Telecom
Banking Services Experiencing Disruptions – Agbaje
Mr Segun Agbaje, Chief Executive Officer, Guarantee Trust Bank on Tuesday said that there was a fundamental shift in the creation and use of financial services in the country.
He said this while presenting the Habari App to the participants at the Social Media Week, in Lagos.
According to him, the shift will enhance the future relationship between banks and customers.
He spoke on the topic, ”“One Africa, One App, Building the Bank of the Future”.
Agbaje noted that Habari is a virtual kingdom made up of communities created by people of similar interests where every activity earns users rewards they can redeem in the real world.
The core functionalities of Habari include; socialising, trading and sharing information.
He also added that Habari was their latest effort to help content creators that are also their customers solve issues around distribution band and payments.
“Banks in Africa have one fundamental challenge which is how to carter for the financial well-being of millions of people on the continent.
“The competition that exists for banks in the new competitive landscape, include anyone who can leverage the power of connectivity.
“Presently, everything disrupts, both telecos and other industries, creating room to enhance financial services in the banking industry,” he said.
He further stated that through the combination of powerful mobile computing devices and wireless connectivity, the digital revolution created an online world for search delivery that was formidable as the physical world most businesses had built and invested in.
He added that organisations now had to rethink their business models to ensure that they are able to take advantage of the opportunity the shift online created.
The GT bank executive said that in responding to new competitive landscape, there was the need to leverage on technology, have a new business model for customer engagement, acquisition and service delivery.
He said that the way the app was designed was that it would evolve constantly, not a complete work because peoples lives keeps evolving.
“Disruption of apps have started and that would make the app do more than one thing, and the Habari app is structured for play, messaging, e-commerce and others.
“The bank has more than 15million customers and we hope that with the introduction of the app, it will give the bank an exponential growth.
“Telecos and other organisations cannot disrupt us because we have an app that will disrupt others,” he said.
He said that the fundamental of the ecosystem was an end-to-end customer experience, embedded digital innovation and going beyond the traditional understanding of financial understanding of financial information to become critical enabler.
He added that for startups, Habari meant not having a structure, no advertising but having a platform to reach more people.
Social Media Week is one of the world’s premiere conferences and industry news platforms for marketers.
It provides brands, agencies and technology providers with the latest insights, trends and best practices, together with access to a global community of marketing decision makers.
MTN Nigeria is accelerating investments in network expansion and modernization to address rising demand for mobile and data services across the country.
The operator is deploying additional base stations, upgrading existing infrastructure, and expanding fiber connectivity to improve network capacity, coverage, and service quality.
The investments are designed to support increasing smartphone adoption, higher data consumption, and the growing use of digital services by consumers and businesses.
MTN said the expansion aligns with its long-term strategy to enhance customer experience while strengthening Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
The company expects the ongoing upgrades to improve connectivity, support economic growth, and enable broader access to reliable telecommunications services as demand for high-speed broadband continues to increase.
Airtel Africa’s CEO, Sunil Taldar, has announced the telco’s commitment to connecting 5,000 schools across its operating countries in Africa to the internet by 2027 through its philanthropic arm, Airtel Africa Foundation, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
So far, the $57m partnership, which was launched in 2021, has cumulatively connected 3,296 schools and provided access to over 2 million learners and about 40,000 teachers. 64 digital learning platforms have been zero-rated thereby enabling more than 11m users to access educational content at no cost.
Speaking during a visit to St. Monica’s Girls School in Lusaka, which is one of the 300 schools already connected to the internet in Zambia, the Airtel Africa CEO stated that the initiative is having a profound impact on the quality of education by expanding access to digital learning resources for African children, in collaboration with governments.
Mr Taldar added: “Students are accessing best-in-class education from the curriculum developed by UNICEF in partnership with various Ministries of Education and provided through Airtel’s connectivity.
“We are also training teachers, so that they deliver digital education effectively. We aim to continue deepening meaningful connectivity in schools by providing free internet access, zero‑rated platforms and training teachers across the continent”.
Expressing her appreciation, the Headmistress of St. Monica’s Girls’ School, Sr Matilda Soloko said: “Being among the first schools connected in the initial stage, our learners have been able to study using the learning portal and their studies have been intensified. We remain grateful to Airtel and UNICEF.”
UNICEF’s Country Representative for Zambia, Dr Saja Farooq Abdullah said: “What this partnership has brought is really bridging the equality gap and the digital divide. It is making sure that every child learns wherever they are. It was exciting and interesting to see and hear from the girls how they can learn at their own pace, how they can review the materials, and how they do their homework with comfort.
The Director of Secondary Education in Zambia’s Ministry of Education, Yvonne Mwemba Chuulu lauded UNICEF and Airtel for the partnership saying: “At the Ministry of Education, we cannot do it alone, and we are grateful for the partnership that we have today.
“Our children are able to learn in a blended fashion, where we have a teacher who is also employing digital devices. We have also heard from the learners that they are able to access the portal when they are at home, which is a good thing because our learners continue to learn in the comfort of their homes”.
The School Connection programme is expanding digital learning to learners in 13 countries: Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. By equipping these schools with internet connectivity and training teachers on using the digital tools, it is providing children, particularly in underserved and remote regions, with the digital tools and skills they need to thrive.
Airtel Africa Foundation is advancing inclusive development across four strategic pillars, Financial Inclusion, Education, Environmental Sustainability and Digital Inclusion.
MultiChoice has officially become a wholly owned subsidiary of French media company Canal+, marking the completion of one of the largest acquisitions in Africa’s media and entertainment industry.
The integration brings the South Africa-based pay television operator under the full ownership of Canal+, a global media group with operations in 70 countries.
Announcing the completion of the transaction on Thursday, Chief Executive Officer of Canal+ Africa and MultiChoice, David Mignot, described the development as the beginning of a new phase of growth for the broadcaster.
“MultiChoice is now a full subsidiary of a truly international media group operating in 70 countries.
“The group was founded in France, is listed in London and Johannesburg, and has a strong African presence with operations in more than 45 countries,” Mignot said.
The acquisition combines Canal+’s international operations with MultiChoice’s extensive footprint across sub-Saharan Africa, where it serves millions of households through its DStv and GOtv platforms, as well as the Showmax streaming service.
According to Canal+, the integration will strengthen MultiChoice’s competitive position by giving it access to broader financial resources, technology, content partnerships and operational expertise.
The company said the combined business would increase investment in local content production, sports broadcasting and streaming services as competition intensifies from global platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
The transaction is also expected to provide MultiChoice with greater access to international markets at a time when traditional pay television operators are adapting to changing consumer viewing habits and the rapid growth of digital streaming platforms.
Canal+ has expanded steadily across Africa over the past decade and now assumes full control of a business operating in more than 45 African countries, further strengthening its position in the continent’s media and entertainment sector.
The acquisition followed Canal+’s gradual increase in its shareholding in MultiChoice, which began in 2024.
After exceeding the regulatory threshold, the company launched a mandatory offer in April 2024 to acquire the remaining shares of the Johannesburg-listed broadcaster.
Following regulatory approvals and shareholder acceptance, Canal+ secured control of MultiChoice in 2025 before completing the process that has now made the company a wholly owned subsidiary.
Industry observers describe the acquisition as one of the most significant media transactions involving an African company, reflecting a broader trend of consolidation as global entertainment firms seek greater scale to compete in the streaming era.
Police Busts Syndicate Who Allegedly Stole N3Bn from Financial Institution
MTN Accelerates Network Expansion to Meet Surging Telecom Demand
Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m
TeKnowledge, Equinix Partner to Advance Nigerian Digital Infrastructure
NSIB Faults Runway Identification, Reveals Cockpit Disagreement in Asaba Jet Incident
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Mobile Internet Gender Gap Widest in Africa – GSMA
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Telecom3 days agoNCC Seeks Cost-Based Pricing Framework for Ducts
E-Financial3 days agoCBN Warns against Rejection of N100 Banknotes
Telecom2 days agoFixed Wired Internet Market Lags as Mobile Gains Ground
News3 days agoFlutterwave Secures Circle Ventures Investment to Deepen USDC Payment
Telecom3 days agoMeta Introduces Muse Image With Advanced AI Image Editing Across WhatsApp and Instagram
News3 days agoHow EFCC Turned Recovered Loot Into School Supplies for Thousands of Nigerian Students
News2 days agoStudy Reveals How Moniepoint is Powering Nigeria’s $11Bn Food Service Sector
E-Financial3 days agoBVN Enrollments Hit 69.55m- NIBSS