Technology
Nigeria’s HelpMum, Utiva Get $50,000 from Facebook
By Adedapo Adesanya
Two Nigerian social enterprises, HelpMum and Utiva, have been selected to receive additional funding of $25,000 each from the 2020 Facebook Community Accelerator Programme to grow their communities.
The two Nigerian organisations were among the initial 77 participants selected globally for the Facebook Community Accelerator Programme in July 2020.
When the number was trimmed for the next stage, they were among the 24 participants selected by the Facebook team and ecosystem partner to receive additional funding of $25,000.
They were among the three recipients chosen from Sub-Saharan Africa.
In a blog post, Facebook announced that, “…Today, we also announced the recipients who will be awarded additional funding from each regional demo day, as decided by a panel of judges and the program participants themselves. Communities were evaluated on their execution capabilities, clear vision of next steps, and [the] impact of how they would use the additional funding.”
“These recipients span communities that support a wide range of people and causes, from Girl Gone International, a community empowering and connecting women who live overseas, to HelpMum, a community tackling maternal and infant mortality in remote areas of Nigeria.
“Each recipient will receive $25,000 in additional funding,” it added.
The 2020 Facebook Community Accelerator is a six-month program to equip impactful communities with the skills and funding to grow, concluded this month with virtual demo days occurring across six regions.
The virtual showcases gave each of the 77 participants a chance to share their progress and celebrate their milestones over the past six months.
The programme also provided a forum for investors, advisors, and community advocates to engage with some of their region’s most impactful communities.
HelpMum is a social enterprise birthed with the mission to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria. The organisation’s mission is to eradicate infant and maternal mortality in Nigeria through the distribution of affordable Clean Birth kits to pregnant women in deprived and underserved communities, registration of mothers on our vaccination tracking system, training of community birth attendants using our E-learning platform, and complete renovation of the highly unhygienic and deteriorated state of community birth attendant homes.
Utiva is the leading tech education company in Sub-Saharan Africa that helps people learn premium technology skills virtually and help companies hire the best talents.
Since 2017, Utiva has helped professionals from over 300 companies in Africa learn skills and develop capabilities to thrive in their workplaces and also stay relevant for the Future of Work.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has unveiled the National Digital Cloud Policy, a framework designed to strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and drive the next phase of economic growth.
The policy implementation has an investment target of $750 million over the next 24 months.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Tuesday, noting that the effort aims to further strengthen the transformation of Nigeria’s digital economy.
According to the ministry, through the implementation of the policy, the government’s initial ambition is to mobilise $250 million in private investment within the first 12 months.
The investment will rise to $750 million within 24 months, alongside progressive increases in compliant hosting capacity and the development of Nigeria’s regional cloud export market.
Mr Tijani explained that cloud and data infrastructure are now foundational to artificial intelligence, financial services, digital government, healthcare, education and the wider digital economy.
The minister said Nigeria’s ambition is to ensure that the country moves beyond being primarily a consumer of global cloud infrastructure to becoming a competitive location for cloud investment, infrastructure, skills and digital services serving Nigeria and the wider African market.
According to him, the policy creates an open and competitive framework designed to attract investment into cloud, data centre, and AI compute infrastructure.
It will accelerate the government’s transition to secure, efficient cloud services and strengthen its capacity to host and export digital services across Africa.
“Our approach is deliberately open and investment-oriented. We want Nigerian and international providers to invest, build capacity, develop talent and serve both the Nigerian market and the wider African continent from Nigeria.
“At the same time, government has a responsibility to ensure that its most sensitive digital assets are governed and secured in a manner consistent with our national interests.
“The National Digital Cloud Policy therefore provides a balanced framework — one that promotes investment and competition, strengthens indigenous capability, modernises government and applies sovereignty requirements only where they are genuinely necessary,” Mr Tijani added.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will provide regulatory oversight, standards and assurance, while Galaxy Backbone (GBB) will lead operational delivery, shared infrastructure and aggregation.
Also, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) will ensure alignment with public procurement requirements.
“This separation of responsibilities is intended to provide regulatory certainty and avoid conflicts between regulatory, operational and procurement functions,” the ministry said.
A Sovereign Government Cloud Governance Committee, chaired by Mr Tijani, will provide strategic oversight and whole-of-government coordination for the implementation of the sovereignty framework.
Choosing between a VPS and a dedicated server can be complex. They run apps and webpages. But they operate differently. Understanding the difference between VPS and dedicated server solutions will help you prevent complications and save money later on. In this text we will explain everything in detail with examples from actual life.
VPS vs Dedicated Server: What Actually Sets Them Apart
One physical machine is divided into multiple virtual servers by a VPS. Through virtualization software, each user receives a portion of resources that are separate from those of other users.
A dedicated server operates in a different manner. One user owns a single physical machine. No neighbors, no sharing, simply complete hardware access.
This is the core of the vps vs dedicated server debate. Shared hardware means lower costs, while full ownership means more raw power. Finding the best vps hosting service often comes down to how well a provider balances performance with fair pricing on shared resources.
| Factor | VPS | Dedicated Server |
| Resource allocation | Shared pool, virtualized | 100% dedicated hardware |
| Performance consistency | Possible noisy neighbor effect | Guaranteed, stable capacity |
| Scalability | Instant resize | Requires hardware upgrade or migration |
| Cost | Lower entry price | Higher fixed cost |
Performance, Cost and Control: Where Each One Wins
In terms of raw performance, dedicated servers are superior. Each gigabyte of RAM and each CPU cycle are part of a single project. There is no competition for resources.
Flexibility is where VPS excels. It takes minutes, not days, to scale up. Pricing stays lower too, since costs get split across multiple users on the same hardware.
Shared hardware limitations rarely cause problems for smaller projects. Providers like Antihost allocate resources fairly, so performance stays steady even during traffic spikes. The gap only really matters once traffic gets heavy and consistent.
The contrast of vps vs virtual machine is also confusing people often. A VPS is a virtual computer in a technical sense, but it’s rented from a hosting company, rather than running on your own hardware.
Matching the Server to the Project: Real Scenarios
A dedicated server is rarely required for a small business website. A VPS can easily manage moderate traffic while maintaining low expenses.
A growing SaaS product usually starts on a VPS and expands as the user base grows. This adaptability is more crucial in the early stages than brute strength.
A database-heavy application benefits from dedicated hardware once query volume reaches a certain level. In this case, the lack of resource sharing and a constant disk speed are essential.
A game server depends on low latency and steady performance. Many game servers run fine on VPS today, especially with modern hardware. As David Heinemeier Hansson put it: “Personal servers have gotten really scarily quick, inefficient, and personal internet connections rival what we connected data centers with just a decade or two ago.” That shift makes VPS a stronger option than it used to be.
Here is a quick breakdown of what typically fits best:
- Small business website: VPS, for cost and simplicity
- Growing SaaS product: VPS, then scale to dedicated later
- Database-heavy app: Dedicated server, for consistent speed
- Game server: VPS, unless player counts get very large
Summary
In every situation, neither choice is superior to the other. Everything impacts the optimal selection, including the scale of the project, traffic patterns, and all growth plans. Scale from what works now when the numbers really demand it.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Aminu Maida, has reemphasised the need to protect the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, especially fibre networks, noting that damage to fibre networks carries significant economic consequences.
Speaking virtually at the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Critical Conversation Forum on Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) in Lagos recently, he described FTTH as a critical enabler of Nigeria’s digital future.
“FTTH is uniquely positioned to meet Nigerians' next phase of data demand. The quality of our broadband will increasingly shape the competitiveness of our businesses, the growth of our digital industry and the opportunities available to our citizens,” the NCC chief stated.
“We must uphold deployment standards. Nigeria needs fibre that is properly installed, properly documented, and properly protected,” Mr Maida further said at the event themed Fibre to the Home in Nigeria: Addressing Challenges, Strengthening Standards and Ensuring Sustainable Deployment.
During a panel discussion titled Policy, Governance and Regulatory Alignment, the Deputy Director of Strategic Business Initiatives at ipNX, Mr Segun Okuneye, highlighted the need for stronger collaboration across the telecommunications ecosystem to unlock the full potential of fibre broadband in Nigeria.
According to him, sustainable fibre deployment extends beyond technology and investment to include policy consistency, stakeholder alignment, infrastructure protection, and shared responsibility.
“Achieving universal fibre connectivity requires more than deploying infrastructure; it requires sustained collaboration between operators, regulators, government agencies and host communities.
“When policies are aligned, deployment standards are consistently enforced, and critical infrastructure is protected, we create an environment where investment thrives and more Nigerians can enjoy reliable, high-speed broadband.
“At ipNX, we remain committed to working with all stakeholders to build resilient digital infrastructure that will support Nigeria’s economic growth for generations to come.”
Earlier in his welcome address, ATCON President, Mr Tony Emoekpere, underscored the strategic importance of FTTH in achieving the country’s broadband penetration targets while calling for greater public awareness around protecting communications infrastructure.
“This forum is critical because Fibre-to-the-Home is the technology that will enable the country to achieve full broadband penetration. We all depend on communication infrastructure, and it must be protected,” he declared.
Drawing a comparison with power infrastructure in the country, he added, “If somebody comes to your neighbourhood to tamper with your transformer or power cables, everybody will come out. The same thing needs to apply for communications infrastructure. When we see people damaging fibre cables, we should raise an alarm.”
