Experts at the 2023 Africa Retail Congress harped on how retailers across Nigeria and Africa can leverage the rise of data analytics and big data to drive a better understanding of the industry, consumer and market in general.

During the panel discussion featuring industry giants from diverse niches such as e-commerce, banking, fintech, FMCG, etc, not only the importance of data was emphasized but also the kind of data and how to interpret them for better performance.

Bankers need the application of retail knowledge in their business

On his part, Olu Akanmu, the former CEO of Opay said not only retailers in the FMCG or e-commerce need the application of retail knowledge but bankers too.

He compared the retailing of goods and services to banking and its products.

He said bankers should deviate from the conventional approach they judge performance but instead look into individual customer data and how they transact with the bank.

• In his words, “If we take a retail mindset to look at the business of the branch and granulate it and pass it from the foundation. How many customers have we got in this branch? How many of them come in to do transactions every 30 days? …how much are you making per customer? You can begin to form that into the revenue you make on a monthly basis. What will be the incremental value in revenue if the customer uses more products or services of the bank?”

He opined that people who do their retail banking business this way are bound to be better retail bankers than the traditional way people do branch banking and further advised the alignment of data architecture to the retail business model.

Data whether big or small should be contextualised

Bayo Adekanbi, the CEO of Data Science Nigeria, deviated from the emphasis on big data and opined that there are tons of small data retailers can use to better understand their business.

He also said there are a lot of disjointed data that retailers cannot make sense of through contextualisation.

• He said, “There is so much that we have all over the place that we need to have a way of touching the data so that they can speak to themselves because data is only powerful when disparate, disjointed data are aligned together so that we find common patterns in margins and this is critical because people are not statistics, they are bundles of emotions and it is in aggregating data that we begin to segment people and outcomes”

Customers’ online experience should be seamless

On the strategies traditional brick and mortal businesses can use to make a seamless transition into the digital era, Jan Tucker said retailers should design the online store to be similar to the physical in look and feel.

That is the customer experience and journey should be similar to what obtains in the physical store.

The CEO of Konga, Nnamdi Ekeh said financial inclusion goes beyond connecting people to the financial system, but the bigger problem is “financial colonialism” with the prevalence of USD in the economy and payment difficulty being experienced by small businesses when trying to make international payments.

Other speakers at the event spoke on privacy and security of data and why retailers should ensure customers’ data is used for what it is stated for.

[Nairametrics]

Grammy-winning Nigerian singer, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, shone at this year’s British Photography Awards, BPA, held in London at the weekend.

The Starboy’s performance picture at Glastonbury Festival earlier this year won the Event Category Award at the 2023 British Photography Awards.

The iconic picture was taken by London-based freelance photographer and graphic designer Nick Haill.

Wizkid has now become the first Nigerian celebrity whose image won a British Photography Award.

The Recording Academy, organisers of the Grammy Awards, have postulated that there is no Afrobeats star or African artist who is “bigger” than Nigerian singer Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy.

The Academy made the assertion in a statement published on its website on Saturday, congratulating Burna Boy and other nominees for the newly created Best African Music Performance category at the 2024 Grammys.

The Grammys said Burna Boy is “firmly in his imperial era” havimg collaborated with “global stars such as Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber,” and also earned his first UK No. 1 album this year with “the classic hip-hop influenced I Told Them…, featuring appearances from 21 Savage, J. Cole, RZA, and GZA.”

The Academy said, “There’s not a bigger star in Afrobeats, or even the whole of Africa itself, than Burna Boy. He nabbed two consecutive Best Global Album GRAMMY nods for his albums Twice as Tall and African Giant, and he’s also collaborated with global stars such as Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber.”

DAILY POST reported that Burna Boy’s ‘City Boys’ was nominated in the maiden Best African Music Performance category at the 66th Grammys.

‘City Boys’ will contest the award with Davido and Musa Keys’ ‘Unavailable,’ Ayra Starr’s ‘Rush,’ Asake and Olamide’s ‘Amapiano, and Tyla’s ‘Water.’

Burna Boy also bagged nominations in three other categories; ‘Sitting On Top of the World’ featuring 21 Savage – Best Melodic Rap, ‘I Told Them’ – Best Global Music Album, and ‘Alone’ – Best Global Music Performance.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has hailed Leandro Trossard following his side’s Premier League win over Burnley on Saturday.

Arteta said Trossard connects everyone, adding that the Arsenal forward is so intelligent.

He was impressive for Arsenal against Burnley at Emirates Stadium.

The Belgian scored a goal as Arsenal defeated Vincent Kompany’s side 3-1.

Speaking about Trossard’s display, Arteta said at his post-match press conference, “That is the word – I think he connects everybody. He’s so intelligent.

“I think he moves in ways that attract people that generate spaces and options for people.

“Today he did that really good because it was so difficult and the spaces were so small to attack. He gave us a lot of threat and possibilities to connect and find spaces for us.”

[DailyPost]

Award-winning Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike is in a state of mourning as his mother, Mrs. Comfort Ike has died.

The movie star announced the passing on of his mum via hia official Instagram page on Saturday, November 11, 2023.

Comfort at the at the time of her death was 90 years old. Emeka Ike who addressed her as his hero, said she touched lives and accomplished a lot as a preacher and Christian.

Sharing a black video, he wrote; “My hero is gone, RIP world Mother. We will hold on to the love you showed humanity”.

Supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State are staging a protest in Yenagoa.

They are marching towards the INEC office on Swali Road.

It was gathered that they are demanding that governorship election results from Brass LGA should not be brought to the collation centre, which is the state INEC office.

Details later…

[Punch]

Olayinka Braimoh, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in Kogi, says he was in police custody all through the voting period on Saturday.

Braimoh, who spoke to journalists in Kabba town after his release, said he was arrested along the Kabba-Obajana road while trying to get to his polling unit on Saturday morning. 

The politician said he was held up in a cell alongside his security and personal aides. 

Braimoh said the security operatives arrested him for finding leftover ballot paper samples, used for voter education, in the trunk of one of his vehicles. 

“I have been kept in custody for almost the whole day today. I was coming in from Lokoja early hours of today and we got stuck in the traffic at Kabba junction after Obajana,” Braimoh said. 

“There were several hundreds of trucks on the road, so we could not manoeuvre our way to come out of that place fast.

“Eventually, we were able to come out of there. So we got to the first checkpoint around Okeboko, our vehicle was searched, nothing was found. We were not carrying cash.

“After that, we were released and the next thing we saw was this bus overtook us and went ahead to wait at the next checkpoint.

“EFCC operatives came out from the bus with some policemen and the next thing was they searched again and they saw the leftover of our flyers in the trunk of the trucks.

“The next thing was they said we were carrying ballot papers. That was ridiculous because it is clearly stated here that this is a ballot paper sample.

“They took us to the area command and we were all locked up. Both the police and every personnel, they pushed us inside the cell and locked us up inside the cell.

“They collected our phones and kept us incommunicado for most part of today.

“So I don’t have any information, as I speak to you, regarding the election today until I get the feedback because my phones were collected and my batteries went flat.

“So, I will need to get an update before I can make any comment about the election.”

[TheCable]

Former Big Brother Naija housemate Leo Dasilva, has tied the knot with his lover, Maryam Laushi.

The marriage traditionally took place on Saturday in Kaduna State.

Congratulatory messages have been pouring in from his colleagues and friends .

DAILY POST recalls that Leo and Maryam got engaged earlier this year.

Leo rose to fame after his appearance on season three of the reality show show in 2018.

Leo’s wedding comes at about the same time when another BBNaija star, Chizzy Francis, tied the knot with his lover in Anambra State.

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Former Big Brother Naija season 7 housemate, Chizzy Francis, has tied the knot with his lover.

The traditional wedding of the reality star took place on Saturday in Anambra State.

In a viral video on social media, Chizzy’s wife could be seen kneeling to offer him a drink as part of their tradition.

Chizzy, who is yet to announce the news, shared a picture of himself via his Instagram page.

He captioned it, “it is not how far, but how well”.

Some of his colleagues who congratulated him include Doyin, Groovy, Phyna, Amaka, Christy O, Allyson and Modella.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive requiring its staff to declare any “close relatives” employed by the bank and disclose connections to Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in the country. This move follows previous criticism of the CBN during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime for allegedly recruiting family members of top government officials without proper advertisement of vacancies, violating federal character laws.

The directive, outlined in a memo signed by Christian Eze, the Deputy Director of the Human Resources Department, instructs staff to submit declarations by noon on Friday, November 10, 2023. Staff members must disclose close relatives employed by the bank, defined as spouses, biological and adopted children, siblings, parents, and half-siblings. The definition of spouses includes cohabiting partners and couples with children.

The memo emphasized the restriction on employing close relatives of serving staff and board members. Staff with close relatives who had previously worked for the bank were directed to fill out a form. Additionally, employees who joined the CBN from 2014 onwards must declare any relationships with PEPs.

PEPs, as defined in the memo, include individuals entrusted with prominent public functions in Nigeria or foreign countries or by an international organization, as well as people/entities associated with them. The directive set a deadline for submissions and warned of sanctions for non-disclosure or false declarations.

The recent disclosure requirements are reportedly part of an ongoing investigation by Special Investigator Jim Obazee, whom President Bola Tinubu appointed to probe the activities of the CBN and related entities. Obazee’s investigation is focused on strengthening probity, blocking leakages, and ensuring transparency in key government business entities.

In his appointment letter, President Tinubu directed the special investigator to produce a comprehensive report on public wealth held by corrupt individuals and establishments, investigate the CBN and related entities, and work with relevant security and anti-corruption agencies to deliver on the assignment.