Airtel Africa Launches The Voice Africa
Left-Right: Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Africa PLC, Emeka Oparah; Music Artist, Paul Okoye (Psquare); Head, Brand Research and Communications, Airtel Africa, Nandu Buty; Music Artist, Peter Okoye (Psquare); Chief Executive Officer, Fame Studio Africa, Akin Salami during the press conference to announce the commencement of The Voice Africa in Lagos yesterday (19/10/2022).
…”The Voice Africa gives us an incredible platform to help discover and champion the musical talents of young Africans” – Ogunsanya

Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services with a presence in 14 countries across Africa announced today its title sponsorship of The Voice Africa at a high-profile event in Lagos, Nigeria.

The Voice is the number one competition format music and entertainment show in the world, airing in over 180 countries. Building on the success of The Voice Nigeria, Airtel Africa has partnered with the executive producers of seasons three and four, FAME Studios Africa, to roll out the award-winning concept to all 14 Airtel Africa markets.

The debut season of The Voice Africa will be streamlined to millions of Africans via Airtel TV, Free Air stations (FTAs), and paid channels across 14 countries in Africa. It is expected to attract and showcase the brightest of African musical talents, alongside a high-profile panel of coaches and TV hosts, and act as a launchpad for global recognition. Seven participants from each of the 14 countries will be selected to participate in the program, with one of them eventually crowned The Voice Africa.

Airtel Africa Launches The Voice Africa
Left-Right: Chief Executive Officer, Fame Studio Africa, Akin Salami; Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Africa PLC, Emeka Oparah; Music Artist, Paul Okoye (Psquare); Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji; Music Artist, Peter Okoye (Psquare); Founder/Chief Executive Officer, HIP TV, Ayo Animashaun and Head, Brand Research and Communications, Airtel Africa, Nandu Buty, during the press conference to announce the commencement of The Voice Africa in Lagos yesterday (19/10/2022).

Segun Ogunsanya, GCEO, Airtel Africa, said: “As a business, we are driven by the purpose to transform lives, and that means unlocking the potential for people to grow. The Voice Africa gives us an incredible platform to help discover and champion the musical talents of young Africans, enabling them to achieve their full potential. I believe the drama and excitement around their stunning performances will unite people across the continent.

“Our musical landscape is culturally rich, vibrant, and dynamic and the rhythms of Africa are already making a massive impact globally. There is a huge opportunity for African music to be exported on a scale larger than ever before, and The Voice Africa has come to empower our young talent and help them fulfill their ambitions. Airtel Africa is facilitating the emergence of successful musicians who can compete with their peers from anywhere in the world.”

The Voice Africa is the latest initiative from Airtel Africa designed to support the continent’s most valuable asset by far: young Africans. Over the years, Airtel Africa has sponsored MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs), the Zain Africa Challenge, which brought university students together in a quiz contest, and the Airtel Rising Stars, a football tournament for Under-15 boys and girls.

Airtel Africa Launches The Voice Africa
Left-Right: Chief Executive Officer, Fame Studio Africa, Akin Salami; Head, Brand Research and Communications, Airtel Africa, Nandu Buty; Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji and Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Africa PLC, Emeka Oparah during the press conference to announce the commencement of The Voice Africa in Lagos yesterday (19/10/2022).
Airtel Africa Launches The Voice Africa
Left-Right: Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Africa PLC, Emeka Oparah; Music Artist, Paul Okoye (Psquare); Head, Brand Research and Communications, Airtel Africa, Nandu Buty; Music Artist, Peter Okoye (Psquare); Chief Executive Officer, Fame Studio Africa, Akin Salami during the press conference to announce the commencement of The Voice Africa in Lagos yesterday (19/10/2022).

“Airtel Africa has always believed in Africa and will always do so,” Segun Ogunsanya continued. “As the continent with the youngest population worldwide – some 50% – harnessing their creativity, talent, and energy could be transformational for Africa. Through The Voice Africa, Airtel Africa is providing a platform for Africa’s youth to showcase their talent and be the best they can be. The future of Africa is bright. The future of Africa is now.”

Airtel Africa and The Voice’s innovative partnership will drive excitement for fans through on-air customized content integrations, digital and social media activations, and in-country events. The Voice Africa will commence with a call for virtual auditions on 19th October followed by live auditions later this year. The show will be broadcast in March 2023, with the grand finale taking place later in the year. For more information, please visit www.thevoice.africa.com.

In 2019, the Southern Swamp Associated Gas Solutions project was commissioned, and the SPDC JV is planning to reduce associated gas flaring further through its Forcados Yokri gas-gathering project, of which large parts are set to be completed in 2022. Despite such efforts to reduce continuous flaring, unfortunately flaring intensity (the amount of gas flared for every tonne of oil and gas produced) at both SPDC- and SNEPCo-operated facilities increased in 2021 owing to short-term operational issues. Flaring from SPDC-operated facilities increased by around 5% in 2021 compared with 2020. The increase was primarily because of the extended outage of the gas compression system in SPDC’s shallow-water operations. The system was restored and became operational from January 2022. Flaring at SNEPCo-operated facilities rose by around 160% in 2021 compared with 2020. This was mainly because of an increase in flaring on the Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Repairs to a flex-joint on the Bonga FPSO’s gas export riser in the second quarter took longer than expected, in part because of weather conditions. While repairs were under way, the FPSO continued to produce oil and therefore flaring was necessary for safety reasons. The repairs were safely concluded in July 2021. Although flaring intensity levels rose in 2021, SPDC and SNEPCo over the last 10 years have almost halved the combined amount of hydrocarbons they flare from 1.5 million tonnes in 2012 to 0.8 million tonnes in 2021. This reduction is the result of a strict flaring reduction management process and both SPDC and SNEPCo will continue to work in close collaboration with joint-venture partners and the government to make progress towards ending routine flaring of associated gas. NIGERIA LNG EXPANSION UNDERWAY Global demand for LNG continues to grow as the world increasingly seeks reliable supplies of lowercarbon energy. Shell’s investment in Nigeria’s gas infrastructure for export is expected to help 6 This is according to a data provided by global research and consultancy business Wood Mackenzie. the country benefit further from revenues. Shell Gas B.V. and its partners took a final investment decision in 2020 on a new LNG processing unit – known as Train 7 -- at NLNG. The expansion is expected to create around 12,000 jobs for Nigerians during construction and stimulate growth of the local oil and gas service sector, with 55% of engineering and procurement of goods and services being sourced in-country. Train 7 is expected to ensure Nigeria’s continued place as a global player in a lower-carbon energy source. Once operational, Train 7 will add around 8 million tonnes per annum of capacity to the Bonny Island LNG facility, taking the total production to around 30 million tonnes per annum. In 2021, NLNG began awarding procurement and construction contracts. Early works started at the site. The first phase of the worker village is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2022 and the new material offloading facility ready for use by the end of 2022. NLNG’s Train 7 is expected to come onstream in the middle of the 2020s. KEY LICENCE RENEWED FOR DEEP-WATER SNEPCo has interests in four deep-water blocks in the Gulf of Guinea, two of which it operates. Today, nearly one-third of Nigeria’s deep-water oil and gas production comes from the Bonga and the nonoperated Erha fields.6 Since production began in 2005, Bonga alone has produced more than 950 million barrels of oil with the 2021 average oil production per day at 105,000 barrels. The Bonga FPSO vessel has a total production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 standard cubic feet of gas export per day. In 2021, the availability of the FPSO vessel increased to 80% from 70% in 2020. In addition to Bonga, SNEPCo’s exploration activities have led to several significant discoveries of oil and gas over the last two decades, including the Bolia and Doro fields (Shell interest 55%). Nigeria Briefing Notes Helping to power Nigeria’s economy 13 In the right investment climate, SNEPCo believes that there are opportunities to expand. In 2021 the OML 118 (Bonga) production sharing contract was renewed and the lease extended for 20 years. Bonga North and Bonga South West Aparo (BSWA) oil fields are two such potential opportunities. Bonga North is a proposed tie-back project to the existing Bonga FPSO with Phase 1 comprising 14 wells. BSWA is a development of a new FPSO with Phase 1 comprising 23 wells. SUPPORTING RENEWABLE ENERGY STARTUPS Millions of Nigerians are excluded from the country’s power grid and Shell Companies in Nigeria have established and provided substantial funding for a not-for-profit, impact-investing company called All On. Operating as an independent company, All On works to bring reliable electricity – often from renewable energy sources -- to off-grid urban and rural customers. This support aims to build a solid pipeline of viable businesses that can create the scale required to address Nigeria’s access to energy gap. In December 2019, SPDC and SNEPCo made a significant additional 10-year financing commitment of $160 million in All On, bringing the total commitment to $200 million. By the end of 2021, All On had provided investment capital to over 40 renewable energy start-ups in its portfolio – an increase of more than 30% from 2020. One such company is Infibranches Technologies Limited, to which All On has committed $2 million, which is expected to enable the indigenous technology company to expand sales of solar home systems via its more than 13,000 agent banking partners across Nigeria. With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the All On Hub was established in 2020 to provide nonfinancial support and build the capabilities of off-grid energy entrepreneurs. In 2021, the hub supported 81 ventures – nearly double the 41 supported in 2020. Also in 2021, All On, Odyssey Energy Solutions and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet launched a $10 million equipment financing facility as part of the DART pilot programme in Nigeria. 7 Hydraulic flying leads support the delivery of hydraulic fluid and/or chemicals between subsea equipment. 8 Subsea trees are an assembly of valves and other components used to monitor and control the production of a subsea well. DART will combine demand pooling, aggregated purchasing of solar equipment, and access to affordable finance to unlock economies of scale for solar companies, achieve cost savings for end-users, and accelerate the growth of the renewable energy sector in Nigeria and beyond. DEVELOPING LOCAL CONTENT AND SKILLS Shell Companies in Nigeria contribute to the growth of Nigerian businesses that can provide technical and support services to the industry. This includes the manufacture of tools and technical kits, the operation of helicopter flights in the Niger Delta, and strategic partnerships between foreign and local companies to stimulate technology transfer and capacity development. While there are government-required programmes in some areas, such as the Nigerian and Community Content Strategy embedded in the Assa North/Ohaji South gas development project, Shell Companies in Nigeria deliberately seek to contract local businesses wherever possible. In 2021, Shell Companies in Nigeria awarded $800 million worth of contracts to Nigerian-registered companies. Of these, 92% were companies with at least 51% Nigerian ownership. SNEPCo has awarded major engineering and construction contracts to companies that are indigenous, have local staff, or possess domestic capabilities in the country. At present, the manufacture and rebuild of hydraulic flying leads7 (HFLs) is being carried out in-country by wholly indigenous companies. Pressure Controls Systems Nigeria Limited, another Nigerian company, continues to refurbish old subsea trees.8 Sometimes, a lack of access to capital hinders Nigerian companies from competing for and executing contracts effectively. Shell Companies in Nigeria have provided access to nearly $1.6 billion in loans to 901 Nigerian vendors under the Shell Contractor Support Fund since 2012. These loans help improve their tendering opportunities.

Know More About Airtel Africa: Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa.

Airtel Africa offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally.

The Group aims to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys. www.airtel.africa

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