By Nnamdi Odumody

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year. The 1 billion hungry people in the world could be fed on less than a quarter of the food wasted in the United States of America and Europe. Simply, food waste is a major problem in the world, creating disequilibrium where some regions waste food even as others go hungry.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 35-50 percent post harvest losses for perishable agricultural products are lost annually in the region due to poor planting practices.

In a recent report released by the World Economic Forum, cutting food waste by 20 million tonnes could help the transformation of global food systems by 2030.

South Korea recycles 95 percent of its food waste. Its citizens generate more than 130 kg of food waste every year. In 2005, dumping of food in landfills was banned, and in 2013, compulsory recycling of food waste was introduced, using special biodegradable bags. An average family of four pays $6 a month for the bags which encourages home composting.

The bag charges meet 60 percent cost of running the scheme, and increased the amount of food waste recycled from 2 percent in 1995 to 95 percent presently. The South Korean government approved the use of recycled food waste as fertilizer although some wastes are also deployed as animal feed.

In Seoul, its capital city, 6,000 automated bins equipped with scales and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) weigh food waste as it is being deposited in real time, and charges residents using an ID card. This had led to the reduction of food waste in the city by 47,000 tonnes, in six years, according to city officials. Before depositing waste, its residents remove moisture to reduce the weight which helps in reducing their charges as food waste is 80 percent moisture, saving the city $8.4 million in collection charges within the period.

The waste collected using the biodegradable bag scheme is squeezed at the processing plant to remove moisture which is used to create biogas and bio oil. The dry waste in then turned to fertilizer for its urban farm industry which has increased in the past seven years, covering 170 hectares of community space in Seoul with the local administration providing between 80-100 percent of  startup costs.

Urban farming has helped to unite residents who are isolated from one another, and the city’s leadership plans to install waste composters to support this growing trend.

Nigeria and the rest of Africa can learn useful lessons from the South Koreans, in the sustainable management of waste, to create a circular economy that will make our environment livable for the 21^st century.

The Jumia IPO was really good, not just for Jumia, but for many others. I spoke with many media organizations, and added some clients in the process. A radio station invited me to Philadelphia but I had to decline because of scheduling conflicts. It turns out that my 30 million addressable market size is it.  A VC fund asked us to rework numbers from its African portfolios Can we have more IPOs?

The Precious 30 Million Nigerians

Here is an excerpt from one of my interviews to a U.S. publisher.

“You can’t scale as quickly as Alibaba did in China or Amazon did in the States,” said Ndubuisi Ekekwe, founder and chairman of Fasmicro,. ..

“In Nigeria, companies like Jumia only have about 30 million potential customers, we estimate, with the necessary disposable incomes for travel, out of about 190 million residents,” said Ekekwe. “Social mobility is too static. Africa’s strongest economies typically don’t have the broad and growing middle classes you need to repeat the success of a Ctrip.”

Jumia has a date with destiny as it works for its first quarterly for the NYSE. If it shows growth, Jumia can hit north of $4 billion but if it misses key indicators like revenue and active users, Jumia will be under severe stress. It has already given up more than $1.2 billion from its top numbers (now worth $2.7 billion from $3.9 billion). It has to make sure that stops, as American investors are panic-prone when it comes to foreign companies.

We need more IPOs as it makes people pay attention on the promises. Interswitch and Andela should get ready. This is good business as the world pays attention on Africa and Nigeria! Tekedia coverage of the IPO is here.

When Apple and Qualcomm settled their legal cases, Intel experienced the consequence of that truce. Intel is Apple’s current 4G modem supplier but has struggled to create 5G modem. With the Apple 5G modem opportunity out, Intel does not see a clear future therein. Consequently, Intel has exited the 5G modem business.

Intel abandoned its efforts to develop modems for the next generation of wireless technology Tuesday, just hours after rival Qualcomm reached a settlement with Apple over wireless technology for the iPhone.

Intel chief executive Bob Swan said the chipmaker is now “assessing our options” for the future of its wireless business but said the forthcoming, superfast 5G technology “continues to be a strategic priority across Intel.”

“We are very excited about the opportunity in 5G and the ‘cloudification’ of the network, but in the smartphone modem business it has become apparent that there is no clear path to profitability and positive returns,” Swan said in a written statement. He said the company will say more about its wireless plans when it releases first-quarter financial results next week.

This was my postulation when the truce news broke: Apple wanted 5G modem and no one would give it that but Qualcomm. With Intel not ready, and Huawei a no-go-area, Apple had to dance to the music of Qualcomm. So, magically, the legal cases and the premises upon which they were built became irrelevant – iPhone 5G must be in the market to compete with Samsung Galaxy! Just like that Apple has to work with Qualcomm, and yes –  they settled.

Do not be deceived, Apple would not have settled with Qualcomm if it has any other alternative to get 5G into iPhone effectively. As it stands today, Intel is not ready and Huawei is a no-go area, so only Qualcomm can power Apple’s 5G future. That is why after all the wasted years and making lawyers richer, Apple agreed to pay Qualcomm to close all the legal issues, and then quickly placed orders with six-year licensing agreement.

But note that market rewarded both Intel and Qualcomm – Intel has no business in 5G modem; high-end mobile modem has always been Qualcomm domain. Simply, Intel should focus on what it knows how to make – server chips. Yes, markets think Apple just did Intel a favor by getting it to focus on what it knows how to do. For Qualcomm, it was a moment – the enemy is back to the fold, as a friend. The stock responded.

LinkedIn Comment on Feed

Apple and Qualcomm were always going to settle, eventually. When Apple sued Qualcomm over alleged monopolistic contracts, extortionist pricing practices, patents infringements, and other poisons in the new year, Qualcomm had not only counterclaimed but also countersued.

The only way out of such battles between big boys is settlement, except you want to have a long war like that between Apple and Samsung. So I’m happy that both Apple and Qualcomm have settled this matter. While this settlement allows Intel focus on its core market as you have said, I am more concerned about the monopoly this might lead to in the market. I remember that anti-trust regulators have raised concerns about this before.

In Europe, Qualcomm was fined $1.2 billion for paying Apple to use its chips and keep its fingers off competitors’ chips from 2011 to 2016. With the new romance between Apple and Qualcomm, regulators should keep their eyes open.

My Response: Good points. Intel is not leaving out of strength. It knows it cannot compete with Qualcomm on 5G modem and with Apple signing 6- year contract, there is no market to serve. So, not pretending it is still doing 5G modem is wisdom. On antitrust, it is what it is – the market is free, anyone can jump in if you can handle the heat. That should not be an issue.

Another Comment

It’s about making use of that famous thing called ‘common sense’, which most times – a lot of people fail to activate theirs, thereby allowing their stupidity to take preeminence! Apple was able to activate its common sense, Intel did same, Qualcomm did likewise; so all of them are likely to live happily after.