Telecom
NITDA Partners ACM to Train Indigenous Content Creators on Emerging Technology
In order to identify and build the teeming talents in Nigeria’s creative industry, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has said that Federal Government will partner with Africa Creative Market to train them on how to use emerging technologies, create talents and boost the region’s creative capabilities as well as strategically place it at the forefront of technologically driven business in the African continent.
Inuwa made this known in Lagos while giving a Keynote Address on “The Importance of Tech in the Creative Industry”, at the Africa Creative Market (ACM) event.
He stated that emerging technologies are disrupting the way humans produce, distribute and consume content, and that the creator of content remains central to everything.
The DG affirmed that Federal Government through NITDA, Inuwa confirmed is ready to partner with ACM to create talents and train them on how to use emerging technologies to excel and thrive in all they do, and plans are already underway to train one million app developers in the next 18 months
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“We are partnering with ACM after this Summit to train you on Metaverse, Artificial intelligence, Blockchain and many more. We are identifying people that need the training and we will get the best trainers in the world to come and train the trainers,” he noted.
The DG challenged African creatives to be part of the crop of people who will create Metaverse, as the days of playing the catch-up game by Africa are over.
He said, “the creation of Metaverse will help achieve three things. Firstly, it will ensure ownership and protect copyright. Before now, you can do your work and someone can take it and share it online without even making reference to the owner of that content at all. But with emerging technologies such as Blockchain, NFT, etc, it will help you to be recognized for your work. If anyone buys that work or shares, he will see the owner of the work”.
“Secondly, it will create a source of income for you. Unlike before, well, I can see even now in the most part of the world, when an art work is created, they sell it to one person and that’s it. But with technology, you can earn from every sell; with NFT, you can collect royalties, whenever your product sells in the market you will get some percentage from it and thirdly, it will take you to the global stage”, Inuwa maintained.
Emphasizing on the value emerging technologies come with, Inuwa encouraged the audience to position themselves toward creating value from them.
“There is a lot of research saying that Metaverse will add between five to thirteen trillion US dollars to the global GDP by 2030. So how are you positioning yourself to capture value from this. That’s why we are here today and that’s why the government is partnering with you to help build talents and support the course of building the Metaverse, because it is going to be basically driven by creativity”, the DG said.
The Internet, Inuwa noted, enables viewing of things but affirmed that with the Metaverse, users will have the sense of emersion, and it will help Africans in telling their indigenous stories to the rest of the world while also capturing the needed value.
“According to research, the creativity market or the creative economy is valued at almost six trillion US dollars but Africa is perhaps capturing only 1.4 percent of that value; today in the world African music is one of the best, if you want people to dance, you’d have to play the African music, so why are we not capturing value from it? It is because we don’t own the platforms. So, the only way we can capture the needed value is to be creating and being part of those platforms and allowing African characters to be seen on the platforms,” he added.
While making reference to a report of the United Nations World Mental Health report which says that about one billion people are suffering from mental health, the DG opined that the best medicine for mental health is creativity, as such sued for more creative minds to take up the challenge in innovating for posterity.
“When you create non-digital art work, you can only sell it in a shop or a particular place but with the digital means, you can sell it in anywhere in the world, that’s the power of digital technologies”, the Director-General averred.
He enumerated other emerging technologies which include Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Augmented and Virtual Reality, noting that they will all change everything and create value.
The 2022 ACM programme focused on training and empowering youths in creative technologies and covered different areas including: animation, games and metaverse.
The need for Nigeria to think outside the box in its need to drive towards global relevance with innovations and scientific developments will be on the front burner at the NITRA Innovative & Scientific Conference scheduled to hold on Thursday July 23, 2026 in Ikeja, Lagos.
NITRA
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will lead other delegates to discuss and take far-reaching decisions at the event, which has its theme as “Bridging Nigeria’s Digital Divide With Scientific Innovation”.
Other companies that have indicated interest in partnering with NITRA include mobile communications company, Tecno; Africa’s premier end-to-end AI solutions company, Hyperspace; and telecommunications data infrastructure company, Digital Realty.
Speaking on the proposed event, the Chairman, Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), Chike Onwuegbuchi noted that the event will seek to create a platform for government and private organisations to deliberate on policies around scientific innovations in Nigeria, challenges, place of indigenous and foreign collaboration, roles of each stakeholder, and grassroots development in that regard, among others.
According to him: “The Federal government, with series of programmes and partnerships, has established the urgent need to create an ecosystem that thrives on scientific innovation, breeding institutions and individuals with a target of placing the country at the fore-front of Next-Gen development.
It is a known fact that digital and scientific innovations are crucial, not only to the survivability of a nation, but also to the sustainability of its growth and development, with significant effect on economic strength, global image, defense and security, government capabilities to function, and public health and safety, communication and digital footprint, among others.
The federal government is actively driving scientific innovation to foster economic diversification and build a $1 trillion economy by 2030. Efforts are heavily focused on commercializing research, establishing massive research funds, and funding strategic infrastructure, particularly in technology, biotechnology, and healthcare. Core government initiatives and policies include the newly instituted National Research and Innovation Development Fund (NRIDF), which aims to mobilize about $500 million annually to support research and the commercialization of scientific outputs; and the Nigeria Genomic City, a multi-ministerial initiative aimed at transforming Nigeria into a leading hub for genomics, precision medicine, and biotechnology. It is designed to protect indigenous data, stimulate artificial intelligence in health, and develop a highly skilled scientific workforce.
According to the General Secretary of NITRA, Mr. Chidiebere Nwankwo, the forum will also be a vehicle to propagating the views of decision makers to the public, thereby furthering the cause of public awareness and information dissemination on the topic.
The focus, he said will be on how Nigeria can sustain digital innovative growth and scientific development in Nigeria
The board of global payments company, PayPal, says a 53 billion dollars takeover offer from financial technology firm, Stripe, and private equity company, Advent International, does not adequately reflect the company’s long-term value.
PayPal
According to reports, the proposed acquisition, valued at 60.50 dollars per share, remains under consideration, with the board yet to formally respond to the offer.
The directors are said to be evaluating not only the financial value of the proposal but also the structure of the financing, the timeline for completing the transaction and the likelihood of obtaining regulatory approvals.
They are also considering the possibility of competing bids emerging.
Although the offer represents a premium of about 28 per cent above PayPal’s recent share price, the board believes the company could deliver greater value to shareholders if its ongoing turnaround strategy succeeds.
Following reports of the bid, PayPal shares gained about two per cent to close at 56.73 dollars.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Stripe and Advent have secured approximately 50 billion dollars in debt financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, while both firms would jointly contribute 17 billion dollars in equity.
Under the proposal, the two companies would jointly own PayPal instead of dividing its operations.
PayPal, Stripe, Advent International, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have all declined to comment on the proposed transaction.
The discussions come as PayPal seeks to strengthen its business after years of increasing competition from rivals including Apple Pay, Google Pay and emerging financial technology firms.
The company, which was valued at about 360 billion dollars in 2021, now has a market capitalisation of approximately 36 billion dollars.
Since assuming office as Chief Executive Officer in March 2026, Enrique Lores has embarked on a restructuring programme aimed at improving operational efficiency and restoring growth.
The restructuring includes the creation of three business divisions comprising Checkout, Venmo and Consumer Financial Services, and Payments and Crypto.
The company is also targeting 1.5 billion dollars in cost savings through the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.
PayPal’s latest financial results indicated signs of recovery, with first-quarter revenue rising seven per cent year-on-year to 8.35 billion dollars, while total payment volume increased by eight per cent to 464 billion dollars.
If approved, the transaction would combine two of the world’s largest digital payments companies.
The combined business would process an estimated 3.7 trillion dollars in annual payment volume, significantly strengthening its position in the global online payments market.
However, analysts expect the proposed acquisition to face intense regulatory scrutiny because of the companies’ combined market share in merchant payment services.
To address possible antitrust concerns, the bidders have reportedly considered options, including separating PayPal’s Braintree business or other assets if required by regulators.
Sources said Stripe and Advent remain interested in pursuing the acquisition despite the board’s reservations, although negotiations are expected to continue.
Market observers are also awaiting PayPal’s earnings report scheduled for July 28 for further indications of the company’s financial recovery and future growth prospects.
Concerns over network reliability and its impact on Nigeria’s growing creator economy took centre stage at MTN Nigeria’s Data on Trial event, where content creator and streamer, Jarvis, challenged telecommunications operators to improve connectivity for digital creators.
Speaking during the event, Jarvis asked whether there were locations in Nigeria where uninterrupted internet connectivity could support real-life (IRL) streaming without network disruptions.
“Are there places where there is no breakage when streaming IRL?” she asked.
Her question highlighted the challenges faced by content creators who depend on stable internet services for live streaming, content uploads and real-time engagement with audiences.
Responding, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Technical Officer, Mr Yahaya Ibrahim, said network performance depends on several factors, including location, network coverage, device capability and the number of users connected to a particular base station.
He noted that operators continue to invest in expanding network capacity to meet the growing demand for data services.
Earlier, MTN’s General Manager, Network Performance and Quality Assurance, Mr Michael Ndukwe, explained the evolution of mobile network technology in Nigeria, from first-generation (1G) services to the current fifth-generation (5G) technology.
According to him, each phase of technological advancement has significantly increased network capacity and enabled new digital services.
Ndukwe cited Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data showing that Nigerians consumed about 13.2 million terabytes of data in 2025.
He added that data usage reached approximately 4.06 million terabytes in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting the country’s increasing reliance on digital platforms and online services.
According to him, the growth is being driven by wider adoption of 4G and 5G networks, increased smartphone penetration, the proliferation of smart devices and expanding use of social media platforms.
Participants at the event noted that as more Nigerians build businesses and careers around digital content, access to reliable and high-speed internet has become critical to sustaining the country’s digital economy and creator ecosystem.
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