Broadcasting
Heirs Life and Heirs Insurance Sponsors Tony Elumelu Storytellers Fund
Africa No Filter, a donor collaborative working to transform stereotypical narratives of Africa, has launched the Tony Elumelu Storytellers Fund. Named after African business leader and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu, the Fund will award grants to emerging artists and storytellers, whose work shines a light on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa.
The Launch of Heirs Insurance & Heirs Life and Commissioning of Heirs Towers. 1st June, 2021
The $30,000 fund is sponsored by Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life Assurance, the insurance subsidiaries of the pan-African investment group, Heirs Holdings.
Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has led the championing of entrepreneurship in Africa and has empowered over 15,000 young African entrepreneurs across the continent through a $100 million commitment made by his Foundation.
The Tony Elumelu Storytellers Fund is a standalone initiative and an extension of his commitment to catalysing a redefined African success story, powered by Africa’s youth and their creative ideas.
The Fund calls on journalists, filmmakers, content producers, and visual and performing artists to submit multimedia creative ideas, that tell the stories of inspiring entrepreneurs and showcase the true and positive spirit of entrepreneurship in Africa.
Applicants must be aged between 18 and 35 years, living on the continent or in the Diaspora. They must have a platform or portfolio of work that shines the light on entrepreneurship in Africa.
Speaking on the Fund, Tony Elumelu said: “I have always believed in the potential of young African entrepreneurs to transform Africa. This initiative aligns with our belief and extends the work that we do at the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
“Empowering young creative entrepreneurs and the creative sector provides a channel for us to project Africa’s positives globally. We need their voices to tell our often less-told stories of triumph, resilience, hard work and innovation.”
Moky Makura, Executive Director at Africa No Filter, said: “Our partnership Is significant because this is the first African funding we have received towards the fight for narrative change.
“We are also excited to be partnering with one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs to celebrate entrepreneurship on the continent through storytelling.
“We need more success stories, more awareness and more celebrations around entrepreneurial ideas and the dynamic young people driving change here
Ifesinachi Okpagu, Chief Marketing Officer, Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life, said: “We are pleased to support this initiative that directly impacts the lives of young African creatives.
“As frontrunners of digital innovation in the insurance space, Heirs Insurance and Heirs Life both recognise the important role the creative sector plays in transforming Africa’s narrative.
“We are on the same transformative path, and this initiative clearly demonstrates that the ideas that we need to boost Africa are right here on the continent.”
The Fund is open for applications on the Africa No Filter website with a closing date of 29 July 2022.
The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in collaboration with Musical CopyrightSociety of Nigeria (MCSN) organised a stakeholders’ engagement and awareness event in Kaduna on November 20, 2024.
The event, themed “Enjoy Music, Respect Copyright, Protect your Business,” according to the State Coordinator, NCC Kaduna office Mrs Rukayya Yeldu was aimed at educating music users about copyright laws and the importance of paying royalties to support musicians in the creative industry.
Mrs. Yeldu in her address at the event noted that copyright laws help protect the livelihood of musicians and other stakeholders while emphasising that paying royalties is both a legal and moral duty for business operators in the creative sector.
Director-General, MCSN Mr. Mayowa Ayilaran in his presentation spoke about MCSN’s role in the creative sector and encouraged business owners to obtain proper licences for the music they use.
Public trust in government has been lagging for years but new Salesforce research reveals AI agents could help rebuild it.
Constituents around the world agree there’s room for improvement when it comes to government service. Forty percent struggle with government interactions, and over a third are unsure of available programs. However, the research indicates overwhelming public support for AI solutions — with 90% of global constituents saying they’d use an AI agent to engage with their government.
The arrival of AI agents presents governments with an exciting opportunity to strengthen public trust by streamlining services and speeding up response times. And in the face of tightening budgets, agents can augment public servants and better serve their constituents — without having to add headcount.
“It is clear from our research that there is a need for AI solutions like Salesforce’s Agentforce that help governments streamline and scale services to better meet the needs of their constituents,” said Nasi Jazayeri, EVP and GM of Public Sector at Salesforce.
“As global leaders gather in Davos, we have a tremendous opportunity for the public and private sectors to come together and explore how major advancements in technology like AI agents can improve how governments support citizens.”
Public calls for improved government service
40% say it’s difficult to interact with the government when they have questions or need help.
Less than half of survey respondents find it easy to understand what public services (42%) and public assistance programs (46%) are available to them.
Top service delivery improvements desired by global constituents include:
Reducing the number of steps to address needs
Responding to their needs faster
Constituents eager to engage with agents
90% of global respondents said they’d use an AI agent to interact with the public sector.
Constituents in Brazil, Spain, Singapore, and Italy are among the most willing to use AI agents to interact with the public sector, providing these countries with the opportunity to be trailblazers in the agentic AI era.
20% of German and American respondents say they’re very likely to use an AI agent to help fill out government forms (e.g. filing taxes, completing applications).
Three factors global respondents said they prioritised when considering using AI agents in the public sector:
24/7 access to information and services (47%)
Helping them efficiently access government resources (44%)
Reducing the number of websites and steps needed to address their needs (40%)
The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has expressed its commitment to partner with the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) for the creation of a robust Intellectual Property (IP) Policy tailored for Polytechnics and Technical Institutions across Nigeria.
This collaboration was agreed upon during a courtesy visit by the Director-General, NCC, Dr. John O. Asein to the Executive Secretary NBTE, Prof. Idris Muhammad Bugaje, in Abuja. The visit aimed to enlighten NBTE on the mandate of Commission and areas of possible collaboration.
Dr. Asein, represented at the meeting by Director Nigerian Copyright Academy (NCA), Mrs. Funmi Adewale and Director Planning Research and Statistics (PRS), Mr. Collins Nweke, emphasised the importance of a functional IP Policy and the need to incorporate Copyright Education into the curriculum of Technical Institutions.
The ES-NBTE who was represented by the Director, Abuja Liaison Office, Dr. Yahaya Bande gave assurances that the proposed partnership will yield results and lauded NCC’s initiatives of raising public awareness about IP and Copyright, emphasising that such efforts are crucial for enhancing the nation’s economic development.
The Commission’s representatives presented copies of the Commission’s publication “What Is Copyright” and “Copyright Act 2022” to the Executive Secretary, NBTE.
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