Microsoft Nigeria and The Future Project have held the final series of Demo Days for the Accelerate Labs initiative to support young businesses in Northern Nigeria, with pitch presentations and award ceremonies held in Abuja (North Central), Kaduna (North-West) and Bauchi (North-East) on 20, 21 and 23 June, 2018.

Launched in August 2017, the programme is intended to empower 2,160 entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 – 35 through technological resources, trainings, mentorship and seed funding needed to build socially-responsible businesses in their communities.

In a statement released by The Future Project, Bukonla Adebakin, the Project Lead said, “Through intensive trainings, we engaged over 8,000 participants in Nigeria on the methods to build and sustain their businesses, with focus on pitch presentation, funding proposals and client relations. There are extensive opportunities to transform the country through innovation and dedication, and these participants are capable of impacting their communities through their socially inclined and highly profitable enterprises”.

Thousands of participants were registered under the initiative this year, with the Demo Days also providing an opportunity for entrepreneurs to sell their ideas, exhibit products for purchase, and also pitch ideas for possible investment.

Additional Demo Days will hold in Enugu (South-East) on 28 June, 2018; Edo (South-South) on 29 June, 2018, with the final event to be held in Lagos (South West) on Saturday, 30 June, 2018.

The initiative is blended in structure through Online and In-Class trainings, supporting different sectors ranging from Technology, Fashion, Education, Agriculture, Transportation, and others to stimulate economic development through enterprise development and technology incubation.

Former minister of education and convener of the Red Card Movement, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili is the special guest on Rubbin’ Minds this Sunday, 24 June, 2018 as the show kicks off ‘Rubbin’ Minds 2019’, a series focused on the 2019 general elections.

The series is set up to examine issues surrounding the 2019 general elections and the changing dynamics of Nigerian politics as we count down to the polls. It will give political players, thought leaders, and change makers the opportunity to share their opinions and verified insights on the elections.

In a statement released by Seun Oluyemi, the producer of Nigeria’s leading youth talk show, Rubbin’ Minds on ChannelsTV, the aim of the series is to create citizen awareness and educate viewers on the importance of making the right decisions leading up to the polls.

“The forthcoming general elections is another opportunity for us to redirect the country to the right path. With Rubbin’ Minds 2019, we aim to educate viewers on the importance of active political engagement in building a credible political process. It is our contribution to reshaping the nation while nurturing and strengthening our hard won democracy,” Oluyemi stated.

Hosted by Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Rubbin’ Minds which is produced by Y! TV, the production arm of RED, airs every Sunday at 3pm on Channels TV.

Facebook today released some Sub-Saharan Africa focused statistics on the top content shared on its platform since the World Cup started. This measures global and country Facebook conversation related to the World Cup between June 14 – June 20, 2018.

Below are the stats:
Of the two Sub-Saharan Africa teams in the tournament, Senegal leads discussions globally:
Senegal: More than 4.8 M people globally cheered or commented on the performance of the Senegal national team
Nigeria: More than 4.6 M people globally cheered or commented on the performance of the Nigerian national team

Iwobi creates conversation in Nigeria:
Alex Iwobi is the most discussed Nigerian player in the country – more than 36,000 people from Nigeria talked about him on Facebook

The Spanish are on South Africans minds:
The Spanish national team was the most discussed amongst South Africans, with more than 200,000 people who live in South Africa mentioning the team on Facebook

Top Content
Cristiano Ronaldo’s post was the #1 content interacted with by Nigerians – https://www.facebook.com/10156512880822164
Leo Messi updating his profile photo at the start of the World Cup was the content that people from South Africa interacted with the most -https://www.facebook.com/leomessi/photos/a.190152614337674.48442.176063032413299/2277249202294661/?type=3

NOTE:
Measuring global and country Facebook conversation related to the World Cup between June 14th – June 20th 2018. Data is aggregated and anonymized.
Top content refers to a total number of interactions (e.g. likes, reactions, comments, replies to comments, reactions to comments etc.) that a post receives from users based in a certain country. Facebook only measures content that comes from verified pages.

Continuing on from the commitment to train 50,000 people throughout 2018, Facebook rolls out a series of training dates specially designed for entrepreneurs and Small and Medium-sized Businesses in Port Harcourt:

Boost Your Business
A free one-day course in making the most of digital tools to grow businesses and make meaningful connections with potential consumers.
These training sessions will take attendees through the fundamentals of developing social media skills to help unlock new audiences, including; setting up a Facebook page, understanding ads and creating engaging video content.

She Means Business
Partnering with She Leads Africa (SLA), #SheMeansBusiness Nigeria is the first to launch in Sub-Saharan Africa and will bring together thousands of female entrepreneurs in a series of day workshops and training sessions across six cities in Nigeria, including Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Aba. Training sessions are often followed by post-training clinics aimed at re-engaging, advising and mentoring participants.

Training Dates:
Boost Your Business training – June 23rd and 30th
SheMeansBusiness training – June 29th and 30th
People interested in attending a Boost your Business session can visit http://www.digivate360.com/boost-your-business/. For SheMeansBusiness, visit http://sheleadsafrica.org/shemeansbusiness/
Organisations interested in arranging trainings for their members or groups, can e-mail [email protected].

Continuing on from the commitment to train 50,000 people throughout 2018, Facebook rolls out a series of training dates specially designed for entrepreneurs and Small and Medium-sized Businesses in Lagos:

Boost Your Business
A free one-day course in making the most of digital tools to grow businesses and make meaningful connections with potential consumers.

Run in partnership with Digivate360 and Rabbington Media, these training sessions will take attendees through the fundamentals of developing social media skills to help unlock new audiences, including; setting up a Facebook page, understanding ads and creating engaging video content.
Digivate 360: Boost Your Business training – June 21st, 23rd and 26th
Rabbington Media: Boost Your Business training – June 21st
Aspiring Entrepreneurs Training
Taught the fundamentals of digital marketing and how to leverage these tools to boost their businesses, participants will also learn about critical areas necessary to start, build and scale businesses including: Business Plan Development, Budgeting, Financial Management and Financial Reporting, Marketing and Pricing Strategies, People Management and using Facebook Business Tools to reach new audiences.
FATE Foundation: Aspiring Entrepreneurs training will be held on June 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th 29th and 30th June

Highlighting its commitment to nurturing African start-ups and technology entrepreneurs, Facebook will be participating in the Pan-African Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) summit in Cape Town this week.

Aiming to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, executives and ecosystem players from around the world to explore African tech innovation, Facebook will host, and take part in a number of events, including:

Facebook Keynote & Fireside Chat (19th June) – Proud Dzambukira, Strategic Product Partnerships Manager, Facebook Africa will give a keynote talk followed by a Fireside chat with Julien Decot, Facebook’s Director, Platform Partnerships, EMEA

Panel: Rethinking Silicon Africa (20th June) – Julien Decot will moderate a panel with some of the region’s top VCs discussing the wisdom of replicating the Silicon Valley seed-exit model, and exploring how a more African approach might fit into the global funding landscape

Commenting on the partnership, Proud Dzambukira, Strategic Product Partnerships Manager, Facebook Africa said: “We share MEST’s goal of driving economic growth in Africa by investing in tech skills and entrepreneurship. We know that with the right support and guidance these aspiring entrepreneurs can achieve great things, and that is why I believe an event like this is so important to developing, growing and highlighting the African ecosystem.”

Facebook today announced a university wide roadshow as part of its ongoing commitment and investment in growing the tech ecosystem, and driving innovation across Nigeria. Following the recent announcement at its new NG_Hub space in Lagos, the new FB Start Accelerator programme, a deep-tech focused research and mentorship-driven initiative, will be the focus of its roadshow. Aimed at educating and attracting students to build solutions that utilise advanced technologies to solve problems and build solutions for the future using Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) – the university tour will look to demystify myths surrounding “deep-tech” and promote the benefits.

Aimed at empowering start-ups and students with technical & business support, and funding to optimize their products for growth, the deep-tech focused accelerator programme will provide up to $20,000 in equity-free funding and support to innovative startups and student-teams.

As part of its University tour, Facebook will be visiting 13 cities across Nigeria in 30 days, with the team already completing events at University of Lagos (Lagos State), University of Port-Harcourt (Rivers State), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Anambra State) and University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Enugu State). Other tour dates include:
· Oyo state, University of Ibadan, June 11
· Oyo state, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, June 12
· Osun state, Obafemi Awolowo University, June 13
· Ondo state, Federal University of Technology, Akure, June 14
· Akwa Ibom state, University of Uyo, June 19
· Plateau state, University of Jos, June 21
· Kaduna state, Colab, Kaduna, June 25
· Abuja, University of Abuja, June 26
· Kano state, Bayero University, June 27

The FB Start Accelerator programme is part of trainings and longer-term impact programmes designed to train and support over 50,000 students, small businesses and creative entrepreneurs across the country in 2018. The trainings will also be conducted with partner hubs across the country including in Abuja (Ventures Platform), Jos (nHub), Kaduna (Colab Hub), Kano (DI Hub), Uyo (Start Innovation Hub), Enugu (Roar Hub) and Port Harcourt (Ken Saro Wiwa Hub).

For more information please visit: https://cchubnigeria.com/fbstart/map.html

Find out more about Facebook’s work in Africa and the NG_Hub space in Lagos, follow the Facebook Africa page – https://www.facebook.com/FacebookAfrica/

Building on its commitment to create better communities in Nigeria through good deeds, Lipton Yellow Label Tea returned to Kano and Kaduna on 11 June, 2018 with the “Don’t Just Think, Do” campaign as the brand celebrated with devout Muslims observing the holy month of Ramadan.

The campaign, which is widely known for encouraging Nigerians to take a stand and work towards making the country a better place through good deeds, has also toured several cities in Northern Nigeria including Sokoto, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kwara, among others to promote the core messages of Ramadan – discipline, charity, piety, love, care and empathy.

Speaking with guests during the mosque activation in Kaduna, Lipton Brand Manager, Damilola Dania stated that the campaign is an avenue for everyone to reach out and express love and appreciation for another, no matter who they are, their religion or community.

“This initiative is urging us all to spread happiness by not just thinking but by also doing more. Lipton is saying we should all do good, join hands together and sow the seeds of joy, care, and love in our communities. We feel this season is the perfect time to promote the campaign more, because of the values of Ramadan, which include charity and prayer,” Dania said.

Bahir Halliru, the representative of the Chief Imam at the Sharada Mosque in Kano expressed his appreciation to Lipton for the tea and fruits shared during Iftar.

“I am happy that a brand like Lipton understands the significance of the holy month of Ramadan. It’s a very good initiative and may Allah continue to help them grow bigger,” he said.

Speaking at the Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna, the Chief Imam, Sheik Dr Muhammad Suleiman Adam, stated that the campaign will help improve the human quality and add great value to everyone in the country.

“Doing good at all times is what Allah preaches, Lipton has emulated the teachings of Allah and by doing so they will be rewarded. Everyone needs to help one another no matter how little because it adds value to humanity. May the blessings of Allah fill your lives with happiness and open all the doors of success now and always, “he said.

Lipton is also giving 1,000 widows ‘Reasons to Smile’ in various regions of the country by empowering them with seed funds and care packs to improve their lives.

The stars trooped out on the night of June 1, 2018, when Accelerate TV premiered the second season of its highly acclaimed show, Shade Corner.

The room was filled with fun personalities, bants, and tasty food as stars turned out in numbers for the launch of the highly anticipated Shade Corner 2. The Shady Bunch – Akah Nnani, Noble Ezeala, Camille Shaiyen and Tamara Aihie (not forgetting Bayo Oke-Lawal and Makida Moka who were out of the country but joined in on Skype) were present with friends and family to enjoy a fun-filled night watching the first two episodes of the new season.

Celebrity guests like Oscar Oyinsan, OC Ukeje, Seyi Babatope, Osas Ighodaro, Chiagoziem, Noble Igwe, Dorrain Beauty, Elo, The Delphinator and others cheered and couldn’t stop asking for more as the episodes ran.

The New Shade Corner dropped on June 6 with new plots, guests, amazing banter and so much more. Who do you think will take the crown home this time as the Shadiest of Them All?

Facebook and Messenger are introducing a number of product features to help fans cheer on the action during the World Cup in Russia.

Users will see an animated message on their News Feed inviting them to share their support by accessing one of the 32 team frames, which they can use as their Facebook profiles.

These new features include:

Show your team colours: Today, fans may see an animated message at the top of their Facebook News Feed inviting them to share their fandom with a profile frame of their favourite team competing in the World Cup. Fans clicking on the message will be able to update their profile frame with the team frame of their choice. Profile frames are available for all 32 teams competing in the tournament.

Cheer together with animations in posts and comments: Fans will discover fun animations when they celebrate their favourite team using select phrases in News Feed. This feature will unlock new ways for friends to cheer together and celebrate the action on the pitch. For example, someone may see this feature if they type in “gooaal” to celebrate their favourite team scoring, or if they type in a select cheer from one of the 32 competing countries. These phrases can be activated by posting or commenting with the correct phrase or tapping on the phrase when highlighted.
Get Creative with Effects in Facebook Camera and Messenger: Throughout the tournament, fans can swipe right into the Camera on Facebook and Messenger to capture and share their team spirit using the following effects.

Facebook: Click on the effects wand to find augmented reality stickers of players such as Sergio Ramos. Drop them in the scene around you and start filming – juggle alongside Sergio Ramos and share your moments to Stories or News Feed.

Facebook/Messenger: Via the camera on both Facebook and Messenger, add AR effects to show off your fandom. You can snap a photo with face paint or a festive flag wig to show off your fandom and celebrate the 32 competing teams.
Play a game with friends on Messenger: Just in time for the tournament, a new twist on the keepie uppie game arrives in Messenger. Play the hidden keepie uppie game in Messenger by sending a flag of your choice and a football/soccer ball to your friends in a chat. Show your country pride and compete with friends across the globe. To win, don’t drop that ball!

These product experiences will begin rolling out globally starting Monday, June 11.