Nigeria’s digital economy is poised to contribute up to 21 per cent of the nation’s GDP, according to Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy. This milestone is part of a strategic push to leverage technology for national growth and job creation. Currently contributing between 16 per cent and 18 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP, the digital economy is on a growth trajectory supported by substantial infrastructure investments. “This means more jobs and opportunities. For the first time in our history, an administration is investing in 90,000 kilometers of fibre optic cables across the country,” Dr.…
Author: Elvis Eromosele
MTN Nigeria has further cemented its leadership in the country’s telecom industry, crossing the 90 million active subscriptions milestone in March 2025, according to the latest data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The NCC’s industry statistics reveal that the total number of active mobile subscriptions in Nigeria rose to 172.4 million across the four major mobile network operators, marking a steady recovery following the massive subscriber loss in 2024 due to the NIN-SIM verification audit, which deactivated over 60 million lines. MTN maintained its dominant position with 90.4 million active lines, translating to a 52.48 per cent share…
Airtel Nigeria, leading telecommunications services provider, has announced plans to more than double its capital investment in the Nigerian market to over N500 billion in 2025. The move is aimed at accelerating the rollout of 5G technology, expanding network coverage, and driving inclusive connectivity across the country. This announcement follows the release of Airtel Africa’s financial results for the year ended March 2025, which revealed that Airtel Nigeria had invested $168 million (approximately N259 billion) in capital expenditure during the period. The company is now committing to a significantly larger investment to meet rising data demands and support Nigeria’s digital…
…Sustainable farming and market access at the heart of new partnership to transform agriculture In a bold step towards building a climate-resilient agricultural sector, AGRA, Nestlé Nigeria, and TechnoServe have launched the Strengthening Farmers’ and SMEs’ Resilience through Climate Smart Grain Production and Accessing the Structured Markets (StreFaS) initiative in Nigeria. StreFaS is a three-year initiative, funded by AGRA and Nestlé, that will run from June 2024 to October 2027. The program aims to support 25,000 smallholder farmers and eight aggregators across Kaduna and Nasarawa States, promoting sustainable production of maize, soybean, rice, and sorghum. It focuses on integrating regenerative…
Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has warned that Nigeria is facing a deeper economic regression than many realise, stating that with a current GDP per capita of just $824, Nigerians are significantly worse off than they were at independence in 1960. Adesina made these remarks in a statement issued Thursday following his keynote address at the 20th anniversary dinner of investment firm Chapel Hill Denham in Lagos. He stressed the need for Nigeria to radically transform its economic model to become a globally competitive and industrialised nation by 2050. “Our GDP per capita in 1960…
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a new five-year Country Strategy Paper for Nigeria, committing about $650 million annually between 2025 and 2030 to drive economic transformation, build resilience, and foster broad-based prosperity. The Bank disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Thursday, saying that $2.95 billion would be provided over the first four years of the plan, to be complemented by an estimated $3.21 billion in co-financing from development partners. The statement read, ‘The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has a new five-year Country Strategy Paper (2025-2030) for Nigeria, committing…
WhatsApp has officially joined the exclusive group of apps with over 3 billion monthly active users, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced during the company’s Q1 2025 earnings call on Wednesday. This milestone places WhatsApp alongside Facebook, also owned by Meta, as one of the few platforms in the world to achieve this level of global usage. Launched in 2009 and acquired by Meta (then Facebook) in 2014 for $19 billion, WhatsApp has maintained steady growth without relying on advertisements or subscription fees. The app reached 2 billion monthly users in 2020 and has since added another billion in just four…
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered the diversion of N71.2 billion from the student loan fund. Of the N100 billion released by the Federal Government for student loans, only N28.8 billion was actually disbursed to various tertiary institutions. Demola Bakare, ICPC spokesperson revealed this during a media briefing in Abuja. He stated that preliminary investigations indicate that the missing funds were diverted by the management of several universities entrusted with the money. In response to the findings, senior officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria, along with the CEO and Executive Director of the…
Great things happen through collaboration. From the awe-inspiring International Space Station (ISS) orbiting above to the transformative World Wide Web connecting billions, humanity’s greatest triumphs have been shaped through collaboration. The Open Source Movement, epitomized by Linux and Wikipedia, and the expeditious production of vaccines for COVID-19, demonstrate the power of collective efforts in creating shared resources that benefits all. As the world races to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), harnessing this spirit of collaboration, especially through strategic Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), maybe the most powerful tool yet. By channeling global capital and expertise into critical sectors, FDI promotes…
The Lagos State Government has released a diversion plan ahead of the emergency repairs on Oworonshoki/Third Axial Bridge scheduled to commence from Tuesday, 6th May to Tuesday, 23rd September, 2025, (110 days) Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, Commissioner for Transportation, who signed e-signed the statement revealed that the repairs will be carried out in 8 phases on both lanes with Phases 1-4 covering the stretch of Oworonshoki/Third Axial Bridge inbound 3rd Mainland Bridge from Tuesday, 6th May to Monday 14th July, 2025, (50days) and Phases (5 – 8) covering the stretch of Oworonshoki/Third Axial Bridge (outbound 3rd Mainland Bridge) from Tuesday, 15th…