HiPipo Money

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FLAVOUR

CAREER

• Better known by his stage name Flavour N’abania, or simply Flavour, is a Nigerianrecording artist, dancer, songwriter, and performer. 
• Well known for his ability to sing fluently in the Igbo language, Flavour began his musical career as a drummer at the age of 13 for a local church in his hometown of Enugu State. 
• The resident pastor at his church introduced him to a friend, Chris I Ordor, the CEO of Sound City Communications, who invited   Flavour to join the company on an educational scholarship to study music in 1996.
• He started playing the drums professionally and in 1999 started playing the keyboard and also used to provide backing vocals for other musicians at Sound City. At the age of 19, Flavour emerged to the Nigeria’s musical scene after receiving an offer to perform at City Centre, Enugu.
• He is currently signed to 2nite Entertainment Music Label.
• In 2005, he released his self-titled debut album N’abania. Flavour later released his second studio albumUplifted in 2010. 
• It was supported by the singles “Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)”, “Adamma”, and “Oyi Remix”. The album’s success made Flavour one of Africa’s most sought out artists. 
• Flavour is popularly known across Africa and the world for his massive club banger “Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)”.

ALBUMS

• BLESSED-2012
• UPLIFTED-2010
• N’ABANIA-2005

JACKIE CHANDIRU

SEYI SHAY

CAREER

• Deborah Oluwa-seyi Joshua, better known by her stage name ‘Seyi Shay’, is a Nigerian based International Recording Artist, Songwriter, and Performer. 
• Born and raised in London, UK to Nigerian Parents, She began performing at the age of six. 
• A former member of the London Community Gospel Choir (LCGC) headed by Basil Meade, whose international tours and acclaim, afforded her a platform to perform in different cities around the world (including a 13 city tour in Japan) at the tender age of fourteen. 
• Seyi Shay is also a talented songwriter, who has written and produced three major songs for the Konami Game Sound track; “Crime Life”, as well as the song “You will see” which was performed by former Spice Girl; Mel C, and was also included in her highly successful Album, “Beautiful Intentions”.
• She also wrote successful hit ‘White Lies’ for international selling rapper/artist Chipmunk that featured Coleena of Diddy’s Dirty Money. 
• She was the lead singer of the British Pop/RnB girl group; “From Above”, they signed to Sony/Columbia Record company and Music World Entertainment owned by Beyoncé’s father; Matthew Knowles. 
• From Above released their debut album online called ‘Breaking From Above’, which was also the title of their MTV reality show which aired in over 166 countries worldwide. 
• They supported Beyoncé on her “I AM” UK tour in 2009/10. 

Now branching out a solo artist, Seyi Shay is working on her debut album in Nigeria.
• Having already recorded a number of songs with the country’s top producers, plans are in place for the release of her solo singles in Africa and Worldwide. 


• Her latest single ‘Irawo’ is still enjoying massive waves and it is no surprise the singer chose the name ‘Irawo’, meaning ‘Star’ in Nigerian native language Yoruba. 


• Seyi Shay’s new singles ‘Ragga Ragga’ and ‘Chairman’ ft. Kcee were recently released, with a video for ‘Ragga Ragga’ premiered on 9th January 2014.
• Her latest single ‘Chairman’ featuring Kcee had over 700,000 downloads on one platform in over one week.

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Airtel Uganda staff visits the Katelemwa Cheshire Children’s Home of Rehabilitation in Gayaza.

Thursday 14^th August started off with a group of Airtel Uganda staff members visiting the Katelemwa Cheshire Children’s Home of Rehabilitation in Gayaza.

The Home provides a family environment for children with physical disabilities through provision of mobility aids, nursing, physiotherapy and orthopedic care.

As part of the TOUCHING LIVES initiative designed to raise the hope of many a disadvantaged people in society,  the team connected with the children playing with them and sharing their classwork,   interacted with the staff , engaged in house work,  toured the workshop that makes artificial limbs & wheel chairs and donated food items and clothing material  to the school. Ms. Samalie Matovu the School director said “We are eternally grateful to Airtel for taking time off to visit the school and interact with the children, we are also grateful for the kind donations you have provided the school and  you are welcome to tour the school as often as you please to touch the lives of these children”

Speaking at the same function, the Corporate Affairs Manager Airtel Uganda, Ms. Charity Rwabutomize retaliated Airtel Uganda’s commitment to helping the disadvantaged in our communities through the TOUCHING LIVES initiative.

“As we continue to connect with many disadvantaged people in our society and bring a smile to their faces through our touching lives initiative, Airtel Uganda is proud and honored to be associated with the Katalemwa Cheshire Children’s Home. This initiative underscores our determination to enrich lives and contribute to humanity.”

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Following the changes in payment modalities introduced for the first time this year that require all local and international players to pay alongside their entries to the Open, the Union hereby announces an extension of the registration deadline to 21st  August 2014 to allow all international traveling players a chance to effectively register by paying using the various modalities put in place by the Union. All players MUST register and PAY by this deadline as there will be no further extensions.

The Union is also pleased to announce that KK security, Oddman Media and NBS have joined Tusker Malt, Sheraton, Uganda Tourism Board, and Case Medical Centre to make this year’s open a success. By bringing on these sponsors who are premium brands in their respective industries, we believe that all participating players and fans who intend to come and watch the game of golf will have a memorable time in this year’s Uganda Open.

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 Huawei’s new LTE Smartphone delivers stand-out design, unparalleled camera experience, access to ultra-fast connectivity and superb battery performance.

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today officially unveiled its latest Smartphone the Ascend P7 in Uganda.

The new 4G LTE-enabled Smartphone redefines Smartphone excellence with top-notch features, ultra-fast connectivity, and easier navigation in a beautifully crafted design that places it in a class of its own. With a 5-inch full high definition display, industry-leading 8MP front-facing and 13MP rear-facing cameras, and the latest intuitive Emotion UI 2.3, Huawei Ascend P7 will make it Possible for people to express excellence with edge, anytime, anywhere.

‘Huawei Technologies is committed to creating maximum value for its customers by providing competitive solutions and the best products and services; this shall only be possible by your continuous support’, urges Mr. Radoslaw Kedzia the Managing director of Huawei Uganda.

Redefining craftsmanship

Huawei Ascend P7 provides an edge with enhanced strength and durability against everyday use with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 front and rear covers. It stands out from the crowd with a sleek, sophisticated metallic appearance created by a seven-layered rear surface treatment with a refined “spin effect” micro-pattern design.

For intense visual clarity when viewing multimedia, Ascend P7 has a 5-inch FHD touch screen display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 445ppi and 16:9 aspect ratio. To suit any style, Ascend P7 is available in a range of fashionable colors including black, white, and pink.

Redefining camera experience

Huawei Ascend P7 gives users an edge in low-light settings with Sony’s 4th generation BSI sensor, Image Signal Processer (ISP), IMAGE Smart 2.0 software and f/2.0 aperture on its 13MP 5P non-spherical lens rear-facing camera to create unparalleled clear, rich pictures at night or indoors.

To capture spontaneous moments before they are gone, Huawei Ascend P7’s unique Ultra Snapshot function enables the user to be camera-ready 1.2 seconds after double-clicking the down volume button intuitively while in locked mode, instead of spending time trying to unlock the screen.

Take better selfies or the ultimate group selfie — a groufie” — with the leading 8MP 5P non-spherical lens front-facing camera that comes with a panorama function for panoramic selfie shooting, and 10 level auto-facial enhancement in beauty mode. Users can also take a selfie video with the 1080p HD video playback. Huawei Ascend P7 ensures picture-perfect moments every time with the innovative built-in mirror function and selfie preview window.

Add an extra dimension to photos with the “Voice Photo” function which takes photos accompanied by 10-second audio clips for users to upload photos with special audio expressions on a variety of social media platforms.

In addition to camera improvements, Huawei’s proprietary Image Signal Processor (ISP) allows the Smartphone to control a whole range of functions that mimic those found in professional digital SLRs, including autofocus, white balance, and noise reduction, for beautifully-optimized photos under any conditions. Users can also select the focus and exposure metering function with just one touch so the preferred focus and exposure position can be set to maximize image precision.

Redefining connectivity and battery performance

For people seeking even faster and seamless connectivity, Huawei Ascend P7 enables unlimited media viewing with ultra-fast 4G LTE speed and Huawei’s unique dual antenna design to improve signal reception. Ascend P7 also uses smart network switching technology that stabilizes the connection even during weak signal reception to minimize battery drainage.

Enjoy long-lasting continuous media viewing and data sharing thanks to the robust 2500 mAh lithium polymer battery and proprietary battery saving technology. In addition, the power saving management function enables users to save battery by switching off any applications running in the background that are consuming unnecessary power.

The super power-saving mode enables Ascend P7 to adopt the most suitable use of power when it is running on less than 10 percent of the total battery. When enabled, the screen will dim and only the basic functions of the phone will remain activated, including voice calls and the contact page. It will also stretch the remaining 10 percent of battery power to last 24 hours on standby.

Redefining user experience

Huawei Ascend P7 gives Smartphone newbies the edge of an expert with the latest version of the intuitive, easy-to-use interface, Emotion UI 2.3, providing customizable lock and home screens, with two enhanced UIs for effortless navigation. Easily personalize the Smartphone management software, including a harassment filter, permission manager, network and notification management, and power saving modes.

About Huawei Consumer Business Group

As at the end of 2013, Huawei’s products and services are deployed in over 170 countries, serving more than one third of the world’s population. Huawei ranked third in global Smartphone shipments in 2013. Huawei has also established more than 16 R&D centers around the world in countries such as the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India, and China. One of Huawei’s three business groups, Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) provides a range of products including mobile phones, mobile broadband (MBB) devices, home devices and cloud services. With more than 20 years of rich business expertise in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, an extensive global network, vast global business operations and partners, Huawei Consumer BG is dedicated to bringing the latest technology to consumers, offering a world of possibilities and creating extraordinary experiences for people everywhere.

For more information, visit Huawei Consumer BG online: consumer.huawei.com/en/

For regular updates on Huawei Consumer BG Uganda, follow us on:

Facebook: facebook.com/huaweiUganda.

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MTN Uganda stood out at the inaugural Digital Impact Awards Africa #DIAA ceremony held on Thursday 21st August 2014 at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. The Digital Impact Awards Africa were organized by Cyberplc and HiPipo, in partnership with the National Information Technology Authority (NITA) Uganda. Under the theme “Maximizing the Digital Dividend”, the awards sought to recognize andappreciate organizations that are spearheading the use of digital mediums in improving the ways of life for customers and entire communities.

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

MTN was nominated in 7 categories:

1. Digital Brand of the Year
2. Best Corporate Brand on Social Media
3. Best Corporate Digital Marketing campaign
4. Best Corporate Website
5. Best Digital Financial Service
6. Best Digital Financial Service Innovation
7. People’s Choice Video Commercial of the Year on YouTube

Out of the seven categories in which MTN was nominated, the MTN Brand won four awards for Digital Brand of the Year, People’s Choice Video Commercial of the Year on YouTube- ‘Oh the things you will learn’, Best Corporate Digital Marketing campaign for the Egg Hunt campaign and Best Corporate Brand on Social Media. MTN Uganda also scooped second place prize for Best Digital Financial service innovation award.

The Governor, Bank of Uganda- Professor Emmanuel TumusiimeMutebile hailed MTN for its innovativeness and customer oriented services that have endeared it to the consumers over the years.The Governor, whoofficiated the event, was represented by Mr. Richard Mayebo, Director of Information Technology (IT), Bank of Uganda.

“We are honoured by this recognition”, said MTN Uganda’s Acting Chief Marketing Officer, Kenneth Kiddu. “Last year we took the award for ‘Best Corporate on Social Media’ at the inaugural Social Media Awards. Being nominated again this year and winning is testimony of the public’s recognition of our efforts to deliver on our vision of delivering a bold digital New World in which we leverage digital solutions to improve how we serve our customers through convenient and cost effective ways”.

MTN currently provides 24/7 customer support on its Social Media pages at www.twitter.com/mtnug and www.facebook.com/mtnugand has over 350,000 fans.

This year under the theme “Oh, the things you’lllearn”, MTN launched the biggest Internet campaign in the market created to demonstrate the immense benefits of the Internet in the everyday life of a customer. The communication campaign also shows how MTN has created various solutions that are aimed at democratizing the Internet for the benefit of all Ugandans. Today, MTN customers across Uganda have access to bundles that suit both their needs and pockets.

In the six months ending 30 June 2014, MTN Uganda invested in an additional 133 2G sites plus 138 3G sites. There were also 243 existent 2G sites upgraded in various locations across the country.MTN’s total investments in Uganda exceeded Ushs. 137 billion in 2013 while a further Ushs. 150 billion has beenearmarked for 2014.

“As we celebrate the 10 million customer milestone this year, we are very excited about the future.We shall continue to lead the innovation frontierwhile ensuring that we remain relevant to both the current and future needs of our customers”, concluded Mr. Kiddu.

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Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has climaxed a three month graduate and internship training to 31 students from various learning institutions of Uganda.

The three month activity that began in June this year was climaxed today with students presenting research findings for a survey known as ‘Telecom in my eye’. The survey regarding telecom service requirements in Uganda has been part and parcel of the students training.

Mr. Radoslaw Kedzia the managing director congratulated the students upon a successful completion of the training. ‘Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding with Makerere University in 2012; to partner and collaborate in the areas of specialized ICT training, sponsorships and skills development; this justifies the reason we are gathered here today’, he added.

The Managing Director further noted that Huawei has not only trained but also offered employment to the excelling trainees since 2012.

‘I commend Huawei Technologies Uganda for extending special ICT training and hands-on experience to the Students in various ICT disciplines’, said Mr. Balyomu Grace; the head of innovation and internship Makerere University College of computing and information science.

The 31 students have received hands-on training in areas like; application and software, transmission, datacom, core network, wireless, radio frequency, Device business and Public Relations.

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Through our dedication to customer-centric innovation and strong partnerships, we have established end-to-end advantages in telecom networks, devices and cloud computing. We are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers by providing competitive solutions and services. Our products and solutions have been deployed in over 140 countries, serving more than one third of the world’s population.    For more information, visit Huawei online: www.huawei.com

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Mountain Dew, Uganda’s fastest growing soft drink brand on the market will this year mark six years of refreshing Ugandans.

Crown Beverages Limited, bottlers of Pepsi Cola, unveiled the soda in November 2008 in mainly 300ml bottles and has since had a tremendous growth in market share and volume since its inception.

“Mountain Dew has been a huge success in Uganda,” said Mr Innocent Tibayeita, the head of sales and marketing.

“The launch of Mountain Dew was as a result of our desire to offer our Ugandan customers a unique experience. For all the six years Mountain Dew has inspired youth in Uganda to live their lives to the fullest and seek out all the exhilaration the world has to offer. Mountain Dew recognises that youth are Bold, adventurous and daring. That’s why we offer them a soda like no other” Mr Tibayeita added.

Since its introduction, the soda has been driven by two key marketing thematic campaigns; Break-Out and Experience Extreme. These campaigns have been used to reinforce the brands message.

The huge success CBL has registered with Mountain Dew has led to Uganda being used by PepsiCo as a benchmark for any other launch in Africa. Uganda was the second African country after Nigeria to sell the citrus-based soda. Mountain Dew is currently available in over 150 countries worldwide.

CBL has spent more than Shs2 billion to promote Mountain Dew through various sponsorships like the National Motocross Championship, the Extreme Gamers Challenge, the most elite video gaming championship in Uganda, the Buzz Teeniez Awards and Leavers Rock, among others.

A series of exciting events have been lined up by the soda company to celebrate the achievement, starting this month.

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Download UCC Quality of Service(QOS) Report 

The independent Quality of Service(QOS) assessment that was carried out by the Uganda Communications Commissionand published in the leading daily newspapers indicated MTN Uganda as the leading network operator for the period February 2014 to June 2014.

The report covered a number of parameters which include among others Successful Call rate, Blocked call rate and Dropped call rate.

MTN Uganda’s focus over the last year was on Network Quality, the rollout of innovative Products and Services, improvement of Customer Experience and wide distribution network which have consolidated our leadership in quality service and delivery.

“This is a fantastic achievement and reflects the results of our investment program and network optimization focus over the last few months. What is particularly pleasing is that we are the clear leader in important cities like Mbale, Jinja, Kasese, Kabale, Masaka and Mbarara. This is a clear indication that MTN has not only limited our investment to Kampala but has focused on the whole of Uganda,” said Chief Executive Officer, Brian Gouldie.

In 2013 MTN investments in Uganda exceeded Ushs 137 billion and in 2014 UGX 150 billion. This is part of a cumulative investment exceeding Ushs 1.7 Trillion in Uganda since 1998. This has gone towards network rollout and upgrades as well as a number of other infrastructure developments to support our subscriber growth and the rollout of new innovative products and services.

In terms of infrastructure, for the six months ended 30 June 2014, MTN Uganda added 133 new 2G sites and 138 new 3G sites.  There were also 243 existent 2G sites upgraded in various locations across the country.

MTN officially commissioned its Fibre network at Katuna Border in Kabale district last year. The commissioning of the fibre at Katuna was a major development which has had a positive impact on Uganda’s ICT Roadmap. This landmark development was the first terrestrial link to Rwanda that was earmarked to greatly lower cost and significantly improve quality of communications services in the region. It has since substantially improved the connectivity with neighboring countries and the world by connecting Uganda to an additional submarine cable SAT-3 to Rwanda via the Tanzania route from Dar es Salaam.

This is in addition to the other two cables already connected through the Kenya route from Mombasa which provide Uganda with unique redundancy and a backup structure for secured and reliable connectivity while providing quality voice and data services. This important development is in line with MTN Uganda’s commitment of leading innovation in the market and in the region as a whole.

By December 2013, MTN Uganda’s total Fibre infrastructure exceeded 3,200km. An additional 350 km of fibre will be rolled out by the end of 2014 and 150 km in the first quarter of 2015.

Today there is an increased demand for internet access in Uganda and MTN Uganda has managed to stay on the top of its roadmap. MTN was the first to introduce the latest technologies providing World Class Internet using 3G, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi Hotspots. Furthermore through its regional Internet Expos, MTN continues to take basic data and computer literacy to the different part of the country. Currently more than 3 million subscribers are accessing the Internet thought MTN Network per month and this number is steadily growing.

“It is important to highlight the fact that network downtime usually results in significant revenue losses. We have however invested heavily in network infrastructure to minimize this down time so as to ensure that customers and their Businesses are never offline. Unfortunately, these efforts are being affected by persistent network damages along our routes”, he said. 

The continuous improvement in network quality and services is being affected by different challenges including the increase in the number of vandalism cases on MTN’s network infrastructure. For instance during the last 12 months, MTN Uganda recorded more than 200 incidents of infrastructure vandalism largely attributed to the theft of fiber cables by individuals and activities of road construction.

Gouldie said, “Our investment into Uganda shows MTN’s commitment to continue providing services relevant to our customer’s current and future needs and this firmly positions MTN as a leader with a clear vision for the future”.

Download UCC Quality of Service(QOS) Report 

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Being at the helm of MTN Uganda for just over a month now, Brian Gouldie is very optimistic for what the future holds for him and his team in Uganda. 

“I am very excited to be leading MTN Uganda into the future as it seeks to improve its market leadership position in a very competitive market. It is with enormous anticipation that I have arrived in Uganda to continue with the successful legacy that has been built. There is a very skilled leadership team in place and I am looking forward to working with them. I personally have had the privilege of working in a number of different operations in the MTN Group and am very excited to start this new challenge in Uganda” said the new CEO of MTN Uganda, Brian Gouldie.

With more than 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry and being a founder member of MTN, Brian has had a rich career.  A qualified chartered accountant by trade; he has worked in both South Africa (15 years) and Nigeria (5 years) and has extensive knowledge in both start-up and maturing markets.

Gouldie has held a substantial number of executive positions over his tenure; the two most recent was for MTN South Africa, where he was appointed as Executive of Consumer Sales and Distribution, and most recently as Chief Marketing Officer. A visionary and catalyst for change, Brian believes that sound strategy delivers solid results.  Some of the key highlights in his career included:

•       Founding MTN SA – In 1994, he was part of the original team that launched MTN SA

•       Launching prepaid cellular services–Launching prepaid or better known Pay As You Go, A world first, he played a pivotal role in the team which took it to market in 1998

•       Launching MTN Nigeria – He was part of the original start up team that launched MTN Nigeria in 2001. He led the Sales, Distribution and Operations team as executive from 2001 to 2006.

•       Launched MTN Zone – He was part of the launch team that took the MTN Zone product to market in 2007 (MTN Group and world first)

•       Launch of Mobile Money – He spearheaded the launch of Mobile with an integrated banking platform in MTN SA in 2011 and within less than two monthsthey gained more than 300 000 subscribers.

Asked what he sees as strategically importantto MTN, Gouldie commented; “Our leading position in the financial services market, through Mobile Money, plays a critical part of MTN’s evolution and future success. Financial inclusion is as critical to consumers as communications accessis. By integrating these two business models, MTN will have the ability to enable our customers even further.”

“As the most trusted brand in Uganda, it is essential that we continue to invest in the latest technology to keep our customers’ money secure, allow for greater integration into the broader banking system and substantially improve the customer experience of Mobile Money. It is to this end that MTN will investing substantially by upgrading its financial services platform in the next two months. We have the most extensive Mobile Money distribution network and this technology upgrade will provide our distribution agents with more business opportunities.”

“In addition, MTN needsto continue its investment in fibre technology, our 4G roll-out, corporate products and solutions, through this we believe we will enablefurther efficiencies for our corporate customers and in turn future growth for the country.”

Gouldie continuedby sharing some of his most resent observations; “In assessing the Ugandan market opportunities, since my arrival, I was very pleased to see the results of the independent assessment done by the UCC which was published on Friday 8^th August.”

“This clearly positions MTN as the leading network operator with respect to Quality of Service.  It isa reflection of our extensive investment strategy in Uganda and the benefits that our customers have been receiving pertaining to call quality and set up.This independent assessment also indicated that our investment has not been limited to Kampala, with MTN having a clear leadership position in other important cities like Mbale, Jinja, Kasese, Kabale, Masaka and Mbarara.”

In conclusion,Gouldie commented; “It is critical that MTN continues to grow from strength to strength as we remain relevant to our customers through our products, solutions and brand investment in the country. We need to enable our customers not only to access voice communication, but also to unearth the multiple opportunities which data and the internet can provide. The growth in this digital world will drive economic development and enable access and opportunities never experienced before.”