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Home Blog Page 7917

Social Media – Which Nigerian Firm Can Make It to Nigerian Stock Exchange? Without Public Exit, Investors Become Lukewarm to Investing in the Nation

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Nigeria does not have much success in keeping wholly indigenous technology firms in the stock market, for long, unless you include local variants of the oil giants and conglomerates as ones. But when it comes to truly home grown companies, statistics are not that great. Japaul – an oil company did get there, but over the years is trying to stay there as everyone does, we must add.

 

In the ICT sector, Omatek Computers proved very successful. It went public and is still there – yes, the stock is struggling and who is not? But that is still a well funded company since it takes a lot of resources to get a hardware company like Omatek to get off the ground.

 

But in the core social media and mobility, which company will be successful to get to the stock market could be cloudy. The reason being that few are indeed been funded very well.  With all the many firms in Lagos, Pagatech appears very promising if it can execute on its mobile payment. It is well funded and can easily scale to the level that will enable it to be admitted into the stock market.

 

Yet, Pagatech has got a lot of funding from outside Nigeria. From Draper to venture funds, this company is highly externally funded.  So, it is in another league.

 

Other startups are not lucky in Lagos as access to capital is still limited. How many social media firms that will mature to stock market is something one cannot predict because Nigeria does not have a good history of nurturing technology companies to stardom. And without that, investors do not see exit paths and that stifles the risk appetite to even invest in the nation. Until that exit pathway is developed, attracting funding into the market could be difficult.

 

Nanotechnology: A Link between Butterflies and Your Money?

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An introduction to our book from the publisher.

 

Hershey—June 4th, 2010– Although advances in nanotechnology and microelectronics promise boosts in the economy, the general public’s financials are not usually directly affected. Researchers in the UK are using nanofabrication techniques, with data collected from tropical butterfly studies, to create encryption technologies for currency and other important documents that people use every day.

 

The Cambridge University scientists were able to reproduce iridescent patterns and color arrangements of the Swallowtail butterfly. While the butterflies use their particularly-colored, scaled wings for mating and survival activities, scientists plan to build upon the potential of the fabricated optical designs, in order to better guard against forgery and counterfeiting activities.

 

The researchers used nanotechnology through self-assembly and atomic layer deposition to mimic the butterfly wings’ intricate patterns. Mathias Kolle, the lead researcher at Cambridge University explains that, “although nature is better at self-assembly than we are, we have the advantage that we can use a wider variety of artificial, custom-made materials to optimize our optical structures.”

 

Other examples of nanotechnology and microelectronic uses to improve economic conditions can be found in one of the latest releases by IGI Global, publisher of information science and technology, “Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Global Diffusion, Economics and Policy” . Edited by Dr. Ndubuisi Ekekwe of Johns Hopkins University (USA), this reference explores the relationships among technology transfer and diffusion, trends and developments, and economics and policies as they relate to advances in nanotechnology and microelectronics.

 

Dr. Ekekwe states that “Nanotechnology is estimated to grow in excess of $1 trillion global market by 2015 with energy, textiles, and life sciences the leading sectors transitioning from labs to markets. This technology will drive a new global economy, nanomics or nanotechnology-driven economy and usher in a revolution that will advance genetics, information technology, biotechnology and robotics through low cost, high utility and high demand of its products.”

 

He continues, “One major goal of this book is to highlight multifaceted issues surrounding nanotechnology and microelectronics and technology in general on the basis of economics, innovation, policy, transfer, and global penetration through comprehensive research, case studies, academic and theoretical papers.”

 

To learn more, please visit http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/TitleDetails.aspx?TitleId=40290.


Other Related Titles Recently Released by IGI Global Include:

 

About IGI Global

Since 1988, IGI Global has provided comprehensive research not just on computer science and information technology management, but also on how information technology affects human activities and interactions. IGI Global is a leading multimedia publisher of books, reference works, journals, encyclopedias, teaching cases, proceedings, and databases covering the areas of education, social science, library science, healthcare, business management, public administration, and computer science. Information on all of IGI Global’s authoritative resources can be found at www.igi-global.com. IGI Global’s office is located in Hershey, PA, USA.

Order inquiries may be directed to: 717-533-8845 x110, cust@igi-global.com, or to book wholesalers or journal subscription agents.

Tevci DroidPad – Another Nigerian Android Tablet. They Join Ovim and Inye

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Tevci is releasing a new tablet into Nigeria; presently on pre-order. It is called DroidPad. Specifications are very scanty but from their sites, this is all we can get

 

Tevci DroidPad!
Simplified mobile internet device

Tevci DroidPad is set to Unveiled. Nigeria’s best 7″ flat widescreen which provides a fantastic multimedia and internet experience.

  • Can Ping with other BlackBerry or Iphone Users .
  • Comes PreLoaded with Social Networking Tools (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr)
  • Work with all GSM networks. Make and receive phone calls. Built in 3G SIM

 

With DroidPad, Nigeria now has 3 indigenous tablets – Ovim, Inye and DroidPad. Ovim is a product of Fasmicro (our parent company)  and Microscale Embedded while Inye is owned by Encipher. Recently these companies are coming with their new versions with Ovim Plus, Ovim MiE and Inye 2.  It is getting very interesting and the competition is just heating up. Tevci group – welcome to the world of tablets.

 

You can read more about Ovim and Inye here.

 

Ovim Plus

 

Ovim Mie

 

Inye 2

 

 

Nigeria Communications Commission Data Shows That Nigeria Has 121m Mobile Lines

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According to Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the telcos in the country have a total of 120,969,740 mobile lines with 12,083,190 new subscribers added in February.  In these numbers,  active lives grew from 88,804,952 in January to 89,568,668 in February.   This shows that SIM card registration has not undermined the rate of mobile lines activation in Nigeria, though that is too early to call. There is that fear that subscriber base will drop as the dealine looms, as was experienced by MTN in South Africa where it lost 4.7% of its user base in the exercise  The total mobile lines is broken into GSM lines of 108,564,834 and CDMA lines of 12,404,906 lines. This shows that GSM is the leading platform with CDMA only enjoying marginal growth.

 

Nigeria will be moving into number portability which will enable anyone to change telcos while retaining the old number. So, people can practically have one number despite moving from one network to the other. Portability will possibly be another cost overlay for the telcos. This freedom can cause loss of market share to those that are not improving these services. Kenya and other African nations are going through the portability policy as well.

 

For more, visit NCC website and click February 2011 Subscriber Data Available

Wholesalers – We Know the Prices Also. How A Kenyan Startup Is Empowering Farmers With Realtime Prices via SMS

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M-Farm , a Kenyan startup,  has  a simple mission – empower local farmers with prices of produce. They even compensate for regional price changes. How it is done?

Send sms to 3535 to get market prices for fresh produce in Kenya SMS formart: price crop location. Example: price potatoes nairobi

 

This is not too much innovation, but the impact will be appreciated by the farmers. When they are armed with prices, they can bargain easily with wholesalers. How? They can also text for prices in the city and know how much the wholesalers are selling. Oh yes, the era of paying our farmers nothing to go to town and make big money is coming to and end as mobility is breaking that distance and lack of price awareness.

The good aspect is that everyone benefits as sellers will be sure that buyers are paying fair good market prices. This is a system that should be replicated in Nigeria across villages.

MFarm Solution to Cooperatives and Suppliers

1.Market Price Inquiry
The farmers inquire current market prices of different crop from regions or specific markets via SMS. This assist farmers getting a higher bargain platform/power and being aware of market prices before they market their produce.

2.Web/SMS Customer Relationship Management
This particular module is target for cooperatives and big suppliers that want to manage their clients queries and response. It is a web based application that connects with SMS from clients and by a click of a button the administrator can reply ti a group of clients via SMS. The application is customized according to clients needs .

MFarm Solution to Farmers and Retailers

1.Selling together
In order to get a platform in the market, the farmers need to produce large quantities and sell to exporters,large scale retailers among other buyers. Through M-Farm the farmers/suppliers will connect to the buyers/market via sms.

2.Buying together
Grouped farmers get connected to suppliers hence get 30 to 50 percent off the farm input such as fertilizers, pesticides,equipments among others the suppliers have to offer. This will be done via sms through M-Farm.

3.Mapping farmers
Via our website the market will get to view farmers directory which will include their crops they produce, production rate and location. Through this the farmers can be able to expand the visibility of their farms and business world wide.