Technology
Meet Most Followed World Leaders on Instagram

By Dipo Olowookere
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is the most followed world leader on Instagram with 14.8 million followers. He is closely followed by Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, with 12.2 million followers, who more than doubled his followers over the past 12 months, according to the newly released 2018 World Leaders on Instagram study by leading global communications agency BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe). With 10 million followers, the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, is in third position.
Pope Francis is in fourth position with 5.7 million followers, just ahead of Queen Rania of Jordan, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the White House account, each with more than 4 million followers. The UK Royal Family has almost tripled its followers over the past 12 months in large part thanks to the pictures of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which increased the account’s followers by 570,000 on May 19, 2018.
The study analyses the activity of the 426 Instagram accounts of heads of state and government and foreign ministers, 100 more than in the 2017 study, using aggregate data from Facebook’s CrowdTangle tool.
As of October 1, 2018, the accounts have a combined total of 98.3 million followers and published 98,372 posts in the past 12 months which have garnered a total of 860.4 million interactions (comments and shares).
U.S. President Donald Trump leads the rankings in terms of total interactions (comments and likes). Over the past 12 months, @realDonaldTrump has garnered more than 218 million interactions, more than three times as many as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has more followers but only 69 million interactions on his 80 photos and videos over the past year. However, considering the number of interactions (comments and likes) per post, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most effective world leader on Instagram, with each of his 80 posts receiving, on average, 873,302 interactions. Turkey’s President Erdoğan is in second position with 413,934 interactions and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo’s Instagram posts receive an average of 411,673 interactions per post.
“This third installment of the BCW study shows Instagram has become the social media network where world leaders garner the most interactions,” said Chad Latz, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW. “What is astounding is that the average size of world leaders’ Instagram accounts is less than half the size of their Facebook pages – with five times fewer posts over the past 12 months. However, all Instagram accounts together total 860 million interactions, which is 162 million (23 percent) more than the total interactions on Facebook over the same period.”
The World Leaders on Instagram study also found that 156 of the 193 United Nations member states maintain an official Instagram account, 16 more than in the 2017 study. Ninety-two heads of state, 48 heads of government and 36 foreign ministers maintain personal pages on the platform, which tend to get better engagement than institutional accounts.
Instagram is not the most obvious social network to make sweeping policy statements, however Instagram Stories have become a secondary channel for digital diplomacy, where word leaders meet, greet and tag each other.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is Sub-Saharan Africa’s most followed leader on Instagram with 431 million followers, ahead of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari with more than 160,000 followers each.
Also, Jordan’s Queen Rania is the most followed Arab leader with more than 4.8 million followers, surpassing Sheikh Mohammed, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, with more than 3.3 million followers.
In addition, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri is the most followed Latin American leader on Instagram with 880,000 followers ahead of outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Paraguay’s Mario Abdo Benítez who each boast more than half a million followers.
The British Royal Family tops the Instagram ranking in the European Union with 3.5 million followers, far ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron, with 1.1 million followers, and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel with 684,000 followers.
The Information Department of the Government of Brunei is the most active government account, with more than 17 posts per day on average. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, is in second position with more than 10 posts per day and the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait is the third most prolific with more than eight posts per day.
Since June 2018, 15 percent of the 426 accounts have created Instagram TV (IGTV) channels which allow users to upload up to 60-minute-long videos in vertical format.
Technology
ntel Eyes 2026 Return to Nigeria’s Telco Market

By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s pioneering telecoms operator, ntel (formerly NITEL), is eyeing a return from dormancy, with a preliminary target of first quarter of 2026.
According to a report from a tech platform, Technology Times, the return of the telco is underpinned by a strategic N30 billion injection from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Once the dominant pre-GSM era provider with both wireline and mobile services via NITEL and Mtel, the operator fell into prolonged dormancy following the privatization of the Nigerian telecommunications sector.
After NatCom Development & Investment Limited acquired the business for $252.25 million in 2015, ntel struggled to regain traction. Now, AMCON is spearheading a revival, aiming to reintroduce ntel as an asset-light, infrastructure-centric competitor in Nigeria’s telecoms space.
According to the publication, a cornerstone of the revival plan is the appointment of Mr Soji Maurice-Diya, formerly CEO of American Tower Nigeria, to lead the company. He will succeed Mr Adrian Wood, a former chief executive of MTN Nigeria.
At the helm with extensive leadership experience across sectors such as telecom infrastructure (ATC), oil (ExxonMobil), tech (IBM), consulting (EY), and entrepreneurship (as co-founder of Hash App), Mr Maurice-Diya is expected to drive the execution of this turnaround plan.
AMCON’s intervention represents both a financial stabilization effort and a bid to rescue strategic national telecom assets, in line with targets set by President Bola Tinubu.
The telco holds a Unified Access Service licence from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It is reportedly exploring a cost-efficient Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) model, potentially piggybacking on infrastructure from incumbent operators.
This choice arises from a sobering analysis: fully competing with Nigeria’s top mobile network operators (MTN, Airtel, Glo, and T2/9mobile), which collectively manage over 171 million lines. The telco would require an estimated N7.68 trillion ($5 billion) in capital. Instead, the MVNO approach allows ntel to focus on branding, customer experience, and differentiated services, particularly to youth, fintech, and rural prepaid segments without owning costly infrastructure, the publication analysed.
Despite previous setbacks, ntel retains key assets including spectrum holdings, fibre-optic infrastructure inherited from NITEL, and landing rights on international submarine cables. These which support a broadband-first strategy to help bridge Nigeria’s digital divide.
Technology
Airtel, Vodacom Eye Cost-effective Services With Network Sharing Deal

By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In a bid to provide cost-effective services to more people and deepen digital inclusion in key markets, including Mozambique, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Airtel Africa Plc and Vodacom Group have sealed a strategic infrastructure sharing deal.
It was gathered that the initial partnership focuses on sharing fibre networks and tower infrastructure, to accelerate the roll-out of digital services in these markets, increasing connectivity for customers while reducing operators’ infrastructure costs and improving speed to market.
According to the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Sunil Taldar, “This partnership is aligned with our unwavering commitment to delighting our customers by always making our network available to them even in the remotest locations.”
“Working with Vodacom, we will open greater access to digital and financial opportunities which will transform the lives of our customers while complying with all regulatory requirements,” he added.
He stressed that, “Even as competitors, it has become a business imperative for us to collaborate in the provision of critical infrastructure required to build resilient network with strong capacity to support the emerging digital technologies as well as the growing need for data-enabled products and services.”
“Accelerating the deployment of fibre connectivity is a key enabler in the acceleration of 4G and 5G technologies in Africa to deliver the high-speed, low-latency, and reliable connections needed for modern digital applications.
“This partnership allows for further opportunities for both operators to enhance network performance, extend coverage, and increase mobile, fixed, and financial services leveraging a broader footprint on the continent,” Mr Taldar stated.
His counterpart at Vodacom, Mr Shameel Joosub, said, “Providing connectivity to empower people is at the core of our strategy. Our partnership with Airtel Africa is a proactive step forward in creating a sustainable, inclusive, and connected digital future for the continent.
“Through infrastructure sharing, we can provide cost-effective services to more people, more rapidly, ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age. As we fulfil our ambition to connect 260 million customers by 2030, the need for scalable and cost-efficient network solutions becomes increasingly significant.
“This partnership provides us with the opportunity to narrow the digital divide, empowering more individuals and communities through digitalisation across the continent. It is aligned with our purpose to connect for a better future.”
The agreement marks a transformative milestone in promoting digital inclusion and expanding access to reliable connectivity across Africa.
By leveraging existing infrastructure, the collaboration aims to deliver improved connectivity, faster internet speeds, and more reliable services. This will not only enhance customer experience but also assist with providing access to digital services for a broader population, particularly those in underserved areas, helping to bridge the digital divide in Africa.
Technology
Google Introduces AI Mode in Search

By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Global tech giant, Google, has introduced a new era of AI-powered search to its users in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa with AI Mode in Search.
This feature is more intuitive, comprehensive, and helpful as it helps users tackle complex, multi-part questions with more intuitive responses, multimodal inputs, and deeper ways to explore topics.
In a statement on Thursday, the platform stated that AI Mode transforms how people interact with Search by allowing them to ask nuanced and exploratory questions that would previously require multiple searches. Powered by a custom version of Google’s latest Gemini 2.5 model, AI Mode brings advanced reasoning and context understanding to Search.
It said the feature is especially useful for longer, more detailed queries. A key feature of AI Mode is its advanced reasoning, which uses a query fan-out technique to break down a user’s question into subtopics and simultaneously search a multitude of queries on their behalf. This allows for a deeper dive into the web, uncovering hyper-relevant content.
Furthermore, AI Mode is designed to be truly multimodal, allowing users to interact in the most natural way for them, whether through text, voice, or even images.
Simply tapping the microphone icon or uploading a photo allows users to ask questions using their voice or camera. A core principle of AI Mode is to help users find the best of the web.
The AI-powered response includes prominent links to web sources, expanding the types of questions people can ask and opening up new opportunities for content discovery.
With AI Mode, web links are prominently displayed, ensuring users can easily click through to discover more. Data from AI Overviews shows that AI-powered results lead users to visit a greater diversity of websites and spend more time engaging with them.
While AI Mode aims to provide a reliable AI-powered response, in cases where confidence is not high, the system will default to a set of traditional web search results.
Google disclosed that the AI Mode would begin rolling out today and will appear as a tab on the Search results page and within the Google app for Android and iOS.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring AI Mode to our users in the region,” the Managing Director for Google Africa, Mr Alex Okosi, said.
“We know that people in this region are curious and have complex questions about everything from planning a trip to understanding a new concept.
“With AI Mode, Google is reimagining the Search experience. Users will not only find the information they need more easily but will also be empowered to explore a wider range of content from across the web,” he added.
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