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UNICEF Uganda and Outbox Launch Innovation Fund Challenge

By
Boses Muhinda
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0

UNICEF Uganda and Outbox, a Ugandaninnovation and entrepreneurship support organization have launched an innovation initiative dubbed the UNICEF Uganda Innovation Fund Challenge.

The UNICEF Uganda Innovation Fund Challenge seeks to support innovators that are using new and emerging technologies to address pressing issues faced by children and adolescents through social entrepreneurship. The initiative will address issues related to child survival and development, improving access to basic education and adolescent development for boys and girls and child protection in line with UNICEF Uganda’s objectives. 

The initiative includes mentorship, linkages to market access partners, business training and product development, as well as start-up grant funding support over a period of nine months. 

Innovation at UNICEF is about doing new things to solve problems and improve the lives of children. It is about matching today’s challenges we face in Uganda with tomorrow’s solutions. According to Shadrack Omol, UNICEF representative a.i., “to realize the SDGs’ vision where no one is left behind, we need to go beyond business as usual – investing in innovation and building broader, bolder partnerships that help us reach every child in Uganda”.

Despite Uganda’s steady progress in reducing maternal and under-five mortality, stunting in children, and AIDS related deaths among children, alongside improvements in access to safe water and sanitation, a number of challenges persist when it comes to the health, safety and development of children and adolescents. This initiative provides an opportunity for various stakeholders to come together and co-create solutions to address the systemic challenges faced by children and adolescents in Uganda.

Richard Zulu, chief executive officer at Outbox, added that”working with UNICEF Uganda contributes to our mission of bringing together resources that support entrepreneurs to succeed. This collaboration is an opportunity for the community to work alongside experts and bring their ideas to market, while contributing to the achievement of SDGs.”

The UNICEF Uganda Innovation Challenge Fund will support up-to eight social innovations over a period of one year. Participants with innovative ideas or solutions are encouraged to make submissions at https://unicef.innovationchallenge.ug/

URSB’s Bemanya Twebaze Hands Over Office To New Registrar General Mercy Kainobwisho

By
Doryn Crystal
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0

Mr. Bemanya Twebaze, the outgoing Registrar General, Uganda Registration Service Bureau (URSB) this morning handed over office to Ms. Mercy Kainobwisho, the incoming Registrar General.

This handover follows the election of Mr. Bemanya Twebaze as Director General of African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) and the appointment of Mercy Kainobwisho as acting Director General and Official Government Receiver. The handover was witnessed by URSB Board Chairman Ambassador Francis Butagira together with other members of the board and Top Management.

Speaking at the handover, Bemanya urged the team at URSB to further the registrations journey and complete the digitalization process that URSB had ushered in under his tenure.

“It has been an honor for me to have been at the forefront of formalizing our economy through the various services we provide here at URSB. I am thankful to all the teams that have helped me serve, the support from Government and H.E President Museveni, the Ministers of Justice and Constitutional Affairs I have had the joy to serve under and the URSB Board, who have given me a platform to serve my country. A lot more needs to be done and I am confident that Mercy will further the successes made so far.’’

Incoming Registrar General Ms. Mercy Kainobwisho affirmed her commitment to delivering improved services under the pace set by her predecessor. “I am pleased to take on such a vital role in transforming service delivery in the country. We shall continue working tirelessly to ensure all URSB services are accessible online and propel the vision as the centre of excellence for registrations services’’.

Board Chairman Ambassador Francis K. Butagira said he was confident that the leadership transition would strengthen the steady strategic directional path that organization had instituted. ‘I know that Mercy fits in well with the leadership pace already set by Mr. Bemanya. I have worked with both of them for some time and I can attest to their credible attributes that have seen URSB grow in leaps and bounds’ he said

Ms. Kainobwisho will take forward a number of initiatives that will transform URSB’s mandate of Business, Marriage, Intellectual Property, Insolvency and Security Interest in Movable Property Registrations. URSB has among others, embarked on integration of all their services online under the All-digital, all-online service delivery model with the aim of easing information sharing, digitalization of all records, improvement of services for clients, reducing the cost of and improving the cost of doing business, improvement of turn-around time for services as well as enhancement of public service delivery.

Netflix Appoints Strive Masiyiwa, Owner of Liquid Telecom, a First African on its Board

By
Joel Osekeny
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0

In a bid to promote African content for the entertainment giant platform, Netflix has appointed Strive Masiyiwa, a Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist to its board of directors. Masiyiwa is also the first African to have a seat at the Netflix board.

“We are delighted to welcome Strive to the Netflix board”, co – CEO Reed Hastings, co – founder and Chairman of the company is quoted to have said in a statement published on the company website, expressing how excited they are to have the African on the Board.

“His entrepreneurship and vision in building businesses across Africa and beyond will bring valuable insights and experience to our board as we work to improve and serve more members all around the world”, adds the founder in the statement.

Masiyiwa is one of the richest black people in the world with a net worth of USD. 1.7 billion and owning several businesses including his biggest possession Econet Global, the parent company to Liquid Telecom, a telecommunication company headquartered in South Africa with registration in several countries on the African continent including Uganda.

Econet is a telecommunications company with operations in 29 countries in Africa and Europe.

According to statement by Netflix, he sits on several international boards including Uniliver Plc, National Geographic Society, Asia Society and the Global Advisory boards of Bank of America, the Council on Foreign Relations in the US, Stanford University, and the Prince of Wales Trust for Africa, a member of the United States Holocaust Museum’s Committee on Conscience, and a former member of the Rockefeller Foundation that he served for 15 years. He is also the African Union Special Envoy to the continent’s COVID 19 response.

He replaces a former adviser to Barrack Obama, Susan Rice, who retired and has been called to join the Biden administration.

The African continent should be thrilled by the news, as this becomes a plus for the entertainment industry on the continent in relation to the quantity and quality of content that will be produced following the presence of a person who might have continental interests.

Airtel Uganda Granted 20 Year National Operator License at a “Discriminatory” Price.

By
Joel Osekeny
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0

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has granted Airtel Uganda, a subsidiary of Airtel Africa, a new National Operator License at the price of USD. 74.6 million. The license is effective from the 1st July 2020 for a period of 20 years following a “period of negotiation” with the relevant stakeholders.

Airtel Uganda will also be paying a total of USD. 11.4 million as VAT and be authorized to continue providing basic telecommunication services, infrastructure services and value added telecommunication services in the country.

According to a statement by Airtel Africa, “Airtel Uganda will retain all its current spectrum subject to the law and terms of assignment” and under the agreement, it commits to achieve “a coverage of 90% of geographical boundary of Uganda within five years of the effective date of the license”.

However, it should be remembered that MTN Uganda paid USD. 100 million for the same license for a period of 12 years, while Airtel paid less for a longer period of time (20 years), something that has raised questions about the preferential treatment given to Airtel as against its competitor.

It might appear Airtel struck a harder negotiation compared to its competition MTN as it is being claimed that the COVID card was used. Airtel is said to have insisted that the onslaught of the pandemic has hit it hard and consequently affected its revenues.

It is feared that paying a lesser fee for the license, gives Airtel a competitive advantage over its competition, something that companies and individuals believe should not be permissible in a free market society.

Top 5 Critical Reasons Your Business Should Get ISO Certification

By
Alison Lurie
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0

Obtaining an ISO quality certification can result in huge dividends for your business. It helps improve your efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction. However, the benefits of an ISO certification go far beyond business operations. It helps enhance your sales, marketing, planning, and employee satisfaction.

The ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) is an independent nongovernmental entity that develops guidelines to ensure business processes quality. It is crucial to collaborate with ISO Consulting Services to help you set clear objectives and standardise your processes to ensure you are on the right track.

Discover opportunities and identify risks

The optimal way to mitigate quality issues is to stop them from occurring in the first place. According to ISO, you should identify risks in your business and control them with a strategy. When you know how to deal with risks, there will be fewer surprises down the road. It helps you improve your plans resulting in better decision-making and improved relationships with everyone crucial to your business, such as your suppliers, customers, and employees.

The ISO also encourages you to discover opportunities for business growth. Consider how you can optimise advantages in an organised manner.

Stop problems from reoccurring

In many cases, businesses repeat mistakes because they don’t have a system to record and troubleshoot problems when they occur. One of the ISO requirements for companies is to document issues, trace the cause, and develop efficient solutions. Following this protocol results in less waste, better quality, and fewer costs.

Enhance your marketing and sales strategy

Many companies emphasise their ISO certification in their advertising paraphernalia, websites, and company banners on their building. An ISO accreditation helps support your marketing efforts and increase your sales. Many large companies also require their suppliers to be ISO accredited. Certification is crucial if you want to penetrate foreign markets.

Motivate employees

Employees’ confidence and morale improve when they are investing their efforts in producing high-quality products and services. The ISO recommends defining tasks, enhancing training among employees, and communicating your policies on quality to everyone in the company.

If you fail to do things in an organised way, it will result in confusion and doubt among employees. When you follow ISO protocols in your management systems, you provide everyone in your company the tools and resources to do their jobs well. When everything is organised, people are happier, which improves efficiency. They are inspired to do better at their job.

Control your business

One of the ISO requirements is to monitor, measure, and analyse your management systems’ effectiveness. Generate performance metrics to measure your results. It helps reveal areas where you need to improve. It is crucial to utilise these powerful tools to gain insight into your business’s workings for better decision-making.

As a business owner, it is crucial to see the full picture. You may decide to knuckle down on the details to know where you need to focus your improvement efforts. Aside from creating a healthier and more efficient company, the ISO also makes your business attractive to buyers when it is time for you to sell.

It will help if you collaborate with ISO Consulting Services to eliminate the guesswork in your ISO application. Track every area in your business you need to troubleshoot and improve with the help of expert recommendations.

Conclusion

The ISO establishes standards and guidelines for every business to follow. In the end, following ISO recommendations improves your system and enhances your products and services. Obtaining accreditation such as these builds pride in your company and help with your marketing strategies.

Microsoft Teams Features that Could Benefit Businesses

By
Alison Lurie
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0

Businesses are beginning to recognise the importance of digitalisation in the workplace, especially for communication and collaboration. The Microsoft Teams app, in particular, has been finding its way into the modern workplace. 

People use the chat functionality every day, finding it more convenient and effective than using emails. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of what Microsoft Teams solutions can offer. Below are some of the most useful MS Teams features that you could use for your business.

MS Teams Video Calling

MS Teams’ chat capability is extremely useful. You can use it to quickly ask your officemate a question, for which an email would be inconvenient. You can also create group chats, share files, save those files, and make use of its many other features. Still, there is so much more you can do with MS Teams. One of them is video conferencing. 

There are instances where video calls are more effective than chat. You might have clients who prefer to see the face and hear the voice of the person they are talking to. Or you might need to demonstrate a new product to potential clients. MS Teams’ video calling allows you to do this too. You could just press the “Join” button to jump into a meeting or press “Meet Now” to initiate a video call.     

MS App Integration

Most offices use Microsoft 365, which gives you access to all of MS Office’s business tools. Integration into these tools is another benefit of Microsoft Teams solutions. You can access Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and all the other tools in the middle of a chat or video conference, allowing you to collaborate better and be more productive. 

Teams Microsoft Planner App

You can add the Planner app to the MS Teams platform and increase your productivity. With this app added to your Teams platform, you could easily sync existing appointments with other team members. This will save you a lot of time, effort, and grief in setting up meetings. 

Once the meeting is set up, you can discuss the details leading up to it in a separate chat thread. You can talk about the agenda, decide what files to prepare, and upload them beforehand to ensure that the meeting goes as smoothly as possible. 

MS Teams Helper Bots

Helper bots are some of the more useful features of the full-range Microsoft Teams solutions. Bots can act just like any other team member and offer help where they can. They allow you to streamline your work process by taking care of the more mundane tasks. The T-bot, for instance, can provide the answers to frequently asked questions. The Polly Bot can take polls and help with voting among members. Hipmunk can travel planning a lot easier. 

Real-Time Collaboration

MS Teams facilitates collaboration through chats, voice calls, and video conferencing, and this is just for starters. MS Teams allows people from different locations to access files and work on them together. They can edit documents together while they are exchanging ideas. What is more, these files are auto-saved, so you can be sure that no information is lost. 

No Added Cost for Microsoft 365 Users

Most companies use Microsoft 365 in their offices, which means that many could access the basic MS Teams features at no additional costs. More features are available for a price, but this is much lower than purchasing them from scratch.    

Sub Saharan Africa Predicted 5G penetration at 5%, 84% Mobile Subscriptions by 2026 – Ericson Report.

By
Joel Osekeny
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0

“This year will go down in history as the one which saw widespread global disruption … (it) will probably also be known as the year when society as a whole took a giant leap forward in our digitalization journey” writes Fredrik Jejdling, a publisher, the Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks at Ericson in an introductory statement to Ericson Mobility Report by Ericson, a November issue paper highlighting the outlook of global mobile subscriptions.

Findings from the report anticipated over the period until 2026 provided that there will be 8. billion global mobile subscriptions by the end of the year 2026 at 91% and out of the number, 3.5 billion will be attributed to 5G subscriptions accounting to 40% of the total mobile subscriptions, or 220 million by the end of 2020 alone attributed to China uptake.

5G uptake is expected to be higher than it has been with the current rollouts of 4G.

Regionally however, (Africa in particular), by the end of 2020, mobile subscriptions will stand at 41% (GSM/Edge-only (2G)), LTE (4G) will stand at a meagre 15%, and 0% penetration levels of 5G. There will be a 0% penetration of 5G by the end of the year for North Africa and the Middle East. 3G penetration will stand at 44% for Sub Saharan Africa and about 30% for the Middle East and North Africa.

However, by 2026, the study period, Sub – Saharan Africa will have the least global number with 5% penetration of 5G compared to the North America that will be at 80%, and about 15% for North Africa and Middle East. Sub Saharan Africa will have 30% 4G penetration and about 40% 3G and less than 30% 2G.

The report adds that mobile subscriptions on the African continent are predicted to continue to grow over the forecast period as mobile penetration will be at 84 percent by that period, a figure less than the global average, with mobile broadband subscriptions predicted to increase up to reaching 76 percent of total mobile subscriptions by the target year.

5G and LTE subscriptions are predicted to continue growing over the next 6 years, but HSPA (3G) will still be dominant technology with a share of over 40 percent in 2026 in Sub – Saharan Africa.

The factors for the increase in mobile broadband are predicted to be “a young, growing, population with increasing digital skills and more affordable smartphones” as 5G will stand at 5%.

It is Very Hard to Have a Channel Removed – Google Official Comments On UCC YouTube Letter.

By
Joel Osekeny
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0
Dorothy Ooko, the Head of Communication and Public Affairs for Africa at Google

While the Ugandan communications regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is yet to receive an official response from google, following its request to block certain YouTube channels, in the country, it feels as if the response will not be positive.

Guru8 has seen a comment from Dorothy Ooko, the head of Communication and Public Affairs for Africa at Google stating that it will be very hard for the Uganda government to expect a channel to be removed with compulsion of a court order.

“It is very hard to just have a channel removed due to a government request” her comment reads.

She goes on to write that in as much as Google follows country’s local law, “it would have to be a valid court order” to move the company to act on the request to remove or block a channel.

“The letters just show what the UCC submitted to the Embassy, they are not court orders” she adds.

The letter is addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Google Inc, in California, USA and from the comment from Ooko, it was only presented at the Embassy. It was also authored last week, on the 9th December, 2020. We are yet to see an official reaction from Google.

Ugandan Regulator Writes to Google to Block Certain YouTube Channels

By
Joel Osekeny
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0
Page 1 of the UCC letter

Guru8 is in receipt of a letter dated 9th December 2020, wherein Uganda’s Communications Regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission alias UCC is writing to Google asking that the technology giant blocks access to 8 Ugandan YouTube Channels that are accused of spreading propaganda during the currently ongoing country’s digital campaigns.

The channels in question include Ghetto TV, TMO Online, Lumbuye Fred, Trending Channel Ug, Uganda Yaffe, Uganda News Updates, Busesa Media Updates and Uganda Empya that are mainly run by and for the opposition, something that they have in common.

UCC claims to get its grounds from a pile of complaints to it by the government and the police who claim that digital channels like Google’s YouTube are being used to “publish, disseminate and or broadcast content that is contrary” to Ugandan law, provisions that the Commission laboured to spell for Google.

These YouTube Channels are accused of misrepresenting information, views, facts, and events in a manner that likely to mislead the public, videos contain extremist and anarchic messages that could incite violence, they compromise national security and cause economic sabotage, report events in a sensational, unbalanced, unprofessional and partisan manner, broadcasts contain gruesome (graphic) pictures, and glorify lawlessness while undermining public interest and confidence in law and its enforcement.

UCC goes on to cite several laws for their mandate to justify their letter, expecting that Google would respond to the same. However, from past experience, compliance is unlikely.

It should be noted that last time the Ugandan government wrote to Big Tech was in the case against an anonymous Facebook blogger (TVO) seeking that the media giant declare his/her or their identity, a request that was denied owing to the nature of request that was seen to clamp on guaranteed freedoms of expression and free speech, a declaration that would also go against one’s protected right to privacy, to remain anonymous if need be.

Gal Sport Betting Launches ‘Zawadi Kubwa’ to Give Back to Customers

By
Guest Writer
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0

Gal Sport Betting (GSB) has launched a premium offer for all it’s customers as we gear up for the festive season. Dubbed ‘Zawadi Kubwa’, the betting offer that comes with many goodies to win such as two Toyota wish cars, motor bikes, smartphones among others.

How to participate & Criteria for winning:

  1. 1. As a first timer (Register) or a regular use (Log In) via www.gsb.ug
  2. Place bets on pre-match sports events; as offer only applies on those, and not bets placed on live or virtual events.
  3. Stakes are to be made according to the ranges in table for your entries.
  4. All winners shall be randomly chosen.You can only win once every week, however are still free to participate for more prizes the following week. 
  5. Check out the full Terms & Conditions on their website – https://lp.gsb.ug/zawadi-kubwa/

The Bet starts in five days and the higher the stake, the higher the goodies to be won. Put your stake today and stand a chance to win big. 

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