GRTech
SAP initiative ‘Africa Code Week’ trains over 500 teachers in Edo State


In 2018, over one thousand teachers will benefit from Africa Code Week (ACW) information and communication technology (ICT) training in Edo and Enugu States.
The train the trainer program is part of activities for this year’s 2-week-long ACW in Nigeria and many other African Countries meant to run in every 35countries from 15 -26 October.
Already, ACW team trained 512 teachers, 26 staff of the ICT Agency of the Edo State government and 32 students from local Universities have been trained in Benin City, next stop is Enugu on 3rd & 4th September where additional 500 teachers are set to be trained.
Launched in 2015 by SAP, in partnership with the Cape Town Science Centre and the Galway Education Centre, Africa Code Week is an initiative that brings together hundreds of schools, teachers, governments, businesses and non-profit organisations with the aim to empower young peopleacross Africa with digital literacy skills.


The teachers
Working closely with private, public and non-profit partners to drive sustainable learning impact across Africa, the Initiative has benefitted 1.8 millionyoung Africans so far.
Today, it enjoys strong partnerships with the public, private and non-profit sectors are the driving force behind the initiative’s ambitious goals and ability tobuild community capacity in ICT education across an entire continent.
ACW is now actively supported by key partners UNESCO YouthMobile, Google, Camden Trust and the German Federal Ministry forEconomic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), 15 African governments, over 150 partners and 100 ambassadors across the continent.
With a goal to empower 70,000+ teachers and positively impact the lives of 2 million young Africans by 2020, ACW is built to be sustainable andprovide long-term impact.
Commenting on the program, Edo State Governor, His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki affirmed that he’s focused on building capacity in the area ofeducation development. The Governor expressed his appreciation to SAP, Google, UNESCO and other partners for bringing Africa Code Week to EdoStates as this will serve as a catalyst for achieving great success in the State’s digital literacy plan.
To underpin the government’s commitment to Africa Code Week, all senior state executives attended the event to provide support and inspiration tothe teachers.
These include but not limited to the following: Rt.Hon.Gabriel E. Oiboh Chairman Post primary Education board (PPEB); Miss Yuwa Naps ExecutiveDirector, Training and Exams Services, ICT Agency; Mrs. Gladys Idahor Head of Service; Mr. Taiwo Akerele, Chief of Staff; Dr. Adesotu, Commissionerfor Science and Technology and Mr. Emmanuel Agbale, Commissioner for Education.
Speaking on the preparations for 2018 edition, Nigeria’s Coordinator of Africa Code Week, Mr. Olajide Ademola-Ajayi, said that annually, SAParrange Train-the-Teacher sessions (TTTs) that are organized either by the Africa Code Week team or partnering Ministries and non-profit partners inthe run-up to October events.
“With 72 students engaged by every trained teacher on average, ACW TTTs are key multiplier and enabler for digital skills to become core pillar of basiceducation in each participating country. So, we are excited about Edo and Enugu State Governments’ acceptance to work with us and other partners to digitally impact both the teachers and students.
Mr. Ademola-Ajayi said that participants should expect to gain knowledge in creative computing through hands-on, playful learning, that typifies AfricaCode Week- the coding enablement program for Africa’s teeming young generation.
Since 2015, Africa Code Week saw over 1.8 million youth introduced to coding skills across 35 countries in 2015, beating yearly initial targets by ahuge margin.
Also, over 5,000 free coding workshops have been organized continent-wide and online since day one, ranging from Scratch all the way to Webprogramming.
In preparation every edition, SAP has deployed its own IT skilled volunteers to train over 25,000 teachers, parents and local volunteers over the pastthree years, all over Africa.


Participants
With average female participation reaching 46.5%, ACW also makes huge strides towards empowering girls in the digital century and fostering gender equality in African ICT education.
With 390,046 youth introduced to coding during ACW 2017 and the highest engagement ratio of 1,622 youth engaged per 100,000 population.
GRTech
The Economics of Product Decisions: Applying Behavioural Economics and Game Theory in PM


Product managers often need to make a clear-cut decision: what should we build next? But the decisions which hold real importance go beyond adding features.
It’s about getting what makes people tick.
It goes way beyond what you would expect, getting into how people behave and using game theory.
These areas give insight into how users decide and how a product’s design can improve growth and keep people interested.
This is what Amarachi Nnochiri excels at. She is a senior product manager that knows how to use economics and psychology in her job.
She goes beyond simply managing product tasks; she develops whole product systems based on how users think, feel, and use a service. Her background shows how understanding human psychology and behaviour can give you a significant advantage in the competition.
One idea Amarachi uses is “loss aversion.” In this scenario, people feel worse about losing something than they feel good about gaining something of equal value.
She uses this when designing her products, mostly when it comes to pricing and getting people to try new strategies. For example, instead of giving a free trial, she might use a freemium setup where users get some stuff for free but could lose it if they don’t buy an upgrade. This pushes them to pay.
She might also use progress bars or streak counters, since losing progress gets people to keep using the product.
Amarachi also uses ideas from “game theory” to get how users act and change their behavior. She realizes that users are doing more than operating a product, but are playing a game with other users or with the product itself. She designs things that use ideas like “Nash equilibrium,” where nobody can do better by changing what they’re doing. For a social product, this could mean creating a system where doing something good for yourself (like inviting friends) also helps everyone else. This makes the whole thing stable and positive.
Her know-how in game theory also applies to making strong “network effects.” This means making stuff that gets better as more people use it.
A good example is a social network where each new user makes the product more helpful for everyone else. Amarachi endeavours to make things go viral on purpose, not just by luck.
She might use “commitment devices,” which are things that make a user stick with a behaviour by making them depend on it socially or functionally. For example, inviting team members to a tool makes the user stick with the platform and makes the product’s network stronger.
This way of thinking is better than just following the usual steps. By using these economic and psychological tricks, Amarachi develops competitive advantages which are difficult to replicate.
She knows that a company’s best thing is not just a simple interface, but a product that’s designed to sync with how people behave.
Her product choices aren’t just about the needs of users, but equally focus on motivating them to like the product, use it, and stick with it.
In her work, choosing a subscription price isn’t just a business thing; it’s about behaviour. Designing a social feed isn’t just about the content; it’s about balancing what people want and watching how they interact. Amarachi knows extensively about the economics of product decisions. This makes her products innovative and appealing to human behaviour, which leads to more use, keeps people around, and helps the product grow. She’s a leader in product management, where identifying customer desires is backed by understanding human motivation.


Technology Company, Globacom, has announced significant reductions in its International Direct Dialing (IDD) rates, making international calls more affordable for its existing and new customers across Nigeria.
Effective August 10, the new rates began applying to over 15 popular international destinations, including United States which will has moved to ₦30 per minute, down from ₦35, United Kingdom is now N350 from ₦400, while India also moved down to ₦40 from N45.
The rates for China, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon however recorded major reduction moving to N75, N300 and ₦700 respectively.
The reduction was also extended to African countries including Benin Republic which goes for ₦650 per minute, Niger Republic ₦750, Ghana ₦500, and Togo ₦650. United Arab Emirates also moved from ₦450 to ₦325, Germany to ₦550, Côte d’Ivoire ₦700, Libya ₦700, while calls to Malawi is now N1,100 from ₦1,200.
Glo aims to provide more value for its customers through these revised rates, encouraging them to make Glo their preferred network for international calls. New IDD bundles will also be introduced, offering frequent international callers even more attractive deals.
Globacom, which remained optimistic that frequent international callers will benefit immensely from the reductions in IDD bundles, enjoined customers to take advantage of the new rates to stay connected with friends and business associates across the globe.
GRTech
Oil subsidy removal freed up resources for infrastructure – Enugu Governor
By Orji Israel, South East Correspondent


The Executive Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has attributed the financing of numerous infrastructure projects embarked by the state government to the oil subsidy removal policy of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
He made this declaration at the Govermment House, Enugu, during a courtesy visit by a delegation of federal government led by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, as part of activities lined up for the 2-day Citizens’ Engagement Series in the South East geo-political zone.
“For us in Enugu, we are able to accomplish all we promised our people during the campaign, thanks to the bold decision taken by President Bola Tinubu, which has freed up resources needed to execute humongous capital projects,” said Governor, while listing ongoing projects in the state, which include the construction of 7,000 classrooms, 3,300 hospital beds and 2,000-hectare of 260 farm estates across the 260 wards of the state.
Governor Mbah also pledged more support for the policies of the federal government, saying they are in the best interest of the people of the state.
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