November 23, 2022

Hisense’s First B2B Showroom Opens in South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Hisense, a leading global home appliance and consumer electronics brand, has announced that its first B2B (business to business) showroom opened in South Africa.

The showroom, located at Johannesburg, will serve as a center to showcase Hisense’s offerings for its B2B segment, such as commercial displays, ultrasonic medical, and smart city solutions. Hisense’s various digital display products and solutions, intelligent traffic system, medical products, as well as Laser TVs, ULED TVs and smart refrigerators will also be displayed in the showroom.

“Many people in South Africa know about Hisense from its household appliances products; however, over the past few years, Hisense has also seen rapid development in its B2B segment by continuously transforming its products and industrial chain to high-end and high technology,” said Patrick, marketing director of Hisense.

One of the core businesses of Hisense’s B2B segment, the Hisense Commercial Display, which witnessed significant growth in 2021, has brought a number of its products and solutions to the showroom, including Interactive digital boards, digital signage displays, video walls，LED Walls, and Outdoor Signage.

Visitors can also learn more about Hisense’s offerings in intelligent transportation. Having been in the field for over 20 years, Hisense now has branched out to many countries and regions around the world, including South Africa, West Africa, UAE, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Slovenia, and Serbia, to name a few. It has also contributed to numerous significant projects in the world, including an intelligent bus system in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, and a pilot project construction for intelligent transportation in Doha.

Backed by Hisense’s decades of expertise in image processing, information processing, and interaction technology, Hisense Medical has successfully built some core products such as the cutting-edge and high-resolution Hisense Ultrasound HD60. Hisense obtained the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) license for the device in January 2022.

Hisense’s continuous investment in innovation and decades of expertise accumulated in the manufacturing of household appliances and consumer electronics have allowed it to grow into not only a B2C brand, but also a global company that can provide compressive solutions to business partners worldwide in more sectors. Regarding the B2B segment as key for the company’s development, Hisense is looking forward to forming strategic partnerships with more business partners in South Africa and beyond.

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November 23, 2022

Huawei signe l’engagement mondial de l’UIT dans le but d’aider 120millions de personnes vivant dans des zones reculées à se connecter au monde numérique

SHENZHEN, Chine, 23 novembre 2022/PRNewswire/ — Huawei a signé un engagement mondial en vue de rejoindre l’alliance numérique Partner2Connect de l’Union internationale des télécommunications, qui apportera la connectivité à environ 120 millions de personnes dans des zones reculées dans plus de 80 pays à l’horizon 2025.

Liang Hua, le président de Huawei, a annoncé cette décision lors du forum sur le développement durable 2022 de l’entreprise, Connectivité+: Innover pour avoir un impact. Le forum a étudié comment l’innovation en matière de TIC pouvait libérer la valeur commerciale et sociale de la connectivité et favoriser la durabilité à l’ère de l’économie numérique.

Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei announced the company had joined ITU P2C Digital Alliance

Parmi les intervenants, citons de hauts responsables de l’UIT et des Nations unies, des ministres des télécommunications et des régulateurs du Cambodge, du Nigeria, du Bangladesh et du Pakistan, ainsi que des chefs d’entreprise, des partenaires, des experts et des clients de Chine, d’Afrique du Sud, de Belgique et d’Allemagne.

« De toute évidence, la connectivité à elle seule ne suffit pas. Il doit être abordable, le contenu doit être pertinent et dans la langue locale, et les utilisateurs doivent avoir les compétences nécessaires pour en faire le meilleur usage », a déclaré Malcolm Johnson, secrétaire général adjoint de l’UIT. « Nous remercions Huawei pour son soutien à la coalition numérique Partner2Connect (P2C) et pour ses engagements en faveur du P2C dans les domaines clés de la connectivité rurale et des compétences numériques. »

Siddharth Chatterjee, coordonnateur résident des Nations unies en Chine, a appelé à des « partenariats multipartites » afin de combler « la triste réalité » d’une fracture numérique exclut un tiers de la population mondiale.

« Notre monde dynamique a besoin de toute urgence d’une meilleure coopération numérique pour tirer parti du potentiel de transformation de la technologie, créer de nouveaux emplois, stimuler l’inclusion financière, combler l’écart entre les hommes et les femmes, construire une relance verte et redessiner notre monde pour qu’il soit plus prospère et plus inclusif », a-t-il souligné. « Il est temps d’agir maintenant ».

Dans son discours d’ouverture, le Dr Liang a souligné que l’accès à un réseau stable était une exigence et un droit fondamentaux à l’ère numérique.

« La connectivité sera plus qu’un simple outil de communication pratique, » a-t-il affirmé. « La connectivité, associée aux technologies numériques telles que le cloud et l’IA, contribuera à faire entrer tout le monde dans le monde numérique et à leur donner accès à davantage d’informations et de compétences, à de meilleurs services et à des opportunités commerciales plus larges. En retour, cela favorisera la poursuite du développement social et économique. »

Cao Ming, Président de Huawei Wireless Solution, affirme : « Huawei intègre le potentiel d’innovation technologique complet des équipements, des sites, de l’énergie, de la transmission et des antennes afin de résoudre les difficultés rencontrées lors du déploiement traditionnel des sites, telles que les coûts élevés, les transports limités, le manque d’énergie et les problèmes de maintenance. Nous avons continuellement amélioré les solutions RuralStar et RuralLink afin d’étendre la couverture de qualité aux zones reculées, permettant ainsi à un plus grand nombre de personnes, d’hôpitaux communautaires, d’écoles, de collectivités locales et de petites et moyennes entreprises de bénéficier des mêmes expériences de connectivité à haut débit que dans les villes ».

Grâce à la série RuralStar, plus de 60millions de personnes vivant dans des zones reculées dans plus de 70pays ont pu être connectées.

Au Cambodge, premier pays partenaire P2C de l’UIT, Huawei collaborera avec les services gouvernementaux par l’intermédiaire du ministère des Postes et Télécommunications et des universités dans le but d’offrir 10000 possibilités de formation aux professionnels des TIC au cours des cinq prochaines années.

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November 23, 2022

Huawei signs global ITU pledge to help 120 million people in remote areas connect to the digital world

SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei has signed a global commitment to join the International Telecommunication Union’s Partner2Connect digital alliance, which will bring connectivity to about 120 million people in remote areas in more than 80 countries by 2025.

Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, announced the decision at the company’s 2022 Sustainability Forum, Connectivity+: Innovate for Impact. The forum explored how ICT innovation could unleash the business and social value of connectivity and drive sustainability in the digital economy era.

Speakers at the event included senior leaders from the ITU and United Nations, telecom ministers and regulators in Cambodia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and business leaders, partners, experts, and customers from China, South Africa, Belgium, and Germany.

“It is clear connectivity alone is not enough. It must be affordable, the content must be relevant and in the local language, and users must have the skills to make best use of it,” said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson. “Thank you to Huawei for their support of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition, and for their announced P2C pledges in the key areas of rural connectivity and digital skills.”

Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, called for “multi-stakeholder partnerships” to close “the sobering reality” of a digital divide which excluded a third of the global population.

“Our dynamic world urgently needs improved digital cooperation to capitalize on the transformational potential of technology to create new jobs, boost financial inclusion, close the gender gap, spur a green recovery and redesign our world to be more prosperous and inclusive,” he said. “Now is the time to act”.

In his keynote address, Dr Liang stressed that access to a stable network was a basic requirement and right in the digital age.

“Connectivity will be more than just a tool for convenient communications,” he said. “Together with digital technologies like cloud and AI, connectivity will help bring everyone into the digital world, and provide them with access to more information and skills, better services, and wider business opportunities. This will, in turn, drive further social and economic development.”

Cao Ming, President of Huawei Wireless Solution, said: “Huawei integrates the full-technology innovation potential of equipment, sites, energy, transmission, and antennas to address the difficulties faced by traditional site deployment, such as high costs, restricted transportation, lack of power, and maintenance challenges. We have continuously upgraded the RuralStar and RuralLink solutions to extend quality coverage to remote areas, enabling more people, community hospitals, schools, local governments, and small- and medium-sized enterprises to enjoy the same high-speed broadband connectivity experiences as those in cities”.

The RuralStar series have provided connections for more than 60 million people in remote areas in more than 70 countries.

In Cambodia, the ITU’s first P2C partner country, Huawei will work with government departments through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and universities to provide 10,000 training opportunities for ICT professionals in the next five years.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954301/image_1.jpg

November 23, 2022

Multimillion-dollar boost for small business as more African countries join MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme

Johannesburg, Nov. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — November 2022 – Following the success of the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, which secured $16 million (USD) of funding for six emerging businesses last year, the programme has been expanded to eight more countries across Africa.

Many more small businesses in Africa’s technology sector now have the chance to benefit from the 2023 programme, which provides the skills and opportunities needed to attract transformative business funding.

“We’re really excited to be expanding the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme to more African countries,” said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, announcing the launch. “It’s part of our long-term commitment to growing and multiplying Africa’s technology potential, which is critical to our future growth.”

The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, which kicked off during Global Entrepreneurship Week, is aimed at established start-ups and small enterprises in specific technology sectors – healthtech, agritech, fintech, edutech, the circular economy and the creative industries.

“There is such incredible business talent across Africa,” said Mawela. “MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is an opportunity for investors and small enterprise to collaborate to multiply the impact of this talent and scale it across Africa.”

Having started in South Africa in 2021, the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is expanding to Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Angola and Ethiopia. The initiative equips emerging entrepreneurs to secure funding and scale up their businesses, and also provides opportunities to pitch to international investors.

African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has previously noted that, “the private sector is Africa’s growth accelerator”, and several African nations have backed small-business development as part of their economic strategy. The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator dovetails with these development objectives.

The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme is an initiative of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund, in collaboration with Dubai-based business incubator Companies Creating Change (C3), which gives entrepreneurs access to the tools, skills and financial support to grow their business. MultiChoice has also partnered with EOH, a tech services company who will bring their expertise to the table especially in terms of tech advisory, development sprint and technical support.

The first phase of the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme sees public and private-sector partners in each country nominating businesses or entrepreneurs for the programme. From there, 29 of the start-ups embark on an intensive virtual training course. The initiative is aimed at established businesses that are already operating and looking to scale up by attracting further investment.

“Start-up founders get to learn everything from how to properly research your business sector and your market, to how to create a niche for your business,” says Boitumelo Monageng, of Swypa, one of last year’s finalists. “During the workshops we were encouraged to dig deeper and I realised that we have the potential to compete on a much larger scale.”

The virtual training course takes place over several weeks, teaching start-up owners media skills, how best to market their businesses to investors, how to create attractive business plans, and to know what investors are looking for.

Later, the entrepreneurs will come together at a finals event, where 11 start-ups will be selected for the final pitch phase. They will attend a dedicated C3 boot camp to learn how to shape their story for international investors, and to get “pitch ready” before their big presentations.

“We believe SMEs in the technology, sustainability and creative sectors will be fundamental to the next phase of Africa’s growth,” says Mawela. “The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is geared to finding the most promising start-ups, and empowering them to play this critical role.”

Attachment

MultiChoice Africa Accelerator

Elizabeth Ferreira
MultiChoice Group Ltd
0834825241
fourie_elizabeth@yahoo.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8702451

November 23, 2022November 24, 2022

EU recommits to support Africa to deal with terrorism threats – European Council President

ACCRA, Nov 23 (NNN-GNA) — Ghana President Akufo-Addo and the European Council President Charles Michel discussed how to prevent the spillover of terrorism from the Sahel region.

Militants have gradually spread their activities from Niger to Burkina Faso and Mali to West Africa’s coastal states. Charles Michel said the European Union will continue to support the initiative to deal with jihadist movement in the region.

Michel is in Ghana for the Accra Initiative Summit by countries along the Gulf of Guinea, Benin, Ghana, La Cote D’Ivoire and Togo. The meeting’s agenda is to prevent the spillover of terrorism from the Sahel and to address transnational organized crime and violent extremism in member countries’ border areas.

The death toll of victims of the Daesh-allied and Al Qaeda militants waging war in the Sahel keeps rising; and the meeting with Akufo-Addo at the seat of government seeks to look at critical bilateral issues of common concern between the EU and Ghana ahead of the summit.

Akufo-Addo called on the E.U to support Ghana and West Africa to develop strong security to thwart threats of terrorism.

Michel said the EU stands by Africa under its European Peace Facility to deal with the current terrorism threats confronting the region.

The Accra Initiative is a cooperative and collaborative security mechanism. It is anchored on three pillars: information and intelligence sharing; training of security and intelligence personnel; and conducting joint cross-border military operations to sustain border security.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

November 23, 2022November 24, 2022

Gender-related killings of women and girls (femicide/feminicide) [EN/AR/RU/ZH]

Women and girls are more at risk to be killed at home, new UNODC and UN Women report on femicide shows

Latest study shows that, on average, more than five women or girls were killed every hour by intimate partners or other family members in 2021.

[New York, Nov 23]—A new study by UNODC and UN Women shows that, on average, more than five women or girls were killed every hour by someone in their own family in 2021. The report comes ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25 and is a horrific reminder that violence against women and girls is one of the most pervasive human rights violations worldwide.

Of all the women and girls intentionally killed last year, some 56 percent were killed by intimate partners or other family members (45,000 out of 81,000), showing that home is not a safe place for many women and girls. Meanwhile, 11 percent of all male homicides are perpetrated in the private sphere.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said: “Behind every femicide statistic is the story of an individual woman or girl who has been failed. These deaths are preventable – the tools and the knowledge to do so already exist. Women’s rights organizations are already monitoring data and advocating for policy change and accountability. Now we need the concerted action across society that will fulfil women’s and girls’ right to feel and to be safe, at home, on the streets, and everywhere.”

UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly said: “No woman or girl should fear for her life because of who she is. To stop all forms of gender-related killings of women and girls, we need to count every victim, everywhere, and improve understanding of the risks and drivers of femicide so we can design better and more effective prevention and criminal justice responses. UNODC is proud to launch the 2022 femicide study with UN Women to galvanize global action and salute the efforts of women’s rights organizations around the world to end this crime.”

This year’s figures also show that over the past decade, the overall number of female homicides has remained largely unchanged, underscoring the urgency to prevent and respond to this scourge with stronger actions. Even though these numbers are alarmingly high, the true scale of femicide may be much higher. Too many victims of femicide still go uncounted – given inconsistencies in definitions and criteria amongst countries, for roughly four in ten women and girls killed intentionally in 2021, there is not enough information to identify them as femicide, especially for those killings happening in the public sphere.

As for regional disparities, while femicide is a problem that concerns every single country in the world, the report shows that in absolute numbers, Asia recorded the largest number of gender related killings in the private sphere in 2021, whereas women and girls were more at risk of being killed by their intimate partners or other family members in Africa. In 2021, the rate of gender related killings in the private sphere was estimated at 2.5 per 100,000 female population in Africa, compared with 1.4 in the Americas, 1.2 in Oceania, 0.8 in Asia and 0.6 in Europe. At the same time, the findings suggest that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 coincided with a significant increase in gender related killings in the private sphere in Northern America and to some extent in Western and Southern Europe.

However, gender-related killings, as well as other forms of violence against women and girls, are not inevitable. They can and must be prevented, with a combination of early identification of women affected by violence, access to survivor-centered support and protection, ensuring that the police and justice systems are more responsive to the needs of survivors, and primary prevention by addressing the root causes of violence against women and girls including through transforming harmful masculinities, social norms, eliminating structural gender inequalities and gender stereotypes. Strengthening data collection on femicides is a critical step to inform policies and programs aimed to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.

Today’s report will help inform this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. The yearly campaign sparks hundreds of events around the world to accelerate efforts to end violence against women and girls. The global theme for this year’s UN Secretary-General UNITE campaign is “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls”, calling upon governments and partners to show their solidarity to women’s rights movements and activists and invites everyone to join the global movement to end violence against women once and for all.

Source: UN Office on Drugs and Crime