By Dipo Olowookere

In 2026, there should be a surge in individual claims and constitutional privacy actions, a leading Data Protection Compliance Organisation (DPCO) in Nigeria, DataPro, has projected.

In a statement signed by its Head of Emerging Services, Ademikun Adeseyoju, the company noted that this means organisations must remain “litigation ready” by preserving processing records and strengthening internal controls.

In the disclosure to prepare for this year’s Privacy Week themed Privacy in the Age of Emerging Technologies: Trust, Ethics, and Innovation, it noted that 2026 would also be defined by board and executive ownership, as privacy will no longer be an IT-only concern but a standing governance issue requiring regular risk reports and dedicated budgets.

“DataPro anticipates intensity on sector-specific enforcement, with the NDPC (Nigeria Data Protection Commission) focusing on high-risk industries like fintech, healthcare, etc,” a part of the statement made available to Business Post on Wednesday said.

Giving a review of key milestones from the 2025 ecosystem, DataPro said the NDPC moved decisively into active enforcement, publicly naming non-compliant entities, particularly in the financial services sector.

It also said the year witnessed landmark court rulings, affirming that transparency in personal data handling is a constitutionally protected right, as courts awarded significant damages to data subjects for privacy breaches, signalling that organisational size no longer shields against accountability.

The firm noted that regulatory settlements with multinational technology firms have set a high bar for behavioural advertising and data processing standards in Nigeria.

In the cybersecurity landscape, the year under review experienced an unprecedented surge in cyber threats, as attackers shifted their focus from technical exploits to identity-driven campaigns, targeting valid credentials with high precision.

“This identity-centric threat environment has made robust access management a non-negotiable requirement for corporate resilience,” it stressed.

As for the 2026 Privacy Week, DataPro has lined up activities, with launch of the Privacy Pulse A year-in-review of Nigeria’s Data Protection Ecosystem on Thursday, January 29.

The next day, a webinar tagged Privacy Pulse to train attendees on the new mandatory bi-annual in-house audits and DPO certification requirements will hold and next Monday, there is an interactive quiz designed to test organizational response to identity-driven cyber campaigns.

A social media session answering complex privacy questions via concise 30-second videos is slated for Tuesday, February 3, and the next day, it is for a social media showcase where winners will be selected for their insights on building Trust, maintaining Ethics in AI, and fostering Innovation under the NDPA.

By Adedapo Adesanya

MTN Nigeria has revealed that it experienced 9,218 fibre cuts in 2025, causing widespread network disruptions across the country.

The telecommunications giant also reported that 211 sites were affected by theft and vandalism as of November 30, 2025, impacting essential services relied upon by customers daily.

The company recorded a total of 1,624,263 customer complaints, all of which were resolved across various service channels during the year. Despite these challenges, MTN reached 85 million subscribers by September 2025.

The chief executive of the telco, Mr Karl Toriola, made these revelations in his latest post on LinkedIn, acknowledging the company’s responsibility for network performance and its efforts to improve the customer experience.

He stated that the services fell short of customers’ expectations and clarified that some of these gaps were shaped by real operational challenges such as fibre cuts, theft, and vandalism.

“Their impact is felt directly by customers and reflected in what they tell us. We take responsibility for the signals we receive and for how we respond to the realities that shape the customer experience on our network,” he said.

Regardless, Mr Toriola added that, “There is progress to be proud of. And we clearly still have work to do.”

“We are not where we want to be yet, but our commitment to putting the customer at the centre of everything we do remains constant.”

As MTN prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2026, Mr Toriola reaffirmed the company’s dedication to listening to customers, responding quickly to issues, and driving consistent service improvements.

Some other milestones announced include addressing 1,624,263 customer complaints across all communication channels as well as receiving best network recognition from Ookla, getting back to profitability, and declaring interim dividends to shareholders.

The report comes in the wake of a February 2025 initiative by the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, which established a joint standing committee on the protection of fibre optic cables in Nigeria.

By Dipo Olowookere

The sum of $55 million has been injected into an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered contract intelligence platform, Ivo, to support product development and scaling as the company deepens its reach across the hundreds of organizations that already rely on its product, including Uber, Shopify, Atlassian, Reddit, and Canva.

The Series B funding round comes after a year of substantial growth in product performance, customer adoption, and market traction to accelerate its mission of making contract intelligence available to every business.

Since its last funding round, Ivo has grown annual recurring revenue by 500 per cent, increased total customers by 134 per cent, and expanded adoption within the Fortune 500 by 250 per cent.

Business Post gathered that the latest funding support came from Blackbird, Costanoa Ventures, Uncork Capital, Fika Ventures, GD1 and Icehouse Ventures.

Ivo is purpose-built for in-house teams that need both reviews with surgical accuracy as well as visibility into their complete contract library.

The company’s AI-powered contract review solution, Ivo Review, allows users to complete reviews in a fraction of the time; customers report saving up to 75 per cent of the time that manual review would demand.

The product standardizes a company’s positions and precedents using playbooks built and implemented by lawyers. This means that every contract is reviewed accurately, consistently, and efficiently, critical for large and globally distributed teams.

“Our goal has always been to make interacting with contracts fast, accurate, and enjoyable. Every key relationship in a business is defined by an agreement, yet most organizations struggle to extract the insights inside them.

“Our focus is to give in-house teams a trustworthy solution that helps them work faster and gives them visibility into their contracts that was previously impossible,” the chief executive and co-founder of Ivo, Min-Kyu Jung, stated.

Also commenting, a Principal at Blackbird, Mr James Palmer, said, “In-house legal teams demand products that are deeply accurate and aligned to how they work. The most sophisticated teams are incredibly selective about the tools they trust.

“Ivo’s traction with some of the world’s best companies shows it consistently exceeds that bar. With exceptional product execution and an uncompromising quality bar, we believe Ivo is defining and leading the category.”

The Senior Manager for Contract Operations at Uber, Ms Kate Gardner, said, “Uber selected Ivo because it was intuitive to use, demonstrated a high level of accuracy, could work in multiple languages, and met its confidentiality requirements. Furthermore, the Ivo team was highly responsive to Uber’s needs.”