HiPipo Money

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Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) announced that its EUTELSAT 3B satellite is ready for launch by a Zenit-3SL rocket operated by Sea Launch AG from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform in the international waters of the Pacific Ocean. The launch is scheduled for 26 May at 14:10 Pacific Daylight Time (21:10 UTC, 23:10 CET) at the opening of a 54-minute launch window.

The launch will be a memorable event for 16-year old Kenyan student Eva Chemngorem as the rocket’s fairing is decorated with her winning poster. Eva is one of the two winners of last year’s DStv Eutelsat Star Awards. The competition is in response to a growing need to popularise science and to create excitement about space technology in young people. This pan African initiative is a collaboration between MultiChoice and Eutelsat and is geared towards encouraging students to either write an essay or design a poster about the benefits of satellite technology on the continent. Since its inception, the competition has drawn over a 3000 entries across the continent and has invigorated a passion for science amongst the younger generation.

“These Awards have afforded young people the opportunity to not only grow their confidence levels but to represent the continent on the global stage. MultiChoice Africa is encouraged every year by the success of these awards to plough more resources into this initiative as it becomes more evident that the future and development of this continent lies in the hands of young people,” said Nico Meyer, CEO of MultiChoice Africa. Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat’s Chairman and CEO highlighted the growing value of space for technological advancement, social inclusion and economic growth and added. “Space is a fantastic environment for sparking interest in science by African students and for developing knowledge in the high-tech sector that will benefit the continent. A rocket launch is an exceptional moment that brings people together from around the world. We are delighted to honour the creativity of Africa’s young population and to see the artistic work of Eva Chemngorem, who we welcomed in Paris last year, decorate the rocket taking our latest satellite into space.”

Built for Eutelsat by Airbus Defence and Space, EUTELSAT 3B is designed to increase and diversify Eutelsat’s resources and footprint at its 3° East orbital position. The first satellite to assemble Ku, C and Ka payloads in a single platform, it will operate up to 51 transponders. Its innovative tri-band configuration will enable customers to select from three frequency bands adapted to data, telecom, broadband and professional video services that are connected to a wide range of footprints covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and South America.

The launch of EUTELSAT 3B will be video streamed live on www.eutelsat.com.

Visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/eutelsat_communications/ for pictures of EUTELSAT 3B getting ready for launch.

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MTN Uganda has confirmed that its Mobile Money service currently also enables its customers tosend, receivemoney and do all other Mobile Money transactions while roaming at the normal local transaction fees. The roaming customer is only charged an additional 80/- for each transaction message. The rate is with effect from Friday 23^rd May 2014.

Giving a background to the service, MTN Chief Marketing Officer Ernst Fonternel said “For every Mobile Money transaction, there are usually notification SMS messages during a transaction. These SMS’s are not charged when in Uganda however when these SMSs are generated internationally using external networks during roaming, MTN incurs a costs. While every effort is made to keep transaction costs to our customers as low as possible, we can’t ignore actual costs incurred and therefore effective 23^rd May 2014 MTN will be charging 80/- per transaction message.

He attributed MTN Uganda’s steady customer growth with 9.5 million customers to its excellent services like MTN Mobile Money, the fast and affordable Internet connectivity and most importantly to the innovations aimed at making the lives of customers a whole lot better.

“We always strive to simplify the lives of our customers by developing relevant and timely services.It’s from this background thatourMobile Money servicesare now made available even while our customersare roaming, to either send money home or to pay bills.

“We intend to continue coming up with offers, services and products that gives our customers a reliable and affordable way to stay in touch with their loved ones back at home, while away on travel. Roaming services are extremely important to our customers and we are focusing on making roaming simpler and more affordable to all our customers.

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Players in Uganda’s PR & communications sector are in for interesting times following the introduction of an innovative mode of disseminating and sharing information amongst themselves.

The campaign dubbed Public Relations over Coffee (PROC) is an organization that serves members directly through monthly PR meetings and special events, and virtually via rich web content, online resources and social networking community.

Just as the name suggests, the meetings that commence in Uganda starting June will be monthly series over a cup of coffee focusing on different sectors of the economy.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company maintains satellite “Chapter” or “Group” locations in cities across the United States, Canada and the rest of the world.

Joseph Kanyamunyu the Managing Director, Hill & Knowlton strategies who heads the East African chapter intimates that “these series will give members &companies involved in the sector, both large and small platforms to share ideas in a formal setting. 

“Through PR over coffee meeting series the companies are better educated about and more prepared to successfully increase their publicity and media coverage, resulting in positive growth for both their business and the media outlets,” he says.

Commenting on the mechanics of the meetings, Kanyamunyu says that the meetings will work in such a way that each month, we host a Speaker Series, This one to one-and-a-half hour informative presentation is open to all, and consists of one guest speaker who are experts in various sectors including, ICT, Oil & Gas, public health,media and etc. members are invited to interact with industry experts and the media and get attention from the Media. For instance the SMEs learn from theSpeaker then pitch to the Media while the media come to get rich content from the Speaker and the SME’s.

“The speakers’ series will offer the market an innovative alliance connecting them with the local, regional & international media resulting in an increase of their publicity and news coverage efforts that result in a rich variety of stories that grows and expands their business through any kind of media.”

Adding, “For the members, there is always something they take out each time they attend,e.g.free webinars, professionals development tools, stay current on emerging trends, networking with more than 21000 members across the United States, Canada and the rest of the world and the climax of which will be a unique awards ceremony.” He concluded.

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A self-employed mother of one and a cesspool emptier truck operator are the latest winners of air tickets to Brazil courtesy of Uganda Breweries’ Limited’s on going Sip Sip Samba promotion.

Joan Namazzi and Edward Luzige won the all-expense paid trip to the South American nation having participated in the promotion that requires one to simply send a short code they find under the crown of Bell Lager, Tusker Lager, Tusker Malt and Guinness Lager to 6050.

In her own admission, Namazzi said she was surprised to receive a call announcing that she had won the trip to Brazil.

“I have been participating in this promotion since the Easter period. Prior to this I had only won some airtime worth UGX5,000. I somehow persisted even when I was not sure of the becoming a winner. So when I received that call, I just refused to believe.

“I even feared to answer any more phone calls fearing that conmen were after me. But here I am, I have my ticket. In fact I am only waiting for that day,” said an ecstatic Namazzi.

Edward Luzige on the other hand appeared calm and composed when the Sip Sip Samba followed him to his work place in Wa’nkoko, a Kampala Suburb.

Emerging from a seat that had four others perched onto a bench, a skeptical Luzigekept on asking so many questions probably trying to eliminate any loop holes so as to believe this Brazil story.

“Honestly, I participated in this promotion for fun. I believed that those people who have won before had insiders in the brewery and that is why they won. Now me here… as you can see the type of work I do, I am very excited to be a winner of this trip. I did not want to commence my pre-mature celebrations because I was not sure whether this was a prank or reality,” he said before drifting into uncontrolled fits of laughter.

Hugging whoever was in his vicinity, Luzige finally managed mutter out words in between chuckles, “I cannot believe I will be on a plane to Brazil. I am still recovering from this excitement. I will think about what I will do while there. For now, I am still celebrating.”

The two are the latest winners of an all-expense paid trip to Brazil, the land synonymous with fun, merry making, beauty and the famous Samba culture in the ongoing Sip Sip Samba Promotion by Uganda Breweries Limited.

The promotion will give forty Ugandans the opportunity of a lifetime to enjoy the beautiful scenery that has become synonymous with this South American nation.

In addition to the trips, consumers also have the chance to win other prizes like instant cash as well as other customized memorabilia. 

To participate in the Sip Sip Samba promotion, customers have to buy a bottle of any of the four brands; Bell Lager, Guinness, Tusker Lager and Tusker Malt, check under the crown for a five-digit code then send an SMS with the code to 6050 for the chance to enter the weekly draw to win the trip. The more codes one sends, the higher their chances of winning.

The draws are carried out every Monday at 8:35pmonNTV Uganda to pick the winners of the cash award prize of UGX 100, 000 and tickets to Brazil.

The campaign will not only offer the most amazing prize of experiencing Brazil, it will also seek to reward those who will be here at home. There will be lots of prizes like free beer, instant cash via mobile money.”

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Arsenal’s FA Cup celebrations moved from London to Dubai today when Vice Captain Mikel Arteta made a special visit to Emirates’ headquarters carrying the FA Cup.

Fresh from Saturday’s victory over Hull City, Arteta met the airline’s President, Sir Tim Clark, before meeting staff who flocked to see and take pictures of the Arsenal star with the prized silverware.  

After the visit to Emirates’ HQ, Arteta headed to Arsenal Soccer Schools Dubai at 7he Sevens to assist with football exercises for young and aspiring players.

Emirates is the shirt sponsor of Arsenal and has naming rights to the Emirates Stadium in London.

1. Caption 1: Arsenal Vice Captain Mikel Arteta and Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline, pictured with the FA Cup – won by Arsenal on Saturday.
2. Caption 2: Arsenal Vice Captain Mikel Arteta pictured with cabin crew at Emirates HQ.

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Emirates, a global connector of people and places, is showcasing its Airbus A380 aircraft from 20th May to 25th  May 2014 at the 2014 ILA Berlin Air Show. The aircraft on display is Emirates’ 48th A380 in its fleet and was delivered directly from Airbus in Hamburg Finkenwerder to the show site, allowing ILA visitors to be among the first guests on-board the brand new double-decker. This is also the 150th A380 to be delivered from Airbus globally.

German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel visited the Emirates A380 display at ILA Berlin. The visit was part of the official opening tour for the airshow.

Emirates was the first airline to order the A380 and is the largest operator of this aircraft. The Emirates A380 currently operates to 27 destinations and has carried over 25 million passengers since 2008.  The Emirates A380 is the largest aircraft displayed this year at the Berlin ExpoCenter Airport in Schönefeld. At the last ILA Berlin Air Show in 2012, more than 2,000 visitors toured the Emirates A380 on the first two show days.

Photo Captions:

EK_1: Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer greets German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel at the steps of the Emirates A380 display at ILA Berlin. The visit was part of the official opening tour for the airshow. Emirates now has 48 A380s in its fleet, with a further 92 on firm order.

EK_2: Alexander Dobrindt, German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is given a tour of the Emirates A380 by Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, and Volker Greiner, Vice President North and Central Europe. The aircraft continues to be a big draw amongst visitors and passengers alike.  Emirates has carried more than 25 million passengers on its double decker A380 to date, serving 27 global destinations.