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Ghana on The Move to Lead African Software Sector – A School of Entrepreneurship Established

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Tekedia Editors
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This is a very interesting stuff in West Africa! There is a school in Ghana that trains students for two years – purely for software engineering. The aim is to train them and make them entrepreneurs who will create jobs in West Africa.

The school is called Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and was established in Accra, Ghana, through the non-profit Meltwater Foundation, with the aim of creating jobs and wealth locally in Africa by training young Africans to become software entrepreneurs. Students go through intensive and during this intensive two-year program at MEST, Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) work with experienced business executives, university graduates and current MBA students from top universities worldwide to develop software applications and prepare them for launch in the global marketplace.

It is a three way approach with training, incubation and mentoring phases as follows:

The Meltwater Foundation offers a three-phase entrepreneurial program designed to foster the growth of software companies in Africa. The program begins at the MEST campus in Accra, Ghana, with a rigorous, two-year training program. EITs with business ideas that are deemed to be viable then move to the MEST Incubator for assistance in getting their businesses off the ground. Finally, the Meltwater Foundation and its networks of experienced mentors and advisors provide mentorship for companies that emerge from the incubator.

PHASE 1: Training

MEST offers a two-year, full-time, fully sponsored training program in which the students – known as Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) – learn about software development and entrepreneurship from Senior Faculty, who each bring more than 20 years of experience in the software business in the United States, Europe or Asia. EITs also benefit from working with recent university graduates who serve as Teaching Fellows and MBA students from around the world.

The MEST program provides rigorous entrepreneurial training and extensive hands-on project work, designed so EITs master industry-proven methodologies for software development. Each year MEST organizes a series of guest lectures, featuring the experiences and insights of internationally recognized executives and successful entrepreneurs.

PHASE 2: Incubation

The MEST Incubator is where graduates from the training program are afforded an opportunity to bring their business ideas to life and launch their businesses.

Only MEST EITs with approved business plans are eligible to participate in the incubator, where they will be awarded initial seed funding from the Meltwater Foundation in exchange for a minority equity stake in the business. Additionally, the MEST Incubator provides physical infrastructure, and more importantly gives access to a global network of advisors and contacts that will be critical in providing an ecosystem for these budding entrepreneurs to flourish. The incubator will also partner with local incubators in San Francisco and London to enable easier access to these important markets.

PHASE 3: Mentorship

Once a company emerges from the MEST Incubator, the Meltwater Foundation will continue to provide support through international mentors who serve as board members or company advisors. The mentorship program enables the company to optimize its chances for international commercial deployment, recruiting mentors from a group of world-class executives and entrepreneurs who bring experience from relevant target markets.

Diamond Bank Partners With Qatar on e-payment

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Tekedia Editors
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Diamond Bank and Qatar Airline have entered into partnership aimed at boosting use of electronic payment card. The partnership, according to Robert Giles, Head of Cards, Diamond Bank, is to demonstrate to customers that using cards delivers more value than using cash. Under the partnership, Diamond Visa card holders would enjoy loyalty benefits offered by Qatar Airways to its Privilege Club members. The loyalty programme makes it possible for Diamond Visa Credit Cardholders to redeem ‘Gem Points’ in exchange for ‘Qmiles’ which can be used for free flights and upgrades on all Qatar Airways’ routes across the world.

“Gem Points” are loyalty rewards earned by Diamond Visa Credit cardholders for online and POS payments which can be exchanged for free services with partners, including Qatar Airways.  Qmiles is Qatar Airways’ frequent flyer programme, which enables members to fly to destinations at no charge when they have accumulated the required number of points.

Apart from redeeming Qmiles, Diamond Visa Credit Cardholders will also enjoy up to a 15%  savings when they book online  and pay with a Diamond Visa Credit card through a secure web portal available on the Diamond Bank website; making the offer one of the best loyalty rewards offer in Nigeria.

The latest partnership with Qatar Airways is yet another benefit for Diamond Visa Credit cardholders.
It offers Nigerians an easy payment solution while transacting both locally and internationally, making shopping  more convenient.

Diamond Visa Credit remains the only Naira-denominated credit card available in Nigeria, making it possible for cardholders to buy anything, anywhere in the world, and pay in Naira.

Fake Motorola Products Everywhere in Nigeria – You Better Watch

By
Tekedia Editors
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Mobile Equipment manufacturers, Motorola, has alarmed its teeming customers that several counterfeit Motorola products have recently hit the market, all of which lack the quality and ruggedness of the original, leaving users unable to rely on their functionality.

Regional Sales Manager, Motorola Solutions, Africa, Nicolas Coussinou noted that  “Nigeria is a priority for Motorola in the African market and so we want users of 2-way radios who rely on Motorola’s product integrity to know that they can only buy genuine Motorola products from our official local distributors and resellers, such as Danimex Nigeria and Briscoe Technologies. Our professional partners are also the only ones to answer any requests on Motorola products and are also the only ones qualified to provide technical support. They will also be able to advise on the right products and the right price,” he added.

For him,”buying original Motorola products is the only way users can be assured of the product’s integrity, reliability and performance in even the most extreme circumstances.”

Wireless technology is revolutionizing the ways first responders and others who work under difficult circumstances conduct their jobs, empowering them with the best information when and where it matters most to best serve and protect their communities and Motorola says that its solutions  provides mission-critical solutions ranging from two way radio communications products and systems to an array of mobile computing devices.

Coussinou says that Motorola products go through rigorous international testing in severe and extreme environments, and adhere to international military standards even as local accredited resellers have received wide-ranging technical training and provide the highest standard of pre- and after sales support.

I think that Motorolla is saying that to before warned is to before armed

To Innovate, Learn to Walk Alone – Never Herd

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Tekedia Editors
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Car start button on dashboard. Innovation start writes on push button. Horizontal composition with copy space and selective focus.

For a long time, Ford, Chrysler, and GM followed the same strategy: they built big gas-guzzlers. Asian competitors attacked that model, took market share, and transformed the U.S. automobile industry.

Also for a long time, Yahoo and AOL offered email customers 4MB of storage. Google came out with Gmail and provided a free 1GB email account (250 times as much). Many switched.

In both cases, the new entrants attacked a reliable business model and disrupted a market in which the incumbents competed by cooperating, tacitly agreeing to procedures that ensured that the industry as a whole remained continuously healthy. Indeed, terms like “win-win” and “coopetition” are very common in our contemporary business lexicons. But in many cases, firms fail to separate the necessity of preserving their industries from developing individual survival strategies. They become docile and follow one another. From wireless carriers to broadcast TV, casinos to airlines, we often see an ordered communality within industries. They move in packs regarding features, services, and prices.

This carries a major risk: an entire complacent industry can be attacked from the outside. It’s not easy, but when it happens, it often reshapes an industry, with major consequences to the old players. In his classic “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy“, Michael E. Porter showed how you don’t see much innovation when “degree of rivalry” is very low in an industry. Why? Because the entrenched players are depending largely on a communal strategy. Industries where the players are not innovating are easily disrupted by new entrants.

Industries cannot drive consumers as easily as they used to. The customers have more information and exert much more influence in the market. Technology disrupts our needs a lot faster and makes it possible that trends arrive and fade quicker. This is in line with my earlier post that focusing on customer needs is a recipe for disaster; rather, firms must focus on meeting the perception of customers. As social media, technology, and globalization better inform consumers, firms must resist the urge to herd. When everyone does the same thing, new ideas will easily attack the entire industry, not just a particular firm. How did the foreign car brands take away market share from the U.S. Big Three? They built smaller cars and that alone was enough. It might have been harder if Ford, Chrysler, or GM followed different strategies. The foreign brands had only one strategy to beat.

In the airline industry, we have seen Ryanair and other budget carriers in Europe disrupt the industry with very low prices that took market share from the traditional carriers. Sometimes firms give customers more when they should give less, and vice versa. Mastering that balance helps a firm lead and differentiate in its industry. If you provide a competitive price and take away some services, customers will adjust accordingly to your clear differentiation. But if you align your strategies to what everyone else does, be assured that a single business bullet will take you all down.

Author: Ndubuisi Ekekwe

HBR article

 

Airtel Nigeria To Sponsor WAFICT 2011

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Tekedia Editors
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Airtel Nigeria, a leading telecommunications services provider, will sponsor  The 10th anniversary of the Nigerian Telecom Revolution as it declared its participation in the West African ICT Congress, as Platinum Sponsor.

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