E-Business
Presidency, NITDA, Others Commend StartUP Friday

Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, President Mohammadu Buhari’s special adviser on digital media, and Dr. Vincent Olatunji, acting director general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), have commended the organiser of StartUP Friday, saying the monthly event has become the vehicle for discovering and nurturing technology startups in the country.
Dr. Olatunji was impressed with the rich content at the event. He therefore asked the participating startups to imbibe the spirit of entrepreneurship. “Coming up with an idea is not enough. You need to learn the rudiment of business from established business. That is the only Nigeria can march the foreign countries in terms of development”.
On his part, Ogunlesi commended the organizer, saying, “I think it is a good thing to witness such a large gathering of startups in the ICT ecosystem in Abuja. This is a revolution”.
Organized by the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a subsidiary under NITDA, StartUP Friday is an event where nascent companies, irrespective of the sector and solution offering, gather to learn from selected CEOs of some of the established companies.
Bunmi Okunowo, national coordinator of OIIE, said StartUP Friday has grown over the months from 89 participants in February to 2,210 in July, thus creating more funding opportunities, new ventures, new products and more markets for startups.
“This is all about community building, creating a networking opportunity that brings resourceful people within the reach of the ecosystem. They are part of the ecosystem, and we are tapping from their experience. Another dimension to this edition of StartUP Friday is the introduction of our new program we called FutureHACK, which is a geared towards solving tomorrow’s problem today”, he said.
Other speakers are Andy Madaki who advised the startups to leverage on the power of “barter and partnerships”. Manager at Google Nigeria, Jola Makinde, said the startups “need to be at this type of event in order to learn how to grow their businesses”.
The startups that attended the event last week are ArtNigeria, ChowHub, Jebitum Techxion, Edves Suite and College Mobile. Others are Huvid Connect, Poles, Persona, PiggyBank and Solar Backpack Cedarseed Foundation.
Representative of Solar Backpack Cedarseed Foundation, Lois Auta expressed her expectations from the programme while noting that she had learnt new ways to innovate, she said: “I have met new startups executives. I have met friends whom I have not seen for over ten years. I have made new friends. The audience was inspired by my pitch presentation and I have got business connection. I like this big platform. I look forward to more opportunities and collaborations with OIIE”.
Representative of College Mobile, Kingsley Ezejiaku said his expectations are to be accepted into an accelerator programme that would fast-track the “development of the company, grant access to strategic partnerships and new opportunities”, he said.
E-Business
Galaxy Backbone Celebrates the Federal Government’s Paperless Civil Service Milestone

Galaxy Backbone (GBB) aligns with and celebrates the successful announcement by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on the achievement of a Paperless Civil Service, a significant milestone in Nigeria’s public sector reform and digital transformation agenda.

The milestone was formally highlighted at a press briefing led by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who commended Galaxy Backbone for its sustained support and contribution throughout the implementation of the programme.
GBB has played a critical role in enabling this transition by providing secure, scalable, and shared digital infrastructure that supports the digitisation of government processes across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Through the 1Government Cloud, MDAs have been empowered to migrate from paper-based workflows to digital platforms, improving efficiency, collaboration, data security, and service delivery across the Federal Civil Service.
In addition, GovMail, GBB’s secure government email platform, has strengthened official communication, enhanced records management, and reinforced cybersecurity standards—key pillars in sustaining a paperless operating environment.
Galaxy Backbone acknowledges the collective efforts of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries, Directors of ICT, consultants, partners, and dedicated public servants whose commitment and collaboration ensured the smooth delivery of this initiative.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, was represented at the press briefing by Akintayo Bamisaye, Acting Group Head, Research, Digital Innovation and Skills Department (RDIS).
GBB describes the achievement as a strong close to 2025 and reaffirms its commitment to supporting the Federal Government in building a modern, efficient, and digitally enabled public service.
E-Business
Jumia CEO says Black Friday Signals Nigeria’s E-Commerce Maturity

At the close of 2025, Temidayo Ojo, the CEO of Jumia Nigeria, reflected on a year-end shopping season that points to the growing maturity of the country’s e-commerce market. “Black Friday is no longer a single, short-lived spike in activity,” he said.

“It has become a familiar, anticipated moment in the retail calendar, where consumers shop deliberately and with confidence.”
Preliminary KPIs for the two months ended November 30, 2025, show strong year-on-year growth in both orders and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), with GMV growth outpacing order growth. This indicates that customers are placing fuller, more considered baskets rather than shopping in fragmented transactions. Nigeria ranked among Jumia Group’s better-performing markets, with engagement remaining steady throughout the Black Friday period rather than spiking briefly and tapering off.
A key factor behind this performance is the growing familiarity of consumers with online shopping. Customers are increasingly leveraging platform features such as saved carts, brand stores, and price comparison tools to plan purchases in advance. This trend suggests that digital commerce is becoming embedded in everyday habits rather than being viewed as a one-off event.
Ojo also highlighted the role of Jumia’s JForce network in connecting digital commerce to local communities. “Our agents are critical to ensuring that customers across Nigeria, including secondary cities and smaller communities, have access to variety, consistent pricing, and reliable delivery,” he said. “During peak periods like Black Friday, JForce agents can respond faster, serve more customers efficiently, and build stronger local relationships. This isn’t just a distribution channel—it’s a pathway to sustainable income and inclusion.”
Reflecting on the overall performance, the CEO concluded: “What we’re seeing this year-end is steady engagement across categories, stronger consumer confidence, and partners like our JForce agents benefiting from increased activity.
“It confirms that Nigeria’s e-commerce ecosystem is maturing, growing in a more structured and resilient way. As the December Holiday Sale continues, we expect these patterns of familiarity, trust, and participation to sustain momentum and drive both commerce and community impact across the country.”
E-Business
Galaxy Backbone Tops FG’s Website Performance Ranking

Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) has been ranked first overall in the 2025 Federal Government Website Performance Scorecard.

This is a landmark achievement for Nigeria’s digital economy.
The ranking, conducted by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), is the definitive benchmark for digital excellence and transparency across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Professor Ibrahim Adepoju Adeyanju, managing director and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, received the award during a ceremony in Abuja.
He described the feat as a validation of the agency’s“Nigeria First”data sovereignty strategy and its relentless pursuit of service excellence.
This recognition comes as the Federal Government intensifies its push to achieve a fully paperless civil service by December 31, 2025.
GBB has been the primary architect of this transition through its 1Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform, which now hosts the operations of almost all federal MDAs.
The award adds to a growing list of accolades for Galaxy Backbone in 2025, following its recent win of the “International Standard Excellence Award for Best IT Service Provider.”
As the central hub for government shared services, GBB’s performance serves as a blueprint for other agencies currently undergoing digital transformation.
With its expanded fiber-optic backbone now covering over 13 states and its secure cloud solutions, Galaxy Backbone remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s vision to become a leading digital nation by the end of the decade.
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