Author: precious

The Federal Government of Nigeria, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has signed a $7.5 million commitment to help launch Nigeria’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scaling Hub. This initiative, designed to run for three years, is aimed at accelerating the development and large-scale deployment of AI-driven solutions across Nigeria’s critical sectors including healthcare, agriculture, and education. This agreement was formalized during a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony in Abuja, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, as well as Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates. The partnership also included Lagos Business School as…

Dealroom’s Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2025 has crowned Lagos the world’s fastest-growing technology city. According to the Dealroom report, Lagos grew its tech ecosystem valuation 11.6x with the tech city’s creation of five unicorns – Interswitch, Flutterwave, Jumia, OPay and Moniepoint.  In other words, Lagos’ tech ecosystem has expanded at an unprecedented rate relative to its economy.  This also means that Lagos now leads a list that includes Istanbul (Turkey) and Pune (India), with these cities reportedly taking the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Other fast-growing hubs in the Rising Stars category include Belo Horizonte and Curitiba in Brazil, as…

With India-Pakistan hostilities on the rise, CERT-In’s cyber threat alert underscores the critical need for robust cyber defense. This advisory highlights possible state-sponsored attacks, including phishing and malware campaigns targeting India’s critical infrastructure. In early May 2025, India’s cybersecurity agency CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) raised an alarm over a surge in cyber threats amid escalating India-Pakistan tensions. The agency’s advisory came as hostilities increased following a terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir and India’s retaliatory “Operation Sindoor” strikes in Pakistan. CERT-In warned that Indian businesses and government systems were faced against a sharp rise in ransomware campaigns, denial-of-service…

In an initiative led by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Nigeria has embarked on a transformative journey to redefine its digital broadcasting landscape with the launch of “The Big Picture,” a satellite-first Digital Switchover (DSO). This ambitious satellite-first blueprint, endorsed and anchored to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, creates a strategic pivot from terrestrial infrastructure to an efficient satellite-driven model, using the NigComSat-1R satellite, which was a replacement to the NigComSat-1 satellite that was de-orbited in 2011. As the NigComSat-1R is the core of this “Big Picture,” it promises universal access, affordability,…

Apple’s new software updates in May 2025 brought color and useful changes to its devices. The company released the Pride Harmony collection to celebrate Pride Month and launched iOS 18.5, a system update with practical features for everyday use. The Pride Harmony collection features a handcrafted Apple Watch band and dynamic digital interfaces. It was launched alongside iOS 18.5, which introduced enhanced parental controls, expanded Apple TV functionality, and broader satellite connectivity. These releases emphasized inclusivity while refining core user experiences across Apple’s ecosystem. The Pride Edition Sport Band became the centerpiece of Apple’s 2025 Pride efforts, where there was…

Fortinet’s FortiGuard team recently detected and uncovered a highly sophisticated cyber-espionage campaign targeting critical network infrastructure in the Middle East. The investigation, which began in late 2024, revealed that the intrusion had been ongoing for years – from May 2023 to February 2025 – with evidence suggesting that the attackers first gained access as early as May 2021. The campaign was attributed to an Iranian state-sponsored group, known in the cybersecurity community as “Lemon Sandstorm.” Their operations focused on espionage and maintaining long-term access to vital systems in critical national infrastructure such as energy, transportation, and telecommunications. The attackers initially…

Huawei Nigeria has recently unveiled a state-of-the-art Innovation Center in Lagos, marking a milestone in the 25 years that Huawei Technologies have established its presence in Africa’s most populous country. According to the global tech giant, the Innovation Center, launched during the inaugural Huawei Day Nigeria 2025 in May themed “Accelerating Industrial Intelligence,” represents a strategic initiative and serves as a collaborative space designed to bring together diverse stakeholders from across Nigeria’s technology ecosystem. In turn, it will create an environment where innovation can flourish through partnerships between government agencies, educational institutions, private enterprises, and technology professionals. More importantly, this…

Airtel Nigeria has revealed ambitious plans to double its capital expenditures (CapEx) in 2025, committing over ₦500 billion (approximately $325 million) to accelerate the deployment of 5G technology and expand the mobile network coverage to rural communities across the country. This strategic move marks a noteworthy escalation from the $168 million (₦259 billion) previously invested in the 2024 fiscal year, reflecting the telecom giant’s determination to bridge Nigeria’s digital gap while strengthening its competitive position in Africa’s largest telecommunications market. The investment, according to Airtel Nigeria, will focus on critical infrastructure upgrades, including the installation of new base stations in…

Nigerian tech firms are actively leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to combat disinformation and promote the preservation and inclusion of local languages. This double AI-powered approach addresses the challenges of misinformation spread, especially on social media platforms, as well as the digital marginalization of indigenous languages. These media organizations and tech firms are deploying AI-powered tools to fight fake news, particularly on platforms like WhastApp and Telegram, where misinformation is so quick to spread and difficult to monitor. Studies have shown that false information can spread up to six times faster than real news on social media. To address this, Nigerian…

MTN Group, Africa’s leading telecommunications company, has reported a remarkable 19.8% growth in group service revenue for the first quarter of 2025, with Nigeria and Ghana standing out as the primary growth engines. This impressive performance is largely attributed to MTN’s aggressive expansion in the fintech sector and strategic initiatives across both countries. Nigeria: Leading the Charge with Fintech and Regulatory Tailwinds Nigeria, MTN’s largest market, delivered a standout performance in Q1 2025. The company’s Nigerian operation reported a 40.4% increase in service revenue in constant currency terms, reaching R13.0 billion ($715 million) and contributing 27.5% to MTN Group’s total…