Telecom
NASENI, WEMA Bank, FREEE Recycle, Others Receive Awards @The Nigeria Innovation Summit 9.0
Nigeria Innovation Summit 9.0 which was held on October 2nd, 2024 with the theme: “Building a Culture of Innovation”, was successfully concluded with the participation of delegates and stakeholders across the globe, who took part in the hybrid event.
The Summit in its 9th year is an annual event that brings together stakeholders from different sectors of Nigeria’s economy, governments, investors, policymakers, and players in the tech and innovation ecosystem to discuss ground-breaking ideas, trends, and opportunities to innovate solutions that solve unique challenges within Nigeria, and the African continent at large.
This year’s NIS explored topics such as A Paradoxical Approach to Collaborative Innovation; Unique Opportunities for the Next Generation of Women in Tech; Empowering Nigerian Youths through the Digital Economy; Youth-Led Innovations for a Sustainable Future; Connecting Africa with the World Through ISPIM, among others.
The highlights of the Summit were the Nigeria Innovations Experience Talks (NiX Talks) which was powered by TotalEnergies.
The NiX Talks focused on “Cultivating Sustainable Innovation Through Eco-Friendly Solutions”.
Other Summit features were fireside chats, panel discussions/interactive sessions, Quick Pitch (Pitch-a-Thon), innovation showcases and exhibitions, and expert insights on emerging technologies and their applications in solving local problems.
Some of the speakers and panellists include Dr Aminu Maida, EVC/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Ifedolapo Runsewe, Managing Director, FREEE Recycle; Bruno Woeran, TechTransfer & Innovation, Austria; Wofai Ibie, Community Manager, HEI Innovation, CcHUB; Stella Bida, Executive Leadership Consultant, TEDx Speaker; Dozie Igweilo, Founder, Quadloop; Dr. Folakemi Fadahunsi, CEO, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria (Shoprite); and others.
The crowning of the Nigerian Innovation Summit (NIS) 9.0 was the 2024 Nigeria Innovation Awards.
The Nigeria Innovation Awards recognises and awards key innovators at the forefront of the Nigerian Innovation landscape, as well as disruptors bringing positive and empirical impacts as well as progressive solutions to unique challenges.
The submissions from the 2024 NIS Awards prove that there is a need to build innovative business solutions and develop an ecosystem in Nigeria across all sectors to drive innovation by promoting local content development, and locally-relevant technological solutions to impact significantly on the socio-economic development of Nigeria so that local innovation can solve local issues.
Of the hundreds nominated for the Nigerian Innovation Awards 2024, only six organisations emerged as worthy recipients of this year’s awards, given their impressive track record of innovatively tackling problems and measurable impacts in keeping the Nigerian innovation landscape sustainable and have embraced innovation to move Nigeria forward through their works.
The 2024 Nigeria Innovation Awards awardees include NASENI for Enabling Innovative Industrialization in Nigeria; MobiHealth for Providing Innovative Telehealth Solutions; FREEE Recycle for Recycling Waste into Reusable Eco-Friendly Materials; ThriveAgric for Empowering Farmers Through Agritech Solutions; Paradigm Initiatives for Connecting African Youths With Digital Opportunities, and WEMA Bank ALAT for Pioneering Fully Digital Bank In Nigeria.
The Nigeria Innovation Summit 9.0 had in participation delegates from government agencies, diplomats, academic communities and research institutes, international organisations, investors, entrepreneurs, business/thought leaders, innovators, startups, and students.
The 2024 NIS concluded with an Innovation Tour to Cisco EDGE Lab, where some delegates deepen the conversation and relationship with those bringing true innovation and disruption into the Nigerian innovation ecosystem.
This year’s Summit received huge support from Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM); CcHUB; Emergency Response Africa; Lagos State Employment Trust Funds (LSETF); Virtual Domain; and Cybertron as partners, and was proudly sponsored by TotalEnergies, WEMA Bank, and the African Innovation Academy.
The Summit also has the following as its official media partners Legit.ng; Brand Times; Techeconomy.ng; ITpulse; RaveNewsOnline; TechCity; Coinratecap; Technext; Innovation Village; Nigeria Communications Week; Techtrends Africa; Silicon Africa; BrandMyDP; Coinpedia; CoinGabbar; Naijapreneur.com, and more.
The Nigeria Innovation Summit was organized by InnovationHub Africa.
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.
MultiChoice is closing its continental streaming platform Showmax after 11 years, notifying subscribers Thursday of the board’s decision to discontinue the service in the near future to refocus on sustainable digital offerings.
MultiChoice
The email assured no immediate disruption: “You can continue streaming as usual, and no action is required from you at this time.” Showmax, launched in South Africa in 2015 and expanded across Africa, offered movies, series, documentaries, and sports to rival Netflix and others amid rising online entertainment demand.
The shutdown follows Canal+’s approved takeover of MultiChoice last year, with the French giant offering ZAR 125 per share for remaining stakes.
The deal mandates HDP ownership boosts, local content investment, and splitting MultiChoice’s SA broadcasting arm into an independent entity to meet regulations.
MultiChoice prioritised subscribers during the transition, promising advance notice on timelines.
Showmax’s exit signals consolidation pressures in Africa’s cut-throat streaming market, where global players dominate despite local content strengths.
MultiChoice to Discontinue Showmax Streaming Platform
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