Resourcery Ghana in partnership with Cisco, the worldwide leader in networking, last week ended a one-day business seminar tagged “Video as a Tool for Transformational Development in a Workplace”. The event brought together business owners to appreciate the development of both one-way and two-way video solutions, and how well this can be employed within the corporate arena for improved business benefits. Cisco Video collaboration technology is reinventing the workplace by allowing people to meet virtually, efficiently, and re¬liably from nearly any point on the globe. It is common knowledge today that video collaboration helps businesses significantly by reducing travel cost and increasing their competitive advantage. Mr. Ekow Thompson, Country Manager, Resourcery Ghana, said global use of video to aid productivity and communication has been on the ascendancy within the corporate environment for some time now, and the Ghanaian business environment is beginning to enter that developmental phase as well. “It has highlighted the need to bring together the people who may be the biggest users of the video solution in large- to medium-scale organisations,” he said. Mr. Thompson said the business session with customers in the country provided an important opportunity for them to see a practical demonstration of how video solutions can be deployed as an effective developmental tool in a work place. “It also provided a real-life insight into how video can be a cost-saving innovation as well as an efficient in-person experience for face-to-face meetings.” Mr. Olugbenga Adanlawo, Business Solution Manager, Video and Voice, said “video collaboration has become an important part of corporate culture across the globe.” This is because it has become an indispensable tool for doing business, as communication is twice as important as marketing strategies. He said the technology has a significant effect on overall business performance because it allows people to meet virtually from any point on the globe, thereby eliminating geographical boundaries. Founded in 1985, Resourcery provides end-to-end business solutions to its customers across the West African market. The company offers business solutions that cut across Enterprise Network Infrastructure, Business Voice & Video Solutions, Data Security, and Business Intelligence Solutions amongst others.

[AEP]Two individuals whose hopes of leading their respective parties to the December polls were dashed by the Electoral Commission (EC) have dragged the EC to court to seek redress.

Huawei Technologies Ghana has launched three smartphones and one tablet onto the Ghanaian market to deepen competition in the country’s smartphone market. The phones include Ascend P1, Huawei Honor, the dual-SIM Huawei Ascend G302D, and the 7-inch tablet, the Huawei MediaPad. “Our smartphones are of the highest quality and comparable to any smartphone on the market; but ours are affordable and so we are targetting that in the next three years we will become one of the top-three brands on the market in Ghana,” said Head of Devices at Huawei Ghana, Yang Futu, at the launch in Accra. “A lot of Ghanaians still use 2G phones because the smartphones on the market are generally expensive and the smartphone market share still remains very small. The smartphone market in Ghana still presents a huge potential for any new entrant in spite of the big brands like Samsung, Nokia, BlackBerry and Tecno already on the market,” he added. Mr. Futu explained that all the devices, especially the Ascend P1, combine smart features and a sleek design, representing a significant milestone for Huawei devices in the country. “The Ascend P1 is the epitome of beauty colliding with brains -- proof that technology and good looks can go hand-in-hand,” he said. Ascend P1 runs on Android 1.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, features a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 Cortext-A9 processor and measures 7.69mm thin and 64.8 mm long, providing a very comfortable grip. The handset has a 4.3-inch super AMOLED 960 x 540 touch-screen with Corning® Gorilla® Glass, an 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera with AF and a Dual Flash, as well as Dolby Mobile 3.0 + 5.1 surround sound technology, and it provides a home theatre experience in the palm of the user’s hands. The retail price is GHȼ799. The Huawei Honor presents itself with an excellent HD display with 4.0 inch LCD. It measures 10.9mm in thickness and just 122mm in length, offering it a compact design and very much desirable to handle. It also features a 1.4GHz processor and an 8-megapixel high definition camera, and it is a perfect smartphone with a 1900 mAh big capacity battery lifespan. The Ascend G302D comes with dual-SIM functionality, giving the user options to make life more wonderful and simple. It offers a better view experience on a 4.0 inch IPS hard screen without extrusion deformation, and protects the eye. The handset runs on a 1GHz high performance processor with a 5-megapixel plus 0.3MP Dual camera offering users an excellent entertainment experience. The retail price is GHȼ499 The Media Pad also presents itself as fast, very slim, light and clear. It is the first tablet computer to support Android Ice Cream Sandwich and phone call function and comes with 7-inch screen 1280 x 800 WXGA IPS, leading as the industry’s clearest screen with an incredible 3D visual experience.  The Media Pad has a powerful processing capacity of 1.2GHz dual core CPU. The retail price is GHȼ899.

Patronage of Airtel’s “Obolobo, its big” 5X promotion, has according to the company gone up beyond its expectations -- as more and more customers continue to enjoy 500% free bonus on the amount they spend daily on the network. The head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs at Airtel, Donald Gwira, explained that the uniqueness of the 5X promotion lies in the fact that customers are rewarded for just transacting their usual activities on the network without having to subscribe to it or pay to join. It is therefore not surprising, according to him, that it has caught on so well with customers. “It’s about the bonus. Every customer on the Airtel network has the opportunity to enjoy bonus worth five times, that is 500%, more than he/she spends a day; and for your information, this is not standardised for all customers -- the target and bonus are set based on the unique usage patterns of each individual customer,” he added. Explaining the mechanics of the promo, he stated that Airtel rewards each customer for using the network. “Whenever you use your phone on Airtel to talk, text, surf, or use other services up to a predefined limit, you automatically receive five (5) times of the amount you spent as bonus, which you are free to use on the network till midnight that day,” he explained. He added that customers can call 141 short code or type *141# to find out their target for the day, so they are aware of how much they need to spend to get their bonus. Responding to customers’ reaction to the 5X promo, the Chief Operations Officer at Airtel Ghana, Mrinal Roy, indicated that as a company Airtel always seeks to introduce promotions, products and services that meet and exceed customer expectation. He expressed satisfaction that 5X has caught on so well with the public. “Our promotions are always designed to meet customer’s needs. Therefore, the rationale behind this was to give instant rewards to customers as they use their Airtel lines,” he explained.

Louis Oosthuizen smashed Tiger Woods' 36-hole World Golf Championship record on Friday as he leaped into the halfway lead at the WGC-HSBC Champions event in China.

 Opening an unprecedented gathering of experts in Kigali, present and former African Heads of State urged business, community and political leaders to help turn the continent’s impressive growth into economic opportunities for ordinary citizens.  Rwandan President Paul Kagame, inaugurating the country’s first African Economic Conference, said: “In Rwanda we understand that politics and economics go hand in hand, and we have made a conscious and deliberate choice of inclusive development based on our political reality. “By and large, they have produced positive results. Growth has been consistent and poverty levels considerably reduced by 12 percent from 56.9 percent to 44 percent in five years.”  Organised each year by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the title for this year’s African Economic Conference will be “Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty”.  Africa has weathered the economic crisis and achieved considerable advances in the areas of poverty reduction and human development. However, the region is still home to high levels of poverty, hunger, unemployment, and inequality in political voice and access to resources.  â€œOver the first decade of this century, with the exception of 2008, Africa experienced exceptional economic performance and growth in GDP per capita,” said Helen Clark, the UNDP Administrator. “But there is a way to go in many countries to translate that growth into higher human development. Deliberate policy measures and targetted investments are needed to make growth not just fast, but also inclusive and sustainable.”  Participants on the opening day said that the key issue for the continent was to shift from commodity-based to innovative, diversified economies at a time when foreign direct investment, aid and remittances are drying-up.  Donald Kaberuka, the President of the African Development Bank, underscored the need for long-term solutions. He suggested that Africa’s growth should include doing research on solutions as to how African countries can internally finance their development, and learning from what has gone wrong globally to redesign their policies.  Africa must invest in quality education in order to stop children from inheriting poverty from generation to generation, said Kaberuka.  â€œThis is how you stop children from inheriting living conditions of debt, and once you do that you have stopped the transmission of poverty,” he told an opening session.  â€œInclusive development must include equity, equality and popular participation -- not only in politics but also in the economy itself -- and then, of course, there must be transparency and all those things that make the governed believe and have confidence in those who govern them,” added the Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.    Participants at the conference also said that protecting communities from food and fuel price volatility, climate change, and political instability requires putting in place bold measures for social protection, including insurance, credit and employment schemes.  The African Economic Conference is organised as a series of open thematic debates, combined with sessions that review policy research from across the continent. The conference provides a uniquely open forum for political leaders, academics and emerging talent from the continent to discuss solutions to Africa’s pressing development issues.

Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business and parent company of Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd (GGBL), has been announced as the Overall Winner of the This is Africa ‘Beyond Business’ Awards 2012 in the Large Company category. This is Africa’s ‘Beyond Business’ Awards aim to identify and reward businesses operating in Africa for the additional work they do to further development, by exceeding best sustainable practices. This is Africa is a Financial Times publication that explores the economic and political dynamics that are shaping Africa's growth, and the impact these have on businesses operating there. This is Africa recognises that Diageo and many other companies that operate in Africa have taken great strides to further social and economic development in a sustainable manner -- often compensating for local administrative deficits by undertaking capacity building, and improving the livelihoods of the people in their working communities. The Beyond Business Awards, in their first year, serve as a pan-regional platform to recognise and celebrate these companies as well as motivate and inspire businesses in Africa to uphold these ideals and integrate them into their short- and long-term goals. In Ghana GGBL was recently awarded the second-best company in CSR by the Ghana Investment Promotion Council at the Ghana Club 100 awards, in recognition of the company’s continuous effort to enrich lives and empower local communities through its integrated Sustainability and Responsibility agenda.   Between June 2011 and July 2012, GGBL, Diageo, the Diageo Foundation, and Diageo’s businesses in North America and Ireland invested GH¢1.2million in its flagship Water of Life Programme -- providing sustainable access to safe drinking water for more than 55,000 Ghanaians. The Company also continues to lead the Alcohol manufacturing industries’ effort in working with government and key stakeholders to shape policies that will reduce alcohol misuse and abuse. GGBL has also recently been awarded and celebrated across Diageo globally for its sound environmental stewardship. These include the Gold award in Water Conservation, reducing its water usage by 28%; Bronze for Ways of Working, for the way the business responds to environmental issues; Bronze for Waste to Landfill, reducing waste to landfill by 70%; and Bronze for Carbon emission, reducing emissions by 33%. On winning the Global Sustainability award, Nick Blazquez, President, Diageo Africa, said: “This award brings with it the recognition that, within the private sector, Diageo leads by example when it comes to doing business sustainably -- Diageo believes that doing good is good for business. All of our investments contribute to building a sustainable business, and by so doing contribute significantly to the communities in which we operate. Diageo is able to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship, supply-chain management, agricultural development, community development and good governance.” Diageo was selected out of 31 final contenders from a list of approximately 1,200 companies in Africa or operating on the continent. Each company was asked to fill in a questionnaire covering four broad topics: Environment & Resource Management, CSR & Developmental Impact, Employee & Supply Chain Management and Corporate Policy. Five judges marked each submission and the Overall Winner was determined by the company that had the highest aggregate score.

The Managing Director of Lakeside Estate Limited, Mr. Prince-Joseph Ayiku, has urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the company’s newly-introduced innovative and affordable product -- the one-bedroom expandable into two-bedroom -- to acquire their own homes. “There is no doubt that housing is a necessity in any fast-growing developing country; why can’t most average Ghanaians acquire one?   It is based on this that Lakeside Estate came out with our one-bedroom expandable into two bedrooms, which has made it possible for more Ghanaians to acquire their own homes,” he said.   Mr. Prince-Joseph Ayiku made the statement in an interview with the media when Lakeside Estate Limited was adjudged the best developer of the year (Low- income category) at the 5th Ghana Property Awards (GAPOA) for the year 2012. This year’s event, which was held last week at the Banquet Hall of State House, was under the theme “Sustaining infrastructural development for the 21st century”. The Guest of honour was the Deputy Minister of Water Resource Works and Housing, Dr. Hannah Bissiw. Organised by Property Express Ltd in collaboration with the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Ministry Of Water Resources, Works & Housing and other stakeholders, the Awards were set up to encourage competition and competitive pricing in the Property & Construction Industry. Mr. Ayiku said the one-bedroom expandable into two-bedrooms has contributed a lot in solving Ghana’s huge housing deficit; he believes such an innovation won the day for the company and seized the opportunity to urge the public to own an apartment now. He also entreated the public to come to the company’s new site at Lakeside Estate, Ashalley Botwe Community eight (8), which is a well-planned Community with tarred roads, security cameras and, above all, the new location is very good and close to town. Present to receive the honour were top-notch executives of the company including the Director, Mr. Salah Kalmoni; the Chairman, Col. Timothy Mbro Barnes; and the Marketing Manager, Mr. Lawrence De-Souza .

[Ghanaian Chronicle]He espoused the idea of making basic education free when he assumes office as President of Ghana, but that was not enough to save him from defeat in the 2008 presidential election.

DAWN.comSyrian opposition says it received $40 million in aidDAWN.comBEIRUT: The main opposition, Syrian National Council (SNC) said on Thursday that it had received $40.4 million in international aid since it was set up a year ago, half of which came from Libya. Libya contributed $20.4 million, followed by $15 million from ...Clinton discloses West's effort to help reshape Syria oppositionLos Angeles Timesall 1,596 news articles »