Technology
Banks to Handover 9mobile to New Buyer January 16
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
There are strong indications that come Tuesday, January 16, 2018, the new owner of troubled 9mobile would emerge and made known to the general public.
This is because the issuer of the operating licence of the debt ridden telecoms firm, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which is also the regulatory agency for the industry, has insisted that deadline for the sale of the company would not go beyond January 16.
December 31, 2017 was earlier fixed for the unveiling of the new owner of 9mobile, but the process was not concluded then, which necessitated the postponement.
However, NCC said the new date would not be extended again.
The regulatory agency made this clarification following reports online that the sale of 9mobile had been extended to February 16, 2018.
Executive Commissioner in charge of Stakeholders Management at the NCC, Mr Sunday Dare, stressed that January 16 remains the final judgement day.
Financial Advisors of the deal, Barclays Africa, has shortlisted five firms, one of which would emerge the preferred bidder for the telecommunications firm.
The final five top bidders are Airtel, Globacom, Smile Communications, Teleology Holdings Limited and Helios Investment Partners.
Teleology Holdings Limited is being promoted by pioneer Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Adrian Wood; Smile Telecoms Holdings, an operator in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo DR and South Africa; and Helios Investment Partners LLP, an investment company.
Others are Bharti Airtel, promoters of Airtel Nigeria and Mike Adenuga’s Globacom. Airtel and Globacom are the only Nigerian operators on the list.
It was gathered that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NCC and the lending 13 banks, led by GTBank Plc, would decide on a preferred and reserve bidders.
Last week, Business Post reported that Globacom may lose out of the deal because of some issues; however, there are strong indications that two of the bidders may consider consolidation.
This, according to Mr Dare, is in the best interest of the industry and may play a key role in determining who finally gets to buy the nation’s fourth largest telecommunications operator.
“Nigeria can learn a lot from the Indian telecoms experience of consolidation and market competition in the development of the telecoms market. The consumer in India now enjoys lots of benefits and cheap data,” he told TheCable.
9mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria, secured a syndicated loan of $1.2 billion from 13 Nigerian banks to expand its operations in the country.
However, the firm was later unable to meet up with the repayment plan.
This had earlier forced the banks to take over the company, but the CBN and the NCC prevented this from happening so as not to send a wrong signal to foreign investors.
A new management was set up to run the firm for six months pending the time a new buyer was found.
Since its troubles started, the network and its services have not been the same again, leaving its over 15 million subscribers frustrated.
Since its debt impasse, 9mobile has lost over one million subscribers. The sale of the company, which would result into injection of capital into the firm, might revive it and make it compete well again with other operators in the country.
9mobile, then as Etisalat Nigeria, joined the industry as the fourth in 2009 and shook the sector by storm with the strategy of allowing subscribers choose their unique phone numbers.
Technology
Facebook Offers New Tools to Report Impersonation, Removes 20 million Accounts
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As part of its commitment to celebrating and rewarding creativity, Facebook has updated its guidance, with clear definitions of what counts as original and unoriginal content.
In a message on Monday, the social media platform said it was offering content creators new tools to report impersonation.
Launched last year, the content protection tool is expanding beyond detecting reel matches across Meta platforms to now also flag potential impersonation.
Creators can take action on content theft and easily submit impersonation reports all in one place.
Facebook, in the statement received by Business Post, said creators can check for access to content protection in their professional dashboard or apply for access here.
The platform also disclosed that in 2025, it removed over 20 million accounts impersonating large content creators, and impersonation reports related to large content creators dropped by 33 per cent.
Further, Facebook is deprioritising unoriginal content by making sure they do not perform well on its platform.
It noted that content that is duplicated from other sources or makes low-value changes to someone else’s content may see significantly reduced reach, and accounts that primarily post unoriginal content may lose eligibility for recommendations and monetisation.
It was emphasised that “these changes provide creators who post original content with greater reach and monetisation opportunities, provide stronger protections for their work, and reduce the reach of unoriginal content.”
Technology
Genetec Sets New Standard for Enterprise Physical Security with Cloudlink 2210
By Dipo Olowookere
A new high-density appliance that enables enterprises to scale cloud-managed physical security without forcing cloud-only storage or infrastructure replacement has been launched by a global leader in enterprise physical security software, Genetec.
The product, Cloudlink 2210, was designed for complex, enterprise-scale deployments and supports multiple workloads, including video management, access control, and intrusion detection, in a single appliance. By consolidating these workloads into one appliance, it reduces system sprawl, simplifies management in large-scale environments, and lowers operational overhead.
Unlike solutions that separate workloads across multiple proprietary systems, Genetec Cloudlink 2210 is built on an open architecture that supports a wide range of third-party devices, including cameras, access control systems, and intrusion panels. This enables organisations to modernise at scale within a unified, cloud-managed model designed to preserve architectural flexibility, while securely integrating existing hardware, maintaining business continuity, and reducing migration risks.
The company disclosed that Cloudlink 2210 also supports hundreds of connected devices per appliance and provides up to 240 TB of local storage per unit, making it well-suited for deployments with high device density and long retention policies. The Cloudlink 2210 is ideal for enterprise environments where uptime and local retention requirements are operational priorities because its design minimises dependence on cloud storage, helping organisations control long-term storage costs while maintaining the performance and availability required in enterprise environments.
The new product also incorporates hardware-level resiliency to support strict uptime and retention requirements. RAID-protected storage and redundant system components help ensure data protection and OS availability. Security workloads continue operating locally, independent of cloud connectivity, allowing deployments to maintain continuity even during network disruptions. Dual network interfaces provide redundancy and support network isolation to strengthen cybersecurity.
It scales by adding units as requirements grow, enabling organisations to increase device counts and storage capacity without redesigning their infrastructure. Centralised cloud management maintains visibility and control across deployments.
Genetec Cloudlink 2210 is part of the broader Genetec approach to deployment flexibility. The cloud-managed appliance portfolio enables organisations to operate on premises, in the cloud, or across hybrid environments based on their operational and regulatory requirements. By combining high-performance local processing and storage with centralised cloud operations and management, Cloudlink 2210 supports scalable, cloud-managed deployments without compromising control or performance.
The Product Director for Unified Solutions at Genetec Incorporated, Mr Christian Chenard Lemire, said, “Enterprises don’t want to choose between innovation and operational certainty.
“With Cloudlink 2210, we’re redefining what cloud-managed physical security looks like at scale by giving organisations the freedom to modernise on their own terms, control long-term costs, and maintain the resiliency and continuity their most critical environments demand.”
Technology
TikTok Invests Fresh $200K in AI Media Literacy in Africa
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An additional $200,000 will be invested in Artificial Intelligence (AI) media literacy initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa, TikTok announced during its third annual Sub-Saharan Africa Safer Internet Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
The platform hosted government officials, regulators, online safety partners and industry leaders for the event, reinforcing its commitment to collaborative approaches to online safety.
The funds will be provided in ad credits to help support local organisations in the region to expand AI media literacy.
This investment builds on the company’s initial $2 million AI Literacy Fund, launched in November 2025, which awarded 20 global non-profits to create content that boosts public understanding of AI.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, TikTok initially supported three organisations to advance digital literacy and combat misinformation.
“With the rapid advancement of AI, we are committed to educating our community online, so they feel empowered to have responsible experiences with AI, whether that’s as viewers or creators.
“We are partnering with trusted local organisations that communities already know and rely on, because their expertise and deep local connections are essential to making AI literacy programs truly impactful,” the Global Head of Partnerships, Elections and Market Integrity at TikTok, Mr Valiant Richey, stated.
Earlier, the Head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa at TikTok, Ms Tokunbo Ibrahim, said, “As we host the 3rd Annual Safer Internet Summit here in Kenya, our mission is clear: to share learnings, insights, tackle common challenges and collaboratively advance actionable solutions that protect citizens online.
“By bringing together a diverse coalition of policymakers, tech innovators, and creators, we are ensuring that the conversations we have at this Summit are all-inclusive and lead to a more resilient digital landscape.”
The summit featured expert panels and discussions on critical topics, including TikTok’s Trust and Safety efforts, protecting young people online, and policy frameworks for responsible AI governance.
A key highlight of the event was showcasing how TikTok uses AI to transform how people share their creativity and discover new passions, while ensuring the community remains safe through transparent and responsible AI practices.
The platform also shared more about how recent advancements in AI are helping the platform moderate content faster and more consistently at scale, by improving automated moderation and empowering human teams with better moderation tools.
With over 100 million pieces of content uploaded daily to TikTok, these advances, which work alongside human moderation teams, are helping get violative content down faster, reducing the likelihood of the community seeing it.
According to the latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Q3 2025, TikTok removed over 14 million videos across Sub-Saharan Africa, with 96.7 per cent detected and removed proactively using automated technology, underscoring TikTok’s commitment to proactive moderation and swift action.
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