication Manager told Tekedia’s Samuel Nwite
Maersk Refutes Claims that Onitsha Inland Port is Fully Operational
Maersk shipping company has responded to the news making rounds in the social media, insinuating it has commenced a full shipping operation at Onitsha Inland Port.
The news broke out early Wednesday morning as a pic of the dockyard being commissioned, and shipment schedule from Maersk showing China – Onitsha destination surfaced online.
“We took a walk at the Onitsha pilot port after it was commissioned today. The port is at its full function. Such a pleasant sight! Congrats to the importers,” a Twitter user wrote.
Series of tweets praising the development followed, as many others joined the preaching.
“So Onitsha Port was commissioned yesterday & you can now send a container from China to Onitsha without going through Lagos? And some of have been using it for months but kept quiet? Why do people refuse to talk when good things happen in Nigeria,” Dr. Joe Abah wrote.
However, in response to inquiry about their operations in Onitsha Inland Port, Maersk said in an email response to Tekedia that the news has been inaccurate.
“There are some inaccurate news reports going around as we are not calling at Onitsha port with our vessels as this is not operationally feasible due to the draft of our vessels.
“We do however offer a through bill product for our customers in which cargo discharged at Onne is trucked to the Clarion Depot in Onitsha, which is roughly opposite the Niger River,” Kerry Rosser, Maersk Africa Communication Manager told Tekedia.
The Onitsha Inland Port was rehabilitated and commissioned in 2012, in view to accommodate vessels and ease Lagos Ports of congestion. But the port is yet to commence full operation since then.
A Seaport
Last month, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) said the commencement of shipping operations is targeted at the first quarter of 2021. NIWA’s Area Manager at Onitsha Area Office, Mrs. Queen Uba said operations at the port have been on hold due to the ongoing concession process, but NIWA is ready for its operations as soon as the process is complete.
“NIWA has put in place all necessary things for effective operation of the port and we are just waiting for the completion of the concession process. While we are waiting for the completion of the concession process, the management has entered into agreement with Connect rail Services Limited to kick start the lifting of goods from the port to other places in the country,” she said.
Onitsha Inland Port was built under the administration of President Shehu Shagari in 1983 and since then, it has been lying fallow and completely under-utilized until 2012 when it was rehabilitated and commissioned by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
It is hoped that NIWA will live up to the challenge and facilitate shipping operations in the port that will spur its activities beyond a clarion depot for trucking cargoes.
Around the world, the drums of innovation are beating louder. The resulting lyric is transformational as technological innovation continues to facilitate the process of socio-economic developments of nations. The anchor driver, ICT, is enabling new ways of exchanging information, and transacting businesses, efficiently and cheaply. It has also changed the dynamic natures of all major industries and provided better means of using the human and institutional capabilities of nations in both the public and private sectors, radically altering the ordinances of trade and commerce, at regional and international levels.
As ICT transforms economies into knowledge-based economic systems, and data societies, made of citizens, firms and states, entwined in electronically linked interdependent relationships, the constructs of market systems will never be the same.
This year, I have the honour to be coordinating for the Nigerian people through the Nigerian Economic Summit Group a design for e-Nigeria. We are looking at many digital anchors towards transforming the architecture of the Nigerian economy.
For example, while it may not be popular, markets could be more effective in delivering some services which the government is doing now. So, using public-benefits companies, are there ways we can simultaneously improve delivery- and cost-efficiency for the citizens? The U.S. has Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to keep records of financial transactions of Americans, and then use the data to anchor a credit system in America. Besides the citizen identity, what model do we adopt for the application utilities across our sectors?
LinkedIn is my Lab and I am reaching out to the community.
Let us have a conversation.