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Microsoft Showcases 25 #Insiders4Good Entrepreneurs at Graduation Ceremony

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Microsoft honored the achievements of 25 Nigerian entrepreneurs who graduated from the #Insiders4Good Fellowship, a program launched by Microsoft in partnership with Co-Creation Hub.

The entrepreneurs were recognized at a ceremony held at the InterContinental Hotel in Lagos, where they also pitched their business ideas to Microsoft executives and potential local partners and investors.

In his welcome address at the graduation ceremony, Shina Oyetoso, developer experience director, Microsoft Nigeria, reiterated Microsoft’s commitment to supporting enterpreneursin the Country leveraging technology.

He said,  “At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve More. Delivering on this mission starts with great technology, but great technology alone is not enough.

Despite global expansion, increased access, and democratisation of technology, too many of technology’s benefits have yet to reach the people who need them due to poverty, lack of education and accessibility. Microsoft has challenged itself to address the question of how we can truly bring to life the promise of technology for everyone and part of the answer requires a recognition that empowerment begins with inclusion”.

In his keynote speech, Bambo Sofola, Microsoft director of Software Engineering, said, “Last year, we were excited to launch the first #Insiders4Good Fellowship in Nigeria, where so many exceptional entrepreneurs are using technology to create positive change in their communities. By supporting the growth of the Nigerian #Insiders4Good Fellows, we’ve learned valuable insights about the challenges they face in their unique contexts and how Microsoft products can grow and evolve to support them best. Today, we are thrilled to showcase their extraordinary ideas and celebrate their achievements.”

Selected last September from a pool of 5,000 applicants, the 25 Nigerian #Insiders4Good Fellows are advancing extraordinary ideas to create positive change in Nigeria, Africa, and the world. With creativity and hard work, their products and services are tackling entrenched problems like illiteracy, kidnapping, agricultural waste, healthcare access, and much more.

As part of the Fellowship, the entrepreneurs attended an intensive “bootcamp”—a series of group workshops led by Microsoft staff during which they identified needs, set goals, and created road maps for taking their businesses to the next level. Each Fellow received a suite of Microsoft hardware and software and six months of tailored technical and strategic mentorship from local and international leaders.

“The #Insiders4Good Fellowship has been incredibly helpful,” Kido Chukwunweike and Kelechi Odoemena said prior to the event.

Their startup, Dillish Instant Foods, was one of seven businesses invited by the Microsoft team to present at a private pitch session before the ceremony. “The Fellowship motivated us to prove that there is real demand for our product and pushed us to launch our ‘MVP’ product. We’ve started to see the challenges we face as individual hurdles to overcome, rather than a single huge obstacle. We learned to set smart interim goals. We feel very positive and proud of our progress.”

The program culminated with today’s graduation event, during which Bambo Sofola recognized each Fellow onstage with a plaque of distinction.

Paula Aliu, who has launched an online platform for mental health services called Cogno-Aid, looked back on her journey as a Fellow. “My experience with the fellowship program has being greatly rewarding whilst challenging in a positive way,” Aliu said. “Over the course of the past six months plus, I have had the honor of meeting and interacting with a solid group of individuals comprising both Fellows and mentors from Microsoft and Co-Creation Hub. These wonderful people aided in fleshing out and building Cogno-Aid from an idea to what it is today. For this, I am forever grateful for the guidance given to me courtesy of the #Insiders4Good Fellowship.”

The Microsoft team and Co-Creation Hub will continue to foster connections between the Nigerian Fellows and Windows Insiders, a global community of over10 million Windows users.

 

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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Coronation Report Reveals Key Role of Private Sector to Nigeria’s Infrastructure Funding

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The maiden edition of Coronation group infrastructure report has revealed that the private sector has a critical role to play in infrastructure funding in Nigeria.

The report stated that the key to private-sector infrastructure investment is for dealmakers to structure transactions that offer attractive returns combined with an acceptable degree of risk, the risk often being eased by agreements supplied by infrastructure investment vehicles such a Infracorp.

The report said that the investor base can play its part, providing liquidity as part of its own efforts to create long-term returns with low relationship with public markets.

The report noted that Nigeria’s future infrastructure development depends on private capital, including capital allocated to Public Private Partnership (PPP) ventures, given the huge amounts of money required and the inability of government to provide it.

The report explained that the record of the federal government in capital expenditure over several decades highlighted the need for increasing private-sector investment, adding that public expenditure on transportation, education, hospitals, power, housing, and other essential infrastructure has not kept up with the needs of a population growing at a long-term rate.

The report said Public-private partnership differs from government capital expenditure in that it must pay for its capital, noting that it must attract private sector capital and therefore provide better returns than the risk-free returns of government debt.

According to the report, “Inflows of petro-dollars into government coffers did not translate into proportionately more being spent on capital expenditure, surely a missed opportunity. Still worse was to follow in the period 2011-2020 when the average level of public sector capital expenditure fell to 1.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”


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DLM Asset Management Set to Host Webinar to Discuss Financial Stability in Times of Economic Distress

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DLM Asset Management Limited, a subsidiary of DLM Capital Group, is hosting a webinar with the theme, “Maintaining financial stability in times of economic distress.” The much-awaited webinar, slated for Thursday, March 28, 2023, at 11 a.m., is going to cover the essential strategies to navigate through economic challenges and safeguarding one’s financial future.

Hosted by industry experts, the webinar will delve into the following key topics and teach attendees:

  • How to adopt a proactive, knowledgeable, and adaptable approach to risk assessment and mitigation.
  • How to thrive in this present economy and remain financially resilient.
  • Financial planning and discipline

During its interactive Q&A session, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the subsidiary’s services from the hosts and speakers of the webinar. This includes the DLM fixed income fund, which Nairametrics identified as one of the top-performing Nigerian mutual funds in 2023.

This webinar is designed for investment savvy individuals Income earners, institutional and corporate investors, high net worth individuals, and the mass retail market.

Interested parties can register for the webinar by using this link, which is currently active. Seize the opportunity to gain experience on insightful things and get ready for a rewarding encounter.

 


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Firm Canvasses Affordable Technology to Drive Business Efficiency

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Information Communication Technology (ICT) service provider, Thamani Consulting, has stressed the need to make technology much affordable so as to make businesses seamless and efficient.

Olubunmi Abegunde, Managing Partner of the company, averred that making technology access affordable would enhance its penetration and increase uptake of digital technologies to drive employment growth of more than 22 million Africans joining the workforce each year.

He explained that the organisation remained committed to empowering businesses to thrive in Nigeria’s dynamic environment, hence churns out innovative solutions to address business problems across disciplines.

“Leveraging 20 years of combined market experience executing successful IT Projects with local and multinational organisations, we aim to capitalise on this to improve strategic utilisation of technology in Africa and support capacity building through access to requisite information technology,” he said.

He explained further that the African region more than others need increased usage of digital technologies to level-up globally, noting that polices to drive low-end technology access must be prioritised.

“This is why we do not compromise the balance of quality, standard professionalism and yet affordability in the choice of solutions we offer to clients which include: SAP training and Implementations, Software Asset Management, Plant Maintenance Process Automation and Automation for manufacturing Industries, amongst others.”


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