General
Airtel, Avaya Enable Remote Work, Learning in Nigeria
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As part of its determination to enable organisations in the country to implement remote working and learning initiatives, leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, has partnered with Avaya Holdings Corp.
It was gathered that through the partnership, Avaya will offer companies in the country full-feature access to its flagship collaboration app, Avaya Spaces, on a complimentary basis, through Airtel Nigeria.
Avaya Spaces changes the way work gets done, bringing together globally distributed teams instantly with immersive, 24/7 collaboration. And seamless integration makes Avaya Spaces easy to use with the cloud solutions that organizations already use.
Commenting on Airtel’s partnership with Avaya on Avaya Spaces, Oladokun Oye, Head: Enterprise Division, Airtel Nigeria, said Airtel is committed to exploring opportunities and possibilities that will drive learning and enterprise operations while empowering entrepreneurs, enterprises and students to become more productive and successful.
“Our partnership with Avaya supports key sectors by enabling organizations to maintain the safety of workers, students and customers as their top priority while ensuring minimum disruption to everyday business.”
“We have invested in building a robust telecommunications network as an enabler of business continuity. Today, this investment will support the continued delivery of services as well as sustaining economic activities, regardless of location and physical spaces,” he said.
Avaya Spaces is how to handle usual tasks, but also the unplanned and new-priority work that arrives nearly every day. Users can launch ad-hoc HD video conferencing meetings to bring everyone together, share and collaborate ‘in-person’. And automated alerts when someone chats or posts an item within Spaces make it easy to stay on top of fast-moving projects and stay in touch with team members anywhere.
The Avaya Spaces app is available on Android and iOS devices, and can also be securely accessed on personal computers and laptops via Chrome or Firefox browsers.
With obvious use cases for schools, it enables teachers and administrative staff to reliably communicate with parents, students and each other to minimize learning disruption amid the school closure. Using the app, students will be able to participate in virtual classrooms from any location, with the ability to download study materials and send assignments to teachers electronically.
Since January, Avaya has seen an increase of more than 3,200% in video collaboration traffic on the Avaya Spaces platform. Several hundred universities, schools and other organizations worldwide have engaged Avaya to gain the connectivity and collaboration capabilities Avaya Spaces provides as they address the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of businesses have also moved online with Avaya Spaces, using the app to conduct virtual events, launch magazines, keep teams engaged, and enable business continuity.
“As the COVID-19 crisis has developed, we have reacted quickly and decisively in providing collaboration technology on a complimentary basis to help those most affected.
“We are proud to be able to do the same in Nigeria in partnership with Airtel Nigeria, which has shown its commitment to social obligations. Together, we aim to help Nigerian organizations minimize the disruption caused by COVID-19 and begin building a brighter future,” said Nour Al Atassi, Director, Service Providers – Middle East, Africa & Asia Avaya.
It will be recalled that Airtel, earlier in the year, had committed N1.97Bn towards the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Providing a breakdown of the pledged sum, Airtel said it offered free Short Message Services (SMS) to customers across all networks worth over N1.2Bn as well as complimentary data for customers to access educational sites worth over N494m.
The telco also zero-rated traffic to select sites including Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) worth over N30m just as it has commenced a multi-million-naira educational awareness campaign to sensitize Nigerians on steps to take to prevent the Coronavirus.
Airtel further committed N160m to support the NCDC, Port Health Services and the 36 States, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to Airtel, it has offered toll-free lines to each of the 36 States including the FCT to help in the fight against COVID-19 and is also connecting the NCDC’s offices nationwide with Broadband services.
Airtel also announced that it has offered devices and toll-free lines to the NCDC and also provided the Port Health Services with devices and Closed User Group (CUG) lines.
Airtel further stated that the complementary video services through collaboration with Avaya Spaces was another demonstration of its commitment towards the fight against COVID-19 targeted at minimising the spread of the pandemic in the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has issued a data protection compliance circular to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to promote public trust through data-driven governance.
The compliance directive is contained in Circular No. 59805/S.I/74, dated 27 July 2026, and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr George Akume, according to a statement by the Head, Legal, Enforcement & Regulations, Mr Babatunde Bamigboye.
The initiative forms part of a continuum of regulatory measures that will be vigorously pursued as Nigeria advances towards the decisive frontiers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The circular drew the attention of MDAs to a statement of President Bola Tinubu, where he said: “Data is the new oil”.
Mr Akume then directed all Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies to capture the information rigorously and safeguard it under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act).
The circular also directed MDAs to ensure full compliance with the NDP Act, Regulations, Guidelines, and Directives issued by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in relation to the processing of personal data.
To this end, the Circular directs MDAs to, designate suitably qualified officers as Data Protection Officers (DPOs) to oversee data protection compliance and advise management on all matters relating to the lawful processing of personal data, ensure that the names and contact details of their designated DPOs are communicated to the NDPC for registration and official records; engage licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs), where required, to facilitate compliance with the NDP Act and support the conduct of statutory compliance audits.
It also directed them to provide adequate budgetary allocation for data protection compliance activities, including capacity building, awareness programmes, deployment of appropriate technical safeguards, and periodic compliance audits; and submit all mandatory Data Protection Compliance Audit Returns and other statutory returns to the NDPC within the timelines prescribed by law.
The circular further states that “Permanent Secretaries, Accounting Officers and Chief Executive Officers of all MDAs shall be personally responsible for ensuring institutional compliance with the Circular and the provisions of the NDP Act.”
The National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Mr Vincent Olatunji, expressed the commission’s commitment to supporting data-driven governance.
Mr Olatunji maintained that data accountability is pivotal to achieving the eight Presidential Priorities. To provide full technical support to MDAs for the purpose of achieving compliance, the commission has constituted a regulatory clinic.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Yellow Card, a global stablecoin infrastructure provider, has raised $40 million in a strategic funding round to accelerate its international expansion and strengthen its digital payment infrastructure.
The funding round attracted investments from SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, and other strategic investors. With the latest raise, Yellow Card’s total equity financing has now exceeded $120 million.
The company said the fresh capital will be used to scale its Global US Dollar Accounts, an end-to-end dollar account designed for businesses, while expanding the stablecoin payment rails that connect businesses to markets around the world.
Yellow Card’s chief executive, Mr Chris Maurice, described the investment as a strong endorsement of the company’s long-term vision, noting that the company has spent years building infrastructure that allows businesses to move money globally without relying on traditional correspondent banking systems.
He added that the next phase of growth will focus on helping banks connect directly to stablecoin payment rails, enabling faster and more efficient cross-border transactions while expanding access to US Dollar services for businesses.
SC Ventures chief executive, Mr Alex Manson, said stablecoins are becoming an important part of global payments, but noted that widespread adoption will depend on reliable infrastructure and practical use cases.
He said Yellow Card has built the payment rails businesses across Africa need to move money efficiently across borders and expressed confidence in the company’s ability to expand both within Africa and internationally.
The investment also marks growing interest from global institutions in stablecoin-based payments. Sony Innovation Fund said its backing reflects confidence in Yellow Card’s ability to build digital payment infrastructure for emerging markets.
Mr Austin Noronha, Managing Director at Sony Ventures-US, said the company believes Yellow Card is creating the technology needed to help banks, financial technology firms and enterprises move money faster and more securely.
He added that the company looks forward to supporting Yellow Card as it expands beyond Africa into Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Yellow Card said the funding will also support the wider rollout of its Global USD Accounts, which allow businesses to hold U.S. dollars, manage treasury operations, swap stablecoins, and collect or make payments in local currencies across more than 50 countries.
The company noted that the platform is already being used by major customers, including Visa and Western Union.
Founded to simplify cross-border payments through digital assets, Yellow Card has processed more than $10 billion in transactions across its network. The company supports over 50 currencies and holds licences, authorisations and registrations in 22 jurisdictions across North America, Europe and Africa.
Yellow Card has also established strategic partnerships with global payment companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Coinbase as it positions itself as a key infrastructure provider for international digital payments.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved a $4.5 billion arrangement for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited aimed at strengthening the country’s external reserves and freeing up funds for infrastructure.
This is part of the refinancing of the $3.3 billion Project Gazelle Pre-Export Finance Facility through a new $4.5 billion facility named “Project Gazelle 2”.
The approval allows NNPC Limited to refinance the outstanding balance of approximately $1.5 billion under the original 2023 facility, while unlocking an additional $3 billion in liquidity to strengthen the country’s external reserves and support ongoing fiscal and infrastructure priorities of the government.
NEC’s approval followed a presentation by the Minister of Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which was presented by the Chairman of the Council, Vice President Kashim Shettima, underscoring the importance of the project.
NEC observed the significance of unlocking additional liquidity to the federation, among other benefits, pledging its support for the actualisation of the initiative.
The Finance Minister explained that the refinancing has been structured on more favourable terms than the original facility, including a reduction in the volume of pledged crude oil from 90,000 barrels of oil per day to approximately 78,750 barrels of oil per day – a 12.5 per cent reduction.
He noted that under the new arrangement, an additional 11,250 barrels of oil per day for the federation will be released, while there will be a reduction in the pledged crude volumes by the state oil company.
Mr Oyedele added that while accessing additional liquidity on improved terms, the arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures.
“The arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures,” he said.
VP Shettima called for a responsive, scalable, and data-driven social protection policy to tackle multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.
According to Mr Shettima, government policies are often heard before they are seen, speak through the price of food, condition of hospitals, records in schools, strain on families, the confidence of those who invest their labour in the nation’s future, and, very importantly, the ambitions of state governments.
He implored members of Council to ensure that every decision they make assure the citizens “that their government is paying attention to the pulse of the nation and is resolved to respond with competence, compassion and purpose.”
