Author: Akin Naphtal

Airtel Africa signed a strategic partnership with Mastercard to launch a service that will allow Airtel’s mobile phone customers across 14 African countries to transfer and receive funds internationally. The new service is designed for over 100 million mobile phone users of Airtel in Africa in order to bolster stronger cooperation between Airtel Africa and Mastercard in boosting the digital economy on the continent. The new service will present an easier means for Airtel’s mobile users to initiate digital transactions across different countries abroad. Airtel users who will be the beneficiaries of this service will be able to access and…

Nigeria’s internet subscribers grew by 9% in 2022. This is according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s telecoms regulator in the 2022 edition of its Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report. The document aims to enlighten stakeholders on the state of the telecom industry, its strengths and weaknesses particularly. As expected, many interesting facts were revealed. Given that some stood out, they’ll be spotlighted in this report. The regulator noted that Nigeria’s internet subscribers hit 154,847,901 subscriptions by the end of 2022. This is 12.8 million more than the previous year. The increased access to mobile devices could be the…

SeerBit is developing a unified payment ecosystem that streamlines and simplifies the digital payment process in Africa. The startup’s journey began in 2011 when founder Omoniyi Kolade established Centric Gateway, a pan-African fintech company serving enterprise clients such as UBA Bank, FMCB, Ecobank, and Keystone Bank. While Centric Gateway enjoyed success, the surge in commerce activity across Africa and the increased demand for e-commerce platforms prompted the CEO to recognise the potential for a user-friendly payment solution. He saw the opportunity to create a straightforward plug-and-play model that benefits businesses in both online and offline spaces, catering to the evolving…

As part of the continued roll-out of our enterprise-ready AI and data platform, watsonx, IBM plans to host Meta’s Llama 2-chat 70 billion parameter model in the watsonx.ai studio, with early access now available to select clients and partners. This will build on IBM’s collaboration with Meta on open innovation for AI, including work with open source projects developed by Meta – such as the PyTorch machine learning framework and the Presto query engine used in watsonx.data. This will also support IBM’s strategy of offering both third-party and its own AI models. Currently in watsonx.ai, AI builders can leverage models…

AGAT has proudly introduces BusinessGPT, a groundbreaking solution that empowers users with comprehensive insights by analyzing all company data sources. With its ChatGPT experience, BusinessGPT enables data-driven decisions and activities like never before. BusinessGPT extracts and digests valuable information from a range of company data sources such as emails, chats, meetings, documents, CRM & task management systems, websites, and social media platforms, enabling businesses to streamline their operations and improve productivity. Designed for enterprise BusinessGPT technology addresses the risk of exposing customer data with public AI services such as OpenAI by offering a secure on-prem/private cloud solution. In addition, BusinessGPT…

DSIT is celebrating its six-month anniversary since it was formed to deliver on the clear mission set by the Prime Minister, to ensure the UK is the most innovative economy in the world. During those six months, the department has launched the Science and Technology Framework, backed by over £370 million to boost investment in innovation, to bring the world’s best talent to the UK, and seize the potential of ground-breaking new technologies like AI. The AI Taskforce, backed by £100 million in government funding, was also launched to accelerate the UK’s generative AI sector and keep pace with rapid…

PayPal, the global payment giant, announced recently its own stablecoin, dubbed PayPal USD (PYUSD). The token is backed by US dollar deposits, short-term treasuries, and similar cash equivalents, ensuring a 1:1 redemption for US dollars. Unlike the volatility often associated with other cryptocurrencies, a stablecoin like PYUSD will maintain its value against a benchmark, in this case, the US dollar. It can also be converted to other digital tokens supported by PayPal, such as Bitcoin and ether and would be issued by Paxos, which is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The token will be available…

Safaricom Ethiopia has finalized a transaction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), members of the World Bank Group which will see the company receive funding in the form of full equity investment, a loan and guarantees. This investment aims to support the company’s ongoing “greenfield telecommunication network” construction and operation to drive connectivity across Ethiopia. According to Safaricom’s Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer, Michael Mutiga, the package works to over $ 1.275 billion in total. “This represents the most significant transaction in the region for the World Bank with a private company,” he…

Describing himself as a driven, self-motivated and incurable optimist, Wale Ajisebutu boasts a phenomenal career, comprising 39 years in the financial services, commodities and IT sectors. Ajisebutu currently serves as a fellow of the Institute of Charter Culture of Nigeria and the CEO and Chairman of 21st Century Technologies Limited. “I am in my element when I am solving problems,” Ajisebutu shares, “and I enjoy translating ideas into impactful transformative realities. I am from a very humble background.‘I was born without a silver spoon’, as they say. “My personality paradox expresses itself in my calm, quiet and peaceful nature and…

Internet exchange points (IXPs) are the lifeblood of the internet ecosystem and are key to unlocking the potential of a digital, connected Africa. They play a crucial role in enhancing connectivity for individuals and businesses and promoting economic growth. However, in Africa many individuals and entities suffer the consequences of connecting to internet traffic that takes convoluted routes across distant locations before reaching them, which leads to exorbitant costs and sluggish internet connections. As an emerging market, the challenge in Africa is not only establishing the necessary infrastructure but also strengthening the capabilities to operate and maintain these IXPs, according…