HiPipo Money

LONDON (3^rd November, 2012) – MoneyGram (NYSE: MGI), a leading global money transfer company announced today that it is temporarily waiving send fees for its online transfers from the UK to several Caribbean countries.

This initiative was taken to support customers sending money from the UK to families and friends that were severely affected by Hurricane Sandy, starting from today, the 3^rd of November until the 16^th of November 2012.

During this period, customers sending money to any of the following countries – Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, or Puerto Rico – via MoneyGram’s online platform located at www.moneygram.co.uk, will not pay a send fee to send money to families and friends that are recuperating from the effect of the hurricane.

Customers can pick up remittances from MoneyGram’s agent partners as usual, including LASCO Remittance Services, Alliance Remittance Services, NCB Remittance Service, Jamaica National, Jamaica Post Office, Unibank, BUH, S A-Rapid Transfer, Fonkoze, Grace Trading, Banque de I’Union Haitienne, S.A, Bank of the Bahamas Ltd, Omni Money Transfer Head office, Raben Investment Ltd, BanReservas, Banco Popular Dominicano, Banco del Progreso, BHD and anywhere you see the MoneyGram signs.

During my time in Europe which was somehow the earlier days of the Facebook revolution, I used to receive many invites by my European friends to play Farmville. I never found it that much fun as computer gaming has never really been my hobby. But then I tumbled upon a research about educational games, exploring how games can be strategically used for educational purposes, and showing a lot of possibilities in this domain. Indeed if well designed and developed for education purpose, playing and learning could be great for any child.

I have observed young children and how they swiftly adopt using mobile phones for games. These same mobile phones can now be used for learning where these children can play educational games. The African gaming market has started seeing players such as Maliyo a gaming firm aimed at creating culturally relevant content that reflects the lives of average Nigerians, and Afroes  which produces applications and content for young people containing powerful educational and social messages.

With a young breed of African innovators joining the gaming industry, I believe Africa is setting good ground to make the use of education games to develop the African brains that will play further role in Africa Development.

Facebook Press Release from MTN Uganda

MTN Uganda has this morning announced the ninth edition of the Annual MTN Kampala Marathon, slated for Sunday November 25th, 2012, setting off from the Kololo Airstrip.

At a Press Conference at the Serena Kampala Hotel this morning, MTN Chief Executive Officer Mazen Mroué announced this year’s Marathon theme as ‘Run with your heart’ and challenged both Ugandans and people across the region to turn up in large numbers to participate in “Uganda’s biggest annual sporting event”.

In terms of numbers, about 220,000 entrants have run the MTN Kampala Marathon over the last nine years, and have raised close to Ushs. 900 million to help people in less privileged parts of the country.

Mroué said MTN has always used the Kampala Marathon as an opportunity to involve thousands of Ugandans in charitable causes, which to date have collected close to Ushs. 700 million. This money has been used in a number of projects in Northern and Eastern Uganda through the Uganda Red Cross over the years.

Last year the marathon raised Ushs. 230 million towards the provision of clean and safe water for the people of Amuria in partnership with WaterAid as an implementing partner. Amuria was selected as one of the most remote areas with a definite need for access to clean and safe water.

This year all proceeds from the MTN Marathon will go towards the provision of water for the people of Bududa. This will be achieved through a partnership with Red Cross that will be tasked with ensuring that these proceeds reach the most deserving.

New Vision will be one of the sponsors and the media partner of the MTN Marathon. Speaking at the press conference, the Group CEO Robert Kabushenga said “Vision Group is proud to sponsor one of the biggest events of the year, the MTN Marathon, through our flagship brand, the New Vision. The Marathon’s objective of raising money to provide clean water for the people of Bududa allows us to give back to the community, whilst promoting healthy living, which are both very noble objectives.”

This year Huawei has also come on board as a sponsor of the Marathon. Speaking at the event, the MD of Huawei Uganda affirmed the company’s desire to reach out and help the less privileged members of the society.

“I would like to applaud MTN Uganda, a fellow multinational with local presence as Huawei, for facilitating our partnership in the 9th edition of the Annual MTN Kampala Marathon together with the people of Uganda, geared towards improving the lives of communities around us. This initiative is a clear indication that public-private partnerships are necessary in catalyzing the growth of the Uganda economy.” said Eric Yang, MD Huawei Uganda.

The Uganda Red Cross Secretary General, Mr. Michael Richard Nataka expressed gratitude to MTN for having chosen to work with the Red Cross over the years and for once again to help save lives over the last 8 years. He also pledged the Uganda Red Cross would still be on hand in the Kampala Marathon 2012 to provide emergency services to all participants.

“Working with MTN over the last 8 years has seen us achieve many of our goals in saving lives and we are glad that MTN chose to partner with us once again for this noble cause. This year we will ensure that the victims from the Bududa landslides that have been resettled in various new locations around the country. We are partners with MTN in the Kampala Marathon and we will be on the routes providing emergency services for participants who require help,” said Mr. Nataka.

At the Press Conference, MTN Uganda’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ernst Fonternel also unveiled this year’s Marathon campaign, which will run for the next three weeks to mobilise participants to take part in the MTN Kampala Marathon.

Everyone’s job search is different but traditionally networking has been one of the key leads to jobs.  In order to have focused networking and search for jobs pay attention to the following mashable.com tips

1. Get Organized

Organization is key to staying on track (and on time!) in your job search. Keep track of places you’re interested in applying and what step you’re at in the application process.

2. Research

The best way to find openings and get hired is to be informed — very informed — about the company, industry and position for which you are applying. Research each and every company and position before applying, and be sure to brush up before an interview.

3. Be Social

Get on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Yes, social networks can help you snag a job. How? By correctly leveraging social media (in a professional way, of course –- no party pictures!), job seekers can establish themselves as thought leaders in their desired industry, network with professionals who may geographically be out of their reach, interact with companies that are hiring and establish their personal brand.

4. Network

You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: Networking is absolutely, positively crucial to any job search. Sometimes, it’s all about who you know — and who knows you. Use social networks, local professional events and even social gatherings to increase your network and connect with relevant professionals.

5. Follow Up

When job searching, you can just fill out an application, submit it and wait to hear a response … right? Wrong! Following up is one of the most important steps in a job search..

The Uganda market of both SMEs and corporate companies has as fast growing need for data services. There are several Uganda SMEs and corporate companies for instance that spend between 100 to 1,000 US dollars per month on their data hosting solutions that include websites, email and other data. Several of these companies often opt for American or UK based hosts largely due to lack of local competitive services that could meet their needs.  These same companies also require data access through high speed broadband and will increasingly spend a large part of their IT budget for these data services.

These SMEs and corporate companies would offer a growing revenue base to local operators if their service needs can be met. The local competitive services should meet the availability/uptime and affordability for the Uganda SMEs. MTN has done a great job in bringing innovative and affordable services to the Uganda market, though it has from time to time been possibly surprised by the spike in service uptake and hence seen degraded service quality on several occasions. This has been largely experienced by voice and mobile money consumers. Businesses need more guarantees of data security, reliability and availability of services with availability needs that can range from 99% to 99.99% or even more!

In their statement MTN states that:

“MTN has today launched a multi-million dollar Data and Switching Centre in Mutundwe, just outside Kampala city centre. This launch goes hand in hand with the launch of the new MTN Business Unit which will be a world class provider of converged communications solutions aimed at providing MTN business customers with superior, directly managed services, fully backed by consistent service levels.
In doing so, MTN has taken a special focus on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and the Corporate/Business section of our customer base by ensuring that, through innovation, we are able to provide the necessary products and services to satisfy their needs. “

This is a good development from MTN.  Will it deliver on its promise? Lets wait to see. 

Online communities such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ have different networking and engagement rules. Facebook is a network of friends and family whereas Twitter is a network of people/things you find interesting and LinkedIn is a network of colleagues that is fast evolving to include closer strangers!

In its earlier days, LinkedIn put a lot of emphasis on only connecting with people you had done business with hence the vast majority of LinkedIn requests came from direct or indirect workmates. According to LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner LinkedIn is now a service for connecting talent to companies.

LinkedIn originally was a more closed network to cater for largely people you know from a profession perspective though this seem to be fast evolving to encourage more people to join and do more interacting. Getting more people connecting is essential for LinkedIn to continue growing its user-base and therefore its business. This has seen LinkedIn evolve into a bigger business and talent network that can further careers of individuals and help companies get the best talent.

Individuals and companies looking to further their careers and talent base respectively should hence embrace LinkedIn, the business and talent Network.