May 9, 2022 – Djibouti News Gazette

May 9, 2022

[INVNT GROUP] The Global BrandStory Project® Drives Web3 Innovation in World-First Collaboration with Lamborghini, Steve Aoki, Krista Kim, and RM Sotheby’s

The 1:1 NFT plus the last physical Aventador Coupé auction closed at $1.6MM – placing the purchase price in the top 10 brand new Lamborghinis ever sold at auction.

New York, NY, May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — [INVNT GROUP] The Global BrandStory Project, in collaboration with Lamborghini, leading metaverse artist Krista Kim, 2x Grammy-nominated artist Steve Aoki, and the historied collector car auction house, RM Sotheby’s, sold the world’s first supercar 1:1 NFT connected to the last physical production supercar Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae Coupé ever produced. Leading brands and organizations into the future of Web3, [INVNT GROUP] curated the strategic partnership and developed, designed, and produced the ‘Lamborghini Ultimate’ campaign globally.

Achieving 562MM+ Global Media Reach Impressions and 4.65MM+ Social Media Impressions, the exposure resulted in a closing auction bid of $1.6MM – over 3x the standard suggested retail of a Lamborghini Aventador Coupé – making it one of the 10 most expensive brand new Lamborghini’s ever sold at auction.

To achieve these results, [INVNT GROUP], led by President and CEO Scott Cullather, leveraged the skills and services of its digital innovation division, INVNT.ATOM™, its digital content studio, HEVĒ™, and team members across four of its nine offices, around the globe.

Committed to brand storytelling and boundless innovation, driven by strategy, design, and technology, The GROUP recently announced its expanding global presence through the Web3-focused digital innovation division, INVNT.ATOM, which powered the ‘Lamborghini Ultimate’ project, including the NFT production. INVNT.ATOM helps brands and organizations navigate, activate, and create new storytelling opportunities at the digital frontier. The team, located in INVNT’s Singapore office, consists of strategists, creators, and community-builders specializing in digital-first campaigns, emergent technologies, and engaging brand experiences calibrated for the new era of Web3.

“This collaboration, sitting at the intersection of art, music, entertainment, design, and technology, was an epic project for our group. It represents every aspect of our ongoing commitment to helping brands and organizations tell stories that connect with their most important audiences in engaging and relevant ways. Leveraging Web3 technology in partnering with Lamborghini, Steve, Krista, and RM Sotheby’s, we brought communities from around the world together in unimaginable ways,” Scott Cullather President and CEO of [INVNT GROUP]

INVNT.ATOM together with HEVĒ, [INVNT GROUP]’s creative agency and production studio, led the creative, strategy, design, content, and marketing communications. Through public relations, and social and influencer partnerships, the campaign reached a global audience of over 500MM+. HEVĒ spearheaded the creative direction and production of the Behind the Drop video featuring exclusive interviews with Krista Kim, Steve Aoki, and Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.

In the historic campaign, Automobili Lamborghini auctioned the last production Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae Coupé with a 1:1 NFT. Lamborghini and [INVNT GROUP] united three forms of art: design, music, and cutting-edge technology, to create a never-before-seen collaboration that will go down as one of the most prolific 1:1 NFT drops of the year.

The Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae Coupé exclusive one of one was brought to life in both the NFT and physical car by contemporary artist Krista Kim, who created the visual artwork and her signature gradients. The gradients also appear in the bespoke customization of the physical Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae Coupé, and NFT visionary artist Steve Aoki who consulted on the design of the NFT, physical car and provided a custom-developed soundtrack.

“We had this approach of: “how do we bring upon the higher states of consciousness, and how does that translate and transmute the beauty of the power in the V12 engine of Lamborghini. As a luxury super sports car company, I think that this company is really pioneering web3,” said Krista Kim.

Steve Aoki continues, “I’m honored to be partnering with Lamborghini, Krista Kim, and [INVNT GROUP] on this historic project. It truly has its own story, & therefore I wanted my music track to reflect its soulful energy – the vibe, the spirit, and the power. The digital imprint of who we are has a serious meaning to our lives. As we step into web3, having identity through things like NFTs, like this car, are going to be more and more important to us.”

An exclusive preview of the NFT was hosted on BZAR Future of Community™, [INVNT GROUP]’s patent-pending, decentralized, content-led metaverse; established as a marketplace for physical and digital transactions, NFTs, entertainment, social, and gaming experiences.

The owner of the world’s first super sports car 1:1 NFT now holds in their possession the first-ever Lamborghini luxury super sports car for Web3; with capabilities via the exclusive GLB files, the winner can drive the one of a kind NFT in the Web3 platform of their choice pending platform mechanics.

Marking the end of an incredible era for Lamborghini; the brand is now looking to the future and electrifying its complete line-up by 2024. As Lamborghini charges into the digital era the lucky owner will be part of the brand’s legacy, owning the last naturally aspirated V12 Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae Coupé, and the exclusively designed NFT – the first Lamborghini luxury super sports car for Web3.

“Partnering with [INVNT GROUP], Steve Aoki and Krista Kim on the design and production of this incredible moment in Lamborghini’s history – the very last Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae Coupé ever produced was amazing. These creative minds coming together to design and produce, the 1:1 physical super sports car and NFT package with one of a kind utilities, has created something very special that can be shared for generations to come – making it part of Lamborghini’s iconic legacy,” Christian Mastro, Marketing Director, Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

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About [INVNT GROUP]

[INVNT GROUP] was established in 2020, as an evolution of the founding global live brand storytelling agency INVNT in 2008, with a vision to provide consistent, meaningful, well-articulated BrandStory across all platforms. With offices in New York, Sydney, London, Singapore, Dubai, San Francisco, Stockholm, Detroit, and Washington D.C.; headed by President and CEO, Scott Cullather, [INVNT GROUP], THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT represents a growing portfolio of complementary disciplines designed to help forward-thinking organizations everywhere, impact the audiences that matter, anywhere. The GROUP consists of modern brand strategy firm, Folk Hero; creative-led culture consultancy, Meaning; production studio & creative agency, HEVĒ; events for colleges and universities, INVNT Higher Ed; digital innovation division, INVNT.ATOM; and the original live brand storytelling agency, INVNT. For more information visit www.invntgroup.com

About Lamborghini

The name Lamborghini signifies not only the most coveted and exceptional cars, with technology and rarity, but true masterpieces that have made history. For more information visit www.lamborghini.com

About Krista Kim

Dubbed as a pioneer in bridging the gap between the real and virtual world. Krista creates immersive digital art through technology as an artistic medium to produce next-gen masterpieces for a new world. For more information visit www.kristakimstudio.com

About Steve Aoki

Hailed as NFT royalty in the crypto community and on the global stage, Steve Aoki is a 2x – Grammy-nominated music producer, artist, fashion designer, entrepreneur, Guinness World Record holder, NFT visionary, and one of the most successful cross-genre artists in the world, with a 77 million average monthly reach across all his platforms he is a leading creator that embodies innovation and exceptional masterpieces. For more information visit www.steveaoki.com

About RM Sotheby’s

RM Sotheby’s is the world’s leading collector car auction house. With over 40 years of proven results in the collector car industry, RM’s vertically integrated range of services, from auctions (live and online) and private sales to estate planning and financial services, coupled with an expert team of Car Specialists and an international footprint, provide an unsurpassed level of service to the global collector car market. RM Sotheby’s is currently responsible for the most valuable motor car ever sold at auction. For more information visit https://rmsothebys.com/

Media Kit

“Lamborghini Ultimate” Campaign Photos and Videos. Access here.
Never before seen behind-the-scenes images & interview soundbites with Krista Kim, Steve Aoki, and Stephan Winkelmann (Chairman & CEO of Automobili Lamborghini) Access here.

Attachment

[INVNT GROUP] x Lamborghini : The Lamborghini Ultimate 1:1 NFT

Jhonathan Mendez de Leon
 [INVNT GROUP]™
3478192089
jmendezdeleon@invnt.com

May 9, 2022

$BioFi Ecosystem Announcement – Biometric Financial (BioFi) Announces a New Integration Partnership with Tel Solutions Africa LTD

$BioFi Safeguards Your Personal data while Leveraging the Blockchain and Decentralized Web 3.0 services

WELDON SPRING, MO / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2022 / Biometric Financial (BioFi), an innovative ecosystem and TelSolutions Africa LTD, owner of the BroadSpectrum mobile money platform announce today an integration partnership that will combine BioFi biometrics into the BroadSpectrum mobile money platform, and include Tel Solutions as an official Provider in the Biometric Financial ecosystem.

The BroadSpectrum mobile money platform serves a community size of approximately 2.5 million users across Ghana, with a further reach of 12 million potential users across the African continent. The BioFi biometric solution will be utilized to authenticate participants on the BroadSpectrum platform, while leveraging the $BioFi token as the method of payment for authentication services.

Tel Solutions will also be appointed as official distributor of the Phenix X1 smartphone for the Western region in Africa, including sales and electronic distribution of the UniSafeBox password manager.

The BioFi project represents a Utility Token and a secure set of solutions that leverages biometric security to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) products and services riding on the blockchain. The Phenix X1 smartphone is designed with a highly secure area to protect against fraudsters and to ensure security when running financial apps, transacting online, mining cryptocurrencies, and storing digital assets. UniSafeBox combines biometric encryption technology with blockchain hashing algorithms to secure passwords and a wide array of personal sensitive information.

The Broadspectrum mobile money platform provides the right infrastructure that gives clients a choice on how to manage and use their money to do more. It also helps the client to avoid disconnections and disruptions using reminders of payments due and updates on expenditure. It is a powerful and robust African payment platform which enables clients to also track expenses, save, and access loans from the comfort of their phone.

Brian Maw, CEO and Co-Founder of Finnovant, Inc., stated, “I am very excited for this partnership as the BioFi team and TelSolutions share the values of helping make the lives of customers better by creating simple, user-friendly access to a range of utility and secure solutions.”

Providers of the BioFi ecosystem can integrate easily with biometric API’s, highlighting the unique utility advantage that the entire service can bring.  The Biometric Financial website showcases many examples of utility currently available or in development, while providing services to tens of thousands of users globally.

BioFi is truly global in nature, not bound by a single language or territory, and designed to be user friendly with the added benefit of helping people feel more secure as access is tied to them individually.

Biometric Financial website:  https://biometricfinancial.org/home/

“The TSA digital payments aggregator platform provides the right infrastructure that gives clients a choice on how to manage and use their money to do more with convenience,” says Maxwell Dodd, COO at TelSolutions Africa, Ltd. “Our partnership with Finnovant will add best-in-class biometric security to our highly acclaimed platform, delivering greater security while maintaining ease of use.”

About FINNOVANT

Finnovant Inc. was founded with the vision of helping business leaders dramatically improve the way they interact with their critical information and customers. Our focus is on developing emerging technologies with secure blockchain solutions in the areas of Financial Services, Governance, IoT, Healthcare, and more and improving digital security for our customers. Finnovant provides biometric authentication which helps thwart Identity Theft and Fraud.

Follow the company at Finnovant.com, Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Discord

Chris Benedict
Finnovant, Inc.
1-844-724-8911
cbenedict@finnovant.com

About TELSOLUTIONS AFRICA LTD

Tel Solutions Africa is positioned with the right leadership with the knowledge and skill to launch and drive penetration of digital and M2M solutions. Founded in 2017 by former Airtel and Vodafone Telecom executives, offering communication solutions, Fintech and mobile money solutions, and serving as a manufacturer’s rep for Western Africa.

Maxwell Dodd
Tel Solutions Africa
+233 (0) 26 600 0014
dmaxwell@telsolutionsafrica.com
https://broadspectrumdigitalpayments.com/

SOURCE: Finnovant Inc.

May 9, 2022

St Kitts and Nevis: Fund option offers most straightforward route to alternative citizenship

Basseterre, May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The smallest country in the western hemisphere, St Kitts and Nevis is the pioneer of citizenship by investment programme. Established in 1984, it is now regarded as the “platinum standard” of CBI globally. The country’s 53,192 population directly and indirectly benefits from the revenue that arrives from prestigious CBI Programme.

Dubbed as the “Paradise of the Caribbean”, St Kitts and Nevis has also established itself as the most desired location for cruise ship travellers. It is small enough to see in a day but big enough to explore for a lifetime. The mesmerizing white sand beaches and the sheer blue water makes it even more attractive.

Earlier in the 80s, St Kitts and Nevis derived major revenue from the “Sugar Industry”, but slowly and gradually, it closed in 2005. Following the closure, the country started to utilize the citizenship by investment programme to support the social-economic activities of the twin-island country.

In 2018, the government established Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) popularly known as Fund Option, which is now assisting the government in running social programmes, providing income support to people and more. The option allows the investors an option to make a contribution to the social prosperity as well as the economy of the twin-island Federation.

How Sustainable Growth Fund is assisting St Kitts and Nevis
• Enhancing the quality of education
• Ensure the health and well-being of a growing population
• Develop climate resilience, protecting the twin island against the future effects of climate change
• Construct solid and resilience infrastructure that will stand the test of time
• Promote St Kitts and Nevis’ thriving tourism industry
• Publicize the different cultural savour of the people
• Asset the indigenous entrepreneurship

“As the first country to offer economic citizenship globally, St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme is a feat of longevity and constant creation. It has moved the nation, and certainly people around the world, in a positive way. As the Programme joins a new era, the nation offers you a promising future and refined plan for continuous prosperity,” said the Prime Minister Timothy Harris during the launch of Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) in 2018.

The CBI Programme of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis has been ranked as the world’s, fastest, most secure in CBI Index, published by Financial Times’ Professional Wealth Management magazine.

The country has topped the Citizenship Timeline pillar by virtue of the Accelerated Application Process. The country has bagged the perfect score in the Ease of Processing and Due Diligence pillars. Furthermore, the Sustainable Growth Fund gathered praise for the family pillar facility.

The CBI of St Kitts and Nevis has gained popularity because of the rigorous and stringent due diligence checks conducted to make sure that the alternative citizenship has been granted to the reputed and honest applicant.

The individuals who are keen to attain the alternative citizenship of the twin-island Federation may acquire one by financially donating to the “Sustainable Growth Fund” option. An investor can contribute a minimum USD 150,000 to be part of the citizenship by investment programme, under the Sustainable Growth Fund option.

Another major highlight of the Citizenship by Investment Programme is the Accelerated Application Process (AAP). It is a unique feature which in which after paying certain amount of fee, the applicant can accelerate the processing on his/her application. In some cases, AAP process applications in 60 days or less.

St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme offers the citizenship to the applicant’s family members, including the dependent’s spouse, children (under the age of 30) and parents as well as grandparents (over the age of 55).

One of the best features of the programme of the twin-island Federation is “Global Mobility”. Citizenship provides access to more than 156 countries across the globe.

Some other benefits of the CPI of St Kitts and Nevis can be listed as:
• St Kitts and Nevis’s dual citizenship has been considered the most powerful in the Caribbean and 24 globally.
• The alternative citizenship helps in becoming a global citizen by providing visa-free access to over 150 countries.
• It offers stable and prosperous access to the Caribbean haven.

The second citizenship of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis can be attained if the investor qualifies some of the eligibility criteria, which are:

• The applicant must be of outstanding character.
• The investor must not have any criminal record.
• The investment must have excellent health.
• The applicant must have a high personal net worth.
• The minimum age of the investor must be more than 18 years.
• The individual must prove their outstanding character through bank statements and employer references.

PR St Kitts and Nevis
Government of St. Kitts and Nevis
pr@csglobalpartners.com

May 9, 2022

American Boxing Legend Mayweather Visits Nigeria

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Floyd Mayweather arrived in Nigeria’s capital Sunday evening and met with organizers of this week’s exhibition match in Dubai as well as boxing fans and journalists.

He held a news conference alongside his opponent in his upcoming match, boxer Don Moore.

Mayweather said the visit to Nigeria was part of plans to promote the sport of boxing in Africa.

“It’s all about giving back. We’re working on Mayweather boxing gyms in Nigeria. We want to also build boxing camps for the young youths and children coming up. We’re going to continue to work together and hopefully someday we can find the next Floyd Mayweather from Nigeria,” he said.

Boxing in Nigeria has long been overshadowed by the rising popularity of sports like football. Public boxing gyms are underfunded and poorly equipped.

Nigeria’s boxing champion, Olanrewaju Durodola, says authorities need to step in and that Mayweather’s visit could spur a positive change in Africa.

“The problem in Africa is that we don’t have good promoters here. We have a lot of talented boxers. If he comes to Nigeria and has a big team and sets up all the things that we need, I think the Nigerian boxing will be very great,” he said.

Mayweather’s match Saturday will take place at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel. It will be his first time back in the ring since retiring in August 2017.

Mayweather, who won 50 out of 50 matches during his career, has also visited South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt.

Source: Voice of America

May 9, 2022

Earth Given 50-50 Chance of Hitting Key Warming Mark by 2026

The world is creeping closer to the warming threshold international agreements are trying to prevent, with a nearly 50-50 chance that Earth will temporarily hit that temperature mark within the next five years, teams of meteorologists across the globe predicted.

With human-made climate change continuing, there’s a 48% chance that the globe will reach a yearly average of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels of the late 1800s at least once between now and 2026, a bright red signal in climate change negotiations and science, a team of 11 different forecast centers predicted for the World Meteorological Organization late Monday.

The odds are inching up along with the thermometer. Last year, the same forecasters put the odds at closer to 40%, and a decade ago it was only 10%.

The team, coordinated by the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office, in their five-year general outlook said there is a 93% chance that the world will set a record for the hottest year by the end of 2026. They also said there’s a 93% chance that the five years from 2022 to 2026 will be the hottest on record. Forecasters also predict the devastating fire-prone megadrought in the U.S. Southwest will keep going.

“We’re going to see continued warming in line with what is expected with climate change,” said UK Met Office senior scientist Leon Hermanson, who coordinated the report.

These forecasts are big picture global and regional climate predictions on a yearly and seasonal time scale based on long-term averages and state of the art computer simulations. They are different from increasingly accurate weather forecasts that predict how hot or wet a certain day will be in specific places.

But even if the world hits that mark of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial times — the globe has already warmed about 1.1 degrees (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 1800s — that’s not quite the same as the global threshold first set by international negotiators in the 2015 Paris agreement. In 2018, a major United Nations science report predicted dramatic and dangerous effects on people and the world if warming exceeds 1.5 degrees.

The global 1.5 degree threshold is about the world being that warm not for one year, but over a 20- or 30-year time period, several scientists said. This is not what the report predicts. Meteorologists can only tell if Earth hits that average mark years, maybe a decade or two, after it is actually reached because it is a long-term average, Hermanson said.

“This is a warning of what will be just average in a few years,” said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, who wasn’t part of the forecast teams.

The prediction makes sense given how warm the world already is and an additional tenth of a degree Celsius (nearly two-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) is expected because of human-caused climate change in the next five years, said climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of the tech company Stripe and Berkeley Earth, who wasn’t part of the forecast teams. Add to that the likelihood of a strong El Niño — the natural periodic warming of parts of the Pacific that alter world weather — which could toss another couple of tenths of a degree on top temporarily, and the world gets to 1.5 degrees.

The world is in the second straight year of a La Niña, the opposite of El Niño, which has a slight global cooling effect but isn’t enough to counter the overall warming of heat-trapping gases spewed by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, scientists said. The five-year forecast says that La Niña is likely to end late this year or in 2023.

The greenhouse effect from fossil fuels is like putting global temperatures on a rising escalator. El Niño, La Niña and a handful of other natural weather variations are like taking steps up or down on that escalator, scientists said.

On a regional scale, the Arctic will still be warming during the winter at a rate three times more than the globe on average. While the American Southwest and southwestern Europe are likely to be drier than normal the next five years, wetter than normal conditions are expected for Africa’s often arid Sahel region, northern Europe, northeastern Brazil and Australia, the report predicted.

The global team has been making these predictions informally for a decade and formally for about five years, with greater than 90% accuracy, Hermanson said.

NASA top climate scientist Gavin Schmidt said the figures in this report are “a little warmer” than what NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use. He also had doubts about skill level on long-term regional predictions.

“Regardless of what is predicted here, we are very likely to exceed 1.5 degrees C in the next decade or so, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are committed to this in the long term — or that working to reduce further change is not worthwhile,” Schmidt said in an email.

Source: Voice of America