July 16, 2021 – Djibouti News Gazette

July 16, 2021

ServiceMax Acquires LiquidFrameworks to Advance Field Service Management Solutions In the Energy Sector

Brings purpose-built field service management solution and domain expertise to meet unique challenges in oil and gas, industrial and environmental service

PLEASANTON, Calif., July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — ServiceMax, the leader in asset-centric field service management, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LiquidFrameworks, a leading mobile field operations management solutions company specializing in the energy industry, from Luminate Capital Partners, a private equity firm investing in growth and enterprise software companies. The acquisition enables ServiceMax to expand its field service management solutions to meet the unique challenges of the energy sector.

As the market continues to pressure the oil and gas industry to become more capital efficient, oilfield service providers must transform their legacy field operations management processes to digital systems. Whether working long rotations on an offshore platform with limited connectivity or turnarounds in a refinery, Field Technicians in this industry are responsible for delivering service to the customer along with operating new digital systems aimed at maintaining assets, improving productivity, and growing revenue. The acquisition will better position ServiceMax to meet the demand for digital service execution in this industry while expanding ServiceMax’s product portfolio and go-to-market channels.

“ServiceMax is committed to doing all we can to help companies keep critical assets – and the world – running. Strengthening our customer offerings in the energy sector is core to that commitment,” said Neil Barua, CEO, ServiceMax. “Combining ServiceMax’s modern field service platform with LiquidFrameworks’ industry expertise better equips us to provide oil and gas companies with the tools they need to ensure consistent, reliable service, and maximize asset performance.”

“ServiceMax’s history of innovation has been transforming field service organizations for over a decade,” said Travis Parigi, Founder and CEO, LiquidFrameworks. “The combination of LiquidFrameworks field-first, energy-specific offering, with ServiceMax’s asset-centric field service suite will be unparalleled in the market. We are committed to helping companies realize the promise of digital transformation.”

“We are proud of LiquidFrameworks’ growth and development over the course of our investment partnership, as the company delivered a differentiated, mission-critical SaaS offering that helped customers in the oil, gas, and industrial services industry react quickly and efficiently navigate the digital transformation journey,” said Hollie Haynes, Managing Partner at Luminate. “We are thrilled to see the company continue to support its customers through this combination with ServiceMax, further extending its competitive differentiation across the field service management landscape,” noted Mark Pierce, an Operating Partner at Luminate who has served as Chairman of LiquidFrameworks since the Luminate investment.

AGC Partners is acting as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as legal advisor to LiquidFrameworks and Luminate. Centerview Partners is acting as financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP is acting as legal advisor to ServiceMax.

About ServiceMax
ServiceMax’s mission is to help customers keep the world running with asset-centric field service management software. As the recognized leader in this space, ServiceMax’s mobile apps and cloud-based software provide a complete view of assets to field service teams. By optimizing field service operations, customers across all industries can better manage the complexities of service, support faster growth, and run more profitable, outcome-centric businesses. For more information, visit www.servicemax.com.

About LiquidFrameworks
LiquidFrameworks is a leading provider of cloud-based, mobile field operations management solutions serving the energy, industrial and environmental services industries. LiquidFrameworks’ FieldFX® solution provides companies with numerous benefits, including increased and accelerated revenue capture, increased cash flow, improved contract compliance, increased invoice accuracy and improved customer responsiveness. LiquidFrameworks is based in Houston, Texas. To join the conversation, follow @LquidFrameworks on Twitter.

About Luminate Capital
Luminate Capital Partners is a private equity firm investing in growth software companies. Luminate partners with management teams to provide capital to drive strategy, growth, and operational improvements. Luminate’s portfolio of market leaders has also included AMTdirect, AutoQuotes, Axonify, Compliance & Risks, Comply365, Conexiom, Fintech, LiquidFrameworks, MSI, Oversight Systems, PDI, Quantivate, StarCompliance, and Thought Industries. For more information, visit https://www.luminatecapital.com.

Media Contacts

For ServiceMax:
ServiceMax@wisecollective.co

For LiquidFrameworks:
Emily Rhodes
713-552-9250
erhodes@liquidframeworks.com

For Luminate:
Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
914-834-4334
chris@tofallipr.com

July 16, 2021

Nigerian Basketball Fans Hope for Medal at Tokyo Olympics

The Nigerian D’Tigers basketball team’s stunning victories this past week in friendly matches with the United States and Argentina has pushed it further into the Olympic spotlight.

D’Tigers beat the United States NBA stars 90-87 on Saturday in Las Vegas, making international basketball history as the first African country to beat the U.S.

On Monday, the team beat the world’s fourth-ranked team, Argentina, by a score of 94-71.

But the Nigerian team was later slammed by Australia 108-69. It was the team’s first loss in the tune-up games for the Olympics.

Despite that, Nigerian basketball fan David Moge says he’s optimistic about the team’s performance at the Games in Tokyo.

“I see them having a chance to do great things in the Olympics because they have a coach who has a lot of NBA experience and background, so he’ll be bringing a lot of structures in terms of offensive plays, defensive plays and keep the team going,” Moge said.

Nigeria is one of 12 men’s teams — and the only African team — that qualified for the Olympic tournament.

The team is studded with former NBA stars, including Gabe Vincent, Chikezie Okpala and Precious Achiuwa of the Miami Heat. The squad is led by award-winning NBA coach Mike Brown.

The secretary of the Abuja basketball club, Anthony Ekpenkhio, says the diaspora experience is an advantage for the Nigerian team.

“We have players that will match them pound for pound, height for height,” Ekpenkhio said. “I think it’s great that we took our time to select some of our tallest and best players.”

Nigeria’s D’Tigers must do well in Group B competition against Australia, Germany and Italy to reach the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, a Nigerian Olympic delegate was hospitalized Thursday in Tokyo after testing positive for COVID-19.

The coronavirus has infected athletes and delegates, and experts warn that the situation could worsen.

Source: Voice of America

July 16, 2021

Somalia Sends First Non-runner to Tokyo Olympics

Somalia is sending two athletes to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, and they include the country’s first non-runner — female boxer Ramla Ali.

The Somali Olympic team officially departed for the Tokyo Games on Friday, after President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo bid them farewell.

The head of state and senior sport officials urged the team to compete successfully while proudly flying the Somali flag.

Middle-distance runner Ali Idow will compete in the 800-meter race following two years of intense training with professional athletes such as Mo Farah of Britain and Ayanle Suleiman of Djibouti in the Ethiopian highlands.

Idow will join the first Somali Olympic boxer, Ramla Ali, who has trained in London and is already in Tokyo.

Mohamed Abdow Hajji, the head of the Somali Olympics committee, says he is happy to see Ali qualify. He says the committee is attempting to train other athletes outside long-distance running, which is so popular in Horn of Africa nations.

He says sending a middle-distance runner and boxer to the 2020 Tokyo Games is a first step toward sending more athletes in various categories to future Olympic Games.

Sports minister Hamza Saed Hamza says the government is working to upgrade Somalia’s athletic facilities, such as stadiums for training, to help improve athletes’ results.

Somalia has never won an Olympic medal in any sport. Idow and Ali hope to make the country proud in the Games that kick off July 23.

Source: Voice of America

July 16, 2021

Gunmen Kill Nigerian Army General on Highway From Capital

Gunmen shot dead a Nigerian army general as he was traveling by car on a major road from the capital, Abuja, the army said Friday, in the first such fatal gun attack on a senior serving military officer.

Armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, particularly in the northwest, have become so frequent that many are afraid to travel by road. Growing nationwide lawlessness led legislators in April to call on the president to declare a state of emergency.

Major General Hassan Ahmed was killed when gunmen attacked his vehicle Thursday along the Lokoja-Abuja road, army spokesman Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement. Lokoja, 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Abuja, is the capital of Kogi state.

Nwachukwu did not say who was traveling with Ahmed, or how far outside of Abuja he was, but local media said the deceased general was with his driver and a relative.

Ahmed was a director at army headquarters, and he had earlier served as the army’s Provost Marshal. While two retired generals were shot dead last year in attacks as they traveled by road, no serving general had previously been killed in this manner.

The insecurity in northwestern Nigeria is joined by Islamist insurgencies in the northeast that the United Nations says have left 350,000 people dead over 12 years.

In the middle of the country, conflicts between nomadic cattle herders and farmers have killed thousands and displaced half a million over the past decade, according to French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) . In the southeast, a recent spate of attacks on police has triggered fears of a return to war and state-sanctioned violence.

Source: Voice of America

July 16, 2021

Observers Worry Tigray Fighting is Shifting to Ethnic Conflict

The conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region appears to be escalating, with reports that Tigrayan and Amhara forces are recruiting more youths to fight in the country’s north. Aid agencies are warning that a drawn-out war in Ethiopia would cost thousands more lives and worsen food insecurity.

Local media reports forces from Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia and Sidama region are mobilizing to attack Tigrayan forces, a few weeks after Ethiopia’s government declared a unilateral cease-fire in the country’s north.

Many now fear the fighting in Tigray may turn into an ethnic conflict.

“In the last three-four days, the fighting is over there. The TPLF wants to go back and take some of those lands which belonged to the Amhara, which were taken in the last 27 years. So it seems the Amhara are resisting and fighting back there. So things are not really that great in terms of talking about the suffering of the people there,” Obang Metho who heads the Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia, an organization fighting for social justice told VOA. Metho says the fighting is concentrated at the Tigray-Amhara border.

The disputed territories are the Welkait, Tegede, Humera, Telemte and Raya districts. The Amhara claim the land was taken from them when the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front took control of the national government in 1991.

Amhara, the second biggest ethnic group in Ethiopia, took over some disputed areas between the two federal states in the north of the country last year.

This week, the government in Addis Ababa, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, threatened to end its cease-fire, blaming Tigray rebel forces for provocation.

Ethiopian political commentator Befekadu Hailu says the conflict between the Amhara and Tigray needs a political solution.

“Since Ethiopian politics is shaped by ethnicity and regions are named after ethnic groups, it sounds like the ethnic groups are fighting,” Hailu told VOA. “So very distinct, the Tigray regional state has its own militia force and Amhara regional state has its own militia. So these militias are receiving instructions from their regional governments and they are fighting because they are instructed by their political leaders. So it’s not some random and communal driven conflict but it’s a politically driven one.”

Fisseha Tekle, an Ethiopian researcher for rights group Amnesty International, says civilians are caught in the latest fighting in the north and security forces are carrying out discriminatory arrests.

“The situation remains dire and the conflict seems to escalate this week. But what follows is that since the withdrawal of the Ethiopian national defense force in parts of Tigray, there has been a wave of arrests and detention targeting Tigrayans in Addis and out of Addis. So we have spoken to family members, lawyers and friends of those people who are affected. So it shows that Tigrayans are being targeted by Ethiopian security forces,” Tekle said.

The Tigray conflict has driven some 50,000 people into neighboring Sudan and caused a hunger crisis affecting millions. The region is largely cut off from the rest of the country and aid agencies are struggling to access the area to provide needed humanitarian and medical assistance.

Source: Voice of America