Telecom
AFDB, MTN Ink $500,000 Grant Agreement to Enhance Women’s Access to Financial Services in Nigeria
The African Development Bank’s initiative, the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), and Y’ello Digital Financial Services (YDFS), the fintech subsidiary of MTN Nigeria, have signed an agreement for a $500,000 grant initiative to determine the feasibility of deploying women agents in the northern part of Nigeria where, due to security issues and cultural norms, women have been disproportionately excluded from accessing finance.
The grant will cover a feasibility study, human-centered design of a women-centric agent network and a pre-pilot to test the impact on the uptake of financial services by women in the Northern region.
Despite being the continent’s largest economy, access to financial services in Nigeria is still a challenge for millions of people, particularly in rural areas, where an estimated 55% of the total population are unbanked[1]. Mobile money adoption currently stands at 4%[2], with an agent ratio of 228.8 agents per 1,000 adults[3].
A strong agent banking network forms the backbone for adoption of digital financial services. The Central Bank of Nigeria has, in recent years, been working to create a more conducive environment for the adoption of digital financial services. One such effort involved a licensing regime for super-agents that opened the provision of agency banking services to select non-bank financial service providers.
A recipient of the new licenses, MTN Nigeria, through its fintech subsidiary, YDFS, is seeking to strengthen its super-agent network in the northern part of the country, with particular focus on women’s access to finance.
Recognising the pivotal role of agency banking in women’s adoption of digital financial services and the prevalent social norms which limit their ability to make transactions with male agents, hindering their uptake and usage of services, YDFS seeks to innovate around its agency banking network to facilitate gender inclusion.
Considering that most agents are male (80%), there is growing evidence that increasing the number of women agents could attract more female clients due to social norms and safety concerns that women may have about interacting with male agents[4].
The grant from the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) enables Y’ello Digital Financial Services to acquire insight into exclusion as a result of gender gap from a feasibility study and a human-centric design journey to attract more women into the agent business. Plans are for YDFS to use this insight to expand its existing super-agent network in northern Nigeria.
“The African Development Bank, through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), is delighted to support this project, furthering our work to improve the quality of life for people in Africa and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals to help reduce poverty and inequality, particularly relating to gender,” said Stefan Nalletamby, Director of the Financial Sector Development Department at the African Development Bank Group.
“This grant funding will be used not only to broaden women’s access to finance in Nigeria, but also to provide an avenue for their increased economic empowerment.”
“This project was selected from nearly 340 proposals sent in response to ADFI’s call to support financial inclusion in Africa using digital technology.
“ADFI was looking for innovative thinking that is intentional in addressing the persistent financial inclusion gender gap on the continent.
“Despite being the backbone of their families and communities, women in Africa remain the most excluded in the world from the finance sector and the mechanisms it offers to help build economic resilience. Through this project YDFS is poised to help bridge the gap in Nigeria” says Sheila Okiro, ADFI Coordinator.
“We are committed to ensuring that every Nigerian can seamlessly access financial services for their personal and business needs. To achieve this, we constantly seek partnerships to support the financial inclusion strategy of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“We are truly excited about this partnership with AFDB and the possibilities for advancing financial inclusion in Nigeria, particularly for the traditionally excluded segment of women in Northern Nigeria,” said Usoro Usoro, Chief Executive Officer, Y’ello Digital Financial Services.
In the wake of increasing geopolitical tension, Cassava Technologies has unveiled its National Sovereign Cloud offering for African governments.
The solution, the company claims, will help the continent’s governments ensure data is kept on infrastructure that remains under local legal and operational jurisdiction.
According to the official announcement, made yesterday, the solution provides “secure, locally-governed digital infrastructure that enables the deployment of AI-enabled public services”.
The overarching solution encompasses cloud, cyber security, AI computing infrastructure, as well as local language AI models and skills support for governments.
The announcement comes amid increasing uncertainty over the hosting of sensitive national data on cloud services operated by foreign hyperscalers, which are subject to legal frameworks, such as the U.S. CLOUD Act. The CLOUD Act opens the door to allow American authorities to access data stored on the servers of US hyperscalers, wherever those servers are physically located.
Cassava has claimed separately that currently, “approximately 33% to 45% of the world’s data is hosted in the USA”.
The company added: “A sovereign cloud reduces exposure to extraterritorial laws, improves cyber resilience, and ensures that model weights and training data for public AI remain under national custody.”
The Africa Data Centres Association’s 2026 Economic Report states that “data sovereignty has evolved from a legal aspiration into a strategic policy lever”.
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group COO and Group Chief Technology and AI Officer, Cassava Technologies said: “Across Africa, governments are accelerating their digital transformation agendas and are increasingly focused on ensuring that data and digital infrastructure remain secure and sovereign.”
Announced at the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, this week, the Sovereign Cloud offering launch accompanied the launch of Cassava’s Cloud Partner programme.
The partner programme targets mobile network operators and system integrators across Africa to resell and distribute AI, cloud, and other digital services using Cassava’s infrastructure and technology platforms.
El Beheiry added: “We are expanding Africa’s sovereign AI ecosystem to build solutions that address the continent’s unique challenges while creating new opportunities for growth and digital inclusion.”
The programme offers partners access to NVIDIA Cloud Partner solutions, Cassava’s AI Factory, its own native AI solutions and its AI Multi-Model Exchange, which supports both Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini models.
Mazen Mroue, a non-executive director at MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, has resigned effective February 27, 2026, to prioritise other responsibilities within the MTN Group, the company announced in a Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) filing.
MTN Nigeria
The notice, signed by company secretary Uto Ukpanah, stated: “This is to enable Mr. Mroue to focus on other priorities within MTN Group Limited. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Mr. Mroue for his immense service to MTN Nigeria and wishes him success in his future endeavours.”
Mroue joined MTN Nigeria’s board on June 1, 2022, bringing over 28 years of telecom experience. A veteran MTN executive, he previously served as CEO of MTN Uganda and MTN Liberia, non-executive director at MTN Cyprus, and held leadership roles at MTN Ghana.
Since February 2022, he has been MTN Group’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, overseeing technology strategy and governance. Earlier, as MTN Nigeria’s COO from August 2018 to January 2022, he also sat on the MTN Nigeria Foundation board.
The exit follows MTN Nigeria’s stellar 2025 results, posting a ₦1.70 trillion profit before tax—reversing a ₦550.3 billion loss in 2024 driven by forex woes—marking one of the telco’s strongest rebounds.
Google has rolled out support for Yorùbá and Hausa languages in its AI-powered Search features—AI Overviews and AI Mode—enabling millions of Nigerians to get quick answers, summaries, and conversational web exploration in their mother tongues.
The update forms part of Google’s push to cover 13 African languages, including Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Sesotho, Kiswahili, Setswana, Wolof, and isiZulu, selected based on high search activity across the continent.
Now, a Kano student can ask complex questions in Hausa, while an Ibadan trader seeks business tips in Yorùbá—both receiving culturally nuanced AI responses via text or voice on Android, iOS, or web.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s West Africa Communications Manager, said: “Building truly global Search requires nuanced local understanding. With Gemini-powered AI, we’ve made advanced capabilities relevant in Yorùbá and Hausa, so Nigerians converse naturally with Search in their mother tongues.”
To use: Open the Google app, tap AI Mode, and query in Hausa or Yorùbá for personalised guidance—breaking language barriers and making technology reflect Nigeria’s diverse identity.
Police Says Victims Enable Cyber Attacks Out of Ignorance
Bank Accuses Magistrate, Lawyer of Using Fake Order to Steal N3.5m from Account
FG Launches NERD to Combat Certificate Fraud
NCDC Issues Public Advisory on Cerebrospinal Meningitis
Goodnews Naija Launches ‘Building in Nigeria’ Series on Entrepreneurs, Real Sector Builders
Dr. Cairo Ojougboh Foundation Bolsters Nigeria’s Education Drive with ₦2.7m Student Support
Kaspersky Brings more Transparency to Threat Detection with New Hunt Hub
PwC Reveals AI Scaling Gap Slows Africa’s Digital Transformation
Kaspersky Discovers New Phishing Campaign Exploiting Google Tasks Notifications to Steal Corporate Credentials
esentry 2025 Report Shows Healthcare, Financial Services and Telecoms as Staging Grounds for Increased Cyberattacks in Africa
E-Financial3 days agoNigeria’s VAT Jumps 34%, CIT Soars 48% to ₦14trn in 9M’25 – NBS
Telecom3 days agoFG Approves GIS-enabled Digital Postcode to Tackle Logistics Gaps, Boost E-commerce
E-Business3 days agoFirm Enhances its Security Awareness Platform with SCORM and PDF Support
E-Financial3 days agoBinance Cuts Illicit Activity Exposure by 96%, Leads Global Crypto Compliance Push
E-Financial2 days agoSenate Targets Fintech Overreach, Vows Ponzi Crackdown After ₦1.3trn CBEX Scam
E-Financial3 days agoNAICOM Signs MoU with BPP to Deepen Insurance Compliance in Public Procurement
General News2 days agoFCCPC Bans Lagos ‘No Refund’ Policy, Vows Fines and Shutdowns for Traders
Telecom3 days agoGSMA, African Operators, Others to Launch Low-cost 4G Devices