WhatsApp has launched ‘Power your hustle with WhatsApp Business’, a three-week campaign celebrating Nigerian small business owners and the everyday hustle behind their businesses. The campaign follows three small businesses in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja, sharing the stories of the people behind them, the journeys that have shaped their businesses and how the WhatsApp Business app helps them connect with their customers and grow. The businesses spotlighted in the campaign include: Edibles by Lera Ipapanu (Lagos): A snack brand reviving local snacks many people grew up loving, with modern packaging and convenient delivery. Founder Mosumola Oladoye says, “WhatsApp Business is…
Author: Gbenga OWOYEMI
HP and UpSkill Universe have launched a new initiative to equip 55,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and South Africa with free, practical artificial intelligence (AI) skills. The AI Skills for Business Programme, powered by HP LIFE, the HP Foundation’s free global training platform, aims to help small businesses move from AI awareness to practical adoption in areas including decision-making, customer service, risk management, reporting and operational efficiency. The initiative comes as AI adoption among African SMEs remains relatively low. Nearly 70 per cent of SMEs are still at the early stages of AI maturity, while only 9…
For decades, one of the biggest constraints facing African entrepreneurs has been market fragmentation. A successful business in one country could encounter an entirely different set of regulations, payment systems, customs processes and consumer behaviours simply by crossing a border. The African Continental Free Trade Area promises to gradually change that equation. For SMEs, the opportunity is significant. Businesses that once thought primarily in terms of Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Kigali or Johannesburg can increasingly consider what it would mean to serve customers across multiple African economies. Yet continental ambition introduces continental complexity. Marketing and SME growth professional Linda Ochugbua argues…
News Highlights: NITDA and NNPC’s RTI Unit are collaborating to accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria’s energy sector, focusing on emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, and robotics. The partnership prioritises building strong linkages with Nigeria’s startup ecosystem and youth innovators, while also emphasising enabling policies like the Nigerian Startup Act. Nigeria’s push to modernise its energy industry is gaining renewed momentum as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) Unit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) move to deepen collaboration around digital transformation. At the heart of this emerging partnership is…
News Highlights: The CBN has mandated banks and other financial institutions to complete a Cybersecurity Self-Assessment Tool (CSAT), with strict deadlines of three weeks for Deposit Money Banks and five weeks for others. The regulator warned that inaccurate or misleading submissions will attract sanctions, as the exercise will feed into tighter risk-based supervision and enhanced oversight of cyber threats across Nigeria’s financial system. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s banking regulator, is ramping up scrutiny of cyber risks, directing financial institutions to conduct and submit a comprehensive self-assessment of their cybersecurity posture within strict timelines, as digital threats continue…
News Highlights: Polaris Bank is funding the full renovation of a historic Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences building at the University of Ibadan. The project restores a structure originally donated by IBWA in 1985, upgrading it into a world-class facility with enhanced lecture and research spaces. Polaris Bank, has made significant funds available towards the full renovation of the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences Building at the prestigious University of Ibadan, in a powerful demonstration of its dedication to deepening educational advancement and human capital development in Nigeria. This landmark intervention revives a historic structure originally gifted to…
Many Nigerian businesses are not losing customers because their products are inferior, but because potential clients simply cannot find them easily. In a digital economy where visibility determines viability, fragmented contact details and inconsistent online presence are quietly costing small and medium-scale enterprises thousands of opportunities every year. To address this challenge, NativeID is introducing a free digital identity platform that brings a business’s scattered contact information—phone numbers, social media handles, websites, and location details—into a single verified page. By creating a single trusted digital profile, the platform makes businesses easier to find while protecting them from the growing threat…
Nigeria’s push to entrench digital trust and scale innovation within its digital economy received fresh momentum as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) engaged in high-level talks with Trust Stamp, a NASDAQ-listed global technology company. The strategic meeting, chaired by NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, centred on forging a collaborative framework that strengthens Nigeria’s digital trust architecture while accelerating responsible innovation. Discussions focused on aligning potential areas of partnership with Nigeria’s broader digital transformation agenda, particularly NITDA’s strategic priorities of building a secure, inclusive, and innovation-driven digital ecosystem. The engagement signals a deliberate effort to deepen public–private collaboration in…
— Warn of national security, democratic, and economic risks if journalism continues to weaken Nigeria’s major media and journalism organisations have issued a joint call on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to urgently intervene to protect the Nigerian press from what they describe as the growing dominance of global digital platforms over the country’s information ecosystem. In a strongly worded statement released under the banner of the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), the groups warned that Nigeria risks surrendering control of its democratic conversation, national cohesion, and information sovereignty to unregulated foreign technology companies if decisive action is not…
The power of perseverance, purpose and patient dreaming took physical form on Thursday at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, as the Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, formally commissioned the Senator Oluremi Tinubu Dream Centre, an initiative designed to inspire students through storytelling, mentorship and reflection. The commissioning ceremony drew an array of dignitaries, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi; wives of some state governors; the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa; the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire; royal fathers, university officials and students. The event…