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NACOS Names Tim Akano, CEO of New Horizons National Digital Economy Champion
National Association of Computing Students across all Nigeria Universities with over 300,000 members has conferred a national Award of Champion of Nigeria Digital Economy on the MD/CEO of New Horizons, Mr Tim Akano with a National Award as Digital Economy Champion of Nigeria.
Tim Akano CEO New Horizons awarded National Digital Economy Champion by NACOS. Here the President of Nigeria Computer Society, represented by Engineer Mrs Hauwa Yahaya presented the award while NACOS President of Finest Chihueu Nwannev and New Horizons GM, Northern Region look on
At a well-attended NACOS annual conference that took place at Nile University on the 11th of October 2023, NACOS leadership described Mr. Akano as one of the “major pillars in the ICT transformation in Nigeria, especially with regards to the Youth empowerment and Jobs creation”.
NACOS President, Comr. Chihurumnanya Nwanevu appreciated the New Horizons CEO for his pioneering role in integrating ICT certification-based training into the university academic curriculum about 18 years ago. This decision has changed the Technology Map of Nigeria forever”. The New Horizons initiative that empowers over 100,000 youths across Nigeria universities was described by NACOS President as “incredibly rewarding, and a game changer for the youths”.
Mr Akano is equally commended for setting up One Africa Initiatives Academy, a Pan Africa NGO focusing on building the generation of African leaders that will rebuild Africa OAI Academy focuses on upgrading the skills of African Youths in four areas: Entrepreneurship, Technology, Leadership, and Good Citizenship.
One Africa Initiatives Academy consists of over 10,000 youths from 50 African countries. Members of the Academy have opportunities to attend free Masterclasses organized by OAI once a month online.
New Horizons Nigeria is a franchise of New Horizons International, the World’s largest ICT training organization with offices in 90 countries. New Horizons Nigeria trains over 100,000 students yearly from different universities, and schools and also trains more students in Technical courses in more locations than any training companies in Nigeria.
In the last 15 years, Mr Tim Akano has been awarded over 150 national, continental, and international awards for his relentless roles in Youth empowerment and the digital economy and the promotion of technology skills. Mr Akano has been honored by the Federal government of Nigeria through the NYSC three times in the past three years.
In his response, Mr Tim Akano appreciated the current NACOS leadership for a well-organized and attended event.
He said “I truly appreciate NACOS for this special recognition given to me in appreciation of the multidimensional roles being played by New Horizons and OAI Academy in the areas of entrepreneurship, technology, and empowerment. I pledge to continue to be available to lift not only the Nigeria youths but youths across Africa”
At the close of the event, Mr Akano pledged to empower the entire 300,000 NACOS students in any of the seven hottest 4.0 skills at a most discounted price.
In conclusion, Akano advised the youths that since India dominates the software space, South Korea dominates the electronics, and Israel dominates the Cyber security space while America and China dominate the Platform Economy, “It is my ambition to get Africa youths to dominate the 4.0 Technology space, so that in the next five years, the best Artificial intelligence Engineer, greatest DevOps engineer, best Data Scientists will all be Africans, but not only Africans but the youths I have mentored”.
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.
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