Author: Akin Naphtal

In the rapid digital era that we are in, women are breaking barriers and challenging stereotypes. They are not only striving to excel in their fields but also going above and beyond to stand out and be acknowledged. Aisha Mumuni is a shining example of this unstoppable force. Aisha Mumuni is a seasoned business executive with over 20 years of experience in the telecoms sector. As the Chief Digital Officer of MTN Communication Nigeria, she leads a team of experts in leveraging modern technology and data to achieve the company’s business objectives. Aisha’s expertise in innovative tech solutions support, building…

Unity has announced to the public it will shut down offices in 14 locations such as Berlin and Singapore, pending employee consultation in some countries, and significantly reduce its office footprint for the remaining offices, including in San Francisco and Bellevue, Washington. Videogame software provider Unity Software will eliminate 265 jobs or 3.8% of its global workforce and end an agreement with a digital video effects company founded by the “Lord of the Rings” director as part of a “reset,” the company said on Tuesday. The move follows a tumultuous period for the San Francisco-based company, which makes a software…

Tariye Gbadegesin, a Nigerian-US national, has been appointed as the first African CEO of Climate Investment Funds (CIF), effective March 2024. She replaces Mafalda Duarte, who left in July 2023 to lead the Green Climate Fund. Tariye Gbadegesin, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, brings to Climate Investment Funds (CIF), over 20 years in investing in developing economies, she will be ruling one of the world’s largest multilateral climate funds with over $11 illion pledged, pioneering clean energy transitions, nature-based solutions and resilience in over 70 developing countries. BRIEF PROFILE OF TARIYE GBADEGESIN Tariye Gbadegesin is currently the Chief Executive…

Accenture and Palantir Technologies have joined forces in a consortium that successfully secured a substantial contract from NHS England. The newly announced $415m agreement assigns the consortium the responsibility of implementing a data exchange system across multiple NHS locations over the next five years. Palantir will implement the Federated Data Platform (FDP), aimed at enhancing interoperability among NHS trusts and Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). General practitioner national data will be excluded from this initiative. The platform will concentrate on various essential functions, that include, among others, improving population health management, enhancing efficiency in supply chain processes and facilitating vaccination scheduling.…

The CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr. Vincent Olatunji, has warned about the dangers digital lending companies, known as loan sharks, pose to borrowers and the financial system. He made this remark at the 22nd Annual Seminar on Banking and Allied Matters for Judges, organised by The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute. During a presentation on “NDPA 2023 and its Impact on Loan Sharks in Nigeria”, Dr. Olatunji highlighted the challenges posed by digital lending companies, which have become a global trend. He revealed that these companies often exploit…

MTN Ghana, has revealed new tariffs for calls, SMS, data and other services, effective Tuesday, 28th November 2023, saying it was prompted by NCA regulatory requirements, after being declared a Dominant/Significant Market Power (SMP) in 2020. Besides the NCA regulations, MTN reached out to its customers days before the increments, alerting them that prices would be increased due to operational charges. The new tariffs affect MTN’s fixed and mobile broadband bundles, as well as its voice and SMS offerings. On data bundles, MTN’s 4.3-gigabyte Turbonet fixed bundle now sells for GH₵ 43, while a 91-gigabyte bundle has been adjusted to…

Global IT services giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has joined forces with Amazon Web Services to launch an AI practice aimed at empowering businesses to fully leverage both AI and generative AI services for enhanced outcomes across their value chain. This collaboration, named TCS’ AWS generative AI practice, is designed to assist enterprises in swiftly identifying and scaling tailored solutions to meet their unique business requirements. By utilising AWS services, particularly Amazon Bedrock, TCS consultants will guide clients in exploring impactful use-cases, fostering collaborative experimentation, and co-innovating generative AI-powered solutions, the company said. The hub for this co-innovation is TCS…

Kenyan agric-tech firm, Twiga Foods, which facilitates connections between farmers and food vendors, has successfully secured an undisclosed funding amount as part of a broader business refinancing initiative. The new funding was obtained from notable investors, including Creadev, Juven, TLcom Capital Partners, and DOB Equity. All four investors had previously participated in Twiga’s 2021 $50 million Series C funding round. This development comes just weeks after the company faced a KES 40 million (USD 261,878.75) debt collection lawsuit from Incentro Africa, a cloud services vendor. Twiga’s CEO, Peter Njonjo, recently addressed the recent challenges, in a now-deleted post on Medium,…

The Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, has announced the bank’s intent to expand operations into France, during the Chartered Institute of Bankers annual dinner at Eko Hotels in Lagos. With customer deposits totalling ₦13.38 trillion, Zenith Bank is among Nigeria’s largest financial institutions. The expansion into France follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the French government, initiating the process of obtaining a banking licence for Zenith to commence operations in the European country. While Zenith’s CEO provided limited details on the timeline for regulatory approvals and the establishment of the France subsidiary, this move…

The Bank of Ghana has disclosed that the total mobile money transactions in the first 10 months of 2023 reached a record ¢1.527 trillion cedis, an increase of 80.7% compared with the same period in 2022. October 2023 recorded the highest mobile money transaction value of ¢179.2 billion, surpassing the previous record of ¢169.6 billion in July 2023. The figures from the Central Bank show that the value of mobile money transactions grew steadily from ¢130.1 billion in January 2023 to ¢134.0 billion in February 2023, and then to ¢147.5 billion in March 2023. The value dropped slightly to ¢138.8…