Moniepoint Inc, Africa’s leading digital financial services provider, has announced the opening of applications for the second cohort of its flagship DreamDevs initiative, a transformative program designed to bridge the tech talent gap in Africa by equipping recent graduates with industry-ready skills and real-world experience.

With applications open to graduates across Nigeria, DreamDevs is designed as a national talent search for the next generation of world-class engineers. Each year, just 20 high-potential candidates are selected into an intensive bootcamp, with the strongest performers progressing into internship and full-time roles at Moniepoint. Last year’s cohort delivered four hires – three interns and one full-time engineer – validating the programme’s role as a high-impact talent pipeline.

Targeting graduates from technology, computer science, engineering, and related fields with foundational programming knowledge in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, DreamDevs offers a rigorous nine-week boot camp that immerses participants via hands-on training from leading software engineers. Standout performers will secure six-month internship placements at Moniepoint, with potential progression to full-time employment based on performance.

“The results from our first cohort validated our belief that with the right training and support, Africa’s young tech talent can compete globally,” says Felix Ike, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Moniepoint Inc. “This year, we’re doubling down on our commitment by aiming to convert half of our participants into full-time employees. For us, DreamDevs is all about creating sustainable career pathways that drive Africa’s digital economy forward.”

The initiative aligns with Moniepoint’s broader vision of using technology to power the dreams of millions and engineer financial happiness across Africa. It complements the company’s existing talent development programs, including HatchDev – a collaboration with NITHub Unilag that produces 500 specialised developers annually across software engineering, intelligent systems, and IoT/embedded systems as well as its hugely popular, Women-in-Tech which is now in its fifth year.

The initiative is also in tandem with the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, for which Moniepoint serves as a key sponsor. While the 3MTT programme focuses on mass technical skills training across Nigeria, DreamDevs provides a specialised pathway that takes graduates from foundational training through to employment, creating a complete talent development ecosystem.

“We’re proud to support the government’s vision of building three million technical talents while also creating direct employment opportunities through initiatives like DreamDevs. This multi-faceted approach ensures we’re contributing to national goals while simultaneously addressing our industry’s immediate talent needs.

“By investing in young people and providing them with practical experience, startup incubation support, and product development opportunities, we are not only creating high-impact jobs and driving sustainable economic growth across the continent,” Ike said.

For Victor Adepoju, a member of the first cohort and now a Backend Engineer at Moniepoint, “The organisation of the program was top-notch. The training covered a wide range of topics and provided a solid foundation I could continue to build on. I learned a great deal about cloud technologies, particularly Google Cloud Platform. The program also emphasised valuable soft skills, including planning, organisation, and prioritisation, which have been very useful in my day-to-day work.”

Selection will be based on technical aptitude, learning potential, and alignment with Moniepoint’s values of innovation and excellence. Interested and qualified recent graduates are encouraged to apply before the January 20th deadline via the official portal at dreamdevs.moniepoint.com.

Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan Africa countries rank ninth out of nine global regions as Egypt has emerged as Africa’s leading country in artificial intelligence readiness, ranking first on the continent and 51st globally in the 2025 Government AI Readiness Index published by Oxford Insights.

The impressive ranking has been lauded as underscoring North Africa’s growing influence in the global AI race.

According to Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the country scored 57.5 points out of 100, climbing 14 places from 65th in 2024.

The Nile nation also ranked fourth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, behind Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The Oxford Insights index assesses 195 governments using 69 indicators across six pillars, including policy capacity, governance, AI infrastructure, public sector adoption, development and diffusion, and resilience.

Egypt topped the Policy Capacity pillar globally with a perfect score of 100, tying with the UK, Serbia and Australia, an indicator of strong national AI policymaking and institutional readiness.

Oxford Insights noted that countries such as Egypt are “expanding the use of AI across national priorities while shaping policies to strengthen domestic AI ecosystems,” although gaps in infrastructure and talent development remain in some contexts.

MCIT minister Amr Talaat attributed Egypt’s strong performance to deliberate government action.

“This achievement reflects our efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into public services and accelerate digital transformation through Egypt’s second National AI Strategy. We are positioning Egypt as a regional AI hub while ensuring AI delivers real economic and social value,” he said.

Launched for 2025–2030, Egypt’s National AI Strategy targets sectors such as healthcare, justice and public administration, while aiming to train 30 000 AI specialists by 2030 and raise AI’s contribution to GDP to 7.7%.

Talaat also highlighted Egypt’s cybersecurity credentials when he highlighted that the country ranked among the top 12 globally in the ITU’s Global Cyber security Index.

Regionally, the results expose sharp contrasts across Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks ninth out of nine global regions, with an average score of 28.04, reflecting persistent gaps in AI infrastructure and public sector adoption.

However, countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius and Nigeria lead the sub-region, while Rwanda and Ethiopia are gaining momentum through innovation hubs and policy reforms.

In contrast, the MENA region ranks fifth globally, buoyed by significant investment in AI infrastructure and policy capacity, particularly in Gulf states.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court over the alleged failure to account for ₦55.9 billion reportedly meant for the procurement of election materials for the 2019 general elections.

The grave allegations are documented in the latest annual report published by the Auditor-General on 9 September 2025.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/38/2026 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to account for the missing or diverted N55.9 billion meant to buy smart card readers, ballot papers, and other election materials for the 2019 general elections.”

SERAP is also seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to disclose the names of all contractors paid the N55.9 billion for the procurement of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets, and other election materials for the 2019 general elections, including the names of their directors and shareholders.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: “INEC must operate without corruption if the commission is to ensure free and fair elections in the country and uphold Nigerians’ right to participation.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “INEC cannot ensure impartial administration of future elections if these allegations are not satisfactorily addressed, perpetrators including the contractors involved are not prosecuted and the proceeds of corruption are not fully recovered.”

According to SERAP, “INEC cannot properly carry out its constitutional and statutory responsibilities to conduct free and fair elections in the country if it continues to fail to uphold the basic principles of transparency, accountability and the rule of law.”

SERAP is also arguing that, “These allegations also constitute abuse of public office and show the urgent need by INEC to commit to transparency, accountability, clean governance and the rule of law.”

SERAP also said, “Allegations of corruption in the supply of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets and other election materials directly undermine Nigerians’ right to participate in elections that are free, fair, transparent, and credible.”

The lawsuit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part: “These grim allegations by the Auditor-General suggest a grave violation of the public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international anticorruption standards.”

“According to the recently published 2022 audited report by the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ‘irregularly paid’ over N5.3 billion [N5,312,238,499.39] ‘to a contractor for the supply of Smart Card Readers for the 2019 general elections’.

“The contract was awarded without prior approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council. The payment was also ‘made without any document. There was no evidence of supplies to the commission.’”