By Mutiu Iyanda

Like other main cities in Nigeria, wasting food is unavoidable in Lagos. This is one of the major results of recent research I conducted in Lekki, Ajah and Yaba areas of Lagos state on food sharing as a potential solution to reduce food waste. Within these areas, it is evident that people are ready to share the leftovers with their neighbours and be responsible consumers by preventing waste.

As Lagos state and federal governments working towards attainment of Goal 2 –ending hunger and promoting food security of 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, analysis indicates that the behaviour of the people in the areas, has established an integrated food sharing value chain which needs attention of Information and Technology professionals and prospective entrepreneurs.

From Lekki to Ajah and Ajah to Yaba, it is obvious that residents prioritise social capital in forms of relationship initiation and maintenance. Sharing leftovers does not evolve without strong relationship. When a weak relationship exists, analysis reveals that giving and receiving leftovers become difficult. This is one of the challenges associated with the first stage of the value chain. For the second stage, sharing leftovers in the studied areas is not gender-driven. Givers do not consider whether the receivers are males or females. Analysis also reveals that the needs to increase intimacy and reduce the number of malnourished people in the communities are part of the motivating factors.

When the specific benefits they are deriving from sharing and receiving leftovers were asked, the givers believed that they empathised, receivers had elusive commodity and be part of the neighbourhood.  The benefits received by the givers and receivers are in relation with the notion that when people contribute to the development of growth fostering relationships, they grow as a result of their participation in such relationships.

As pointed out earlier, IT professionals, especially app developers could draw from the insights and give Lagos residents mobile application that could be used to enhance food sharing. Such app should be mobile phone enabled not internet-enabled, which is in the market. The app should also be useful beyond connecting supermarkets to NGOs and low-income earners associated with Chowberry, a web app developed by Oscar Ekponimo.

The app connects supermarkets to NGOs and low-income earners, allowing them to buy food that’s about to expire at a discount. Ekponimo says the response to the project has been encouraging and he’s been able to see first hand how it’s transforming lives.

By Nnamdi Odumody

Aidah Bot is a platform from Ghana which utilizes artificial intelligence to automate customer engagement and provides ticketing support for businesses on their digital platforms.

At Aidah our mission is to connect companies with their online customers through our communication platform. We provide businesses with a multi-channel/automated messenger and empowering companies to deliver better experiences with their sales and support teams

It helps businesses in providing instant customer support to their customers while enabling access to different channels such as social media platforms and websites, from a single platform, saving them the hassle of switching between platforms. Aidah makes it easier for clients to respond to customer queries much faster by giving end customers enriched experiences.

Its aim is to automate business processes which are mundane and allow organizations to focus on the core areas of their business. Aidah helps your customers engage with your brand in a peer to peer conversational manner by analyzing the customer’s question and delivering a suitable response.

In Nigeria, Ghana and the rest of Africa, a whole lot of businesses both small, medium and large organizations run their business processes in mundane methods not utilizing cloud based solutions which will enable them to be agile, flexible and offer their customers unique experiences. Aidah hopes to fix this friction by making them digitally transformed.

Amaecom Global is looking to add a Developer with Microsoft Dynamics CRM experience to its team in Abuja, Nigeria. Amaecom is Nigeria’s largest public sector-focused asset financing and leasing company. It has more than 30 branches, and employs excess of 350 staff in its Group which plays in manufacturing, asset financing, mobility, and more.

Amaecom Global Ltd (http://amaecomglobal.com) is an indigenous company registered in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission to provide financial services in areas of consumer and corporate business asset acquisitions, covering both private and public sectors. Our services range from asset acquisition to hire purchase financing through two core products – PayNow PayLater and Instant Loan.

The ideal candidate for this opportunity has:
• 3+ years of experience working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Excellent verbal and nonverbal communication skills
• Ability work effectively in both an independent and team environment

This position is offering an excellent benefits package.

To apply please send resumes to as follows.

Location: Abuja, Nigeria

Application Closing Date
5th July, 2019.

Method of Application
To Apply: Send your resume to info@amaecomglobal.com

Huawei had estimated that it would lose about $30 billion internationally as a result of the bans in U.S. But it seems the company will cover a good part of that money by asking American companies which license its patents to pay more royalties, CNBC reports; Verizon, a leading telco, could be owing $1 billion.  Of course, doing that could be seen as using “monopoly” power [think Apple and Qualcomm legal case], but I am not sure who will make that call right now: ‘CEO Ren Zhengfei says he “may try to get some money” from firms using the company’s intellectual property’..

Huawei may demand more royalties from U.S. firms for technology they’re using that’s been patented by the Chinese telecom giant, experts say, as the beleaguered firm looks to fight back against continued pressure from Washington.

It would mark a big shift in strategy for Huawei, which typically is not seen as especially litigious in terms of intellectual property rights (IPR), even though it holds some crucial patents that underpin the world of telecommunication.

Last week, Reuters reported that Huawei had asked Verizon to pay $1 billion in royalties for more than 230 of Huawei’s patents. The Wall Street Journal reported that the patents related to Huawei range from core network equipment to so-called internet of things technology — defined as physical devices that are linked to one another over the internet. The Verizon case is not a legal case at the moment.