From the CEO
EKenneth Group was the founding partner and key investor in GistMe Communications Nigeria Limited. Till date, EKenneth invested US$1.8M into the company. GistMe Communication obtained their Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) operating license in 2006. The Company has grown to become the #1 Value Added Service (VAS) Provider for GSM and CDMA networks in Nigeria. In addition to investing seed capital, EKenneth has facilitated the following for GistMe Communications;
- Issuing of license for Data Services on GSM and CDMA Networks by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
- Issuing of license for SMS /Online Lottery by Nigeria Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC)
- Issuing of Energy Revenue Collection permit by Nigeria Energy Regulatory Commission (NERC)
EKenneth Group, through an agreement with JP Morgan and Ascend Ventures (both of USA), has extended the SageMetrics Corporation brand to Nigeria/Africa as part of the Bluefreeway PVT Ltd (Australia) acquisition of SageMetrics Corporation, USA for US$42M in 2007. SageMetrics Nigeria Limited is now a wholly and independent entity of EKenneth Group. EKenneth Group continues to invest heavily into SageMetrics Nigeria Limited to position the company as premier software developer in the area of big-data and biometrics in Africa. Along with capital infusion, EKenneth has facilitated the following for SageMetrics Nigeria Limited;
- Contract of N733M (US$4.58M) with Nigerian Communications Commission for the role out National SIM Card Registration exercise in the South-South Zone
- Issuing of ASP status by National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for deployment of biometrics Match-on-Card and Web Verification services.
- Facilitation of support agreement between L1 (Morphtrust) and SageMetrics for local support of L1's ABIS in Nigeria
JE for short, Just Entertainment Television was launched in 2012 on the NTA/Startimes Cable Network which became an overnight sensation with shows like "Friends Around the World" and "Cheat Chat." The TV channel is dedicated to capturing the imagination of over 70M Nigerian youths (age 35 years and under) that are increasingly highly interactive armed with Blackberry (BBM), Facebook and Twitter accounts. EKenneth Group teamed up JE and GistMe Communications to bridge the gap between social media activities and traditional entertainment media; and has invested more than US$500,000 as seed capital into JE. EKenneth is currently working with JE to extend the brand into "Over the Air" broadcast by 2017, and in addition has secured rights for JE partnership into US and European markets.
Residency Hotels Limited (RHL) was established in 2013 to consolidate on gains made by a team founding members operating various hospitality outfit in Lagos and Enugu. The RHL team has successfully launched their first 4-STAR hotel in Ogidi, Anambra State with the completion of Leophine's Residency Hotel –A 58 room hotel distinctively designed for the most demanding traveler and featuring a state-of-art entertainment center adjacent to the hotel. RHL became member of the EKenneth Group in 2013 with an agreement to provide management and supervisory role, including raising funds for future expansion into other major cities. EKenneth Group was responsible and/or contributed to;
- Providing line of credit for the renovation of Mayfair Residency Hotel, Independence Layout, Enugu State
- Structuring of bank facilities for the construction of the 58-room Leophine Residency Hotel, Ogidi, Anambra State
Gist-Trac was founded on the premises that “technology is just an enabler” where people driving the technology are far more important and localization of such technology can only be accomplished when all stakeholders are carried along as partners. Gist-Trac predominance is in the area of knowledge transfer done through working with foreign technical partners to deploy and support their technology in Nigeria. The company efforts has yielded results in the area of various technology for commercial and government sector. EKenneth Group provides management, supervisory, and consultation roles for Gist-Trac projects leveraging on their knowledge of international markets to meet the demands of foreign firm while fulfilling requirement and regulatory environment of local providers. EKenneth Group was responsible or contributed to;
- Construction of Tech-transfer center in Abuja
- Funding and development of self-styled security App “Brothers-Keeper” project for commercial use
