Few weeks ago, we brought you AroundMe – a Kenyan app in the domain of locality.
AroundMe allows you to easily and quickly find important businesses and services in your surrounding or any other location with your Nokia phone. For example, you can find restaurants, banks, gas stations, and other local services with ease. View maps, directions, routes, street view, read reviews or call the business if contacts are available.
The global finance and investment community is witnessing increasing debate on the extent to which Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors must be integrated into mainstream investment analysis to enhanced long-term investment performance and value creation. Globally, 227 asset owners and 496 asset managers have committed to integrating ESG consideration into their investment and stewardship approaches by signing up to the UNPRI.
This is a strong indication that UNPRI has become a mainstream consideration of innovative asset owners and investment managers. Also, leading financial indices (MSCI indices and FTSE) and data providers (Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters) launch ESG ratings and tracking products. Thus giving institutional investor and fund managers access to tools that strip down a company’s ESG practices by environmental management, climate change, human and labour rights, supply chain labour standards, corporate governance etc.
The Integrating ESG Investment Strategy in Portfolio Management Forum – An Africa Perspective is a tailored interactive forum designed to explore strategies employed by institutional investors and portfolio managers in integrating ESG issues into their investment decisions. It will also examine emerging investment
strategies and best practices employed by Asset and investment managers to enhance sustainable value creation and improve long-term portfolio performance; thus creating value for their stakeholders. Africa is a unique market, with unique set of issues and challenges to consider when implementing ESG Integration; this forum sets the stage for Africa’s leading asset owners, investment manager, financial and investment community to explore these issues.
This unique platform presents an opportunity for Africa’s finance and investment community to meet, share, network, collaborate and discuss Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in the Africa context. Participants will debate challenges and issues unique to Africa, hear case studies and lessons from successful ESG Integration and discover how Africa’s investment community need to adapt its strategies for a successful and holistic ESG Integration. Delegates will hear from asset owners and investment managers in Africa, Europe and US who will bring their practical knowledge and insights on best practices in integrating ESG issues into portfolio management of diverse asset classes.
Venue: JSE Auditorium, South Africa
Date: 5th of August 2011
Organizer: MNCapital
He certainly does not need any introduction. He is always on the TV, radio, podcast and everywhere. He had made many people whole. He is a cute great guy. And we think he is success personified. He has built an empire and he is great manager. What companies cannot achieve, Pastor Chris has done. Today, he distributes the highest number of religious content of African origin on the web – to any medium (you can challenge this!).
The Pastor of Christ Embassy is someone to learn a lot of ideas from. We spent time on this Rhapsody of Realities and we began to be renewed.Hallelujah. God is Good somebody!
Rhapsody of Realities is a life guide that brings you a fresh perspective from God’s Word everyday. It features the day’s topic, a theme scripture, the day’s message, the daily confession and the bible reading plan segment.
Rhapsody of Realities daily devotional by Pastor Chris and Anita Oyakhilome has been designed to enhance your spiritual growth and development. In addition to the inspiring, revelatory and Word-based articles, the best-selling devotional also features a special Word-study page every week, where you’ll learn about certain key words and their scriptural Hebrew and Greek imports and connotations. You will be refreshed, completely transformed and positioned for a day-to-day experience of success and victory as you go through the life-changing thoughts in every edition.
Pastor, let the miracle flow. We need it here. God bless you.
U-Mo (your mobile, your money) is a mobile payment scheme that allows a subcriber to carry out transactions such as money transfer, deposit and withdrawal, on their mobile phones. A subcriber need not have a bank account before he/she can use U-Mo.
An agency structure has been put in place to assist subscribers to carry out transactions seamlessly. There are 3 tiers of agents which are Mega, Super and Priority agent.
To become a Mega Agent:
I. Operate an individual Current or corporate account with UBA Plc
II. Provide completed enrolment forms
III. Signed Service level agreement forms to be provided by Afri-Pay limited.
IV. Deposit N500,000.00 the suggested working capital in the U-Mo Agent UBA current account
V. A designated office designed to conform to the U-Mo branding and merchandising standards.
VI. At least one computer with steady internet access
VII. One dedicated operational staff
VIII. A dedicated and operational mobile phone
IX. An official e-mail for contact
X. Steady power supply, a power generating set as alternative source.
XI. Any other items/equipment necessary to conduct the business like chairs, Desk, stationery, Log book etc.
To become a Super Agent:
I. Provide a operational Java enabled Mobile phone and SIM
II. Operate an individual current account with UBA Plc
III. Provide completed enrolment forms
IV. Deposit N100, 000 into their SVA account created on their mobile phones.
V. Any other items/equipment necessary to conduct the business like chairs, Desk, stationery, Log book etc.
To become a Priority Agent:
I. Provide a operational Java enabled Mobile phone and SIM
II. Operate an individual savings account with UBA Plc
III. Provide completed enrolment forms
IV. Deposit N10, 000 into their SVA account created on their mobile phones.
V. Any other items/equipment necessary to conduct the business like chairs, Desk, stationery, Log book etc.
An additional requirement for becoming a Mega Agent is that all prospective mega agents must provide at least 5 Super agents and 15 Priority agents. This will form the initial agent network for the mega agent. We recommend the recruitment of retail shop owners, business centres, phone shops and similar retail business owners as U-Mo agents.
?Internet promotes ‘groupthink’ which robs us of original fresh perspectives. Once one idea starts, everyone bounces on it and that is it. We begin to wire our brains alike and rapidly codify our brains to think along. From New York Times to CNN, AP to USA Today, finding original fresh perspectives is difficult because we have become half-baked intellectuals that rarely care to remember things?
Yes, since we can Google, why bother to remember. Microsoft Word helps us get along with misspellings and why worry to spell correctly. Word is there to help you. And did I mention that the art of hand writing is dead because in 30 years today, kids may never have to ever use a pencil in pre-schools or primary schools. We will have gadgets that eliminate the need for knowing your spelling and hand-writing very well.
Would they miss those? I doubt so because by then, there would be no paper check with contracts executed digitally and all hand-writing skills will matter less.
Personally, I do not like cellphones. They distract and affect ones concentration level, especially for those that still enjoy reading. Unfortunately, the reality of this age is that you have to live with it to move along.
In the Internet, we Google random data and pieces of news and rarely spend time to understand any concept very well. The values of books are low because we have cheap alternatives online. We lose the balance and depth that comes from reading nice books.
Today, what do you do? Google the topic or visit Chat Rooms and ask someone to explain the topic in a paragraph. Suddenly, you are an expert. When you engage the so-called expert in a conversion, you will discover he needs to google for more facts to keep the discussion going.
Just like the guy that was asked in an AT&T commercial to name the capital of Peru in a game show. He called his buddy to help and the man Googled the answer for him. No one puts efforts to remember because the other part of the brain is on the Internet.
We have put our brains on holidays. I used to memorize all the major statistics and by doing that sharpen my brain to retain and produce when needed. These days, who cares what is in the brain. Your Smartphone is there to help you. Why memorize your car plate number when it is there?
Just ask a typical 21-year student that uses GPS to describe how he travelled from New York City to say Boston, a road he has taken more than 20 times; he will not even recall the first exit from New York City. The reason is that GPS is the brain. I am guilty of this also; I care less of those exit numbers provided the GPS is on.
So does it mean that kids born today will be less-intellectually capable that those born in 1960? The new kids will use less of their brains and their abilities to think creatively may be challenged? And because their brains are not storing and retaining data and facts, they may not properly mine data very well. Relying on computers and gadgets that offer what has only been known and programmed therein.
It is unlikely that Faraday, Einstein, Edison, Curie and others would have become legends if they lived in this age? Also, it is also possible that there are many legends in this time that people do not care because there are many of them. I recently visited an archive and saw some old editions of popular magazines. There were many scientists on covers of magazines. Then discovery was a feat and whenever it happened, the world celebrated. But today, it is so common that we care not that much.
Think of the last time you saw a scientist on a major magazine (I am not talking about innovators like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs). I mean people that create the basic knowledge the world feeds on. They are very rare but it does not mean that guys are not making breakthroughs in science daily.
You know that I am on the losing side of this argument because no matter the perils of netification of the society, not using an Internet would be more trouble. Let the brains go on vacations if they want, I will continue to ‘live’ on the web because for all its negatives, there is no life without the Internet.
author/Ndubuisi Ekekwe