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Back in 2016, Vaujin entered into a sports handicapping contest. He was extremely driven and had a strategy for winning.

Even though he was up against 100 of the biggest names in sports, Cody made an astounding impression on the industry when he snagged first place for the most units profited in the tracked handicapping contest thanks to his proven and profitable bankroll system.

He took those gains as a sign to follow his dreams, and shortly after, Vaujin dropped out of college. Cody gave up everything he owned and set out to Las Vegas, where he wanted to make a name for himself. What happened next is history. In only six short months, Cody turned $5,000 into a $4 million profit. He achieved this jaw-dropping accomplishment at the young age of 22, and he knew he was on to something big.

Today, Cody runs a&nbsp;reputable business&nbsp;that focuses on sports consulting. He is a leader in the industry and puts his energy into giving top-notch sports handicapping advice to his clients, who number around 50,000 and counting as people continue to seek his expertise.

Cody Vaujin has been running&nbsp;Codycoverspreads&nbsp;and inspiring hundreds of thousands of fans while providing unparalleled value. One of Cody’s secrets is that he never dwells on the possibility of a failure. “I’ve never really been afraid of failing. Here’s the thing; if you have a downer kind of mindset that propagates the potential of failing, you most likely will. You have to be a winner in your head first and foremost. That’s how success manifests itself in reality,” he shares.

With every financial risk that Vaujin takes, his inner fire and drive are simply stoked even higher. He can channel the energy of the risk into his work and achieve amazing results that often surpass even his own expectations. “I very rarely, if ever second guess myself. I’m confident, and I want to share that feeling of confidence with my 210,000 followers on Instagram. This is why I make sure to post regularly and inspire people. I believe that anyone needs to have a healthy level of self-confidence if they want to achieve big things,” says Cody.

His clients are extremely happy with Cody’s guidance, as they are often up by millions in the sports handicapping industry. Vaujin is proud of his work thus far. He recalls an occasion when he walked out of a casino, and a group of people was chanting, “Codycoverspreads,” the name of his Instagram account and his brand, as he received ample congratulations. Everyone wanted to be a part of this magnetic entrepreneur’s circle and celebrate his success.

The future looks bright for this strategic entrepreneur, and he is excited to continue sharing invaluable insights and inspiring millions of people. For more on Cody Vaujin, follow him on&nbsp;Instagram.&nbsp;

Cody Vaujin is a risk-taker. He has always followed his passion and intuition and has accomplished some incredible feats.

Cody Vaujin's inspiring journey to top sports consultant

Ghana businessinsider finance

MTN CEO Rob Shuter earned almost $400,000 in his first 10 months on the job according to the company's 2017 annual report.

The company initiated a new management team in a difficult year which saw them blighted by efforts to pay off their record fine in Nigeria.

The report, published on Thursday, reveals that MTN’s new group CEO, Rob Shuter, took home R40.5m ($338,000) in salary, bonuses and other benefits and was given share incentive grants worth another R40.9m. These grants will mature in March 2020.

MTN published its 2017 annual report for 2017

Salaries of top MTN bosses in Africa revealed

Ghana businessinsider tech

94 percent of countries in Africa and the Middle East suffered cyber breaches in 2017 according to technology giant CISCO.

The alarming revelation was made at a round table on Cyber Security in Nigeria by Cisco’s General Manager in Nigeria, Olakunle Oloruntimilehin who is warning African businesses to adopt a more aggressive posture.

“As cyber crimes become more rampant and sophisticated, Cisco has called on businesses to adopt proper security measures.

“There is need for them to take a comprehensive approach across people, process, technology and policy to protect their businesses from hackers and cyber criminals.

“This follows the findings reported in the recently released Cisco 2018 Annual Cyber Security Report which identified the evolution of ransomware as one of the most significant threat developments over the past year,” he said.

“There is the need for businesses and enterprises to adopt advanced methods of cybersecurity as security is getting more complex and the scope of breaches expanding.

“Several companies are hit by cyber breaches and attacks every year, causing losses in millions of naira and stealing highly classified information.

“It is, therefore, imperative that any organisation that desires to stay safe and minimise risks or losses should address cyber security at the top.

“Executive leadership should set the tone and engender a security-first-always-and-everywhere culture that flows throughout the organisation,” he said.

According to the general manager, 34 per cent of the breaches resulted in more than half of systems being impacted, advising that businesses should adopt high security measures to curtail such breaches.

Cisco reveals 94 percent of African and middle Eastern countries suffered cyber breaches

Six students from Wesley Girls Senior High School will represent Ghana at the FIRST Global international robotics challenge to be held in Mexico City in August.

This was announced by STEMbees, a non-profit organisation in Ghana that seeks to empower Ghanaian girls in STEM(Science, engineering, technology and mathematics) and close the gender gap in that field.

Founded by friends Linda Ansong, Lady Omega Hammond  and Angela Koranteng, STEMbees in 2017 trained and sent six girls from Archbishop Porter’s Girls School to the inaugural edition of the competition where they were one of only six girls teams in a field of over 160.

The team, which built and presented a robot at the event met U.S  First Lady Melania Trump, Ghana’s ambassador to the USA as well as the wife of Ghanaian politician, Dr. Paa Kwasi Nduom.

According to Linda Ansong, the 2018 version, to be held in Mexico is an opportunity to build on the work of last year’s team.

“Last year’s  participation was difficult to put together but we managed with a bit of support. We are going to Mexico with the aim of improving on our achievements last year and also exposing these young women to what their potential is”.

FIRST Global invites one team from every nation to participate in an international robotics event that builds bridges between high school students with different backgrounds, languages, religions, and customs. By bringing these future STEM leaders together in an engaging and collaborative competition that drives home the importance, excitement, and applicability of STEM education, FIRST Global inspires students to learn the skills they will need to make the discoveries their parents and grandparents would consider miracles, impossibilities, or just plain science fiction.

Each participating team is required to raise $25,000 to enable it participate.

If you want to contribute to their participation, please reach out via team@stembees.org

The six member team being put together by STEMbees will need $25,000 to participate

Wesley Girls High School to represent Ghana at FIRST Global robotics competition

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected in Africa from March 7 on a 5 nation tour that is not capturing the imagination of Africans.

Most analysts have criticised the Trump administration for the lack of a clear agenda for its partnership with Africa and see the Tillerson trip as a placatory move by him after his controversial comments about certain African countries.

At a speech at the George Mason University before his departure, Secretary Tillerson revealed the real reasons behind his choice of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Nigeria and Chad.

Well, it’s – obviously, I wished I had two or three weeks, because there are many African nations that are important to us that I think a visit would be beneficial to the relationship. But we picked these five. We’re going to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the home of the African Union; that’s where it is located, their headquarters. Ethiopia also a very longstanding, important partner with the U.S. We have a relationship with Ethiopia that spans more than a century now.

Then we’re going to stop in on Djibouti, the Horn of Africa. Djibouti is that country that sticks out right into the narrow straits between Yemen, leading into the Red Sea up to the Suez Canal, a very critical trading route for the world’s economy and a critical partner in securing that trading route.

Then we’re going to Kenya, a large, thriving country. It’s really where PEPFAR has seen its greatest success, and it’s also been an incubator for how we expanded PEPFAR over the years. So we have a longstanding partnership with Kenya.

Then we’re going to Chad – N’Djamena, Chad – because Chad contributes the largest fighting force to the G5 Sahel and they have been crucial to our fight against terrorism in the Sahel and the success of what they’re doing.

And then finally to Nigeria, the most populous nation on the African continent. Tremendous natural resources and tremendous capabilities to succeed as a nation. They’re still on their journey to succeed, and they are going to be critical to not just the relationship the U.S. has with Africa, but Nigeria is going to be critical to how Africa succeeds as a continent. And I spoke about the need to integrate African economies more, trade more with the neighbors. I think too often the U.S. in its approach – it’s all been about trading across the transatlantic corridor. We really need to promote African intercontinental trade. That’s actually going to open more opportunities for American investment and participation. So Nigeria, big country, very important country to the future of the continent.

And there – I’d love – there are others I’d love to go to. I’ve traveled to North Africa, as I’m sure you’d be aware, but a lot of important countries in East Africa, South Africa, clearly, so obviously this won’t be my last trip. I’ll have to go back.

Tillerson has announced a $533 million aid package to fight famine in East Africa

The US Secretary of State has revealed  the peculiar reason for his  Nigeria visit

Ghana businessinsider politics

For most Chinese people, the Spring Festival is a time to honour family ties, friendships and acquaintances.

This is what producers of this year’s Annual Spring Festival Gala on China’s national broadcaster, CCTV, probably had in mind when they agreed to include a comedy skit about the growing ties between China and African countries called “Celebrating Together” (同喜同乐).

In a celebration of Sino-African friendship, what could go wrong? In fact, quite a lot.

The 13-minute long skit opens with dozens of African performers, alongside antelopes and a lion, dancing to the tune of Shakira’s “Waka Waka”, all rejoicing over the opening of the China-built Nairobi to Mombasa Railway. They are joined by a group of Kenyan train attendants and the female lead, a Gabonese actress speaking fluent Mandarin.

And, then, a well-known Chinese actress in full blackface comes on stage wearing a colourful yellow dress, fully equipped with oversized butt pads, carrying a fruit plate on her head and leading a cheerful monkey played by an unidentified African actor.

In less than 12 hours, descriptions of the skit were all over international media – always ready to run a “China, the foe” story. Turning to the Twittersphere, the public opinion thermometer of the 21st century, journalists found a divided audience: many called it racist, others argued it was not.

The skit might not have been ill-intentioned. But it was both culturally and racially insensitive. It also reeked of propaganda and relied on all the stereotypes about Africa that Chinese media claim to be debunking in their public diplomacy activities in the continent.

It is not the first time that a Chinese state-sanctioned production has misrepresented Africa and African people in such a grotesque way. Last summer, the movie “Wolf Warrior 2”, the highest-grossing Chinese film ever, managed to bring together in a single movie all the clichés of Hollywood’s white-saviour subgenre: an unnamed African country affected by a deadly disease descends into chaos as civil war erupts. That is, until a Chinese mercenary comes to the rescue.

All film scripts in China must be pre-approved before production starts and they must get a final green light before they’re released. CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala also goes through multiple stages of supervision. Sometimes movies and TV acts are tossed out because a red flag is raised. That clearly didn’t happen this time.

Neither “Wolf Warrior 2” nor the Spring Festival Gala were conceived with global audiences in mind. They are cultural artefacts that speak to domestic audiences and, as such, they are tuned to the so-called “main melody”, a concept often attributed to China’s President in the 1990s, Jiang Zemin. Cultural products that dance to the main melody need to be aesthetically attractive to the masses, but remain politically aligned with the doctrine of the Communist Party.

China has a different repertoire for global audiences. As part of its quest to improve its image overseas, Beijing has promoted the expansion of companies like CGTN, Xinhua, China Daily and StarTimes. All have a strong presence in Africa, where they claim to be presenting a different view of the continent and its people.

These efforts are hit hard every time a gaffe, such as the CCTV’s skit, goes on air.

Chinese media portray Africa in stereotypes not dissimilar to the rest of the world. The continent is routinely treated as a single unit, erasing its linguistic, racial and cultural diversity. It is often associated with cliched images such as savannas and safaris and its transformations over the last 30 years reduced to a market logic under the tagline “Africa rising”.

While misrepresentations of Africa are not an exclusive problem of Chinese media, two things set China apart.

As the release of “Black Panther” has shown, many in the US are ready to engage in an open discussion about how the US movie industry has, for decades, failed to address racial biases.

In China, criticism of the CCTV African skit on social media has been censored. This is not surprising, given that, every year, Chinese censors work hard to erase negative comments of a show that has gone from being a must-watch for many Chinese families to a source of memes and jokes for younger generations.

This suggests that China needs to have a conversation about racial insensitivity, which is too common and too often dismissed as cultural specificity. The cultural specificity argument goes like this: while something might be considered offensive in the “West” (for example, blackface), it is not in China, and, therefore, there is no need to feel offended by it.

For a long time Beijing has kept a double narrative going in its media strategy – one for domestic consumption and another one for global audiences. This worked in a pre-Internet era.

If China wants to be viewed as a responsible global actor, it needs to find appropriate ways to prevent controversies such as the one created by the offensive CCTV skit. It could, for example, seek out African specialists at Chinese universities to offer expert advise.

More importantly, when errors are made – and Chinese leaders need to accept that nobody is infallible – Beijing needs to be ready to acknowledge them.

Foreign companies, and sometimes foreign media, are forced to issue an apology when their actions are deemed to hurt Chinese people. Will CCTV be offering one? For now, that seems unlikely. Speaking to the press, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed the controversy and taken the usual path: attacking those who brought up the issue.

Next time Beijing may want to change its approach. By apologising, it would show the world that it is becoming an empathetic global power.

Dani Madrid-Morales PhD Fellow in Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong and first published this article on .

The Spring Festival skit has been roundly criticised around the world

China’s media struggles to overcome stereotypes of Africa

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has urged Governors of the United States of America not to ignore Africa, stating his belief that “this can be Africa’s century”.

According to President Akufo-Addo, growth in Africa, in 2015 was second only to that of Asia, adding that six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies, this year, are in Africa.

“We are rich in natural resources, and in possession of nearly 30 percent of the earth’s remaining mineral resources. We have a vibrant young population, and, though we still have important security challenges, we are more at peace than before,” he said.

The President noted that with the historic decision of the African Union to bring into being, on 21st March, 2018, the Continental Free Trade Area, the agenda of regional integration, which will establish a market of some 2 billion people in 20 years, presents immense opportunities to bring prosperity to Africa with hard work, enterprise and creativity.

“This is the time to look at Africa”, he added.

President Akufo-Addo made this known when he delivered the keynote address at the National Governors Association 2018 Winter Meeting, in Washington DC, United States of America, on Sunday, 25th February, 2018.

Whilst acknowledging the disheartening spectre of African youths crossing the Sahara desert on foot and drown in the Mediterranean Sea, in a desperate bid to reach the mirage of a better life in Europe, President Akufo-Addo explained that the current structure of African economies, which are dependent on the production and export of raw materials, cannot create prosperity.

“These economies cannot produce wealth and prosperity for the masses on the continent. It, therefore, drives the determination to seek a much better standard of living out of Africa, thereby, fuelling the refugee crises and the numerous counts of illegal migrations,” he said.

The large wave of migrations into the United States from Ireland and Italy, in the 19th century, the President added, has completely subsided because the economies of the two countries are working properly.

It is for this reason that President Akufo-Addo stated that “the only way to ensuring prosperity in Africa and jobs for our young populations is through value addition activities, in a transformed and diversified, modern economy, in which we take full advantage of the digital revolution.”

He continued, “In other words, the industrial development of our continent, and we are determined to ensure the realisation of this, so that our young people can stay and devote their great energies to the building of a great Africa.”

The President was confident that it is only Asians who can engineer, in a generation, their transition from poverty to prosperity.

“We are determined to do that in our generation in Ghana, on the continent, and ensure that succeeding generations will be neither victims nor pawns of the global order,” he added.

This, the President indicated, will serve as the impetus for re-shaping the continent and charting a new path of growth and development in freedom, which will lift the long suffering African masses out of poverty into the realms of prosperity and dignified existence.

President Akufo-Addo made this known when he delivered the keynote address at the National Governors Association 2018 Winter Meeting, in Washington DC, United States of America, on Sunday, 25th February, 2018

Ghana's president presents 'Africa's century' to US governors

Robert Mugabe celebrated a quiet 94th birthday with a party at his Blue Roof mansion in the capital and no kids were allowed.

The former Zimbabwean president was deposed  in 2017 by the army and his then vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa and has stayed out of the public eye along with his wife Grace.

With a reputation for staging massive parties to mark his birthday during his time as president, this was definitely a different feel for most Zimbabweans.

Photos released by Zim Media Review showed a family photo including Grace's two controversial sons Chatunga and Robert Junior.

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Mugabe has stayed out of the public since he was deposed from power

Robert Mugabe and his family had a private birthday party with no kids allowed

Tanzania has rolled out a new mining regulation that could end up becoming a template for other mineral rich African countries looking to combat exploitation and increase revenues.

President John Magafuli has made the mining sector a key part of his agenda to create wealth for his country and has embarked on a path that has put him at loggerheads with foreign investors in his country.

In 2017 he banned the export of unprocessed minerals as the government squeezed mining companies for increased royalties, leading to a massive bill of $190 billion in fines and taxes for mining giant Acacia and its parent company Barrick Gold.  The company later settled for $300 million and an offer of 16% of its stake in three mines.

The highlights of the new regulations are as follows.

Tanzania has also recently banned cannabis .

President John Magafuli has made the mining sector a key part of his agenda to create wealth for his country and has embarked on a path that has put him at loggerheads with foreign investors in his country

Tanzania has rolled out a strict new mining law that other African countries should copy

Onem has announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency called mCoin. mCoin is a unique first of a kind inclusive cryptocurrency, that makes it possible for the 3 billion people around the world who don’t have access to the Internet to take advantage of new kinds of services tied to blockchain technology and it is accessible on any mobile.

mCoin is powered by ONEm’s global and scalable Platform, which, according to the company, has the ability to reach billions of people around the world even through traditional mobile without the Internet.

Unlike other Cryptocurrencies, people will have the ability to trade mCoin securely through their SMS based virtual wallets which is not connected to the Internet. Users will be able to earn mCoins through “Pseudo-Mining” which is a type of “Proof of Work” based on meaningful activities. mCoin is bringing together a community of people outside the domain of the Internet who for the first time will be able to participate in sharing information that will have positive social and economical impact.

Millions of small businesses around the world will have access to mCoin through ONEm’s Sweb for Business, Market Place, mCatalogue and many social applications that use SMS and/or the Internet.

ONEm’s powerful ecosystem can be harnessed by governments and organisations to provide valuable services for their citizens who don’t have access to the internet, and in the same vein make use of mCoin’s underlying SMS accessible blockchain technology.

“It is exciting to see so many people who share in our vision for an inclusive Cryptocurrency outside of the domain of the Internet. People from all over the world are participating in mCoin Pre ICO and taking advantage of the attractive bonus packages now available as they see tremendous high growth potential of a cryptocurrency that can reach this very big un-tapped market,” said Christopher Richardson, CEO of ONEm.

mCoin is powered by ONEm’s global and scalable Platform, which, according to the company, has the ability to reach billions of people around the world even through traditional mobile without the Internet

Meet the mCoin, the cryptocurrency that does not need internet to access

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation spent $5.8 billion on fuel imports to combat fuel shortages in Africa's largest exporter of oil since 2017.

“The corporation’s intervention became necessary following the inability of the major and independent marketers to import the product because of the high landing cost which made cost recovery and profitability difficult,” the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in a statement.

With a price cap in place, importers in the country say they struggle to remain solvent leaving the NNPC as the most reliable fall back. Refineries in the country are also producing  below capacity with all hopes now banked on Aliko Dangote's soon to be completed refinery.

Currently being constructed on a 2, 200 hectares at the Lekki Free Trade zone in Lagos, it is tipped to become the single largest train petroleum refinery in the world.

It will refine 650,000 barrels of crude per day, and a petrochemical plant of 750,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene per annum. It is also projected to have 1.5 times more capacity than the existing four oil refineries in the country, even if they are operating at 100 per cent.

Nigeria has faced domestic fuel shortages,leading to increased political pressure on president Buhari

Africa's largest oil exporter spent $5.8 billion to import fuel to combat domestic shortage

Sordid details have emerged about how Zimbabwe's former first lady Grace Mugabe had lecturers from the country's top university brought to her orphanage so she could take an exam as part of her doctoral  studies.

The University of Zimbabwe's head Levi Nyagura was arrested in Harare on Friday as part of an ongoing enquiry into the award of a PHD to then first lady Mugabe within six months.

According to Nyagura, lecturers were sent to the Mazowe orphanage in 2014 so she could take her oral exams, a practice that was irregular. Her husband, then president Robert Mugabe served as chancellor of the school at the time.

According to the Standard newspaper, during Nyagura's appearance in court , it emerged that he "single-handedly accepted Grace's application to study for the PhD without the knowledge of the university's sociology department".

Nyagura accepted Mrs. Mugabe's application "without the knowledge and recommendations of the departmental board and faculty of higher degrees committee in violation of UZ quality assurance guidelines and benchmark".

The court heard that Nyagura appointed Professor Claude Mararike and Professor Chaneta to supervise Grace.

Nyagura pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded to March 5 on $200 bail.

Grace Mugabe is accused of earning her PHD within a six month period at the University of Zimbabwe

The story behind how  Grace Mugabe had lecturers from Zimbabwe's top university brought to her orphanage for her PHD exams

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