HiPipo Money

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Johannesburg – MTN Group today announced the appointment of Mteto Nyati as MTN SA CEO, effective 13 July 2015.

He succeeds Ahmad Farroukh, who resigned earlier this month. A seasoned ICT executive and business leader, Nyati joined MTN as Group Chief Enterprise Officer in October last year.

“He brings extensive knowledge of the local ICT market, and is passionate about people and customer service. We believe the appointment of a leader of Nyati’s calibre and competencies will greatly enhance our efforts to strengthen the confidence of our customers and reinvigorate our people,” says Sifiso Dabengwa, MTN Group President and CEO.

In his role as Group Chief Enterprise Officer, Nyati has been responsible for leveraging the Group’s integrated ICT offerings and leading the group-wide enterprise and ICT strategy to enhance MTN’s position in the enterprise segment.

Nyati has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Natal. In 2004, he was named a Yale University World Fellow.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 April 2015, MTN recorded 229,2 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. Visit us at, www.mtnbusiness.com and www.mtn.com

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MTN Uganda has today launched countrywide 4G coverage in Uganda, extending the latest broadband technology to all major towns. This latest investment for the first time now takes the MTN 4G experience beyond Kampala, across all corners of Uganda, to enable high speed internet access for its customers.

MTN first rolled out 4G technology in 2013, at the time limited to only Kampala City and Entebbe. This allowed MTN to trial the LTE technology.

In line with the vision to lead the delivery of a bold new Digital World, MTN is continuing to invest heavily in technologies that conveniently facilitate both business and other aspects of life in a digital world.

In 2014 alone, the company invested a total of UGX. 171billion, 35% (UGX. 60bn) directly to building network capacity, coverage and guaranteeing an even richer customer experience on MTN Uganda’s data network. The total investment in 2015 is expected to reach UGX. 85billion.

This investment has seen MTN build the largest and widest 4G network in the country, with a total of 75 LTE sites so far operational. This is in addition to the already existing coverage of 1,492 2G sites and 591 3G sites.

Also known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), 4G technology is a worldwide efficient mobile broadband technology that enables improved speeds and superior internet user experience. It offers great data transfer speeds and the shortest latency times, allowing users to have a seamless, uninterrupted download experience.

It enables you to stream clear, crisp video, download songs in a few beats, download apps almost instantly, and so much more.

“The launch of LTE represents a major development in mobile connectivity and capability in Uganda, enabling access to this revolutionary technology on the MTN network. The service has the potential to operate at speeds of up to 100mbps, which is almost triple the speed of any existing mobile connection available commercially in Uganda, and the wider region,” said MTN Uganda CTO, Rami Farah.

This year’s rollout of 4G/LTE covers all major towns, including Kampala, Entebbe, Mbale, Mbarara, Lira, Arua, Gulu, Kabale, Kasese, Fort Portal, Moroto, Masaka and Jinja. This in addition to the already existing country-wide coverage of 3G. Attached is an illustration of MTN Uganda’s 4G/LTE coverage.

Currently, the total number of internet users in Uganda is estimated at just over 6.8 million of which about 3.4million are mobile data subscribers. Compared with the voice penetration of 53%, data penetration is still very low at just 25%.

MTN Uganda is taking initiative, not only to bring the internet to some communities for the first time, but also to upgrade those using traditional technologies like 2G to faster and wider 3G internet connectivity. Users of current technologies now have the opportunity to upgrade to even faster speeds on the 4G network.

“Mobile users like to download videos and music; playing games, sharing photos and streaming sports content, all on their mobile devices and have a need for enhanced and uninterrupted experience.  With this latest rollout of 4G, MTN promises to offer an enhanced and seamless user experience, lower latency and high spectral efficiency. This also means that a higher number of data users can be serviced without compromising the quality of service they receive,” said Mr. Brian Gouldie, MTN Uganda CEO.

“We are confident that we have made significant milestones in providing access to this technology and are happy to be able to offer our customers the LTE experience over our world-class MTN network,” Mr Gouldie added.

Ericsson estimates that doubling the speed of broadband can directly impact the GDP growth by 0.3%, while according to UNESCO, for every 10% increase in data penetration, developing countries could add as much as 1.3% growth to their GDP. Such is the significance of internet in the modern era.

Through its latest efforts, MTN Uganda aims to continue to extend internet access to the majority of Ugandans who still don’t have access to the internet; demonstrated by its investment in the largest 3G and 4G networks in Uganda as well as recent announcement of an aggressive reduction on its internet bundles, enabling its customers to connect to the digital world on a world class MTN network.  

Customers will need a 4G-capable device and a SIM card upgrade to be able to enjoy the 4G experience, available at any MTN Service Centre across the country’

ENDS

About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As of 31 December 2014, MTN Uganda recorded 10.4 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug and for our football fans www.mtnfootball.com. Customers can also follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug and www.twitter.com/mtnugandacare for assistance.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 31 December 2014, MTN recorded 223,4 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. Visit us at, www.mtnbusiness.com, www.mtn.com  and www.mtnmmo.com

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On Saturday 4^th July 2015 at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, 350 Muslim children from 4 different schools from in and around Kampala were treated to Iftar by Sheraton Kampala Hotel. After a session of fun and games in the Hotel gardens followed by prayers, the children feasted on an array of specially prepared food and by the highly qualified Sheraton Kampala chefs.

“Children will be the new leaders of this nation and at Sheraton Kampala Hotel we believe this is true. We organized this children’s Iftar because we believe it is part of our responsibility to give back to the community in any way we can. By hosting these events we trust that we are instilling a sense of community and a culture of giving in our young children.

Sheraton being one of the most recognized hospitality providers in Uganda we recognized that this initiative is in sync with our core values of “creating a warm, connected community” and we believe it’s a noble cause considering a lot of these children come from difficult economic situations and require the support of the entire community to grow”. Said Sheraton Kampala’s Marketing Director Jenifer Musiime.

Sheraton has been serving Iftar to Muslim orphans from Kampala and neighbouring areas during Ramadan for over 5 years and this is as a give back to society. This is as part of their CSR program and every year they host and feed more than 350 children during Ramadan.

Sheraton being recently announced as one of the top three five star hotels in Uganda, it didn’t disappoint with the food and service they provided to the children and the invited guests.

We are very happy to always have this gathering because it makes us feel proud when we see these children smile and happy. We are shall continue giving the best service to our customers and we encourage everyone to come and experience our services. Concluded Jenifer.

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On Thursday 18^th June 2015, the MTN Dealers Forum donated four million shillings towards the construction of a new surgical ward at St. Francis Naggalama Hospital in Mukono District.

The donation came the same month MTN Uganda marked the 21 Days of Y’ello Care, a CSR activity in which MTN Staff made voluntary contributions towards the improvement of education at various schools and education institutions around the country.

As such, it was befitting that the MTN dealers, who form the foundation of MTN network’s Sales and Distribution, also took part in this initiative.

The cheque was handed over by Andrew Ntegeka of C&A Telecom, Esther A. Owor of Otada Telecom, Edward Muhumuza of Dembelyo Telecom, all representing the Executive Committee of the Dealer forum; and MTN teams represented by Andrew Rugamba, Isaiah Semamuli and many others.

Receiving the contribution was the team from St Francis Nagalama let by Sr. Jane Frances.

“We’re delighted to receive this contribution from MTN Dealers Forum. We are sincerely grateful for your support towards the construction of a new Surgical Ward, and we encourage all our stakeholders to continue to support MTN Uganda,” said Sr. Jane Frances, speaking at the colourful event held at the hospital premises before the delegation were taken to a tour around the hospital.

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Huawei today announced the launch of their Digital inCloud Eastern and Southern Africa regional center at the 5^th Annual VAS Africa summit. The event attracted over 70 carriers and Service Providers (SPs)/ Content Providers (CPs) in the region.

Huawei is the first global solutions provider to bring such a comprehensive Digital inCloud solution to Africa. “Huawei Digital in Cloud solution will facilitate:  ease of distribution and trade between consumer, carriers, and partners of digital products/services. This facilitation will be achieved through improved content aggregation, better management of local and global digital content,” said Felix Tang, Director of Huawei Eastern & Southern Region Carrier Software Department.

The Digital inCloud Eastern and Southern Africa regional center is dedicated to building Africa’s digital eco-system through cooperation of Operators and Local and Global partners, to introduce digital services to Africa and vice versa. This localised business operation, promotes African carriers and partners to develop digital products and services enabling them to compete globally. “Huawei brings a wealth of knowledge and experience on how to build and operate the local digital eco-system, and help operators and partners generate revenue securely and in a transparent manner. Huawei, through Global partner agreements brings the best channels to distribute local digital content globally” added Tang.

Globally, Huawei Digital inCloud has aggregated over 2,000 partners with over 200,000 high-quality digital content and has served over 140M carrier users. The content covers digital music, mobile games, videos, API openness, traffic monetization, B2B Cloud and M2M

With the launch of Digital inCloud Eastern and Southern Africa regional center, Huawei’s global distribution network nodes increased from 8 to 9 and this will enhance Huawei’s regional service capability.

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The invention of the Internet, telecommunications and computer networks has been leading to a variety of innovations in the digital space in Uganda and Africa as a whole. The growing number of online platforms comes with the need to make those services safe and reliable. That is why it is important to apply best practices to diminish the risks as much as possible and make this innovations, platforms, products and services sustainable. A website or mobile application that doesn’t apply best practices for cyber security could lose value due to cybercrimes in the services offered by the online platform.

The Digital Impact Awards Africa supports and promotes innovation and application of best practice to foster sustainability of digital innovations, services and products that deliver maximum dividends across Africa.

This year, Kaymu, is nominated in 3 different categories for the DIAA 2015: Best Mobile App, Best E-Commerce (Classifieds/Marketplace), Best Mobile App for Africa.

The Award Ceremony Dinner will take place on the 13^th of August 2015 at Serena Hotel Kampala. You still have one month to vote for your favourite product.

About Kaymu

Kaymu is the leading online shopping community, and the safest platform on the market. It connects and empowers buyers and sellers to allow them to take advantage of the best deals on an extensive range of products including electronics, mobile phones, fashion items and tons of gadgets. Thanks to a fixed price system, Kaymu guarantees that users will always find the lowest prices on the market.

About AIG

Africa Internet Group introduces and accelerates the online shift in Africa – for its people and its culture. It is committed to running successful and vibrant internet companies which boost the evolution of African online culture. AIG is the parent group of nine successful and fast-growing companies in more than 25 African countries, accounting for over 3, 000 staff. AIG cares about entrepreneurship and brings together all the key elements required to build great companies: team, concept, technology and capital. Its network of companies includes JUMIA, Kaymu, Hellofood, Lamudi, Carmudi, Zando, Jovago, Lendico and Easy Taxi.

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…….Over 60 units of blood donated

Airtel Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Blood Donor Day by donating more than 60 units of blood in an internal company blood drive held at their offices in Bugolobi.

Themed “Thank you for saving my life”, the 2015 World Blood Donor Day was focused on thanking blood donors who save lives every day through their blood donations and strongly encouraging more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan “Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters.”

By doing an internal blood drive, Airtel Uganda not only motivated regular blood donors amongst their staff to continue giving blood but also encouraged young people in good health who have never given blood to start.

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Kampala joins the list of cities around the world to experience the House of Walker phenomenon

The House of Walker – a Johnnie Walker Luxury retail store and the first of its kind in East Africa – was unveiled at a private launch event on the 18^th of June at The Sheraton Hotel Kampala. The House of Walker was proudly setup by Uptime Solutions Limited.

Hosted by the Managing Director of Uganda Breweries, Mr. Nyimpini Mabunda and the Chairperson of the UBL Board, Dr. Alan Shonubi, the exclusive launch event immersed guests into the first luxury shopping experience in Uganda.

Now open to the public, the House of Walker experience is designed with amazing attention to detail – everything from the setup, to the soundscapes, scents and flavors – culminating in an unforgettable and entirely immersive whisky lifestyle experience.

“As a landmark  embassy of fine Scotch whisky, the House of Johnnie Walker store offers a truly world class experience, from  private tastings with a whisky expert to a special bottle engraving service and a year-round Luxury Gifting delivery service,” says Annette Nakiyaga, the Luxury Consumer Manager, Uganda Breweries Limited.

“Together with our partners at Sheraton Kampala, we will now be able to make birthday celebrations twice as special. You can now order  a personalized whisky bottle engraved with someone’s name as well as personalized cake from Temptations all delivered to the doorstep in true VIP style.”

Since its launch in 2010 – travelling from China, to the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom and beyond – the House of Walker now offers the first luxury shopping experience in East Africa.

“Kampala’s discerning individuals also have the opportunity to become VVIP Blue Club Members, a pedigree that comes with exclusive benefits. Amongst others, VVIP members will be able to enjoy ultra-luxurious experiences like private closed store shopping experiences, a 24 hour personal home delivery service, exclusive invitations to private brand launches, priority booking for private tastings and bartender services for their private functions,” added Annette Nakiyaga.

The glamourous launch event hosted a select group of guests in an engaging immersion into the world of Johnnie Walker Blue Label®, featuring a grand ceremonial performance by the Caledonian Society of Uganda as well as the first private shopping experience in the iconic store.

“Kampala is moving forward, no doubt! It is befitting that the world’s best known icon of progress takes its next big step in arguably the world’s most progressive city. Anyone who experiences this store will agree that this is a great stride in a journey destined for success, both for Kampala & for Johnnie Walker,” said Nyimpini Mabunda, Managing Director of Uganda Breweries Limited in his welcome speech to the VVIPs in attendance.

Located in the Sheraton Hotel Kampala grand lobby, a famous hangout for the discerning of Kampala, THE HOUSE OF WALKER is open from 10am to 8pm Daily. 

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As graduates are looking for jobs and crying of the high unemployment levels, in the country, employers on the other hand are complaining of unavailable right skilled people to fill the available job positions said Michael Niyetegeka an IT consultant and Students’ Facilitator as he opened the 5^th Annual Madhvani Foundation Career Guidance and Entrepreneurship training workshop that was aimed at equipping students with practical skills that employers are looking for in the work places.

Despite their academic documents that show excellent performances at the university, graduates have failed to demonstrate employable skills at the workplace that is why Madhavani Foundation a charitable fund saw it fit to additionally train their beneficiaries in an aim to prepare them for the real competitive world after school.

In a recent report on the lack of employment among graduates in Africa, the British Council noted that there has been an increase in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade. But at the same time, too few graduates have acquired the skills they need to find work.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recent 18th Annual Global CEO Survey it revealed that business leaders are more concerned than ever about being able to find the right people to fill roles ahead of planned increased hires over the next year. Narrowing down the data down to Africa, an alarmingly, 96 percent of CEOs were found mostly concerned about the lack of skills available in-market, explaining the trend of many multinationals preferring to “buy in” talent into their Africa-based operations

Ugandan students still lack thinking skills that can otherwise empowered them to explore the many opportunities around them. Observed Michael Niyetegeka. He added that as a means of adding value to oneself to become a competitive brand, graduates and even people at managerial levels need to embrace the habit of reading so as to broaden their knowledge base and open their imaginations to new ideas.

While mentoring the students during the workshop Michael took the graduates through the common mistakes many make when they go for job interviews. The most common being uninformed he urged the graduates to always read and inform themselves of the issues that surround them as opposed to just the ones that concern them. He explained professionalism as another key issue that every employer looks out for in an employee which entails understanding their duties and roles and being able to deliver on the expected deliverables.

Over time a number of remedies have been suggested to curb unemployment levels among the youths in the country Joseph Okwakol, then National Youth Council chairperson in 2009, during an International Youth Day celebrations held on 8^th August 2009 Petitioned President Yoweri Museveni to reduce the retirement age for civil servants from 65-55 to create room for the younger generation that is annually churned from various institutions of study to the labor market.

Youths have also been advised to embrace the entrepreneurship drive and become self-reliant through enterprise creations.

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Get ready to live and love to watch your favorite local stars on GOtv when one of Uganda’s most popular free-to-air channels Urban TV starts airing on GOtv, channel 95 from Tuesday, 23 June 2015.

This exciting new development comes exactly one week after Uganda joined the rest of the world in the process of migrating to full digital broadcasting and switching off its analogue signal in the South Central region.

“Brand research has confirmed that Urban TV is Uganda’s fastest growing and one of the most watched channels in the country,” stated Susan Nsibirwa, Head of Marketing and Communication of the Vision group who added that, “this growth has been driven by its very entertaining local programming, most which has been produced in house. Putting Urban TV on GOtv will take the channel to the next level and open it up to a much wider countrywide audience.”

Urban TV will treat viewers to a variety of entertaining local programmes for the entire family. These include the very popular Sqoop on Sqoop hosted by Mary Luswata, Skizzy, Fashionista, Business Unusual, Rated Next plus programmes containing showbiz news, the latest and hottest music videos, current affairs and news from Uganda.

“The digital migration is here and real,” noted Charles Hamya, the General Manager of MultiChoice Uganda. “Carrying Urban Television on our DTT platform fits perfectly within our migration strategy which considers the promotion of quality local content to be an indispensible ingredient in supporting the growth and development of the African television industry. Our viewers have been urging us for a while now to bring Urban onto our platforms because of its popularity I am glad we have been able to respond to their requests.”

Hamya also dismissed reports of a decoder shortage saying, “MultiChoice imported hundreds and thousands of decoders in preparation for the migration. We have a more than adequate supply in our stores and storages around Kampala so Ugandans need not panic. Our sales and distribution model is fully operational and we have more than 1, 000 sales points located all over the country.”

MultiChoice set-top boxes are available at the MultiChoice Uganda office as well as branded agent outlets and major retail partners like Game, Nakumatt or Tuskys.  “MultiChoice has been preparing for the migration over 10 years so we are ready, this is the reason why, we switched off our analogue signal in 2005, well before the migration deadline,” added Hamya. 

Start your digital migration journey with Free-to-air GOtv decoders with no monthly subscription for 125,000 UGsh and Pay television decoders at only 60,000 inclusive of one month free subscription on the GOtv bouquet.

Urban TV will go live on GOtv, channel 95 from 23 June, 2015 at 12:00pm CAT.