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Interswitch Tasks Women to Challenge Norm in Tech

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Interswitch

By Adedapo Adesanya

Leading Nigerian digital payment and commerce solutions company, Interswitch Group continued to show its support for women in tech as it commemorated this year’s International Girls in ICT Day by encouraging young girls to challenge the norm and tap into the many potentials of the sector.

In a chat through Instagram Live to celebrate this year’s event themed Girls in ICT: Inspiring the Next Generation, Interswitch reached out to hopefuls by inspiring them through two women making strides in tech who shared their stories.

Miss Eddidiong Asikpo and Ifeanyichukwu Onwurah, pioneers in changing the norm shared stories of their career trajectories from young girls in science to now full-blown women in ICT during the chat, regalling viewers on how they are changing the narrative in a field that is regarded as male-dominated.

Using their stories filled with good and bad, they encouraged girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), painting the many profitable and fulfilling future that the sector had to offer.

Miss Edidiong Asikpo, Software Engineer at Interswitch, and anchor of the live session began the session by reiterating that the ICT Day was created to encourage girls to consider careers in ICT.

She shared her experience on how transitioning from Medicine to Tech.

“I never wanted to become anything technical. I applied to study Medicine and Surgery in the university. When that did not work out, I started at Innovation Hub at Akwa Ibom to learn Application Development. Tech started to become cool because I thought I would start doing what the big boys at Facebook do.

“Indeed, tech has afforded me access to greater opportunities and contributes to making life better,” she said.

She further added that for the next generation to be brought into tech universe, they would need to be intentional about it, by searching for opportunities and being open to mentorship.

This is one of the many roles Interswitch currently plays, and is willing to continue to play, in raising the next generation of tech girls and women who’ll make disruptive impact in the tech space.

On her part, Miss Ifeanyichukwu Onwurah, Senior IT Service Management Analyst atInterswitch, talked about her journey into tech as a rough one and described it as “Failing forward”.

“At some point in the university, I lost enthusiasm. I failed a lot, struggled through school and didn’t quite understand my purpose. All I wanted to do was look pretty in a pretty job”, she said.

This soon started to change – “After training school, I was deployed to the Tech Department where I struggled in my mind again, for nine months. However, Tech has turned out to be the best decision that I ever made.

“I was inspired by my Group Head, who answered all my questions and helped me through a mind switch. So, I made up my mind not to be defined by my school grades and this drove me to be better at my work. Seven years later, I’m no longer where I used to be and it has been an exciting journey so far.”

Both ladies concluded by encouraging young girls to pursue their tech dreams with grit and deliberateness. They also admonished parents to support their girls by providing useful learning resources especially in their formative years.

Interswitch through this initiative and many more is challenging gender bias and pushing for gender inclusion in the tech space. To bring in more women into the tech space, the service through InterswitchSPAK and STEMLIKEAGIRL Initiatives is pioneering the change.

The InterswitchSPAK Annual Science Competition is one of the ways through which Interswitch creates an equal opportunity environment for more girls to chart a career path in ICT. Since the start of the competition in 2018, there has been an impressive Increase In the participation of girls.

International Girls in ICT Day is an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) initiative and global movement, to encourage girls and young women to consider studies and careers in ICT. It is annually celebrated on the Fourth Thursday of April.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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HabariPay’s Squad Seeks Entries from Young Innovators for Hackathon 2.0

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Squad Hackathon

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The payment fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, Squad, operated by HabariPay, has urged young innovators to submit applications for the 2025 Squad Hackathon.

A statement from the company disclosed that Squad Hackathon 2.0 will take place from March 13 to 15, 2025, at the state-of-the-art GTCO Training Complex located at Tayo’s Plaza, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Themed Finclusion Revolution: Unlocking Access, Empowering Communities, this 3-day event aims to spotlight how technology can address real-world challenges that limit access to financial services in underserved communities.

The hackathon will feature onboarding, team-building activities, brainstorming and hacking sessions, and solution development.

By providing a platform for university students and other tertiary institution participants to showcase their IT skills, the event fosters personal growth, professional development, and network-building.

Additionally, it serves as a stepping stone for young innovators to gain exposure, attract investment, and potentially bring their solutions to market.

The grand prize for the programme is N5 million for first place. The first runner-up will smile home with N3 million and the second runner-up will get N2 million, while the standout participants will have the exclusive opportunity to join the Squad Hackademy.

Launched in January 2024, Take on Squad Hackathon is designed to foster creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving skills among emerging tech talents.

Competing teams will leverage Squad’s advanced APIs to create scalable digital solutions that not only improve their immediate communities but also contribute to addressing wider economic and social concerns.

The second edition of the hackathon is expected to be even larger and more impactful, with expanded participation from universities across Nigeria and a broader range of impactful problem statements.

“The Take on Squad Hackathon reflects our core mission of empowering businesses and young innovators. We believe that the next big breakthrough in technology will come from young minds who are passionate about solving current and emerging universal challenges.

“At Squad, we are not just building cutting-edge payment solutions for our clients, but nurturing a culture of innovation and empowering the next generation of tech leaders in Africa,” the Managing Director of HabariPay Limited, Eduophon Japhet, stated.

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Telcos Finally Begin 50% Hike in Data, Call Prices

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swiftVEE

By Adedapo Adesanya

Some Nigerian telecommunication service providers (telcos) have started hiking their tariffs following the approval granted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in January.

Subscribers of MTN Nigeria and Swift are some who have seen increments across their data plans with Airtel, Globacom and others preparing to roll out their new rates.

MTN Nigeria has revised prices, even going beyond the approved 50 per cent in some of its increment.

For internet data, MTN’s 1.8GB monthly plan is now 50 per cent higher than the previous rate at N1,500. Before now, the package was 1.5GB priced at N1,000.

In additional, the company has raised its 15GB plan to N6,500 from N4,500, while its 20GB plan has been adjusted to N7,500, up from N5,500.

Customers who use larger bundles will pay more comparatively as the 365-day 1.5TB plan jumped by 60 per cent from N150,000 to N240,000, and the 600GB 90-day plan also increased by 60 per cent from N75,000 to N120,000.

SWIFT Networks has also increased internet prices by 50 per cent across board.

Business Post gathered that other telcos will roll out the increment from this week. An insider told this newspaper that the others are waiting to see the reaction from other services before implementing.

Recall that the NCC announced its approval for a 50 per cent tariff increase for telecoms operators in the country, the first of such since 2013 on January 20. This followed a lengthy battle that involved the telcos request a 100 per cent increment.

The regulator said the price adjustment though lower than the “over 100 per cent requested by some network operators, was arrived at taking into account ongoing industry reforms that will positively influence sustainability”.

The regulator said the increase was pursuant to its power under Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA) to regulate and approve tariff rates and charges by telecommunications operators.

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IBM to Exit Nigeria, Others from April 2025 Amid Low Sales

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IBM leaves nigeria MIBB

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

One of the global tech giants, International Business Machines (IBM), is planning to quit a few markets in Africa from April 1, 2025.

According to reports, IBM will leave Nigeria, Ghana and other key African markets because of its declining sales in the region.

The company has struggled to impress consumers because of stiff competition from rivals like Dell, Huawei and others with attractive products.

Its operations in Nigeria and other African countries will now be handled by MIBB, a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate, Midis Group.

MIBB will sell a wide range of IBM products and services in Africa like software, hardware, cloud solutions, and consulting services.

IBM has had a significant presence in Nigeria for over five decades, playing a crucial role in the country’s technology landscape.

The company provided infrastructure and consulting services to key sectors, including banking, telecommunications, oil and gas, and government.

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