Federal government has banned  the use of personal email accounts, such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Hotmail, for official public-sector transactions, mandating that civil servants transition to a secure, institutional digital platform.

This ban requires all government officials to use secure institutional platforms with the approved .gov.ng domain to safeguard sensitive data.

The announcement was made in Abuja by Didi Esther Walson-Jack, head, the Civil Service of the Federation, during a digital transformation summit held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Galaxy Backbone.

According to Walson-Jack, the government has activated more than 115,000 official GovMail accounts to ensure that communication within the federal civil service remains secure, professional, and easy to track.

She said government activities should no longer rely on personal email services or informal channels that make record-keeping difficult.

The Head of service explained that official information must remain within government systems even when an officer leaves a position.

This, she said, will help preserve important records and prevent the loss of government information tied to individual workers.

The Head of Service also disclosed that the Federal Government achieved a major target by completing the digitalisation of work processes across all 38 federal ministries and extra-ministerial departments before the end of December 2025.

She described the development as proof that reforms can succeed when there is clear leadership and commitment from government institutions.

According to her, the achievement shows that the civil service is capable of adapting to modern methods of operation.

Walson-Jack recalled that in the past, government files could easily be delayed, misplaced, or trapped in lengthy approval processes.

She said the shift to digital systems now makes it easier to monitor documents, improve accountability, and measure progress in government operations.

Walson-Jack added that the paperless civil service initiative is aimed at making government work more efficient by cutting delays, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, improving transparency, and allowing records to be retrieved and processed faster.

Every June 19th, the world pauses to recognize something that, for millions of families, never pauses at all. World Sickle Cell Day is observed across the globe to bring sickle cell disease out of the shadows; to name it, to understand it, and to stand with the people who live with it every single day.

This year, the world marks the day under the theme “Closing the Survival Gap: Equity in Sickle Cell Disease.” It’s a phrase that asks a hard, necessary question: why should where you’re born, or what your family can afford, decide whether you live well, or live at all?

For us at Indwelt, that question isn’t abstract. It has names and faces we know.

Why this day means something to us;

Here in Nigeria, sickle cell isn’t a distant statistic. Our country carries the heaviest burden of the disease anywhere in the world; roughly 150,000 babies are born with it here each year, and millions of Nigerians live with it into adulthood. Behind those numbers are real people: managing pain that often goes unseen, navigating crises that arrive without warning, and carrying on with a quiet courage that most of us will never fully understand.

Some of those people are our colleagues.

Since our inception, we’ve had and still have team members who live with sickle cell. They show up, they create, they pour themselves into the work we’re proud to put our name on; and they do it while carrying something most of us never have to think about.

Our team member with sickle cell, put it to us simply:

“People see the work I deliver, but they don’t see the days I show up after a night I didn’t think I’d get through. Sickle cell is part of my story, but it isn’t the whole of me; and being a part of an organization that understands that, supports me and let’s me do work I’m proud of continues to make a difference for me. I don’t want sympathy. I want a world that takes this seriously enough to change the odds for the next person.”

Supporting them, through medical interventions and through simply being a workplace that sees them fully, has never felt like a policy or a perk. It’s felt like family looking after family.

That’s where our commitment began. Not in a boardroom, but in the everyday reality of caring for our own.

If you’ve ever asked; this is the reason we’ve chosen to anchor our Corporate Social responsibility around sickle cell, supporting initiatives that improve care, and backing the research working toward a future where this disease no longer steals so many years from so many lives.

We believe the survival gap can close. We’ve seen what changes when someone living with sickle cell is met with the right care, the right understanding, and the right support; they don’t just survive, they thrive. They build, they lead, they make beautiful things. We know this because we work alongside them.

So, our promise is simple: to put our resources, our voice, and our craft behind the people and the science fighting for better outcomes. To keep learning. To keep listening to those who live this reality. And to use whatever reach we have to make sure that, in this country with the world’s heaviest burden, no one feels they’re carrying it alone.

For someone living with sickle cell, care that comes to you and care you can actually afford aren’t luxuries; they’re often the difference between a crisis managed and a crisis survived. We’re proud to walk alongside teams doing that quiet, necessary work.

To anyone living with sickle cell, today and every day; we see your strength; including the kind that doesn’t look like strength, the kind that’s just getting through a hard day and showing up for the next one. You are not your diagnosis. You are not a burden. You are someone we’re honoured to stand beside.

And to everyone reading: you don’t need a CSR budget to make a difference today. Learn what sickle cell really is. Know your genotype. Have the conversation. Give blood if you can. Be gentle with the people around you who may be carrying more than they let on.

Awareness is where compassion begins; and compassion, multiplied, is how survival gaps close.

This World Sickle Cell Day, we’re thinking of our own. And we’re committed to doing our part, not just today, but in all the days that follow.

To our clients, we owe a particular thank you. Every brief you trust us with, every project we build together, every time you choose Indwelt; you are doing more than growing your business. You are helping fund the care, the awareness, and the research behind this cause. The work we do for you is quietly working for someone living with sickle cell, too. That partnership means more to us than you may realise, and we’re deeply grateful for it.

Awareness is where compassion begins; and compassion, multiplied, is how survival gaps close. This World Sickle Cell Day, we’re thinking of our own. And we’re committed to doing our part, not just today, but in all the days that follow.

Standard Bank Group has identified Nigeria and four other markets as strategic growth hubs as it seeks to tap into $15.4 billion revenue opportunity driven by expanding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and rising intra-African trade.

The bank disclosed the plan through Bill Blackie, the Chief Executive Officer of its Business and Commercial Banking (Standard Bank Group) division, who outlined the lender’s growth strategy in an interview with Bloomberg.

Under the strategy, Standard Bank will deepen its presence in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania while consolidating its dominance in South Africa. The five markets account for about 85 per cent of the estimated revenue opportunity available to the group’s BCB operations.

The expansion forms part of the lender’s broader ambition to accelerate earnings growth through 2028, leveraging increasing demand for banking services among businesses across the continent.

According to Blackie, the BCB division has recorded robust growth over the past five years, supported by rising business activity and greater demand for financial services across Africa.

He said the division doubled both headline earnings and return on capital between 2020 and 2025, with return on capital increasing from 19 per cent to 38 per cent during the period.

Earnings from operations across the continent also expanded at an average annual rate of 30 per cent.

Building on this performance, the bank is targeting compound annual growth of between eight and nine per cent through 2028, although Blackie expressed confidence that growth could reach double-digit levels as the strategy gains traction.

A key pillar of Standard Bank’s growth strategy is expanding support for SMEs and mid-sized businesses, which account for most enterprises across Africa.

The bank is particularly positioning itself to benefit from opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is expected to accelerate economic integration and cross-border commerce across the continent.

According to the International Trade Centre, nearly half of Africa’s small businesses export to other African countries, compared with only 14 per cent of larger firms, underscoring the critical role of SMEs in driving regional commerce.

The lender is also leveraging its extensive African footprint and strategic partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to attract businesses seeking access to international markets, particularly China.