By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A leading telecommunications infrastructure provider, IHS Nigeria, has promised to support the country produce future unicorns.

The company gave this commitment at a virtual town hall session organized by the Ilorin Innovation Hub with the theme From Ilorin to the World: Building a Globally Recognized Technology Hub.

The Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of IHS Nigeria, Mr Kazeem Oladepo, said the Ilorin Innovation Hub would be transformed into a leading destination for talent and technology development across North-Central Nigeria.

“We see the Ilorin Innovation Hub as a platform to attract top talent—not just from Ilorin, but from across the region’s tertiary institutions and tech ecosystem.

“This is an opportunity to build globally impactful companies by harnessing local brilliance with global insight,” Mr Oladepo stated.

Responding to a participant’s question on how individuals could contribute towards the growth of the hub, he encouraged industry experts present to engage directly with the hub’s program managers – future Africa and Cc-Hub, provide mentorship, and help in aligning the training modules with local and global market realities.

“IHS is already investing financial, technical, and intellectual resources into the Hub. But to truly thrive, we need champions within the ecosystem—mentors who’ve built real businesses—to guide young people as they develop transformative ideas,” he noted.

He called for the inclusion of successful professionals and entrepreneurs in the platform’s activities to ensure relevance and adaptability.

“Let’s bring in those who’ve succeeded in fields like e-commerce, logistics, Healthtech, and Data Mining. Their insights can help refine the Hub’s programs and ensure participants extract real value,” Mr Oladepo stated.

Also, the chief executive of Ilorin Innovation Hub, Mr Temi Kolawole, described the town hall as a homecoming for top minds with roots in Kwara State.

“This is a convergence of visionaries—people who’ve built, scaled, and invested in world-class companies—now giving back to shape a collective future.

“Our partnership with IHS Nigeria exemplifies what’s possible when public sector ambition meets private sector expertise,” he noted.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Three new features have been added to WhatsApp by Meta to enable users to monetise the popular messaging platform.

A statement from the social media giant disclosed that these new features would allow creators, businesses, and organisations earn from their content under the Updates Tab.

It listed the three updates as channel subscriptions, promoted channels, and Ads in status.

With the latest development, WhatsApp users can ask their clients to subscribe to their channels for exclusive updates.

“We’ve been talking for years about how to build a business on WhatsApp in a way that doesn’t interrupt personal chats. We believe the Updates tab is the right place to introduce that,” Meta said.

“Subscriptions, promotions and ads will appear only on the Updates tab, away from your personal chats. This means if you only use WhatsApp to chat with friends and loved ones, there will be no change to your experience at all,” the company added.

Meta further said, “The Updates tab is where you discover something new on WhatsApp – whether that’s a friend’s status from their wedding day or a creator’s entertaining channel – and it’s now used by 1.5 billion people per day globally. Now the Updates tab is going to be able to help Channel admins, organizations and businesses build and grow.”

“We’ll be rolling this out slowly over the next several months, though for businesses and Channel admins looking to get started,” it said.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A new system to help employers comply with the recently introduced Pension Contribution Remittance System (PCRS) has been introduced by Interswitch.

Called PensionRemit, this platform is fully compliant with the PCRS framework. It is also an approved Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) authorized to operate under the new system.

Designed for ease and efficiency, it enables employers to upload contribution schedules, validate Retirement Savings Account Personal Identification Numbers (RSA PINs) and Pension Fund Administrator (PFAs) in real time, and complete secure payments, all in one seamless flow.

Built to meet the evolving needs of large enterprises, corporates, micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), and service providers across Nigeria, PensionRemit offers a suite of benefits designed to eliminate friction and boost compliance.

These benefits include a streamlined remittance process aligned with PCRS guidelines, real-time delivery, tracking and confirmation of schedules, automated audit trails with instant receipts, zero platform fees for employers, and a reduced compliance and reporting burden.

The platform also serves a broader ecosystem, including payroll service providers, human resource software and enterprise resource planning vendors, offering seamless integration of pension compliance into financial and administrative workflows.

“Our focus has always been on removing friction and unlocking growth for businesses. With Interswitch PensionRemit, we are delivering a digital infrastructure that empowers employers to meet their pension obligations effortlessly and at no cost. This is in line with our mission to drive inclusive financial participation through innovation,” the Managing Director for Commercial Inclusion at Interswitch Inclusio, Mr Muyiwa Asagba, stated.

Also, the Vice President for Sales and Account Management at Interswitch, Osasere Atohengbe, noted that, “We built Interswitch PensionRemit with employers and the future in mind, to boost our drive to address long-standing pain points in the pension remittance process. The platform equips both large organisations and small businesses with the tools they need to comply with PenCom’s new mandate in the most efficient way possible.”

Business Post reports that the new system, mandated by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), took effect on June 1, 2025.