E-Business
Oyindamola Aje Crowned ‘Best Science Student’ in Nigeria

Oyindamola Aje, a 16-year-old student of Jesuit Memorial College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has emerged winner of the second edition of the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition held in Lagos.
He defeated eight other finalists in an intense quiz session to win the grand prize of 7.5 million Naira worth of tertiary education scholarship. This scholarship will spread over five years. He also went away with a laptop and a monthly stipend for the duration of the scholarship fund.
The first runner-up,15-year-old Oluwatobi Ojo of Apt Scholars Universal College, Ogun State won 4 million Naira worth of scholarship spread over three years; while the second runner-up, 15-year-old Onyekachi Madumere from Scholars Universal Secondary School, Ogun State, received N1 million Naira worth of scholarship for one year.
Oyindamola came tops after going through various levels of the competition. In his comments after the announcement, Oyindamola said he wasn’t looking forward to the competition as he did not know what to expect knowing he was competing against brilliant minds.
He said: “I am very happy that I won the InterswitchSPAK 2.0 first prize. It has been a very long and exciting journey for me and I am grateful to God that I am the overall winner. I did not see this coming at all but I’m very excited”.
Expressing his gratitude, Oyindamola said “I feel very proud to be part of a project that is giving students in Nigeria opportunities to utilize their talents and skills to impact the nation positively. I would like to use this opportunity to thank Interswitch for creating the InterswitchSPAK project and giving me this opportunity of a lifetime.
“I also want to thank my parents, teachers, friends and the other participants in the InterswitchSPAK competition. My success today is as a result of their support, encouragement and challenge. I thank them all.”
Another highlight of the day was the presentation of the Founder’s Award to Team Earth – winners of the Innovation Challenge. The team, made up of nine SS2 students, collaborated to identify a problem in the agricultural value chain in Nigeria, proffered a solution, leveraging technology.
Each student alongside their mentors were presented with a medal and a laptop. The nine students will also get a chance to partake in a two-week internship programme at Interswitch Group head office in Lagos during the long school holidays.
Mitchell Elegbe, MD/Founder Interswitch Group, in his opening remarks, stressed the importance of science and technology to the Nigeria economy. He said: “Consistently as a nation and even a continent, we will keep having challenges, I am therefore challenging all of you seated here today to develop an entrepreneurial mindset to face these challenges and overcome them.”
Mitchell further urged the students to broaden and challenge their perspectives to think about the impact they can make in Nigeria using science and technology. He advised young graduates to develop and explore skills that can help them become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers.
“These are interesting times to be young. Indeed these are great times to be an entrepreneur. With the huge advantage the internet portends, the increasing consciousness for mentorship and the plethora of success stories at your disposal, the Nigerian and African youth cannot but rise up to the occasion. As a matter of fact, I believe you all can do it, at least the InterswitchSPAK has proven that, twice!” he added.
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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