Telecom
Halilu Targets First Quarter 2024 to Put NASENI Products in Nigeria Market
Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, Executive Vice Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), has said his vision or direction for the Agency’s products and technologies is to make them available in every household in Nigeria in the next few years.
Nonetheless, Halilu disclosed in Abuja today that some tangible products emanating from NASENI’s prototypes will be in the market through technology transfer arrangements, specifically, by 1st quarter of year 2024.
“Expect some products from NASENI’s R&D efforts in Nigeria market during the first quarter of 2024”. The EVC/CEO disclosed this on Thursday November 2, 2023, during his maiden television media interaction held at the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
Halilu said expectations from stakeholders of NASENI are very high as its activities must ensure transparency and focus to assist the Agency deliver on its mandate.
According to him, part of his preoccupations since assuming office in September is to give adequate attention to enhance the human capital potential of the Agency through improved motivation for staff to enable them adjust to the transformations to be introduced in the system.
Also, he said stakeholders’ engagements and efforts to rebrand the Agency around its products and technologies have remained top priorities.
The New NASENI Chief Executive said that the era of stacking prototypes on shelves has ended in the Agency, saying that all its products and technologies must find their ways to the market.
“We are going to do a national re-branding to have footsteps of NASENI products in every household in the country. In the next few years this is what Nigerians should expect. We are no longer going to sit back to watch endless research and prototypes, keeping them on the shelves.
“We will take them to the market so that Nigerians can consume them. In fact, one of our next year plans is to have NASENI Showrooms in key cities of the country.
“So that NASENI products are not things you view only on televisions but anyone could walk into our product outlets to experience those technologies that we’ve been talking about. And that is another way we will be expecting the public to hold us accountable as part of the promises we made.”
The EVC/CEO further stated that he met lots of wonderful researches with over 150 products at prototypes level when he came on board. “However, the commercialization aspects are very little. Coming from my background of manufacturing and technology innovation, I believe the whole essence of doing research is to transform it into meaningful products that will have impacts on the economy.”
“We are going to do this through technology transfer. Ever since we made the announcement to go into technology transfer particularly, especially the intention to have our products in the market, we have been receiving a lot of interests from private sector organisations looking out for our capacity, the spread and goodwill which we are endowed with being a government organisation and how they can partner with us.”
He recalled a recent trip to China by the top management of the Agency, led by the EVC/CEO himself: “we just came back from China with the Vice President from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum where we signed a $2 billion dollar partnership MOU for technology transfer into Nigeria which is something we were able to achieve in just five weeks of operations.
“At the same forum, we received a lot of partners that provided letters of Intent to partner with us, to invest in the country’s economy amounting to $4 billion,”
The EVC said NASENI’s China trip has the potential to yield about $6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Nigeria. And the areas that the agency received interests were around Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Electric Vehicles (EVs), Agricultural equipment, Electronics and Electrical equipment and many others.
This effort he observed has sent a positive signal to the world and potential partners. “Everyone is looking forward to Africa, there is no better time than now to leapfrog development, reduction of unemployment and alleviation of poverty. We have resources in abundance and we have to add value to whatever we are doing. One of the alarming things in our economy is the fact that we are adding little or no values to our commodities, yet we are heavily a consuming economy with a big workforce. We are trying to see how we are going to change that narrative; given the kind of mandate we have at NASENI”
Nigeria cannot afford to continue to export her raw materials, therefore we have set up strategies, outfits and partners to see to the kind of policies as well as government inputs to support our desire to add value to our commodities and raw materials before exports.
Mr. Halilu recalled that NASENI under him has rigorously been involved in lots of stakeholder engagements with many organisations showing interest in its activities for collaboration and products offtake. One of such partners, he said was the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), for example, which had committed itself to a whopping $200 million procurement agreement with NASENI as long as our agency could produce the kind of products they consume.”
He said that NASENI’s team has also conferred with the Minister of Science and Technology to explore areas of opportunities around gas, ditto, the Ministers of Information and Finance amongst other stakeholders. He added that lots of stakeholders’ have lined up and shown much interests in the new direction being charted by the New NASENI, and are willing to partner with the agency.
The most recent of the stakeholders’ engagement took place on Wednesday this week when the management of the Agency, led by the EVC/CEO, met with members of the National Assembly, especially the Senate Committee on NASENI which has oversight function on the Agency.
“The distinguished lawmakers wanted products to come to the economy and NASENI too wants products to go into the market, so both we and the senators are on the same page in terms of expectation and the renewed hope to revamp the economy along the lines of productivity and development of the real sector.
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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