60 Belgian firms for investment in Nigeria

FOR the first time in 50 years, over 60 high networth investors from Belgium will be storming Nigeria to explore investment opportunities in such areas as power, transport, logistics, agro-allied and health, among others.   

   The expected huge investments in these sectors, should they materialize, would create a lot of employment opportunities and also contribute immensely to the growth of the nation’s economy. While in the country, the investors will network and establish prospective business partners.

   Their investment exploration is under the auspices of the Nigerian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce and the Belgian Commercial Information and Documentation Centre. 

   According to the Belgian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Dirk Verheyen, who addressed newsmen in Abuja Thursday, the drive stems from the revelation of the great opportunities existing in the country following the recent rebasing of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

   The development is coming on the heels of a lopsided trade relationship between both countries, in favour of Belgium, which exports to Nigeria as at the end of 2013 stood at N459.165 billion, as against Nigeria’s N16.753 billion.

   Ambassador Verheyen explained: “Our country is with a total export figure of two billion Euros a year - the third largest European exporter to Nigeria. But it’s time for diversification and for more sustainable structure of our trade. This is why there was such a big response in Belgium when Flanders Investment and Trade, in charge of commercial missions, looked for candidates to come to Nigeria.

   “Everyone knows that the progress of the GDP in your country has been 7 percent for over a decade. So, more than 60 companies are coming to Lagos from June 1 to 4, 2014. 50 of them will latter that week make the trip to the Federal Capital Abuja; stay here until the 6th. 

   “Not by accident, the trade delegation is headed by the President of the Port of Antwerp, Sir Marx Van Peel, who is also Deputy Mayor of that city - the second largest port in Europe - with an annual turnover of almost 200 million tons, that is to say almost 10 times the output of the biggest African port.”

   He added: “During their trip to Lagos, the trade delegation will visit the (Nigerian Ports Authority) NPA and the Apapa Port. Antwerp has excellent relations of friendship and cooperation with both. Still in Lagos, the mission will also visit the Eco Atlantic City project - as a matter of fact, a Belgium international dredging giant and a Belgian construction company are actively involved in this public-privet project.

Source: Guardian Newspaper

HOW TO MAKE $500/MONTH WITH ALMOST ZERO CAPITAL

Livedrive is an online backup and sync storage company owned by j2 Global, inc. Livedrive have been in operation for 6 years and currently have over 2 million customers worldwide.

Back up your files and access it anywhere you are in the world for as low as $6.

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Livedrive's aim is to protect your files and enable you to access them from anywhere at any time.They partner with some of the world's most famous online and offline electronics retailers including; Currys, PC World, Dixons, CompUSA and TigerDirect. They also sell all-in-one online storage solutions to consumers and businesses directly via our website and through several thousand small businesses.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH LIVEDRIVE 

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Google Glass goes on sale to US public

Google has put its Glass headset on sale to anyone in the US who can pay the $1,500 price.

The eyewear-mounted device, which is still at the beta development stage, would be on sale until stocks ran out, Google said.

The company said on a blogpost on Tuesday that it had "decided to move to a more open beta" in the device's development.

Google opened sales of Glass to the US public for one day in April, making it briefly available to people other than just a previous select group of users such as app developers.

Google said it was still working to improve hardware and software. It did not specify how many glasses would be sold or whether it would make any more once sold out.  

The consumer version is expected to go on sale to the general public towards the end of 2014.A stamp-sized electronic screen mounted on the side of a pair of eyeglass frames.

Google Glass can record video, access email, provide turn-by-turn driving directions and retrieve information from the web by connecting wirelessly to a user's phone.

Google Glass has also raised privacy and safety concerns, prompting legislators in some jurisdictions to propose bans or limits on its use including when driving.

Source: The Guardian (UK.)

China’s growth slowdown pressures the global economy

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen

The health of China’s economy has come under the spotlight in early trading this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping saying over the weekend that the market will need to adapt to a “new normal” rate of slower growth for China as, even though the country is still in a “significant period of strategic opportunity”, projections indicate the weakest expansion in China’s growth since 1990. This bold statement from the President had a negative impact on the Asian opening this week and investors are now keenly waiting for Tuesday’s release of industrial production and retail sales from China for signs of endemic weakness. 

The Asian markets are in fact dominating the spotlight early in the week, with the yen dropping 0.1% after Japan announced a current account surplus of just ¥116.4 billion, much lower than the forecast ¥348 billion and a fraction of February’s figure of ¥612.7 billion. This disappointing data is only further fuelling the belief that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will have to expand their monetary stimulus by the end of 2014. The market is still yet to see what the full impact of the rise in sales tax will be and this will likely be the defining indicator of whether the BoJ is forced to increase the stimulus. Thursday will see preliminary GDP for Japan released which is likely to generate yen volatility. The USD/JPY pivot point is 101.94, with resistance levels at 101.98, 102.03 and 102.08; and support levels at 101.89, 101.85 and 101.80.

Meanwhile, Australia is bracing for the annual Budget announcement on Tuesday where the Government is expected to reveal a raft of spending cuts and new levies which aim to make up a A$123 billion shortfall over four years. This aggressive economic policy announcement is likely to make waves in Australia and may well prevent the Reserve Bank of Australia from raising rates in the short term. Traders should closely watch the Australian dollar for volatility before, during and after the announcement. The AUD/USD pivot point is 0.9370, with resistance levels at 0.9375, 0.9379 and 0.9384; and support levels 0.9366, 0.9361 and 0.9357.

The week ahead for the US includes a number of economic and corporate announcements that are expected to provide some USD volatility. Tuesday sees the latest month-on-month retail sales announced with a drop from 1.2% to 0.4% expected, followed by consumer prices and consumer sentiment data later in the week. No doubt the Federal Reserve is hoping that these figures will show some signs of positivity and the results are being eagerly awaited by those who are skeptical of the health of the US economy. If the data shows any sign of weakness or deterioration this may well call into question the decision to continue the current rate of tapering asset purchases. Thursday will see Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen giving an evening speech on small business and the market will be looking to this speech for any indications of future monetary policy.

The euro dropped last week after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated that he may announce easing as early as next month. As a result the euro is expected to maintain a downward pressure until the June meeting. This week sees preliminary data which will indicate first quarter growth and if this too is disappointing Draghi’s hand may be forced to concede that easing is necessary. The EUR/USD pivot point is1.3768, with resistance levels at 1.3775, 1.3782 and 1.3789; and support levels at 1.3761, 1.3754 and 1.3747.

Wednesday will see the latest monthly inflation report released by the Bank of England and with the UK unemployment rate falling below the 7% threshold in the first quarter, BoE Governor Mark Carney is expected to be questioned about his plans to raise interest rates. Although a rise in interest rates is not expected before Q1 in 2015, a series of strong data releases recently have led some analysts to believe that an increase may come as soon as the end of this year. GBP/USD pivot point is 1.6886, with resistance levels at 1.6901, 1.6911 and 1.6926; and support levels at 1.6876, 1.6861 and 1.6851.

What to Watch this Week:

AUD/USD should be closely watched during the Australian Federal Budget announcement on Tuesday and USD/JPY may provide some good opportunities, especially on Thursday when the preliminary GDP data is released. Yellen’s speech late on Thursday night should also be monitored as her comments have the potential to influence the performance of USD pairs.

For more information please visit: Forex Time

Deflating 4 myth about the wonders of cloud computing

Whether inside or outside the technology sector, entrepreneurs find themselves constantly wrestling with tech decisions that affect their business. Many owners find it a challenge to take advantage of technological innovations while also managing expectations surrounding the hype. Cloud computing is one such area that holds a lot of promise for entrepreneurs -- so long as they understand how to maximize their investment.

While an article like Entrepreneur.com's "10 Questions for Choosing a Cloud Provider" gives a good introductory primer, most discussions of cloud computing involve several harmful myths, notably that the cloud is inherently redundant, scalable, vulnerable or cheap. If entrepreneurs buy into any of the following misconceptions, they may be rushing to the cloud before they're ready:

Related: Many Entrepreneurs Still Up in the Air About the Cloud

Myth 1: The cloud is inherently redundant. Indeed, redundancy -- or the ability to have the company's data available and backed up in an outage -- is not automatically included when a firm purchases cloud services. 

Amazon Web Services' outage earlier this year that took down popular apps like Instagram and Vine drew a massive amount of criticism. Nontechnologists must realize that outages are inevitable in any computing environment and that even massive cloud-service providers like Amazon are not immune. All data centers experience cooling issues and equipment failures, so it’s important for every company to take the precautions necessary to avoid data loss.

The cloud is not a fail-safe solution out of the box. Any company using a cloud-service provider is responsible for designing and building a computer infrastructure that can be easily and quickly duplicated. That way when one facility of its cloud-service provider fails, say, because of a power outage in Washington state, the company's data is still accessible via the cloud service provider's alternate facility in Texas. 

Related: The Downsides to Cloud Storage

Myth 2: The cloud scales automatically. The ability to scale up operations is a key selling point when it comes to entrepreneurs' interest in cloud computing. All business owners want to know that their IT infrastructure can be added to, thereby meeting demand when everyone starts buying their products.

While it may be easy to scale up the pure computing power, the applications a company uses (for example, a relationship management system) are not easily scalable.

Entrepreneurs need to make sure that a given application was developed to allow scalability in the cloud. Specifically (and technically speaking), applications should be modular, which means that functionality is broken into independent commands. Separating functions will allow the company to configure, manage and maintain additional servers for whichever application needs it.

Related: How the Cloud Could Huff and Puff and Blow Your Business Down

Myth 3: The cloud is not secure. This is repeated a lot: A company can’t have critical information on the public internet, sitting on shared hardware where Amazon or some other company or even the National Security Agency can access it. A 2013 CDW Report on Cloud Computing suggested that 46 percent of IT leaders ranked concern about security as the top impediment to adopting a cloud environment.

But most cloud providers’ certifications, especially Amazon’s, make clear that they have more security protocols than any company would have using a private, non-cloud data center.

In addition, adding security layers is the responsibility of the user and business owner. As one can see from many cyber attacks -- and even the Edward Snowden leaks -- employees represent the main point of vulnerability. Keeping strong password and access controls and designing applications with security in mind will help mitigate these risks

Myth 4: The cloud is cheap. At the outset, the cloud seemed like an incredibly inexpensive and easy alternative to independent data centers. Companies can bring on separate servers and begin replicating their data for only $200 a month. Amazon, for example, offers an incredibly sophisticated and massive infrastructure at a low price because it spreads the fixed costs among all its business customers.

Yet because Amazon makes it so easy to add on more capacity and more services, the costs can quickly pile up. Business owners can get carried away by spending if they’re not careful, and suddenly the $200-a-month charge might become something completely unaffordable.

Company owners can manage their costs by knowing exactly which services are in use, what they access them for and the price. Corporate managers will find that while not necessarily “cheap,” cloud services can be an inexpensive alternative to independent data centers and self-hosted environments. 

Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Yahoo buys messaging app Blink

Yahoo has acquired Blink, a mobile application that allows users to share messages that self-destruct, in order to poach the talent behind it.

The app will reportedly be shut down in the coming weeks so that Blink’s seven-person team can work on Yahoo’s “smart communication” products.

This includes former Google employees Kevin Stephens and Michelle Norgan, who founded Meh Labs, the start-up that created Blink.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Blink made the announcement on their website, saying they “look forward to the possibilities that will come from bringing the Blink vision to Yahoo”.

“We built Blink because we believe everyone should be free to show the same honesty and spontaneity in their online conversations as they can in person.”

Yahoo has reportedly bought 40 start-ups since chief executive Marissa Mayer took over two years ago in an attempt to revamp the internet company.

It has been looking to generate more mobile content and advertising revenues as an increasing number of people use tablets and smartphones.

Source: Punch Newspaper

Diamond Bank to raise $250m equity capital

Diamond Bank Plc plans to tap the equities market to raise between $200 million to $250 million following its debut Eurobond issue due to be priced today, its Chief Finance Officer, Abdulrahman Yinusa, told Reuters yesterday.

Shareholders of Diamond Bank had last month endorsed the plan by the bank to raise $500 million additional capital in its quest to raise its tier-2 capital by $750 million.

The bank had explained that it had already raised about $250 million out of $750 million.

Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Alex Otti had said the fund would enhance Diamond Bank's operations as well as its expansion drive.

He had explained: "The capital raising is actually part of the $750 million we wanted to raise earlier. It is not that we are looking for $750 million; we already have close to $250 million.

"So what we are looking for is around $500 million and I don't think shareholders have anything to worry about because we really took our time and went through the process. I assure you (shareholders) that it is going to make the bank better, rather than dilute your shares."

Global rating agency, Fitch Ratings last week assigned Diamond Bank Plc's United States dollar senior debt notes an expected Long-term rating of 'B(EXP)' with a recovery rating of 'RR4(EXP)'.

Source:This Day Newspaper