Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is opening up Africa’s most populous nation to the benefits of ultra-broadband connectivity by launching a superfast, 100 gigabit-per-second fiber-optic network with MTN Nigeria, a subsidiary of Dubai-based MTN Group and the leading service provider in Africa. mtn

MTN Nigeria, which covers more than almost 90 percent of Nigeria’s land mass, will deploy a 100G network that re-uses existing 10G optical assets thereby preserving MTN past investments while ensuring future proof and state of art solution.

Nigeria’s growing economy is fueling a proliferation of mobile subscribers, which number about 275 to every one landline in the country. As a result, Nigeria has a significant need for reliable, mobile broadband access to support growing demand for bandwidth hungry services such as streaming video plus the ever-increasing need from enterprises for storage and data center connections. The new network also gives MTN the capacity and flexibility to offer wholesale services to other service providers in the region.

According to Lynda Saint-Nwafor, CTO of MTN Nigeria: “MTN realized we needed to upgrade our network to meet customer expectations for ultra-broadband connectivity and high reliability within Nigeria’s very competitive marketplace. We wanted a state of the art solution that met three main criteria: increased network reliability, a high degree of scalability to prepare the network for 400G and beyond, and preservation of our existing 10G investment. Alcatel-Lucent’s demonstrations showed that they could meet all of our criteria and we look forward to deploying the network overlay in 2014.”

Hatim Zougari, Country Senior Officer oof Alcatel-Lucent in Nigeria weighed in further saying: “We knew that MTN’s top priority was to provide reliability to their customers but they also wanted to offer ultra-broadband and they wanted to retain usefulness of as much of their legacy network as possible. We were able to show that we can give them a cost-effective solution that accomplishes all of their goals in a way that no one else could.”

MTN Nigeria is the biggest mobile operator in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, and West Africa region with more than 58 million subscribers and also is the largest subsidiary in the MTN Group – a multinational telecommunications group offering world-class cellular network access and business solutions to more than 210 million subscribers in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East.

MTN Nigeria’s network covers 88.8 percent of the country’s land mass giving 86.2 percent of the population access to mobile services.

Alcatel-Lucent is supporting MTN Nigeria’s rapid growth in mobile subscribers by building a 100G DWDM/OTN network using Alcatel-Lucent’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) platform, a family of equipment that has been designed according to the latest international SD-FEC zero touch photonics and coherent technology.

Alcatel-Lucent Agile Optical Networking combines WDM, OTN, and GMPLS/ASON control plane intelligence to assure scalable, versatile, reliable and efficient transport at 100G and beyond.

http://www.cp-africa.com/2014/10/14/mtn-alcatel-lucent-deploy-100g-network-nigeria/

Android developers based in Nigeria can now get paid when users from around the world download their applications on Google Play with the recent launch of Google Play payments in Nigeria. Google Play, formerly known as the Android Market, is a digital distribution platform operated by Google which serves as the official app store for the Android operating system. The app store allows users to browse and download applications developed with the Android SDK and in addition serves as a digital media store offering music, magazines, books, movies and TV programs.

Speaking on the launch in a recent interview with The Punch, Chukwuemeka Afigbo, Program Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa at Google said "at Google, we believe that one should not only be able to monetise their innovation but that they should be able to actually go on and build a business from it."

Currently, payments can be made via wire transfer directly to the bank accounts of developers. Currently, seventy percent of all earnings go to app developers.

The Android market is already home to some successful home grown apps in Nigeria such as Afrinolly and Form Plus, both winners of the Android Developer Challenge and the Google Apps Developer Challenge respectively.

For instance, since winning the Android Developer challenge, Afrinolly has amassed millions of downloads and has forged partnerships with leading firms such as MTN and Blackberry. It also helps foster and grow the African film ecosystem through the Afrinolly Short Film Competition.

With the launch of Google Play payments, app developers can get monetary rewards for their ability to solve key pain points for Android users locally and abroad.

http://www.cp-africa.com/2014/10/14/google-play-payments-launched-nigeria/

On August 4th, 2014 President Obama will welcome leaders from across the African continent to the Nation’s Capital for a three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the first such event of its kind.

This Summit, the largest event any U.S. President has held with African heads of state and government, will build on the President’s trip to Africa in the summer of 2013 and it will strengthen ties between the United States and one of the world’s most dynamic and fastest growing regions. Specifically, the August 4-6 Summit will advance the Administration’s focus on trade and investment in Africa and highlight America’s commitment to Africa’s security, its democratic development, and its people.

D'Banj discusses the upcoming U.S.-African Leader's summit with ABC News.

Watch the video here: http://www.cp-africa.com/2014/08/03/americas-abc-news-interviews-dbanj-u-s-african-leaders-summit/

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has signed a $3.3 billion deal with 12 Nigerian banks to finance the building of an oil refinery in Nigeria. The oil refinery would be the largest Africa and is set to turn Nigeria into a petroleum exporter. The wealthy billionaire recently told the BBC that the venture would also be a significant source of jobs for Nigerians.aliko-dangote

“At the completion of these projects we expect Nigeria to become not only self-sufficient in fertilizer and refined petroleum products but indeed to become recognized as a leading exporter of these products,” Dangote said at the deal signing.

At present, despite being one of the world’s leading exporters of oil, Nigeria has to import most of its fuel due to decrepit refineries that are on a whole unable to meet the nation’s needs.

Mr. Dangote through the refinery will produce 400,000 barrels of oil per day and 2.8 million tons of urea for fertilizing crops to produce polypropylene, used to make plastics. The refinery is due to be operational by 2016.

The $3.3 billion deal was led by Standard Chartered Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

Mr. Dangote has ventured into a number of new business lines this year including a recent foray into the tomato paste business earlier this year.

http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/09/08/aliko-dangote-signs-multi-billion-dollar-deal-to-build-africas-largest-oil-refinery/

Armed with $10 million in funding, German technology startup incubator, Rocket Internet is set to launch Easy Taxi, a taxi booking serviceeasy taxi in Nigeria and major Internet markets in Africa.

Originally launched in Latin America to much fanfare where it has amassed 1.5 million downloads, Easy Taxi will be introduced to Africa first in Nigeria where Rocket Internet has seen good growth with technology companies like Jumia. By year end, the company will be launched in other African countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana and South Africa amongst others. The funding round comes from Africa Internet Holding, a joint venture between Rocket Internet and Millicom.

Speaking on their decision to bring the service to Africa, Sacha Poignonnec, co-CEO of Africa Internet Holdings said:

“The good thing is that we already have operations across Africa. We have offices and entities and all logistics set up, plus we understand the huge potential of this growing market. That’s an important advantage that we have.”

According to him:

Nigeria is full of taxi services. They include drivers people hire for full-time work, those who can be hired by the day, and those for short, a la carte trips.Waiting outside during rainy season to catch cabs is not an option many people would go for if they had the choice.

The company is looking to start first with a basic call center service and ramp up with iOS and Android Apps to target middle class Nigerians who are quickly adopting smart phones. Easy Taxi is similar to the United State’s popular Uber taxi booking app. The company will setup a network of drivers who can be hailed via customer’s smartphones. Once the driver is contacted, users will get an instant photo of the driver as well as his contact number and will be alerted once he or she arrives to pick them up. The company expects to monetize by charging a 5% transaction fee per ride.

“Everyone will say that Nigeria is a challenging market to operate in, but once you have cracked it, you will crack all of Africa. That is what we experienced with Jumia and other ventures, which already became market leaders,” he continued.

What do you think about Rocket Internet’s Easy Taxi service?
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/24/easy-taxi-nigeria/

Apple has acquired Chinedu Echeruo’s HopStop.com, The Wall Street Journal’s publication, AllThingsDigital reports. Founded in 2005, HopStop.com makes mobile applications for both iOS and Android that covers over 300 cities and that helps people get directions or find nearby subway stations and bus stops. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed as at the time of this publication.

HopStop has oft been compared to Israel’s Waze which was recently acquired by Google for $1 billion. The move is seen as Apple’s plan to bolster its map offering especially given Google’s recent acquisition of Waze.

A serial entrepreneur, Chinedu Echeruo grew up in Eastern Nigeria and attended Kings College, Lagos. He attended Syracuse University and the Harvard Business School in the United States and founded HopStop.com after working for several years in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Leveraged Finance groups of J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, Financing and Private Equity transactions. He also worked at AM Investment Partners, a $500 million volatility-driven convertible bond arbitrage hedge fund.

He founded and raised nearly $8 million for his two U.S based internet companies; Hopstop.com and Tripology.com. Tripology.com was acquired in 2010 by American travel and navigation information company, Rand McNally. He was named Black Enterprise Magazine’s Small Business Innovator of the year and listed in the magazine’s Top 40 under 40 and is currently a partner and head of the Principal Investing group at Constant Capital, a West Africa based investment bank.

True to form, Echeruo is working on yet another venture but this time, focused on small businesses in Africa.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/20/apple-hopstop-com/

Jamaican American musician, Sean Kingston recently collaborated with 24 year old Nigerian musician, Big Reeno on a single titled “Celebrate.” Sean Kingston who is renowned for his international hit singles such as “Beautiful Girls” and “Letting Go” is a globally acclaimed musician signed to Sony Music Entertainment and Beluga Heights. The video was shot recently in Los Angeles, United States.sean kingston big reeno

Born Uzoma Ilogu on November 10, 1988 in Lagos, Nigeria the young music star started writing and performing music at the tender age of seven and carried his passion for music to Corona School Agbara, Ogun State where he attended Secondary School and performed at various school wide events.

Since moving to the U.S. for his university education, he has worked, toured and performed with a host of internationally renowned musicians such as Nelly, Jeremih, Chingy and The Game.

Sean Kingston and Big Reeno were recently on tour together where they performed to an audience of over 12,000 people in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Speaking on the recent collaboration, Big Reeno said, “working with Sean Kingston on Celebrate was a great experience. Celebrate is an inspirational track that unites people all over the world from Africa to Asia. I hope people everywhere can relate to its inspiring message.”

Check out the video “Celebrate” below and spread the word.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCSYykVZFrY?hl=en_US&version=3[/flash]

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to establish a biotechnology lab in Nigeria which will help improve the countries biotechnology capacity for crop improvement. This was revealed by Professor Ivan Ingelbrecht of Ghent University, Belgium, who visited the country on behalf of the Gates Foundation and met with the Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Ita Okon Bassey Ewa.

“My mission in Nigeria as mandated by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to see the possibilities of empowering Nigeria: the National Systems, Programmes in Nigeria, to have the capacity to use biotechnology laboratory technologies for crop improvement,” he said.

According to him, “the idea is to empower national programmes in Africa, and Nigeria specifically to train people on how to use facilities, so that they can produce these crops independently and Nigerians can have the capacity to decide on how to use these technologies in consideration of National regulatory system.”

“The crops we are focusing on involves national priority crops in Nigeria, which include soybeans, rice, maize. Once we establish the capacities, human and also infrastructure and once you are able to make these types of crops, you can choose any crop of national interest to apply the process,” he continued.

Speaking on the Foundations’ plans to establish a biotechnology lab in the country, the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Okon Bassey Ewa said

“In human systems, we know the wide areas of intervention that biotechnology can add and assist bio-engineering, genomics in biological and zoological systems and that can aid speedy realization of food security in the country.’’
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/10/gates-foundation-to-establish-biotech-lab-in-nigeria/

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently revealed that over 5.7 million are currently mobile money users. Mr. Chai Chang, Manager, Payments, Policy & Oversight at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed this number at a recent CBN finance seminar for finance correspondents and business editors.

Chang also noted that the number of transactions to date currently stands at about 6.85 million for a cumulative value of about N74.26 billion.

He emphasized the importance of a wide spread agent network to the success of the sector.

“Despite the fact that it’s not a ‘one-size fits all’ approach, agent network development and structures have certain critical aspects in common, not least of all, a clear and well understood selection and recruitment process, consistent agent monitoring and practical liquidity management procedures.

“As we begin this journey, it is worth noting that the aforementioned will be the drivers for the increase in agent activity in Nigeria. This will be followed by growth in number of agents, increased activity of agents, increase in average number of transactions per agent and the requisite growth in financial inclusion and profit margins for the agents and their principals,” he said.

He also noted the need for the bank to work with industry stakeholders to resolve the challenges posed by epileptic power supply, poor telecommunications connectivity and lack of synergy between mobile payment operators and telecommunications companies among others as key to the long term success of the young industry.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/09/5-7-million-nigerians-now-using-mobile-money-says-cbn/

Dell announced today that it has launched its first solar powered lab also known as the ZubaBox mobile classroom in Lagos to provide increased opportunities for learning to students with little or no access to technology or the Internet. The solar powered lab, which has arrived on-site at a Senior School in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, removes the need to connect to any electrical infrastructure and provides an affordable education solution for the local community. Equipped with an innovative-shared computing solution from Dell Wyse, the Dell ZubaBox opens up new teaching possibilities and the personal development of students through enhanced training and education.

Many people in developing countries, particularly in rural areas, have limited access to electricity and the Internet. The ZubaBox concept, which comprises a standard shipping container that is converted into a mobile classroom, was pioneered by UK based charity Computer Aid International to harness the power from the sun and to provide internet connectivity for students in communities. In this way, the ZubaBox classrooms help raise awareness of the outside world among students and enhance their learning to create long-term career opportunities. Through this ZubaBox innovation, children will have the opportunity to excel in both life and education, becoming better citizens through access to information which will in turn open more doors for their future.

With its ZubaBox now in place, Dell is also working with charity partner Camara to engage with teachers and provide them with the training they will need to make best use of the technology available to them. This training extends from the use of Windows Multipoint Server and Zero client technology itself to the establishment of a curriculum that will maximise the benefits of accessing the shared computing system.

Working in close partnership with Computer Aid on the project, Dell installed a Dell Wyse shared computing system in the ZubaBox consisting of one powerful PC networked to ten ‘zero client’ workstations. This not only gives the teacher full visibility of what the students are working on across each of the ten monitors but offers centralised control of the class to keep everyone focussed on the current task.

With solar panels mounted on the roof, the ZubaBox can be placed virtually anywhere, eliminating the need for fixed electrical infrastructure to power the PCs. The ZubaBox is also highly efficient to run as only the primary PC used by the teacher needs to be powered, with each of the workstations requiring just 3 watts. In addition, the panels charge a battery bank during the day which allows the classroom to be used after dark if required.

Dell’s commitment to the project was instrumental in bringing its various components together and in ensuring seamless cooperation between Dell and its three charity partners.

Education plays a vital role in breaking the cycle of poverty and inequality in underdeveloped communities. As an extension of the work that Dell has done in Nigeria, Dell is participating in the e-learning Africa conference which is taking place in Namibia today (29th – 31st May) where it will showcase the educational possibilities of the ZubaBox to teachers, educators and government influencers from across the continent.

David Angwin, Marketing Director, Dell EMEA says “Technology is a powerful enabler, while connectivity and access have become vital tools that children all over the world need to be able to further their education. Part of our role as a global technology leader is to work together with our partners to broaden the perspectives and confidence of children to encourage them to see the wider world and to provide them with a brighter future. With the ZubaBox we can make this a reality, bringing access to new educational opportunities every day.”

Computer Aid’s Executive Chair, Keith Sonnet said “Computer Aid is delighted to be working with Dell on this project and we hope to be able to provide many more ZubaBoxes to disadvantaged communities across Africa. Corporate partners, such as Dell who sponsor a ZubaBox, play a real role in development and poverty relief. By sponsoring one ZubaBox, companies can benefit an entire community by providing the ICT to support education, healthcare and business.”
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/08/zubabox-dell/

Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister on the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala recently said that the spate of unemployment in Nigeria is giving her sleepless nights.

Here is what she had to say about how the unemployment problem affects her and President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria:

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics, each year, about 1.8m young Nigerians enter into our labour market and we need to ensure that our economy provides jobs for them.

“In fact, some people ask, ‘What keeps you awake at night, with regard to this economy?’ I say it is the issue of job creation. And I know this is what keeps Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) awake at night as well.

“That is why we have responded to the challenge of creating jobs by trying to transform several sectors of the economy; from agriculture, where we’re expecting to create 3.5m jobs and where the progress of reaching our goal of feeding this country is already well advanced.”

She noted some of the efforts being made by the Nigerian Government to solve the unemployment problem saying:

“The Minister of Information and Communications technology has started a Venture Capital Fund with about $15m, which is being financed by the government and other donors.

The idea behind it is to help support innovative enterprises in the field of ICT. This is designed to lift up some of the young people in Computer Village doing all sorts of innovations.”

Despite some of these steps made to encourage job creation in the country, it is clear that unemployment is still a massive problem for the present administration. As noted in the British Council report, Next Generation Nigeria commissioned in 2010, Youth, not oil, will be the Nigeria’s most precious resource in the twenty-first century.

Check out an infographic below that drives home the unemployment problem facing Nigeria today.

http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/07/unemployment-giving-me-sleepless-nights-okonjo-iweala-suggest-ways-to-reduce-unemployment-in-nigeria/

Have you ever eaten snakes? Our friends at Battabox took a trip down to Nigeria’s snake market in Badagry where there is a thriving network of sellers selling what seems to be a delicacy in high demand in the market. According to one of the sellers, buyers visit from various states across Nigeria to buy the snakes. Some of the sellers also use it to make delicacies such as pepper soup and the snakes retail at about N1,400 a piece.

Check out the description by Battabox:

BattaBox heads down to the Nigeria Snake Market! While most people are rightly scared of snakes and their poisonous venom – for Nigerians and African Food – they can make a tasty dish.

“They sell snakes here!” explains Odunayo, our BattaBox presenter. “Nigerians – we sabi chop things o!”

Enormous bags of hundreds of different shapes, lengths and sizes of snakes – and customers (mostly women who own restaurants) all rush to the bags and grab as many as they can as fast as they can – before they are sold out. The Snake market is just outside of Lagos in Badagry.

“They bring the snakes from the Republic of Benin,” says Bati who has been selling it in the Badagry market (near Nigeria’s border with Benin) for many years now. And customers come from across South-West Nigeria like Ondo and Oyo state to buy.

“People really love snake! They come from far and wide to eat!” says one young woman is buying a large bag, full of snakes – “We buy from here and then use it to cook as Pepper Soup… its tastes to delicious and sweet – it tastes like fish.”

One large snake can cost up to 1400 Naira ($9) and the small snake can cost as little as 500 Naira ($3). Eating snake is popularly thought of as good for the body – “if you eat snake, you will get more strength and look more healthy,” Odunayo explains.

However, a recent study found that the snake population is crashing in Nigeria.

The causes are not known and similar severe declines in populations were found in the UK, France and Italy… but eating snakes in such numbers surely cannot help. And such declines, say environmentalists, has a massive ecological impact with considerable biodiversity loss.

But Odunayo buys her own snake to take home for her own favorite African food – pepper soup.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/06/snake-market-nigeria/

Aliko Dangote has officially ventured into Nigeria’s lucrative tomato paste business by teaming up with the Central Bank of Nigeria to establish a $25 million tomato-paste factory that could boost the income of tomato farmers around the country.


Aliko Dangote with the world’s richest man, Bill Gates at the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy

The Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly teamed up with Dangote after an internal study showed that processing local tomatoes is cheaper than importing paste from China. The partnership is part of the country’s drive to cut down annual food imports in the country.

“We want to prove that with the right application of government policy we could get finance to the sector, improve productivity, create jobs and raise income,” said Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Global business website, Bloomberg Businessweek interviewed a Nigerian tomato farmer, Shittu Ibrahim recently who ekes out a living for his two wives and 11 children by selling tomatoes he grows to passersby along a highway that runs through the Kadawa Valley near Kano. Ibrahim is hopeful about the news of Dangote’s foray into the tomato paste business saying:

“We are doing this only to feed, as you can see, I can’t afford the luxuries of life,” the stocky 56-year-old said. “There are better prospects in supplying Dangote because people will buy from them from all over the country. We hope that things will improve.

Before, the price of tomatoes would keep going down because all the farmers sell at the same time,” he said. With the coming of the Dangote factory, prices won’t go down that way any more. We can be sure of a stable income,” he continued

Nigeria currently pays more than $360 million annually to import more than 300,000 metric tons annually of tomato paste from companies such as China’s Baoding Sanyuan Food Packing Co.

Dangote’s tomato paste business would be run by Dangote owned Dansa Holdings and reportedly took up the mandate after the government failed to get importers including Olam, Conserveria Africana Ltd. and Chi Group Ltd. to form a venture. According to the CBN, farmers will receive a guaranteed price of about $700 per ton compared to an average of about $350 that they currently receive.

“It’s a win-win situation. We have a price we can compete with and the farmer has a price that makes the tomato a good value,” said Sani Dangote, , Aliko Dangote’s brother who serves as Vice President of Dangote Group. “It’s only agriculture that can take poverty away overnight because it doesn’t take long for the farmer to see the results and reap the rewards.”

The plant will commence operations in November 2013 and will produce more than 400,000 tons of tomato paste annually.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/05/aliko-dangote-tomato-business/

The rap world is buzzing with news of a precocious 16 year old Nigerian-Canadian teenager, Ebony Oshunrinde who was tapped by Jay Z for one of his “Magna Carta…Holy Grail” album tracks, Crown.

Ebony is Jay Z’s newest discovery. She goes by the name Wondagurl. She started producing beats when she was 9 years old inspired by a video of Jay Z and hip hop producer, Timbaland. She decided that day that she wanted to learn to do what Timbaland does and the rest as they say, is history.

She started learning how to make beats from videos she saw on YouTube and started entering beat making contests, winning some accolades. Then this year, she sent a track to Houston rapper, Travis Scott and a few days after, he sent her a message saying: “I’m about to change your life.” He later called her saying: “You are on Jay Z’s album, congratulations.”

She hopes that her success can open doors for others. “You can do anything you want,” she says. She is on her way to Los Angeles next week and with her new found fame, is no doubt set for success in the music industry.

When asked about next steps for Wondagurl, she said, “I want to win a Grammy.”

Check out the song Jay Z song “Crown” which features Oshunrinde’s beat.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/05/ebony-oshunrinde-wondagurl-jayz-crown/

This past Thursday, three hundred thousand pupils from across 600 public schools in Lagos, Thursday, made history as they set a new World Record in tooth brushing. The previous simultaneous toothbrushing record of 177, 003 was set by India in 2007. The pupils set the Guinness World Record by brushing their teeth simultaneously for one minute across 326 locations in the state.

The convener of the Tooth Brushing Challenge Project, Dr. Lawal Bakare signalled the commencement of the challenge at 2.15pm Lagos time at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, after he had certified that each of the participants has a tooth brush and toothpaste provided by Unilever Nigeria Limited, one of the event sponsors.

Other sponsors of the event include the Government of Lagos State and Vas2Net.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/04/nigeria-sets-new-world-record-in-toothbrushing-challenge/

Africa’s youngest billionaire, Ashish Thakkar was recently in a war of words with U.S. billionaire, Donald Trump over what he termed to be ignorant comments about Africa. Donald Trump had made a comment about President Obama’s recent announcement of a $7 billion electric power initiative by the United States, “Power Africa” designed to double access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Trump said that “every penny of the investment would be wasted” due to rampant corruption on the continent.


Ashish Thakkar responded citing Trump’s ignorance and generalization of “Africa” as a “country” and not a continent.


Ashish later granted an interview to Forbes on the spat saying:

“The statement by Donald J. Trump, that every penny of the $7 billion ‘would be stolen’ is extremely ignorant. If he had travelled the African continent he would understand that this is a ridiculous assumption and that you cannot possibly generalize a continent of 54 countries. If you really want to generalize us, then do so positively and not negatively!”

He continued: “Today, most African governments are extremely committed to combating corruption, governance is increasing and overall Africa is going through an amazing transformation, which will make the continent prosper to become a world player.”

The exchange generated uproar by Africans online who saw the exchange and has been published on multiple news outlets.

As if to lend credence to Thakkar’s assertion that Donal Trump was making sweeping generalizations about corruption on the continent despite different realities across the continent’s 54 countries, Trump further remarked that Thakkar should instead of attacking him, worry about the culture of corruption plaguing Thakkar’s home country, Uganda.


What are your thoughts about Donald Trumps' comments?
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/04/africas-youngest-billionaire-ashish-thakkar-attacks-u-s-billionaire-donald-trump-for-ignorant-comment-about-africa-thoughts/

Despite wariness over the security situation in Nigeria, Africa’s second largest economy, the country’s $1 billion Eurobond offering targeted at being used to finance power projects was four times oversubscribed this past Tuesday due to high investor demand.

“We’re very happy that at this time, when the markets are exhibiting turbulence, we were able to (achieve) … four times oversubscription,” Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said to journalists after the bond issue.

“The coupon shows confidence in the Nigerian economy,” she said. “We saw a window of opportunity … appetite for our paper was strong,” she continued.

“The quality of the investors is very high, the majority of the investors are from the United States, then followed by Europe, especially the United kingdom, and then Asia, so those are the top three investors and it is a long list, and because it was oversubscribed we could not even meet the demand of some them. Over 200 investors were not able to get any share of the issue because it was oversubscribed,” she said.

She continued:

As you know, this money is designed to support infrastructure projects within the country. It is not for budget support but directly for infrastructure…We are going to try and make sure that these investments are visible ones that Nigerians can see to ensure this money is utilised in a proper way.

The issue was subscribed by top financial asset managers namely HSBC, Global Asset Management, Wellington Management Company and Blackrock among others.

According to IFR, a Thomson Reuters analysis service, “Nigeria issued a $500 million 5-year bond at a yield of 5.375 percent and a $500 million 10-year bond with a yield of 6.625 percent.”

As of March 2013, according to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), its total debt stands at 17 percent of GDP comprising about N6.5 trillion in domestic debt and $6.67 billion in foreign debt.

In addition, the country’s budget deficit is estimated to narrow to 1.85 percent of GDP in 2013.

Plans are currently underway to float a $100 million Diaspora bond targeted at Nigerians living abroad who want to invest in the country.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/04/nigerias-1-billion-eurobond-for-power-projects-oversubscribed-due-to-high-investor-demand/

Nigerian e-commerce site, Konga.com has launched three parcel pick up centers in Lagos. According to the company, instead of delivering a parcel to a customer’s home or business address, customers can choose to have their orders delivered to a Konga.com Pick-Up centre. Once the parcel is delivered to the pickup location, they will receive a notification that the order has reached the pick-up centre, and will have a whole week to pick-up their package(s).

Customers can also return packages to the centers in line with Konga’s 7 day return policy. The centers will be open 7 days a week at no cost to Konga’s customers.

The first 3 pickup centers are located at:

Victoria Island: 12 Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island

Surulere: 80 Bode Thomas Street, Surulere

Ikeja: 24 Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja

http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/07/02/konga-pick-up-center/

Today marks the launch of Mo Abudu's Ebony Life TV, Africa’s first Global Black Entertainment Network at the Eko Hotels & Suites. Forbes Magazine's Publisher, Steve Forbes is set to serve as keynote speaker at the event which will be graced by the presence of some of Africa’s most influential dignitaries – including Presidents, Governors, Ministers, Technocrats, luminaries and captains of industries.

Check out pictures here: http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/06/30/ebony-life-tv-steve-forbes-mo-abudu-launch/

The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to create about 1 million jobs through an online initiative, the Integrated Youth Development Initiative. The Initiative which has been designed to address the nation’s high unemployment rate in a practical way aims at monitoring youth development in the country closely.

Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation, Mr. Obi Adim said:

“We are looking at creating about one million jobs a year. We have various sectors we are looking at such as Information and Communication Technology, entrepreneurship, and skills acquisition.”

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria currently has an unemployment rate of 23.9 per cent. In a recent media chat, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation, Josephine Washima, said that the initiative has received a lot of buy-in from stakeholders and that more details about the initiative would be announced before the end of July.

Washima noted that the initiative is quite different from the Nigerian Government’s Youth Enteprise with Innovation Programme, (YouWIN).

“The YouWin programme is a business competition, which is online-based and this is totally different from the Integrated Youth Empowerment Initiative. Our initiative is not a competition but it will empower the youth at the end of the day if properly implemented,” she said.

She emphasized that through the initiative, Nigerian youth will be equipped with the required skills that will help transform their lives.

http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/06/30/integrated-youth-development-initiative/

Today in front of an audience of more than 600 dynamic young leaders from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, President Obama announced the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the new flagship program of the President’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Beginning in 2014, the program will bring more than 500 young African leaders to the United States each year for leadership training and mentoring. It will also create unique opportunities in Africa for Fellows to use their new skills to propel economic growth and prosperity, and strengthen democratic institutions.

The Washington Fellowship will:

Invest in a new generation of young African leaders who are shaping the continent’s future.
Respond to the strong demand by young African leaders for practical skills that can help them take their work to the next level in the fields of public service and business.
Deepen partnerships and connections between the United States and Africa.
Build a prestigious network of young African leaders who are at the forefront of change and innovation in their respective sectors.
Washington Fellows will primarily be between 25 and 35 years old, have a proven track record of leadership in a public, private, or civic organization, and demonstrate a strong commitment to contributing their skills and talents to building and serving their communities.

More details here: http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/06/29/obama-announces-the-washington-fellowship-for-young-african-leaders-from-nigeria-south-africa-kenya-uganda/

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote is now one of the world’s top 25 richest people according to Forbes. This puts the 56 year old billionaire in league with the likes of Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Earlier this year, Forbes released its list of global billionaires. At the time, Mr. Dangote ranked number 46 but his wealth has since soared from $16.1 billion to over $20 billion thanks to a leap in the stock value of his largest holding, Dangote Cement of which he owns a 93% stake.

As one of the top 25 richest people in the world, his wealth currently exceeds that of India’s Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company and billionaire investor, Carl Icahn.

The new valuation makes Dangote Cement the first Nigerian company to achieve a market capitalization of over $20 billion and the company currently accounts for more than a quarter of the total market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In a recent statement to Forbes on the surge in Dangote Cement’s market capitalization, Carl Franklin, Dangote Cement’s Head of Investor Relations in the U.K said:

“So Q1 was the first sign of just how profitable we can be in Nigeria. The amazing thing is that 66% of our gas-fired production in Q1 was done at 84% gas. Imagine what would happen to margins if we did the same amount at 95%. This has given investors a good sense of what we can really do when everything goes in the right direction. It’s certainly a landmark for a Nigerian company and we’re proud to be the first to achieve it. Obviously we are focusing on building long-term and sustainable value for shareholders through our investments in Nigeria and Africa. Nigeria is a very entrepreneurial country and I can assure you that other companies will follow us in achieving this.”

Mr. Dangote notably told Forbes’ Wealth Editor Luisa Kroll in 2011 that he expected his firm to have a market cap of $60 billion within five years. At present day wealth estimates, such a market cap will skyrocket him to the league of the world’s top three richest – a league that currently includes Carlos Slim of Brazil, Bill Gates of the United States and Amancio Ortega of Spain.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/06/05/aliko-dangote-africas-first-20-billion-man-is-now-one-of-the-worlds-top-25-richest/

The Nigerian Government recently released its Broadband Investment Plan for the next five years (2013 – 2018). With the plans’ release, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria also officially commissioned the implementation of the country’s national broadband policy.

The policy was drafted by the Presidential Committee for a National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap chaired by former Nigerian Communications Commission Chairman, Dr Ernest Ndukwe and Visafone Chairman and Zenith Bank Founder, Mr Jim Ovia.

The President expressed his confidence in the successful implementation of the plan including its target to achieve 80 percent nationwide Internet coverage by 2018.

According to President Goodluck Jonathan:

It has been empirically proven that every 10% increase in broadband penetration in developing countries results in a commensurate increase of 1.3% in GDP. The most credible statistics on broadband penetration estimate that Nigeria’s broadband penetration is between 4% and 6%, further underscoring the need for Nigeria to give strategic importance to the development of broadband infrastructure.

Speaking on the drafted Broadband Investment Plan, Nigeria’s Minister of Information & Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson said:

In meeting with industry leaders, the message is clear that we need to assist the Private Sector in driving pervasive access to Broadband. But then, the Private Sector must also deliver not just on basic reach and penetration, but also on Quality of Service. It is only in doing this that all Nigerians will truly feel the positive impact and benefit of Broadband.

The Vision

According to the Nigerian Government, the broadband vision for Nigeria is one of a society of connected communities with high speed internet and broadband access that facilitate faster socioeconomic advancement of the nation and its people.

To the Government, Broadband within the Nigerian context is defined as an internet experience where the user can access the most demanding content in real time at a minimum speed of 1.5 Mbit/s. The Government anticipates that the definition will be revised upwards regularly to keep in line with future developments in technology.

Goals and Objectives

According to the Government, the key objectives of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan are:

to promote pervasive broadband deployment
to increase broadband adoption and usage
to ensure availability of broadband services at affordable prices
Open Data

The Government in its plan has mandated that all federal agencies within two years make their public information and services to Nigerian citizens available online.

Cybercrime

The plan also mandated that the country’s laws would be upgraded to cover new areas such as electronic transactions, e-commerce and cyber security to keep up with the growing cases of Cybercrime, copyright infringement and identity theft.

Affordability

The Government in its plan reiterated its commitment to lower device costs by reducing or eliminating import duties and other taxes as appropriate and embark on programs that are geared towards making broadband more affordable.

Awareness

To promote awareness about the benefits of broadband in the country, the Nigerian Government stated its commitment to launch intensive nationwide awareness campaigns to educate the citizenry about the value of broadband services, to introduce digital literacy education and training programs leveraging the community access centres established across the country as well as incorporate such programs into primary and secondary education.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/06/01/nigerias-broadband-investment-plan-2013-2018/

By Tomi Adedeji

A few weeks ago, telecoms giant MTN wowed us with their ‘I don port’ ad featuring popular comedian Saka. If you’re new in this clime, Saka is a popular comedian who had featured on several Etisalat ads making him a popular face of that brand (Etisalat is a competing telecoms provider).

In what popular writer Tolu Ogunlesi described as the “biggest coup since Sani Abacha in 1994”, we suddenly woke up to Saka announcing his cross over to MTN. The ad went viral, it got us talking, Facebook was awash with several caricature adaptations of Saka, twitter was agog, MTN and Saka trended for some days, with record views on YouTube, ‘great ad’ many of us said, I for one applauded the strategic thinking behind the ad. The guys in MTN and DDB (their advertising agency) I imagined must have pumped hands and popped champagne. Come LAIF (Lagos Advertising International Festival) in October, I’m sure they’ll pick not a few awards (in fact, a grandprix may not be farfetched).

But now that the dust appears to be settling, the question I’m asking is how many of us really ported or will be willing to port? Statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed that over 4,000 subscribers from the four GSM operators migrated with their lines to other operators, within 48 hours after the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was launched on April 22. For a country with over 100 million mobile phone subscribers, this is number is minuscule. In addition, I have no encompassing data at the moment, but from asking people around me, no one has told me they knew someone who knew someone who has ported to MTN except Saka of course! Rather, there appears to be movement away from the yellow corner i.e based on findings from my circle of friends.

It’s still too early to judge, but from indications, it appears not many Nigerians may be interested in porting to the yellow corner after all. A number of reasons may abound, one being the availability of multiple SIM phones which ensured that many of us had more than one SIM to start with and the other reason being the generally poor level of service delivery across the industry (they are all same of same).

The whole point therefore is this; beyond great advertising, MTN needs to be able to show Nigerians what makes their network better (which by the way appears to be the path Etisalat is towing in their communication strategy). There has to be more investment in capacity to deliver. Glo recently announced the signing of a multibillion naira deal with ZTE for facility upgrade and I’m wondering, beyond the comic act, what’s MTN’s superior offering?

It is classic capitalism, innovate or die...the consumer has to be king. Will I be better off on their network? DDB has pocketed their fee, Saka must be smiling to the bank, but this writer ain’t porting nowhere! Although one may reconsider if a similar ‘porting contract’ comes one’s way...
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/05/27/opinion-after-dancing-kirikata-kirikata-most-nigerians-have-not-ported-heres-why/

CNN is set to profile celebrated Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on its latest edition of its weekly show, African voices.

African Voices, a weekly show that examines the diversity, dynamism and global influence of Africa’s people and culture; and highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities within and in the Diaspora will be spotlighting the Nigerian literary star.



Cheerfully pioneering the way for a new wave of Nigerian writers, renowned Nigerian Author, Adichie, narrates her award winning novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, as it tells a human story of a brutal and controversial civil war which took place in her homeland, Nigeria, in the late 60’s.



Highly influenced by her Mother, Ifeoma Adichie, who became the first female Registrar of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Adichie is bold, vivacious, candid; a story teller living her truth. And that fulfilment translates into Award winning novels.

Describing her development as a writer, between her books Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun and Americana, Adichie says ‘they are such different books, and I think I wrote them from very different places in my life, emotionally.’

According to her ‘For Purple Hibiscus, I was very homesick, I was in the US. Suddenly I was romantisizing the hibiscus flowers in our front yard and I wrote this book, about missing home, nostalgia. Half of a Yellow Sun was so different. I knew I was writing about this very intense, contested history and I did so much research, and I cried a lot when I was writing it. My grandfathers died in Biafra, and here I was kind of mining the pain of my family.’

‘Then Americana, I laughed a lot writing it. It’s just very different, I don’t so much see it as a kind of linear progression – the books. It’s sort of more just like occupying different parallel spaces,’ Adichie concluded.

From uncovering historical atrocities to playing a role in shaping her country, Nigeria’s future, Adichie has also considered a career in politics.

Watch out for Chimamanda’s CNN interview on Saturday at 03:30pm; Sunday at 09:00am and 06:30pm; Monday 10:30am and 05:30pm; and Tuesday 05:30am.

Spread the word.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/05/21/chimamanda-adichie-i-laughed-a-lot-writing-americana-cnn-profiles-celebrated-nigerian-author/

Nigeria's commercial nerve center, Lagos is set to become the continent's 13th biggest economy, similar to the size of West African nation, Ghana, investment research and advisory firm, Renaissance Capital has revealed. In its latest report titled, “Nigeria Unveiled: Thirty Six Shades of Nigeria,” the company stated that with a per capita income of about $2,900 which is currently double amount of the national average of $1,700, Lagos is at par with countries such as Morocco and Sri Lanka.

Lagos' economy is significant to that of Ghana and is the heart of Nigeria's $284 billion GDP economy.

“We base our analysis on states’ internally generated revenue, which make up 15 per cent of state government revenue, and consumption data, as proxies for state income.

“Lagos State produces about 12 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, which is equivalent to $32 billion by 2013 ending. Post rebasing, which we now expect in early 2014, we estimate a 40 per cent upward revision in the country's national income.

“By our estimates, the Lagos State economy will become Africa's 13th biggest economy in 2014 at approximately $45 billion – equivalent to that of Ghana,” said RenCap.

“Lagos is among the states with the smallest household sizes – (4.9 people). Given that Lagos State is the most densely populated state in Nigeria, and its average household size is relatively small, the implication is that property prices (per square metre) must be expensive compared with those in other states,” RenCap further stated.

RenCap also further revealed that Lagos has the highest net primary school completion ratio in Nigeria at 70.6 per cent.

“The most educated workforce in coming years will also be apparent in the south and south-west, where at least 60 per cent of the children complete secondary school.

“We think education levels in the south and south west are likely to spur even faster growth, as we have seen in emerging markets globally,” the company said.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/05/19/lagos-could-soon-be-africas-13-biggest-economy-similar-to-the-size-of-ghana-says-renaissance-capital/

If you are already a fan of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), BlackBerry has announced that it would make its flagship product available on other platforms by the summer of 2013.

BlackBerry made this announcement at it annual three day BlackBerry Live. Now for the first time the mobile messaging service will be available to iOS and Android users in summer subject to approval by Google Play and the Apple App Store.

This means that one would now be able to connect with friends and family using other platforms to connect over BBM.

Customers on other mobile platforms will enjoy the same services as those presently on the BlackBerry platform.

Users will enjoy the immediacy of BBM chats, multi-person chats, voice notes sharing, files sharing and blackberry groups where BBM users can set up group chat with a maximum of 30 other users.

The BlackBerry team has definitely been working hard to bring the much-adored BBM experience to a wider group of mobile users.

In a recent press conference at BlackBerry Live 2013, Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President, Software Product Management and Ecosystem said

- For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service.

BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community.

BBM set the standard for mobile instant messaging with fast and reliable service and an added layer of engagement with delivered and read statuses.

Upon release of the multi-platform BBM service, you can broaden that real-time connection to friends and colleagues on other supported mobile platforms.

BBM currently has more than 60 million active and 51 million daily active users who are connecting with friends and colleagues an average of one and half hours everyday.

BBM users send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps. Almost half of BBM messages are read within 20 seconds of being received; indicating how truly engaged BBM customers are.

Today, BlackBerry also announced BBM Channels, a new social engagement platform within BBM that will allow customers to connect with the businesses, brands, celebrities and groups they are passionate about.

BlackBerry plans to add support for BBM Channels as well as voice and video chatting for iOS and Android later this year, subject to approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play. If approved by Apple and Google, the BBM app will be available as a free download in the Apple App StoreSM and Google Play store. Additional details about system requirements and availability will be announced closer to the launch.

How would this affect the African market?

It is no news that Blackberry is currently witnessing a boom in demand in many African countries. What would their recent decision to make the Blackberry Messenger service available on iOS and Android.

We think this would lead to a net migration of customers to iOS and Android. The Blackberry Messenger is a core feature behind Africans love for Blackberry smart phones. BBM drastically reduces the cost of instant messaging for users and portability to other smart phone platforms means that Africans would no longer be locked to Blackberry devices to enjoy the BBM experience.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/05/14/blackberry-messenger-services-to-be-made-available-on-ios-and-android/

Over 32.5 million Nigerians access the Internet via telecommunications networks, the Nigerian Communications Commission has revealed. The fast growing number is led by the rapid rise of smartphone adoption in the country led by smartphone device manufacturers such as Blackberry, Samsung and Huawei.

Nigeria’s largest mobile operator, MTN leads the pack with an estimated 21.3 million users or 65.9% of the overall market share. Airtel, Etisalat and Globacom significantly lag behind with about 5.9 million, 4.4 million and 800,000 respectively.

CDMA operators such as Starcomms, Multilinks and Visafone significantly lag behind their GSM counterparts. Though Starcomms overall share of the Nigerian internet subscription market has declined markedly in recent months, Visafone has rapidly accelerated to capture the company’s declining share of the market. Overall, CDMA is a lagging category and Nigeria remains a largely GSM play.

MTN continues to be the nation’s dominant mobile operator in the voice and data category in Nigeria’s lucrative mobile market. The country is the company’s most profitable market making over $4.2 billion in revenue in FYE 2012. The company is prioritising its focus on data products as it continues to witness declining Average Revenue per User Rates in the voice and sms category. This trend has been led by social networking and instant messaging applications witnessing a huge surge in popularity across the continent such as Facebook, the South African instant messaging application, 2go, Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp and a slew of other rising applications.
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/05/13/over-32-5-million-nigerians-access-the-internet-via-telecommunications-networks-the-ncc-reveals/

By Geoff Anoke
It is no longer news that the Nigerian Super Eagles won the AFCON cup.However the journey of the Super Eagles from the back of the pack to be the winner was nothing short of the dramatic. Indeed the longstanding axiom that football is a game of surprises is never been found truer.From a customarily Nigerian late and ill preparedness to the fielding of inexperienced players,the Super Eagles were expectedly expected by all but a few Nigerians to occupy the back seat.

Virtually everybody I listened to expressed their readiness to welcome the Eagles back to Nigeria after the first round.Few if any number of Nigerians gave the Eagles a bit of chance to go beyond round one let alone winning the star prize.

However a probe into the matter would indicate that this pervasive negativism is not just limited to a general perceived inability of our national team or any of its attributes for that matter. The locust of pessimism has covered the entire landscape of Africa’s most populous nation. Nigerians have simply grown from the life threatening condition of expecting anything to happen to the suicidal state of expecting the worst to come into being.

Taking a sort of panoramic view of the various segments of our society will quickly show this anomaly. Nigerians naturally expect banks to go under, planes to crash and government agencies to fail. Some have christened this phenomenon as the ‘ Nigerian Factor’. By their unproven theory they mean that nothing is expected not to fail in Nigeria.

After a checkered history that still baffles bookmakers Nigerians have become the most negative of God’s creature on the planet. The reality is that there has never been a semblance of positivism in Nigeria for a generation now. The long military interregnum in governance gave chance to a little optimism. During the military era, Dodan Barracks could release any decree any day. Nobody really knew what to expect. Then the Obasanjo presidency took over the rein of government. At that point the pent up hope was clearly pervasive. Many Nigerians expected a change overnight. But it never came.Nigerins afterwards gave in to an inhibiting inferno of hopelessness and negativism.

The question one might ask is,’ Is this attitude good for the individual?’Is this state of mind beneficial for the family? Is it healthy for our nation and our world?”Of course everyone knows that this weakness will eventually crumble our nation and desecrate our ultimate essence of living if we let it be. Negativism is anti-nature. Even God Himself continually expresses hope and positivity in the turnout of the destinies of individuals and nations irrespective of their state at any point in time. We are products of our thoughts and a man’s expectation is the unwritten script he daily strives to play out.

The key to a positive mental disposition is to expect the best from everyone we have to deal with. Yes ,we may have dishonest people and dysfunctional government but our roadmap to the promise land is to continually place the highest level of faith in their excellent performance and goodness . Someone referred to this as placing a ten[highest value] on people .If you have a secretary who is known to deliver a sloppy work for instance, placing a ten on her will result in your encouraging her and helping her to grow and improve professionally.

You’d like to send her for an intensive training course, find out whether she has an underlying emotional problems that has prevented her from performing optimally. You could do all these if you expect a change for the better. The truth is ,your positive disposition will always result in a change of behavioral pattern by you first If you take this pattern of behavior home to your spouse and then to the Passport Office or any government department, then we’d sure have a nation with a changed attitude. This is the key to our survival as a nation.Let me know what you think in the comment box.Let’s talk about it!
http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/02/14/opinion-super-eagles-feat-and-nigerian-negativism/

The Super Eagles of Nigeria emerged winners of this year’s African Cup of Nations in what many have called a spectacular, well deserved victory for the West African nation’s team. This is the Super Eagles first win in 19 years. The Super Eagles won the match scoring a lone goal against Burkina Faso. The lone goal was scored by Super Eagles’ Sunday Mba. Mba, 24 had scored the winning goal in Nigeria’s 2-1 semi-final win over Cote D’Ivoire. In his younger years, he played for Nigeria’s Enyimba United and Enugu Rangers.

This was an emotional win for Nigeria who have had a litany of talented players over the years but yet have failed to win the cup for almost two decades. Nigeria’s last win was in 1994.

The Nigerian team delighted their fans after their stunning 4-1 victory against Mali. They previously beat Ivory Coast 2-1 and Ethiopia 2-0.

The Super Eagles by winning AFCON 2013 will be representing Africa at 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup.

Congratulations Super Eagles!

http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/02/10/nigerias-super-eagles-win-the-african-cup-of-nations-afcon-2013-first-win-in-19-years-2/