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9Mobile Market Share Drops to 2% as Subscribers Port to Other Networks

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9mobile business communication app

By Dipo Olowookere

It seems not to be looking too good for 9Mobile, formerly operating as Etisalat, in the Nigerian telecommunications industry as its subscriber base has continued to shrink as the company struggles to stay competitive.

Since the United Arab Emirates (UAE) company severed its relationship with Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS) Limited in 2017 and the brand name changed to 9Mobile, customers of the network have not enjoyed quality service delivery.

Some of 9Mobile subscribers have had to endure drop calls, poor service delivery and others, forcing them to port to other networks.

Even the acquisition of a majority stake in EMTS Limited by LH Telecommunication Limited in July 2024, speculated to change the narrative for good, has not done the expected magic as subscribers have complained of poor service.

In the latest data of active lines released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it was revealed that the market share of 9Mobile dropped to 2.15 per cent as of October 2024.

The data, obtained by Business Post, showed that the company boasts only 3,389,897 subscribers, far lower than Glo’s 19,108,272 subscribers, which is third on the list at a market share of 12.15 per cent.

The leading network in Nigeria remains MTN at 51.09 per cent with a subscriber base of 80,376,120 subscribers, followed by Airtel at 34.61 per cent with 54,446,118 subscribers.

In the NCC data, it was stated that in October 2024, active mobile lines in Nigeria slightly rose by 2 per cent month-on-month to 157.6 million, ending the monthly drop in mobile line subscriptions that started in March 2024 due to the NIN-SIM linkage exercise imposed by the sector regulator.

As a result, all unlinked SIM cards were disabled, significantly reducing active mobile lines, and leading to telcos losing a considerable number of subscribers.

It was disclosed that in the period under review, MTN Nigeria gained about 2.3 million or 2.9 per cent of customers on a month-on-month basis, followed by Airtel with about 697,000 users in October.

However, 9Mobile, once a darling network in Nigeria, suffered the largest attrition, as it lost 245,000 subscribers, while Glo lost 45,000 subscribers.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via dipo.olowookere@businesspost.ng

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Investors Arm Refold AI $6.5m to Eliminate Enterprise ‘Integration Tax’

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Refold AI team

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup, Refold AI, has completed a $6.5 million round in seed funding to develop a platform that removes API complexity into repeatable, productized software with AI.

Every year, companies pay about $350 billion to big consultancies and systems integrators to ensure API’s work smoothly, but Refold AI is coming to end this tax on business with an AI-native infrastructure.

In a statement shared with Business Post, it was disclosed that this seed funding was led by Eniac Ventures, Tidal Ventures, with participation from Better Capital, Ahead VC, Karman Ventures, Z21 and other notable angels.

The company will use the new capital to expand its engineering team, deepen product integrations, and support its growing enterprise customer base.

Refold AI currently works with over 30 paying enterprise customers, including Incorta and Naehas, has grown 2X in two months, supporting more than 1,500 active users and processing 30+ million API calls per month, with ARR already in the seven figures.

The startup flips the traditional playbook. Instead of hiring teams or middleware to maintain system connections, companies can deploy Refold’s autonomous agents – small AI programs that learn how systems interact, write and maintain integration code, and adapt automatically as software changes.

The platform is already being used to manage ERP-to-CRM syncs, finance automation, and mission-critical supply chain flows across its early customer base.

Refold’s platform is built on three-layered architecture that supports everyone from engineers to end users. At the foundation are Workflow Code Agents, used by solution engineering teams to generate, test, and maintain integration logic without boilerplate. On top of that sits MCP Chains, a natural language interface where business teams can describe outcomes and have agents generate working workflows automatically.

For SaaS product teams, Refold also includes an Embedded Integrations Platform — a plug-and-play toolkit for offering native integrations, complete with prebuilt UI components. Together, these layers let teams turn edge-case service requests into repeatable software products in days, not months.

While legacy iPaaS tools offer templates and global consultancies bill by the hour, Refold turns every edge-case request into a repeatable, productized agent. The platform’s incentives are flipped: it profits not by extending complexity, but by eliminating it. At its core, Refold combines reasoning and reinforcement learning to enable agents that make decisions.

Refold’s agents have already delivered real results. In production, they’ve automated reconciliation in finance workflows, unified inventory and order systems for supply chains, and built real-time data sync pipelines across ERP and CRM stacks. Previously, these were multi-quarter projects. Refold ships them in days and maintains them without tickets.

With a 20-person team across San Mateo and Bangalore and plans to grow to 30 by year-end, Refold is now focused on deepening its enterprise integration catalog and pushing toward zero-friction deployment.

“We were spending more time managing chaos than building software. We started Refold with a simple idea: integrations are repeatable and cumbersome, it should not need humans,” the chief executive and co-founder of Refold AI, Jugal Anchalia, said.

Also, the CPO and co-founder of Refold AI, Abhishek Kumar, noted, “We’re not building another workflow tool. We’re replacing the consultant economy with agents that learn and scale. In the future, integrations should be free, fast, and invisible.”

One of the investors, Hadley Harris from Eniac Ventures, said, “As we enter the agentic era, enterprise integrations stand out as one of the most compelling and valuable use cases.

“For decades, companies have burned billions on brittle, bloated workflows. Refold has rebuilt the stack from the ground up to make integrations seamless and intelligent, and the market is already catching on.”

Another investors, Nicholas Muy from Tidal Ventures, said, “Finally, someone is fixing the most broken part of enterprise software. For decades, we’ve been patching integrations with expensive consultants and manual work. Refold’s AI agents don’t just patch the problem—they eliminate it. This is a fundamental leap forward.”

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Google, GOMYCODE to Train 1000 Nigerian Developers on Generative AI

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Build with AI Nigerian developers

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

No fewer than 1,000 Nigerian developers are expected to benefit from a training programme put together by Google in collaboration with GOMYCODE.

The initiative is to educate participants on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and it is for 11 weeks, according to a statement made available to Business Post.

This training is under the Build with AI scheme and it is part of efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s participation in the global AI economy.

It was designed to foster a new generation of tech talent capable of building transformative products that are both locally relevant and globally competitive.

The initiative comes at a pivotal moment as industries across Nigeria and Africa increasingly look to technology to solve pressing challenges and drive economic growth.

By providing access to advanced AI tools like Gemini and a curriculum with oversight from Google’s experts, the program is set to bridge the gap between raw talent and the specialized skills required to innovate in the AI era.

This strategic focus is intended to accelerate the development of solutions in key sectors such as fintech, healthtech, and agritech, positioning Nigerian developers at the forefront of the continent’s digital transformation.

The 11-week programme will be delivered through GOMYCODE’s extensive network of hackerspaces, combining in-person instruction with hands-on, mentored lab work. This approach ensures that the training is both accessible and practical, allowing developers to immediately apply their learning to real-world projects.

Developers interested in being part of the AI revolution can apply via bit.ly/BwAIDevTraining. The initiative will culminate in a demo day where top participants will showcase their AI-powered solutions to a team from Google and other industry leaders.

Commenting on the development, the Head of Developer Ecosystem for Google in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr John Kimani, said, “We are witnessing a technological renaissance in Nigeria, driven by a vibrant community of developers who are eager to solve the challenges around them.

“Our collaboration with GOMYCODE is about more than just training; it’s about empowering this community with the tools and expertise they need to build the future.

“By equipping them with Google’s generative AI, we are helping to unlock a new frontier of innovation that can deliver significant economic and social impact across the continent.”

On his part, the Country Director for GOMYCODE, Mr Babatunde Olaifa, said, “Our role is to provide the critical infrastructure and local expertise needed to nurture Nigeria’s tech talent. Partnering with Google allows us to bring world-class curriculum and technology directly to our developer community.

“We are creating an environment where innovation can thrive, and we are incredibly excited to see the solutions that will emerge from this program, built by Nigerians, for Nigeria and the world.”

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Orange Joins $1m Hedera Africa Hackathon to Accelerate Web3 Skills in MEA

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$1m Hedera Africa Hackathon

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The $1 million Hedera Africa Hackathon for the development of blockchain solutions has got bigger with the inclusion of Orange, through its Orange Digital Center (ODC) network.

More than 10,000 innovators across 16 countries are competing for the prizes.

The Hedera Africa Hackathon, launched on August 1, 2025, is co-organized with Exponential Science Foundation. The hybrid event will take place online and in person, with physical spaces offering participants access to technical infrastructure, personalized mentoring, and strategic networking.

Orange is partnering with the organisers to promote the adoption of decentralized technologies, education, and innovation.

At the heart of this partnership, a certifying training program in Hedera technology will be deployed within Orange Digital Centers (ODC) in 16 countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Accessible online, this training aims to equip young people, professionals, and project leaders with solid skills in a fast-growing field: blockchain and Web3, which will be required for their participation in the Hedera Africa Hackathon.

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