Category: BUSINESS

Amazon to Build Data Centres in ‘Every Large Country’ in Cloud Push

Staff Writer
Compulynx

Amazon.com Inc plans to build data centers in every large country over time as part of a broader investment push that will eventually make the Internet retailer’s cloud computing arm the largest part of its business. In a roundtable with reporters on Wednesday, Amazon Web Services chief Andy Jassy did not provide a timetable for these investments in the AWS unit, which provides Internet-based computing and data management to corporate clients. Jassy added that the Internet retailer intends to continue investing in AWS, despite investors’ concerns it was spending too…

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Fortune’s 40 under 40: The future of women in tech looks bright

Staff Writer

The diverse and robust pool of female founders and tech execs at Fortune’s 40 under 40 party proves positive for Silicon Valley’s future. Editing Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list is, every year, an education in ambition, disruption and extraordinary achievement. The process takes months of reporting, lots of debate and discussion and a healthy amount of handwringing as our deadline looms. And then comes the fun. Every year, we hold a giant party for the 40 Under 40 and a few hundred other movers and shakers in the San Francisco…

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Sophia Bekele’s “P.U.S.H to Change Africa” KeyNote Won the YALS in New York

“Standing on the “Shoulders of Giants: Our History, Our Legacy, Our Destiny.”, Persist Until Something Happens – to change Africa. Oct. 14, 2014 – Founder of DotConnectAfrica Trust and Yes2DotAfrica Campaign was invited to present a Key Note speech at th 2014 CUNY Young African Leadership Symposium (YALS), Themed “Standing on the “Shoulders of Giants: Our History, Our Legacy, Our Destiny.” The YALS aims to remind the African youth of the rich history that has become their legacy; the people who defined their present; and to rethink the meaning of…

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Cyber Crime a big cost for small businesses

Staff Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s not just big businesses like JPMorgan Chase, Target and Home Depot that get hacked. Small companies suffer from intrusions into their computer systems, too. The costs associated with computer and website attacks can run well into the thousands and even millions of dollars for a small company. Many small businesses have been attacked — 44%, according to a 2013 survey by the National Small Business Association, an advocacy group. Those companies had costs averaging $8,700. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said the attack on its computer servers…

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Our biggest search competitor is Amazon says Google Boss Eric Schmidt

Staff Writer
Privacy

BERLIN: Google boss Eric Schmidt said on Monday his company’s biggest competition as a search engine came from e-commerce giant Amazon, not from its traditional rivals. In remarks prepared for delivery in Berlin, Schmidt hit back at accusations that Google as the world’s biggest search engine enjoyed unchallenged market dominance, saying that the sector was targeting the company on several fronts. “Many people think our main competition is Bing or Yahoo. But, really, our biggest search competitor is Amazon,” he said. “People don’t think of Amazon as search, but if…

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Apple and Google brands worth $100bn each

Staff Writer

PARIS: The US Apple and Google brands which have become household names around the globe are worth more than $100 billion each, and top a ranking of the world’s biggest brands, consultancy Interbrand said. In number one place, computer brand Apple has risen 21 percent in value this year to worth an estimated $118.9 billion (93.0 billion euros). In second place, the brand value of Internet search engine Google has increased by 15 percent to $107.43 billion. “The fact that Apple and Google have exceeded $100 billion is proof of…

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Forbes lists 10 Emerging Women Entrepreneurs To Watch In Africa

In June this year, She Leads Africa, a Nigerian-based social enterprise that aims to foster business growth in Africa by providing female startup entrepreneurs with the knowledge, networks, and financing to build and scale strong businesses, launched a business pitch competition. The purpose of the competition was to select ten exceptional young female entrepreneurs doing business in Africa to participate in an  Entrepreneur showcase, whereby the entrepreneurs would pitch their businesses to a panel of esteemed business leaders and investors, including Nigerian multi-millionaire telecoms tycoon Hakeem Belo-Osagie, Standard Chartered Nigeria…

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Kenya: Safaricom, Seven Seas Technologies in joint bid for county ICT tenders

Staff Writer

Safaricom has partnered with Kenyan based ICT multinational Seven Seas Technology in an initiative aimed at harnessing the use of technology to offer integrated communications solutions to Safaricom enterprise and mobile consumer segments. In Summary Under the partnership signed Tuesday, the two firms will market education, health and agriculture IT management solutions to the counties. The Safaricom and Seven Seas partnership comes at a time when most county governments are adopting automated systems to get rid of ghost workers and streamline their financial platforms to seal revenue leakages through corruption.…

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Alibaba IPO Pours Shares Into Shrinking Pool of Stock

Staff Writer

Alibaba Group’s (BABA) initial public offering was a success by any measure. At $25 billion, it was the largest in history. Investors were so eager to add the Chinese e-commerce giant to their portfolios that the shares soared 38 percent on their debut, the biggest first-day jump for an IPO of at least $10 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. When trading ended on Sept. 19, the company had a market value of $231 billion, more than Amazon.com’s (AMZN) and EBay’s (EBAY) combined. Some investors warned that the clamor for Alibaba shares could trigger a…

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Disrupting mobile banking in Kenya; Equity Bank joins the list

Staff Writer

EQUITY Bank, whose micro-loans offerings have helped increase the number of Kenyans using formal financial services, is looking to break into Kenya’s booming mobile telecoms market. The bank says it will use the Mobile Virtual Network Operator licence it was granted in April to make financial services even more accessible and affordable. Kenyans transacted more than US$20 billion through their mobile phones in 2013, and Kenya leads the world in its adoption of mobile payments. Equity is looking to tap into this booming market by employing innovative Taiwanese-made ultra-slim “subscriber…

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