By Henry BANKOLE In 2022, Nigeria’s fintech sector experienced a significant surge in mobile transactions, with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) reporting a 153% year-on-year increase to ₦12.8 trillion in the first nine months. This rapid growth, while indicative of a thriving digital economy, also heightened the risk of operational challenges, notably double disbursements, instances where a single transaction results in multiple unintended payments. Problem Scope Although specific data on double disbursement losses in Nigeria remains scarce, global trends provide valuable context. In 2022, payment processing errors, including duplicate payments, accounted for $118 billion in losses worldwide. In Nigeria,…
Author: DigitalTimesNG
Chain Reactions Africa, a leading public relations and reputations management consultancy, has announced the appointment of Nkiru Oguadinma, an accomplished Marketing and Business Growth Expert as its Executive Director, Growth. The company said in a statement that the appointment is in keeping with its recently announced ambitious 10-year growth strategy, and noted that in her new role, Nkiru will be part of the executive management team and responsible for driving the company’s growth plan across key sectors in Africa. It’s worthy of note that the Nigerian marketing communications industry has been on the path of resurgence, following the general downturn…
With the tap of a button, you’ll be able to send up to a 60-second-long video message to your contacts WhatsApp users can now quickly send short video messages during a chat, similar to the voice messages the service already supports. Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg shared a short clip of the feature in action, showing the circular videos sent via the feature. According to an accompanying blog post from WhatsApp, video messages can be up to 60 seconds in length and will automatically play on mute when a recipient opens a chat. That’s in contrast to voice messages, which don’t…
Over the past two decades, mobile telecommunications have transformed the face of Sub-Saharan Africa, integrating hundreds of millions of people into the digital economy and creating a new industry worth billions of dollars a year. Mobile technology has, according to the GSM Association, reached 1.2 billion connections and over 650 million unique mobile users in Africa. Thanks to mobile technology, Sub-Saharan Africa has leapfrogged legacy voice and data networks, positioning itself at the forefront of innovations such as mobile money. Now, with 5G, the fifth generation of GSM cellular technology bursting into the mainstream, Africa has another opportunity to take…
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has officially launched the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) for achieving a digitally literate citizenry. NITDA said the launch is in line with its ambitious target to achieve 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030 and aligning with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create over one million jobs for youths in the digital economy sector, Furthermore, the framework is aimed at providing a clear and consistent definition of digital literacy and developing a national curriculum for digital literacy capacity-building training to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or location,…
Airtel Nigeria has rewarded commercial partners across the company’s six operating regions under its second half-year Break-Free Partners Contest. Upon the completion of the contest, Airtel Nigeria presented six Channel Partners (CP) and six Super Mini Franchise (SMF) partners with a 15KVA Perkins diesel generator each. The half-year reward initiative, said Airtel Nigeria leadership, is aimed at increasing engagement, loyalty, and contributions among the telecom giant’s third-party distributors. According to published mechanics for the programme, the contest was open to all CPs and SMF partners who met targeted band billing requirements for the second half of Airtel Nigeria’s financial year,…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has drawn the attention of the public to a fraudulent LinkedIn Account impersonating the person, and office of the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta. The NCC said in a statement signed by its Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Reuben Muoka that “the account was obviously created by some unscrupulous and criminal elements with a view to defrauding unsuspecting members of the public and users of social media who may think that such an account belongs to the EVC of NCC.” The NCC, therefore, warned that “for the avoidance of doubt,…
Nigeria’s tech innovators have been charged to employ the use of technology as a source of inspiration in their quest to disrupt businesses as the three capabilities they needed to achieve the feats are now readily available. Kashifu Inuwa, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), handed down this advice Wednesday in Lagos where he delivered a keynote speech at the 19th edition of ICTEL Expo organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the theme “Tech Disruption: Transforming Industries with Innovation.” He said the combination of ubiquitous data, unlimited connectivity and massive processing power could give…
The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has assured that it would intensify efforts at partnering with the industry stakeholders to help evolve, enable broad opportunities, foster innovation and build the African tech innovation ecosystem. This assurance was made at the maiden edition of the Global Tech Africa (GTA) Summit, an initiative designed to help Africa transform and ignite a flame of innovation that will illuminate the path toward creating a digital future in the continent. The event was organised in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), United States Consulate General, Ascends Studios Foundation, and Future…
By Evans WOHEREM, Ph.D Continue from here…. Unleashing the economic potential of any nation requires unwavering commitment and a clear vision. However, Africa, a diverse continent abundant in resources and human capital, faces numerous challenges that impede its development and progress. Political unrest, corruption, poverty, human rights violations, and economic instability cast a dark shadow over many African nations, intertwining to create pervasive challenges that foster instability, hamper development efforts, and uproot countless lives. Contrasting Happiness and Economic Struggles in Africa It is indeed disconcerting to observe that four African countries—Zimbabwe, Sudan, Angola, and Ghana—are ranked among the top fifteen…