Stakeholders Anticipate Emurgo Africa’s State of Web 3.0 in Africa Report

By Aduragbemi Omiyale If urgent steps are not taken, Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, believed to be worth about $75.6 billion, could be at risk because of the widening skills gap. This was the submission of a renowned telecoms policy enthusiast, Mr Omobayo Azeez, at the just-concluded second edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE 2023) organised in Lagos by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). In his keynote address on Bridging Skills Gap to Accelerate the Indigenous Telecoms Development, Mr Azeez argued that the rising skills gap in the country was becoming a challenge to the sector. He posited that

By Adedapo Adesanya X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced plans to introduce voice and video calls to the platform. This is the latest move by the billionaire owner, Mr Elon Musk, to turn his app into what he calls an “everything app” modelled after China’s super app, WeChat. These features, when introduced, would place X in direct competition with WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social media apps offering the same services. Making its features unique, Mr Musk said users would not need phone numbers to make calls on X. According to the Twitter owner, the features would work on different

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria plans to increase the net contribution of the telecommunications sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) by 22 per cent by the end of 2027. This is part of efforts announced by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, in the ministry’s 31-page Strategic Blueprint document titled Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency, seen by Business Post. In the document, the ministry noted that “As telecommunications continues to evolve in line with new technology and associated opportunities, it is critical to revamp our national approach to account for changing imperatives and

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A 10-week equity-free accelerator for African startups designed to tutor participants on how to use artificial intelligence to solve local challenges has been introduced by Google. The initiative is called Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First. It recognises the transformative role AI is playing across the world, innovating industries and reimagining the realms of possibilities. It also highlights the significant contributions of African startups in addressing some of the region’s most pressing challenges through the use of AI. A statement from Google disclosed that application for the programme has commenced. It is for startups up to series

By Sodeinde Temidayo David Global technology company, Google LLC, is set to invest $1 billion in Nigeria and other African countries in the next 5 years to support the continent’s digital transformation. Google said the investment will also include landing a subsea cable into the continent to enable faster internet speeds, low-interest loans for small businesses, equity investments into African startups, skills training and more. This is in a bid to enable fast, affordable internet access for more Africans, building helpful products, supporting entrepreneurship and small business, and helping nonprofits to improve lives across Africa. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

By Ahmed Rahma A tech training and development hub, Bincom Dev Center, has launched an initiative called eMigr8 and it is aimed to help tech enthusiasts on some opportunities in foreign countries. The center’s Proservices Lead, Ms Olayinka Isimoya, while speaking on the initiative, said more than half of jobs now require some kind of technology skills, according to the United State Bureau of Labour Statistics. “By 2022, more than 77 per cent of jobs will require some kind of technology skills which means that in three years, three out of four jobs will need some level of technology and

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market on Thursday was bullish with the corresponding average yields depreciating at the close of business. Business Post reports that the market was dominated yesterday by positive sentiment as investors observe happenings at the market. By the time transactions were wrapped up, the average T-bills yield dropped by 0.09 percent to finish at 15.01 percent. However, yields on the six-month and the 12-month tenors appreciated by 0.16 percent and 0.02 percent respectively yesterday to close at 13.45 percent and 17.35 percent apiece. But it was observed that the one month, three-month and nine-month maturities

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira suffered a decline against the American Dollar at the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, losing 0.52 per cent or N3 to sell for N584/$1 compared with N581/$1 it was sold on Thursday. Also, the nation’s currency recorded a decline of 0.08 per cent or 67 kobo against the greenback at the final trading session of the week at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the FX market. According to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange indicated that Naira was exchanged at N416.33/$1 at the spot market yesterday

By Adedapo Adesanya A group of partners in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) space is set to execute various MSME-focused interventions, targeting 1.3 million beneficiaries across 17 States and Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This effort is part of a bid to complement the federal government’s efforts to improve the economy and create more jobs. The MSME and Job Creation Unit of the Vice President’s Office, which is coordinating the interventions, disclosed that the interventions are geared towards ensuring the realisation of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration’s commitment to job creation and economic diversification with the MSMEs playing critical

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the GSM network providers in the country, Airtel Nigeria, said it has now heavily subsidised data and mobile Internet for all Nigerian schools and students using the Dynamiss Learning Management Systems. This was as a result of the partnership between Airtel Nigeria and Dynamiss, an educational technology company in the country. Airtel Nigeria is one firm that is committed to accelerating and deepening the growth of online education in Nigeria. Schools have been remained shut in the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning has been the new normal among students.

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market traded flat on Monday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) refused to sell OMO bills yesterday despite receiving offers from investors. In addition, the average yields of treasury bills remained unchanged at the close of market on Monday at 15.51 percent. This came on the backdrop of a further squeeze in system liquidity coming from the Wholesale foreign exchange sales by the apex bank. Yesterday, the central bank offered N60 billion worth of OMO bills to market traders, but received bids worth N46.262 billion. A breakdown showed that from the N10 billion

By Dipo Olowookere The much-awaited 2019 edition of Africa’s biggest reality television show, Big Brother Naija, will commence this month, the organisers have said. In an announcement made yesterday, Multichoice Nigeria, a leading payTV service provider in the country, which organises the programme, said the show will kick off precisely from Sunday, June 30, 2019. In February 2019, Multichoice held auditions for the reality programme across the country. Lovers of the show had thought it would begin in April 2019, but were disappointed that it did not. But yesterday, the company said all things have been put in place for