Bolt Introduces Tricycle Ride in Uyo as MooveTV Launches in Lagos

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January 25, 2020

Bolt is looking to expand its space in the ride-hailing business with the introduction of tricycle into its variance. The Estonian company has launched tricycle services in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State.

OPay’s OTrike was the first to embrace the tricycle in ride-sharing business and it is dominant in the southeast. Earlier this month, Bolt has introduced ‘multiple destinations and multiple passengers to one trip’ to ride-sharing options.

As the competition gets stiffer, Bolt is exploring other ways to rake in revenue and stay in business at a time when some others are joining the ride-sharing venture. The company is creating a space for those who can’t afford the taxi ride-hailing services. Bolt has successfully applied the method in a couple of east African cities and it is the first global e-hailing service to adopt tricycle into its fleet in a bid to entice low paying riders.

“At Bolt, we will continue to find innovative ways to cater to local demand for popular services,” said Bolt country manager, Femi Akin-Luguda. “We are thrilled to introduce the tricycle service in Uyo. We believe that it resonates well with the culture in this city and that this category will provide an easy and affordable transportation option for trips around Uyo.”

Tricycles seating up to three passengers have become a popular means of transportation in Nigerian cities. But safety has always been an issue leaving many riders to the inclination toward rides that give them a sense of security. Bolt is applying the same security measures it has successfully used in taxi-hailing across some cities in the country.

“We have already built the biggest ride-sharing platform in Nigeria for cars and the knowledge we have gained in that endeavor gives us a significant advantage in taking on the unique transportation challenges in all the cities where we operate. Tricycles in Uyo is the first step in this direction as we intend to bring a renewed effort to solving local problems with globally tested solutions,” Akin-Lugada added.

However, Bolt is going to face stiff competition from OTrike that has won many riders in Aba and Enugu, and appears ready to expand its operations to the south-south.

Meanwhile, MooveTV, a Nigerian advertising tech startup that offers entertainment to riders of public transportation (taxis and buses) is poised to keep Lagos commuters entertained on trips.

The startup was launched in December 2019 to provide succor to passengers who easily got worn out on trips due Lagos traffic. The platform offers entertainment ranging from music, movies, games, podcasts and live TVs, all for free. While these contents on public transport vehicles are not new, MooveTV came with a different vibe. The contents are designed to be streamed live giving riders a wide array of contents to make their choices of entertainment.

Since neither the driver or passenger pays for the content, in between the streaming, ads will be served. Drivers get paid for allowing the contents to be served through their vehicles.

“With MooveTV, the driver earns 20% of the revenue on every ad played to riders in their vehicles. The owner of the content also gets 30% while MooveTV takes the rest. In other cases, where there is a broker, they take 5% too.” MooveT Product Lead, Emmanuel Pastor told TechNext.

The tech is installed in cars and synced to display once the driver turns on the ignition to avoid arbitrary use of the contents. When the reception is poor, contents can be played offline via the storage system of the TV device, where pre-loaded contents are stored.

When there is poor signal, the device notifies the rider and prompts the offline option. The MooveTV devices are connected to a central database where contents are played or streamed from.

So far, there are about 70 users on board the MooveTV platform, but the company is hoping to expand its reach through partnership with Lagos State Government. Currently, the platform is only available on taxis, but the company plans on adding mobile and web versions before March to enable riders enjoy the streaming experience outside vehicles.

2020 Kicked off with a Roaring Start

By

Samuel Nwite

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January 25, 2020

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The year 2020 kicked off with remarkable events ranging from political conflicts to natural disasters to pestilence. The sympathetic stories cut across continents and peoples with varying degrees of pain.

In the eve that ushered 2020 in, Australia was busy battling a range of wildfires that was wreaking contagious havoc in the country, spreading through lives and property, and constituting environmental hazard that has become more than an Australian problem.

Despite tremendous efforts to quench it, the fire succeeded 2019, and took a devastating toll on the country at the dawn of the New Year. Millions of acres have been torched, homes ravaged and scores of people killed. Gory images of its gruesome impacts liter the news and to make it worse, there are little signs that it’s receding.

Over half a billion animals have been killed in New South Wales, their charred bodies only beg empathy and help. Humans are not spared either, over 35 people have been killed so far and hundreds have been rendered homeless as the fires ravage through thousands of homes across Australian states.

About 15 million acres have been affected so far in over 200 fires burning across the country. About 3,000 firefighters are engaged including those who volunteered from the United States. In addition, the Australian Defence Force pulled 3,000 army reserve forces and others with specialist capabilities to help fight the flames that have been masterminded by intense heat and drought that have been attributed to climate change.

As the Australian wildfires kept gaining momentum, empathy, support and prayers followed it. It appeared the world concentration was centered on the country until the news of Coronavirus broke out from Wahum, China, raising another concern and breaking the focus. While the Australian wildfires take on anything that stands on the way, Coronavirus focuses on humans. They do have one thing in common – contagiousness.

Coronavirus started in the central city of Wahum, in Hebei province of China. It has so far infected over 530 people, leaving about 18 dead. It’s a contagious kind of pneumonia that has kept Asia and the rest of the world on high alert.

By January 9, two people had died of severe respiratory failure in the city Wahum, prompting an investigation by the Chinese authorities. The symptoms were found to be related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The symptoms are fever, coughing and sometimes kidney failure. It also includes a runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache or fever that may linger for days.

Chinese scientists have linked the origin of the virus to animals. Leo Poon, a virologist at the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong, who was the first to decode the virus said.

“What we know is it causes Pneumonia and then doesn’t respond to antibiotic treatment, which is not surprising, but then in terms of mortality, SARS kills 10% of the individuals.”

Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that are common among animals. In rare cases, they are what scientists call zoonotic, which means they can be transmitted from animals to humans – US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The human to human transmission of the virus happens when someone comes in contact with a carrier’s secretions. So a cough, sneeze or handshake can cause exposure. One can also be infected when he touches something an infected person has touched, then putting the hand into his mouth, nose or eyes.

There is no specific treatment for disease caused by a novel coronavirus. However, many of the symptoms can be treated. But treatment is based on the patient’s clinical condition. Every country in the world is taking steps to protect its citizens by setting up screening and quarantine measures at Port of Entries.

But Spain has got more than Coronavirus to worry about. A storm surge operating in the name, Storm Gloria has taken on the east coast of Spain and swept inland, destroying rice farms and homes in Barcelona. The delta region of the country has swept to devastation by the flood. Beach facilities have been wrecked, and seawater has caused major damage to beaches in Barcelona, Valencia and the Balearic islands. So far, about five people have been killed.

It has been described as the most devastating storm in recent times of the region. With sea waters flooding about 30sq km of rice plants and waves reaching as high 7m (23ft), crashing over a dyke protecting boats, it has become impossible for boats to sail.

“We have not seen anything like this before,” said Lluis Soler, the mayor of the delta region.

Meanwhile, France isn’t spared. Storm Gloria has reportedly touched down at Pyrenees-Orientales, France’s southernmost Mediterranean department. Gloria has been described as the worst storm to hit the region since 1982, and the authorities have been placed on high alert.

While the battle to contain these crises is being waged, East Africa has got locust-attack to deal with. Unprecedented swarms of locusts invading farms and devastating crops with such heavy impacts that may result in drought has got the region alarmed. Described as the severest locust invasion in 25 years, countries like Ethiopia and neighboring areas of Somalia, parts Sudan, Eritrea and northern Kenya are under serious threat of starvation.

The situation has also been attributed to climate change that has enabled favorable ecological conditions for locust breeding. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is warning that the insects may swarm to other regions in no time and cause food scarcity in the sub-region.

“This has become a situation of international dimensions that threatens the food security of the entire sub-region. FAO is activating fast-track mechanisms that will allow us to move swiftly to support governments in mounting a collective campaign to deal with the crisis, “FAO Director General, QU Dongyu said in a statement.

“Communities in Eastern Africa have already been impacted by extended droughts, which have eroded their capacities to grow food and make a living. We need to help them when the locusts are gone,” he added.

FAO said the ravaging swarms potentially contain hundreds of millions of locusts and that the insects can travel distances of more than 90 miles in a single day. And if left unchecked, the locust swarms could increase 500 times by June.

Tekedia Mini-MBA: Full Faculty, Weekly Format, NGO Package, Installment Payment, Custom Assignment

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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January 25, 2020

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For Tekedia Mini-MBA, I will be the lead faculty but I will not be the only one. We have extremely experienced and talented experts in our faculty. They are market players in our economies and we have brought them together to co-share and co-learn with our business community here. This mini-MBA is business and management biased, focusing on growth, innovation and execution of business objectives.

Meanwhile, my team has added a package for NGOs. If you are an NGO in any part of the world, we have a package to ensure your staff can join this program (click and email them).

Also, we continue to support installment payment for those that need support to attend this program.

Furthermore, for companies sending at least 10 participants, my team must have informed you that the Challenge assignments would be customized for your company. Ensure your HR and Strategy teams are in touch. They will break the contingents into max of three working groups.

And finally, our team will answer your business questions and I will be available to have a 1:1 online conversation with you (limited space available). More so, we would have two-hour discussion webinars on Saturdays.

Registration continues into Feb 10 when program begins.

How To Register:

PayPal: follow this link and pay $140 US dollars.
Bank transfer (Nigerian naira): Pay N50,000 into any of GTBank 0114016493, UBA 1019195493. Account owner: First Atlantic Semiconductors & Microelectronics.
Flutterwave: follow this link (naira) or this one (USD) to use your Verve, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, etc cards across Africa and beyond (you can use same links for other currencies, please ask for exchange rate before payment if not on Naira or USD).

The full program structure is here

Mini-MBA Sequence for a Typical Week

Week 1: Business Mission, Growth through Innovation

Monday

Introduction of Week – Ndubuisi Ekekwe
Reading Material with flash cases – by Coordinating Faculty (here Ndubuisi Ekekwe)
Video (one-15 minute or two-15 minute) – by Coordinating Faculty (here Ndubuisi Ekekwe)
Challenge – by Coordinating Faculty (here Ndubuisi Ekekwe)

Week 2: The Grand Playbook of Business

Monday

etc etc

https://www.tekedia.com/mini-mba/

The Father of ‘Disruptive Innovation” Is Dead, RIP Clayton Christensen

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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January 25, 2020

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He wrote “The Innovator’s Dilemma” and brought new perspectives on the mechanics of innovation. He explained to the world what “innovation” means and stands for. He became the father of “disruptive innovation”, a big Book in the modern bible of startups and broad technology companies. He was sent to serve as a high priest, a business spiritual leader, helping legions of men and women to understand how innovation can redesign the structure and architecture of market systems, competitiveness, productivity and growth. Because innovation must deliver new basis of competition, the outcome cannot be ordinary. Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor, died on Thursday, aged 67.

Clayton Christensen, the Harvard Business School professor whose ideas on “disruptive innovation’’ influenced boardrooms and workplaces around the world, has died at 67.

Michael B. Horn, who was a student of Mr. Christensen’s, coauthored a book with him, and cofounded the Clayton Christensen Institute, said he died Thursday surrounded by his family at a Massachusetts hospital from health complications stemming from the treatment of leukemia.

Mr. Christensen’s book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail,’’ became a crucial text as the digital revolution took hold. “Disruptive innovation’’ was applied to industries ranging from steel, to retail, semiconductors, and newspapers.

Salute To The Category-King: Flutterwave on $35M Raise

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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January 25, 2020

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One of the most exciting moments in business is when your clients are growing. As a Board member, we at Infoprive immensely congratulate Flutterwave, a category-king fintech company, for raising $35 million series B funds. We would be here and will continue to serve with absolute quality and professionalism.

We salute the audacity in vision that has taken Flutterwave to have “processed $5.4 billion dollars for businesses and individuals” across 107 million transactions in 2019 alone, as noted in the CEO letter to all clients.

Let’s go, 2020! Infoprive – a cybersecurity leader.

Bolt Introduces Tricycle Ride in Uyo as MooveTV Launches in Lagos

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2020 Kicked off with a Roaring Start

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Tekedia Mini-MBA: Full Faculty, Weekly Format, NGO Package, Installment Payment, Custom Assignment