Facebook takes $5.7 bn stake in India’s Jio digital platforms

Facebook has taken a $5.7 billion stake in the Jio digital platforms business of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, in one of the country’s biggest foreign investments, the companies said Wednesday.

The deal will give the US social media giant a 10 percent stake in Jio Platforms, part of Ambani’s oil-to-telecoms Reliance Industries empire.

Facebook, which has about 400 million users in India, said it wanted to connect the “power of WhatsApp”, its messaging subsidiary, with the Indian platform, which has grown on the back of a massively successful telecom venture.

In four years Ambani has turned his Jio telecoms unit into the country’s biggest mobile operator — with 388 million subscribers — clobbering competitors with aggressively low pricing.

Jio Platforms also provides internet and e-commerce services that tap into the huge subscriber base.

Reliance said it wanted to boost income for farmers, micro-traders and other small businesses that are the cornerstone of the economy in the country of 1.3 billion.

The company is expected to roll out an e-commerce initiative this year and has been conducting trials with small stores to test its payment devices.

“Jio digital new commerce platform and WhatsApp will empower nearly 30 million small Indian Kirana (grocery) shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood,” Ambani said in a video statement.

The deal will boost “the ease of living for all Indians, especially common Indians and the ease of doing business for all entrepreneurs, especially for small ones”, he added.

It will also help Jio expand its reach, analysts said, paving the way for similar partnerships with companies working in sectors including entertainment, education and finance.

The deal will be a wake-up call for US rivals Amazon and Walmart, which are currently engaged in a fierce battle with Reliance for a share of India’s e-commerce market.

Comments

See how Tinubu reacts to #EndSARS protests, says police reforms has begun

See how Tinubu reacts to #EndSARS protests, says police reforms has begun National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu has said the protest against police brutality in Nigeria is within the constitutional right of Nigerians. “Asiwaju Tinubu believes in the right of Nigerians to freedom of expression, assembly, and protest where and when necessary, he has always canvassed the need for people to explore peaceful channels to ventilate their views and demands,” Tinubu said in a statement by his media aide Tunde Rahman. “He believes the #EndSARS protesters have made their demands, which the Federal Government is studying.” Tinubu’s statement comes after being alleged of being one of the sponsors of the ongoing nationwide protest against brutality, extortion, harassment and extrajudicial killing by police personnel. The Cattle’s Breeders Association known as Miyetti Allah had earlier accused Tinubu of using the protest to distort the administration of President Muh...

Operators seek tax holiday, subsidy to save airlines

Operators seek tax holiday, subsidy to save airlines Worried by the fate that awaits local carriers, operators yesterday, appealed to the Federal Government to introduce some economic recovery measures to safeguard airlines from collapse. The operators, currently burdened by recurrent costs, are seeking aviation intervention fund at an interest rate of not more than five per cent. They suggested that government could take a cue from the American model of offering 50 per cent funding and grants, and 50 per cent palliatives through waivers and suspension of taxes, levies and fees among others. Besides, they called for the implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order on Removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from all forms of transportation; as domestic airlines are still the only forms of transportation paying VAT. The current restriction of both local and foreign commercial flight services has forced domestic carriers into fin...

Senate to write Buhari over dead lawmaker on FCC board

Senate to write Buhari over dead lawmaker on FCC board Senate President Ahmad Lawan will draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to the erroneous inclusion of a dead person on the list of nominees sent to the Senate, The Guardian has learnt. It emerged on Wednesday that the list for the appointment of members into the Federal Character Commission (FCC) included the late Tobias Chukwuemeka Okwuru, a former member of the House of Representatives from Ebonyi State. Okwuru, the 12th on the 38-person list died in February 2020, aged 59. Until his demise, he had acted as chairman of the House Committee on Environment and had represented Ikwo/Ezza Federal Constituency between 2011 and 2015. This is, however, not the first time names of the dead have featured in appointments by Buhari since he became president in May 2015. In 2017, the names of five persons said to be dead appeared on a list of appointments onto the boards of federal agencies and corporations. They were:...

Gtechone

Search This Blog