Tag: Alibaba

  • Alibaba replies critics

    Alibaba replies critics

    Recently, Nigeria’s king of comedy, Alleluya Akporobomerere, aka Alibaba, recently found himself in a sombre mood when he took to his Instagram page to condole with the families of slain Nigerian soldiers, especially those who died in the war against insurgency.

    Posting a photograph of a soldier in a supplicant mood, the comedy merchant stated that for their sacrifice to fatherland and fellow Nigerians, “their families will know no sorrow.”

    He didn’t stop there as he went ahead to chip in a word for those who caused us as a nation to, “slip into broke zone, be number 59 on FIFA ranking, can’t pay salaries, use burglary proof in our houses, pay more for what we should actual pay less for,” among other debilitating situations he cited.

    “Whoever you are, you no go die better!!!! Yes go call police,” he caps off the post.

    As it turns out, the message didn’t go down well with some of his Instagram followers who, it appears, have friends among politicians. The reaction of such individuals drew the ire of the comedian.

    “So, now you have called me to say you have friends I was referring to in my last prayer post. Please accept my apology for not specifically mentioning their names. I apologise. Please let them send all their names, so that I can properly include their names, so they don’t have to tell you to call me on their behalves! So they can all be included next time. Nonsense,” he wrote in a follow-up post.

    He went ahead to recount how he lost his immediate younger brother to cancer “because it was not diagnosed early and when it was, he was told it was not ‘malignant’. And will go away. Indeed he did. He went away, for good, while the Honourable Health Commissioner of the State where he was serving as civil servant, rode around in a 2010 Land Cruiser.”

  • Alibaba replies critics

    Alibaba replies critics

    Recently, Nigeria’s king of comedy, Alleluya Akporobomerere, aka Alibaba, found himself in a somber mood when he took to his Instagram page to condole with the families of slain Nigerian soldiers, especially those who died in the war against insurgency.

    Posting a photograph of a soldier in a supplicant mood, the comedy merchant stated that for their sacrifice to fatherland and fellow Nigerians, “their families will know no sorrow.”

    He didn’t stop there as he went ahead to chip in a word for those who caused us as a nation to “slip into broke zone, be number 59 on FIFA ranking, can’t pay salaries, dollar rate 240 something, use burglary proof in our houses, use bullet proof cars, pay more for what we should actual pay less for, drive through dark streets, won’t fix roads and as such cause deaths on our roads, causing people to spend their hard earned savings on medical trips to India and elsewhere, can’t pay small salaries of teachers, but can pay huge salaries of legislators and militants, responsible for the sea of unemployed youths flowing through life aimlessly… Whoever you are, you no go die better!!!! Yes go call police!

    As it turned out, the message didn’t go down well with some of his Instagram followers who, it appears, have friends among politicians. The reaction of such individuals drew the ire of the comedian.

    “So, now you have called me to say you have friends I was referring to in my last prayer post. Please accept my apology for not specifically mentioning their names. I apologize. Please let them send all their names, so that I can properly include their names, so they don’t have to tell you to call me on their behalves! So they can all be included next time. Nonsense,” he wrote in a follow-up post.

    He went ahead to recount how he lost his immediate younger brother to cancer “because it was not diagnosed early and when it was, he was told it was not ‘malignant’. And will go away. Indeed he did. He went away, for good, while the Honourable Health Commissioner of the State where he was serving as civil servant, rode around in a 2010 Land Cruiser.”

  • Alibaba agrees £4.4b tie-up with Chinese electronics giant Suning

    Alibaba agrees £4.4b tie-up with Chinese electronics giant Suning

    Chinese Internet giant Alibaba is to pay 28.3 billion yuan (£3bn) for a near-20 per cent stake in consumer electronics retailer Suning, the two companies have announced.

    At the same time the Chinese shopping chain will invest up to 14bn yuan for just over 1pc of Alibaba, the companies said, bringing the total value of the deal to nearly £4.4bn.

    It will make Alibaba the second-largest shareholder in Suning, the statement said, adding the two firms would embark on a “strategic collaboration” that would “bring benefits to hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers” and marked “a milestone that signals the further integration of digital and offline retail”.

    Suning is one of China’s biggest consumer electronics retailers, while Alibaba’s Tmall.com site is believed to command more than half the Chinese market for business-to-consumer transactions. Its Taobao platform holds more than 90 per cent of the country’s consumer-to-consumer market.

    Alibaba made its name – and its fortune – by enabling transactions online, challenging traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers. But as the market matures it is developing its operations in areas such as payments and logistics, creating potential synergies with former rivals.

    Suning, headquartered in the eastern city of Nanjing, operates 1,600 stores in more than 280 cities nationwide, the statement said, and also has its own e-commerce business.

    Alibaba’s founder and executive chairman Jack Ma said: “Over the past two decades, e-commerce has become an inextricable part of the lives of Chinese consumers, and this new alliance brings forth a new commerce model that fully integrates online and offline.”

    The two companies will also work together on logistics and suggested that “in the near future” customers could receive orders as quickly as two hours after they were placed.

    Suning chairman Zhang Jindong said it would “help transform China’s manufacturing industry and broaden the global horizons of Chinese brands”.

    The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by Alibaba as Ma tries to diversify. The New York-listed company faces domestic competition from Internet giants Baidu and Tencent, and remains relatively little known outside China.

  • Alibaba’s banga soup analogy

    Alibaba’s banga soup analogy

    He is described as the king of Nigerian comedy, but Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere, aka Alibaba has proven to have some more wits about him. This time, he brings his brand of comedy to bear, as he encourages his fans not to give up in life, using a typical Niger Delta delicacy, banga soup for his analogy.

    Some people will not let you hear word when them own banga ripe. But as soon as your banga just show signs say e go soon ripe, they will start telling you of how much calories is inside Banga soup! But when they were eating their own Banga soup, with heavy balls of yellow eba and the kente-like soup was running down their palm and down on to their elbow, they could not spell calories talk less of how much was in the soup,” he said via Instagram.

    Continuing, he made a subtle reference to Arsenal FC beating Chelsea in Sunday’s standoff. The entertainer said that we all have a goal in life and our goals are different from one person to another. However, he noted that sometimes, in life, we tend to chase the same goals.

    “In such cases, with a level playing field, the goal is the same. You choose how you want to win it then. It’s like athletes preparing for a 100 meters dash. And when the gun blasted out to mark the beginning of the race, you had hopes of winning. You even came with your people to cheer you on to victory. Then by a twist of fate, better preparation, plus other factors, one of the 7 sprinters beat you to win the race. My dear athlete, this is not the time to say, the Canadian Open is not like IAAF tournament in the U.S. You ran and you lost. In any case, you were not a wild card. You had won in your heats to emerge one of the finalists,” he adds

    The comedian also made allusion to the 10 maidens in the Bible who went to see the groom and had to wait, can’t blame anyone for not letting them see the groom.

    “NA me talk say make UNA no carry extra oil? What I am trying to say in parable by perambulating is that… When Chelsea and Arsenal stepped onto the field… Never mind… you must have gotten my point by now. Go figure,” he concludes.

  • Gucci sues Alibaba over fake goods

    Alibaba raised $25billion when it floated its stock in New York last year.

    China’s leading online marketplace Alibaba, is being sued by the owner of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Puma and other fashion brands.

    Paris-based Kering has accused the firm of making it possible for US shoppers to order counterfeit goods in bulk from Alibaba’s various websites.

    It follows a failed attempt to resolve the matter outside the courts.

    Alibaba said it was already taking action against fake goods and that it planned to fight the case.

    “We continue to work in partnership with numerous brands to help them protect their intellectual property, and we have a strong track record of doing so,’’ it said in a statement.

    “Unfortunately, Kering Group has chosen the path of wasteful litigation instead of the path of constructive co-operation.

    “Kering and its brands dedicate a great amount of creative energy, craftsmen’s know-how and monetary investments to develop products that speak to consumers and fulfil their needs,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.

    “This lawsuit is part of Kering’s ongoing global effort to maintain its customers’ trust in its genuine products and to continue to develop the creative works and talents in its brands.”

    This is not the first time Alibaba has been criticised over illegal sales made using its platforms.

    Its Taobao shopping service had appeared on the US Trade Representative’s list of “notorious markets” until 2012, at which point the US authorities recognised it was making efforts to combat the problem.

    However, earlier this year, one of China’s own regulators accused the company of failing to give the issue “sufficient attention”, adding that Alibaba had let the “abscess fester until it became a danger”.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Alibaba bets $590m on becoming a smartphone player

    Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is betting $590-million it can succeed where Facebook Incorporated  and Amazon.com Incorporated  have stumbled, becoming a player in the smartphone business.

    Alibaba’s investment in Meizu Technology Corporation  gives the electronic commerce giant a key tool in its push to unlock more money from China’s half a billion smartphone users. Along with the proposed minority stake in Zhuhai, China-based Meizu, Alibaba gains a platform for its homegrown operating system, YunOS, the companies said in a statement.

    “Alibaba wants to promote its operating system and fight for mobile access points,” Li Yujie, an analyst at RHB Research Institute Sdn, said by phone in Hong Kong. “Meizu is one of the better homegrown mobile-phone makers in China, so it makes sense for Alibaba to work with them.”

    Alibaba is using the YunOS software to link services together and carry customers along as it expands from clothes and gadgets to health care and entertainment. Chairman Jack Ma has been under pressure to improve mobile sales since the run-up to its record $25-billion initial public offering in September.

    The investment in Meizu is among $6.2-billion in acquisitions announced by Alibaba in the past 12 months, adding services that develop applications, hail taxis and create QR codes. Spending some of its cash on one of China’s many budding handset manufacturers was a likely next step for Alibaba.

    Internet, software and e-commerce companies have struggled when they expanded into hardware. Microsoft Corp. and Google Incorporated  misfired with high-profile takeovers of device makers, while Amazon and Facebook have struggled to lure customers for smartphones using their software.

    Instead of investing in a company such as Xiaomi Corporation , Alibaba chose Meizu, China’s 13th-largest smartphone maker in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Neil Shah at Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

    Meizu has come on strong since the release of its MX4 and MX Pro devices this year, increasing share of the world’s biggest smartphone market fourfold quarter-on-quarter to two per cent, Shah said.

    The company began making MP3 players in 2003 and smartphones four years later. Its devices use chips from MediaTek Incorporation, displays from Sharp Corporation.. and camera sensors from Sony Corp., according to the company’s website.

     

     

     

     

  • CWG Nigeria’s next  Alibaba, says NSE chief

    CWG Nigeria’s next Alibaba, says NSE chief

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema has said Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG) is capable of being the Alibaba of Nigeria, following the adoption of its subscription based business model known as CWG 2.0.

    He spoke when he led top management staff of the NSE on a working visit to CWG’s corporate headquarters in Lagos.

    He said: “From their subscription businesses which they call CWG 2.0, to their legacy business which is more infrastructure-based, CWG has done quite well. We have been to their Tier 3 Data centre which supports multiple businesses. We have seen their contact centre, where they handle inbound calls. In all, it is professionally run. We are quite excited at the possibility of growth and how the Company might be the next Alibaba for Nigeria.”

    Speaking about the performance of CWG since it was listed on the Exchange last year, Onyema said: “CWG has been a very good listed Company. They have complied with the pre and post listing standards. They have been a good ambassador of what it means to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

    “As you know, at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in May, WEF recognised CWG as one of the Global Growth Companies in the world. So, we are very excited about their performance in the ICT sector of the Stock Exchange. They are the biggest security in the sector, and we are very happy at what they are doing.”

    According to Onyema, the visit is in line with the practice of the NSE. He noted that the visit is paid to listed companies by the Brokers’ Community so as to better understand their operations, which will in-turn equip brokers with the required information to advise clients, especially at the brokers level.

  • Onyeka Owenu,  Kcee, Alibaba  for charity concert

    Onyeka Owenu, Kcee, Alibaba for charity concert

    HELP to Heal Foundation is putting together a fund raising concert geared towards raising funds for children suffering from cancer to be flown abroad for treatment. The concert, according to the management of the foundation, will take place at Golden Tulip Hotel and Conference Centre situated at FESTAC.

    Slated for Saturday, December 7, organisers say it will be an evening with great African show tunes and top hits of the 21st century which will entertain its guests. Entertainers expected at the event include Flavour, Onyeka Owenu, Kcee, Alibaba, a host of other upcoming artistes and comedians.

    This is the first time Help to Heal Paediatric Foundation is organising a mega fund raising concert of which the proceeds from the concert will be donated to the fund raising goal and will directly support the fight against paediatric cancer.

    Child cancer is considered a nightmare for many families as it has continued to spread wings on the innocent infants with rare hope of survival.