Telecom
MFS Africa Taps Olaseni Alabede as New CTO
Olaseni Alabede, a veteran of the payments technology sector with more than 18 years of experience, has joined Global Technology Partners (GTP), an MFS Africa company, as chief technology officer (CTO).
Olaseni Alabede, new CTO , MFS Africa’s Global Technology Partners
Acquired by MFS Africa in June 2022, the US-based GTP is the largest processor of prepaid cards in Africa, with more than 80 banks – including UBA, Ecobank, BIA, Stanbic, Coris, NSIA and Zenith Bank – using its platform.
Prior to joining the GTP executive team, Alabede was the Vice President of Product Development in MasterCard’s Installments business. In this New York-based role, he was responsible for the design and development of Buy-Now-Pay-later products on the Mastercard network. His history in the payments sector, however, dates back to the beginning of his career in 2003, when he started working as a web designer at the now-defunct City Express Bank in Nigeria. After that, he spent nearly a decade at Interswitch, growing from a project engineer to head of enterprise service management.
“We are thrilled to have Olaseni come on board as the new CTO for GTP,” says GTP CEO, Christian Bwakira. “His extensive experience in both the African and international payments spaces and his clear passion for technology’s ability to improve people’s lives and help build better futures makes him the ideal person to drive us forward technologically.”
For his part, Alabede says that he is looking forward to taking charge not just of GTP’s technology stack, but the entire technology initiative behind the company and drive a strategy that enhances the company’s already strong positioning.
“Right now, GTP provides a quality service that customers know and love it for,” he says. “But can we take that to the next level?”
The decision to join GTP, he says, was made primarily on the basis of the impact he believes the company, particularly under MFS Africa’s ownership, can have. “When you think about what MFS Africa and GTP have done in the African market, that impact is significant,” he says. “I want to be part of taking that further, helping more and more markets replace the need for cash by using seamless technology that integrates our various offerings.”
In helping GTP achieve that impact, Alabede plans to focus on seamless customer experiences as he considers the elimination of friction in payments particularly critical.
“The more friction you remove from the consumer, the more they get out of their payments,” he says.
More particularly, he believes that there will be significant innovation around bringing these technological trends together and that African companies and consumers will benefit from them.
“I think that last mile delivery of frictionless payments and experiences is really going to translate into success,” he says. “As such, we can expect to see a lot of innovation and technological convergence happening in building those frictionless experiences.”
Outside of work, Alabede is passionate about promoting health in underserved communities. He serves on the Board of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health which provides health education and health equality in the Brooklyn Community and other parts of New York City.
Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has urged Northern Nigeria to pivot urgently from traditional commerce to an innovation-driven digital economy for sustainable growth.
NITDA
Inuwa issued the call at the Future Map Foundation Roundtable 1.0 (North-West Edition) in Kano, attributing the region’s sluggish digital adoption not to talent deficits but to the lack of deliberate, coordinated strategies.
He stressed deeper collaboration across academia, private sector players, entrepreneurs, and government, positioning the private sector as the primary innovation engine while government supplies robust policies and an enabling ecosystem.
Inuwa advocated for people-focused, locally tailored innovations that tackle regional challenges head-on, enabling global competitiveness by transitioning from mere technology users to creators of homegrown solutions.
The roundtable convened policymakers, tech founders, and ecosystem stakeholders to forge a comprehensive roadmap for North-West digital transformation, yielding firm commitments to bolster regional innovation policies and public-private synergies.
Inuwa’s push dovetails seamlessly with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which sets an ambitious target of 95 per cent nationwide digital literacy by 2030, fostering inclusive economic empowerment.
Participants hailed the forum as a pivotal step toward unlocking Northern Nigeria’s tech potential, with NITDA poised to lead implementation through strategic interventions and partnerships.
Samsung Electronics plans to double this year the number of its mobile devices with “Galaxy AI” features largely powered by Google’s Gemini, its co-CEO said, which would give the U.S. firm an edge over rivals as the global race in artificial intelligence heats up.
The South Korean company, which had rolled out Gemini-backed AI features to about 400 million mobile products, including smartphones and tablets, by last year, plans to boost that figure to 800 million in 2026.
“We will apply AI to all products, all functions, and all services as quickly as possible,” T M Roh told Reuters in his first interview since becoming Samsung Electronics co-CEO in November.
The plan by the world’s largest backer of Google’s Android mobile platform is set to give a major boost to its developer Google, which is locked in a race with OpenAI and others to attract more consumer users to their AI model.
Samsung seeks to reclaim its lost crown from Apple in the smartphone market and fend off competition from Chinese rivals not only in mobile telephones, but televisions and home appliances, all overseen by Roh.
It will offer integrated AI services across consumer products to widen its lead over Apple in such features, though the latter was set to be the top smartphone maker last year, according to market researcher Counterpoint.
AI Race
Alphabet’s Google launched the latest version of Gemini in November, highlighting Gemini 3’s lead on several popular industry measures of AI model performance.
In response to Gemini 3, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued an internal “code red,” pausing non-core projects and redirecting teams to accelerate development. The ChatGPT maker launched its GPT-5.2 AI model a few weeks later.
Roh expects the adoption of AI to accelerate, as Samsung’s surveys on awareness of its Galaxy AI brand jumped to a level of 80% from about 30% in just one year.
“Even though the AI technology might seem a bit doubtful right now, within six months to a year, these technologies will become more widespread,” he said.
MENXTT NG, a leading technology distributor, has announced plans to bundle Bitdefender Antivirus software with all laptops sold in Nigeria starting 2026, aiming to enhance cybersecurity for consumers and businesses.
MENXTT NG
As an authorised reseller of Bitdefender, the company said the initiative would ensure devices meet global security standards right from purchase, addressing rising cyber threats in personal, educational, and corporate sectors.
Bitdefender, a globally recognised antivirus solution, offers advanced threat detection against viruses, malware, ransomware, spyware, and phishing; lightweight performance without impacting device speed; multi-layered ransomware protection; safe browsing features; and certifications from independent testing bodies.
Anthony Emeka Nwosu, Co-Founder of MENXTT NG, stated: “At MENXTT NG, we pride ourselves on offering some of the best laptops, smartphones, and gadgets in the market.
“These devices power businesses, education, and daily life, and it is only right that they are properly protected. By partnering with Bitdefender, we are ensuring our customers enjoy world-class security alongside world-class devices.”
The move, according to industry analysts, positions MENXTT NG as a solutions provider in Nigeria’s tech market, bridging global best practices with local needs amid accelerating digital adoption.
MENXTT NG described the bundling as part of its strategy to deliver complete technology solutions and build customer trust.
For enquiries: +234 814 090 2614; www.menxtt.cm.ng; [email protected].
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