Commissions

The European Commission's use of Microsoft software breached EU privacy rules and the bloc's executive also failed to implement adequate safeguards for personal data transferred to non-EU countries, the EU privacy watchdog said on Monday.The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) ordered the Commission to take measures to comply with privacy rules and to halt data transfer to the U.S. company and subsidiaries located in third countries which do not have privacy deals with the EU, setting a deadline of Dec. 9 for both…

Alphabet Inc.'s agreement to pay $700 million to consumers and states and open the Google Play Store to competition will leave intact the heavily-criticized commissions the technology giant charges mobile app developers.The settlement announced in a court filing and lauded by elected attorneys general who helped negotiate it will make it easier for developers to offer apps to consumers outside Google Play and use their own payment systems. But there's a catch: the developers will still have to pay Google a service fee of…

Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, has commissioned the first phase of the expanded General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and cargo terminal at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. This was disclosed in a statement issued by Mr Sirika’s Special Assistant on Media, James Odaudu, on Tuesday. According to the statement, the minister said the commissioned projects are worth N2.2 billion. The statement noted that the GAT expansion, which was carried out by Messrs Glovesly Pro-Project Limited, would increase the…

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday commission the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery located at the Lekki free zone near Lagos. The pipeline infrastructure at the refinery is said to be the largest in the world with 1,100 kilometres and will handle 3 billion standard cubic foot of gas per day. The inauguration of the refinery comes with high expectations in the Nigerian energy sector amid plans by the Nigerian government to remove petrol subsidy in the second half of the year. Subsidy payments…

Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, on Sunday hailed Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote ahead of the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos. Mr Otedola said history would be made in the Nigerian energy sector with the unveiling of the refinery, located in Lagos.President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday commission the Dangote Refinery in Lagos amid expectations that the facility, considered Africa’s largest oil refinery, would impact positively on the nation’s oil sector and the larger economy.…

The Nigerian Gas Marketing Ltd (NGML), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on Tuesday, commissioned 150 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) natural gas city gate facility in Ibefun, Ogun State. The NNPCL disclosed this on Wednesday via its verified Twitter handle. The project was launched in partnership with Transit Gas Nigeria Limited (TGNL). According to NNPCL, the facility is expected to supply natural gas to industrial and commercial clusters in Ogun State and other…

Controversies have trailed the recent commissioning of ten high-capacity firefighting vehicles reportedly worth over N12 billion by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, in a tweet posted on his official Twitter page Sunday, announced that he had commissioned “ten firefighting trucks” costing over N12 billion. “Just commissioned 10 Firefighting trucks, total cost of over 12Bn Naira. More to come in due course. Safety has been the Buhari focus in Aviation,…

China’s Ant group and Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank, two of the largest investors in Paytm’s parent One97 Communications, are looking at reducing their holding in the fintech major. Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma, however, is not in favour of a strategic investor coming in via secondary share sale. This and more in Monday’s edition of the ETtech Morning Dispatch.Also in this letter:■ Zomato seeks higher commissions from restaurants■ India asks IMF, FSB to prepare technical paper on crypto assets■…

Microsoft/Activision sale battle rages on It might be the holidays, but there is still money to made, and as such the battle between Microsoft and various global regulators — butting heads over the former’s $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard — rages on, becoming more complex as the parties draw lines around the proposed merger. Microsoft has filed its official response to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the regulators that are currently holding the sale to scrutiny as part of its antitrust…

The use of artificial intelligence in taking photography commissions is now in the NFT space Whether you’re in the NFT community or traditional art community, chances are you’ve engaged in discussions surrounding this idea in recent months. Now, in what she calls “the first-ever photography commission inspired by artificial intelligence,” artist Cath Simard is exploring this question in an entirely new way. Simard’s prior work in the NFT art space has earned her a strong fan base in its growing photography sphere.…