Broadcasting
CNN’s Inside Africa meets Nigeria’s Techpreneurs
On this week’s Inside Africa, CNN International showcases Nigeria’s entrepreneurial spirit, meeting four start-up stars who are improving the world from Africa’s largest tech hub.
Firstly, the programme meets Olatunbosun “Bosun” Tijani, the brains behind one of Africa’s biggest networks of tech talent. Tijani founded the Co-Creation (CC) Hub in 2010 as a meeting place for innovators in the heart of Lagos. He speaks about his inspiration, “Science and technology can leapfrog development across Africa and there are so many smart people on this continent, we just need to build a platform that will enable them to create.”
Some of CC Hub’s successful partnerships include a healthcare logistics company that delivers lifesaving blood, a digital security platform promoting internet safety, and Google-sponsored ‘Pitch Drives’ that help introduce African start-ups to Asia.
Tijani discusses the Hub’s strategy, “I believe that Africa is going to be a lot stronger if we start to see the continent as one. How do we leverage the expertise and resources that you may find in a country like Kenya and lay eyes on the creativity and energy that you find in Nigeria?”
Tijani’s latest venture is the STEM café, an imaginative space dedicated solely to children. He tells CNN about the project, “I want to help build a generation of people in Africa with a strong belief in science, people that are comfortable in science, that can apply science to change things. So, it’s a maker space for kids. It’s a space where we don’t use curriculums. It’s a nonlinear way of teaching so we actually don’t teach but we encourage kids to build.”
Featured next is Odun Eweniyi one of the founders of PiggyVest, a financial technology company that is teaching young people the value of their money, by helping them to save it. Eweniyi explains the business,
“PiggyVest is an automated savings and investment platform that helps young Nigerians put aside little amounts of money daily, weekly or monthly towards their targets or their responsibilities and eventually gives them access to micro-investments to get competency returns.”
According to Eweniyi, PiggyVest now has more than two million registered users. Despite the coronavirus shutdown and the disruptions it has caused, Eweniyi says she remains committed to her original mission of helping people save small in order to achieve big results, “Whether we’re in a crisis or out of a crisis the mission remains the same, to get them to a place where they are financially free with the power to continue to manage their finances.”
The third techpreneur is Chika Madubuko, the co-founder and CEO of Greymate Care. This healthcare start-up is a pioneer in providing on-demand care in Nigeria and Madubuko details the concept, “Before Greymate Care was launched, you would normally find someone who was a caregiver or an auxiliary nurse signing up with the hospital or an agency, but then they stayed for so long without jobs. With Greymate Care they got more jobs quickly, and they got the appropriate jobs that matched the kind of services they could provide.”
Madubuko’s company is one of many start-ups revolutionising the healthcare industry. She speaks about differentiating her product, “I knew we had to be very innovative, we have to make our processes different, we have to differentiate ourselves in the market.
“We added a training curriculum, which was the best in Africa, training our caregivers to make sure that they can provide adequate care to our service users. Running background checks on our caregivers to make sure that service users feel safe letting them through their door.”
Finally, Inside Africa meets documentary filmmaker Joel “Kachi” Benson. As the founder and CEO of VR 360 Stories, Benson works as a virtual reality storyteller. He speaks about his first time using the technology, “I think it was February 2018 that I wore a headset for the first time. And my experience was a Coldplay concert. It was like I was there.
“And I remembered what the guy was trying to tell me two years before about putting viewers in the midst of the action. All I could see was the IDP camps that I’ve been filming in northeast Nigeria, the places that I had been to, and that I felt I did not properly express with my 2D camera. You know, what a tool for storytelling.”
Benson’s 360-degree immersion into the lives of internally displaced people was a first for a Nigerian filmmaker and it influenced another project focusing on the families of the Chibok schoolgirls. He recalls the aims of the film, “With the Daughters of Chibok, what I wanted to do was to take people to Chibok and show them this reality that was almost unreal. It’s so far away, so distance, we’re so detached from the story. I wanted to put people in that space. But I also wanted to amplify the voices of these women that I saw.”
Nigeria’s techpreneurs are innovators across multiple fields of industry and are putting in the hard work to build businesses that both help and inspire.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have jointly sued the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) over what they described as an “arbitrary, unconstitutional, and unlawful” threat to sanction broadcast stations and presenters.
The development was disclosed in a Sunday statement signed by Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy director, and Onuoha Ukeh, general secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.
According to the statement, SERAP and NGE challenged a recent directive by NBC, warning presenters and journalists against “expressing personal opinions as facts,” “bullying or intimidating guests,” and failing to maintain neutrality.
The statement reads, “SERAP and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have filed a lawsuit against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) over the arbitrary, unconstitutional, and unlawful ‘Formal Notice’, which threatens to sanction broadcast stations and presenters for allegedly ‘expressing personal opinions as facts, bullying or intimidating guests, or failing to maintain neutrality.’
“The NBC had recently threatened to sanction broadcast stations and presenters who ‘express personal opinions as facts’ or ‘bully and intimidate guests,’ claiming it had ‘identified a sustained increase in breaches of the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code across news, current affairs, and political programmes.’”
In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/854/2026 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Lagos State, SERAP and NGE asked the court to determine whether the various provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code relied upon by the NBC in the directive are inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the country’s international human rights obligations.
According to the statement, the groups disclosed that Femi Falana (SAN), human rights lawyer, would lead a team of senior lawyers to represent SERAP and NGE in the lawsuit.
SERAP and NGE asked the court to declare that the provisions of the 6th Edition of the Broadcasting Code used by the NBC are vague and constitute a fundamental breach of press freedom guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights standards.
The statement added, “SERAP and NGE are asking the court for a declaration that the provisions of the 6th Edition of the Broadcasting Code used by the NBC are vague and overly broad and constitute a fundamental breach of freedom of expression and media freedom guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights standards.”
The groups also sought an interim injunction to restrain the NBC, its agents and other authorities from imposing sanctions on broadcast stations and presenters based on what they described as “unlawful provisions of the 6th Edition of the Broadcasting Code”, pending the hearing and determination of the motion.
“SERAP and NGE are also seeking an order of interim injunction restraining the NBC, its agents or privies, whether jointly or severally or any other authority, from imposing sanctions on broadcast stations and presenters based on the patently unlawful provisions of the 6th Edition of the Broadcasting Code, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed simultaneously in this suit,” the statement concluded.
Globacom continues to celebrate African creativity as its sponsored programme African Voices on CNN International features London based photographer and multidisciplinary artist Ejatu Shaw this week. The episode highlights her journey, her art, and the stories behind her work.
Ejatu Shaw’s journey into photography began in 2013 during a family trip to Sierra Leone, a moment that sparked a passion which has since shaped her creative path. Born in 1996, the British Sierra Leonean artist later went on to earn a master’s degree in photography arts from the University of Westminster in 2020.
Her work explores identity in a personal and expressive way, drawing from her Islamic faith and African heritage. She is inspired by classic African studio photographers such as Malick Sidibé, Sory Sanlé, and Omar Yahia Barram. Through self-portraits and visual storytelling, she brings her memories and experiences to life.
Shaw’s talent continues to gain global recognition. In 2025, the British Fashion Council named her a New Wave Creative.
She has also photographed top names including Angela Bassett, Cynthia Erivo, and Usain Bolt, and worked on projects for major platforms like EBONY, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and Vogue. She also designed the album cover for Craig David.
The programme will air on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. On Sunday, it will show at 3:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., with repeats on Monday at 3:00 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit will hold its second edition on August 11 in Lagos, bringing together leaders across the creative, business and policy spaces.
Convened by Mighty Media Plus, publishers of online newspaper QEDNG, the summit brings together conversations at the intersection of creativity, enterprise and influence, with a focus on strengthening Nigeria’s creative economy.
Reflecting on the inaugural edition, Iyanda said the summit drew participation from respected figures across sectors, including group managing director of SO&U Udeme Ufot as chairman and founder of The Africa Soft Power Group Dr Nkiru Balonwu as keynote speaker, alongside panellists such as filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) founder Mike Dada and executive director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Dr Shaibu Husseini who contributed to discussions on the direction of the creative economy.
“The first edition showed that there is a strong interest in serious engagement around the creative economy. We had contributions from experienced voices who helped set the tone for the kind of platform we are building,” Iyanda said.
Building on the success of its inaugural edition, the summit continues to expand its scope, attracting a diverse mix of industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and emerging talents.
“This summit is designed as a meeting point for ideas, influence and execution. It is not just about conversations, but about outcomes that strengthen the creative economy,” Iyanda added.
He noted that the timing of the summit is significant as the country’s creative sector continues to evolve.
“Nigeria’s creative sector has grown in visibility, but the structures that support it are still evolving. The QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit is part of the effort to bring clarity, direction and serious engagement to that growth,” he said.
The 2026 edition will feature keynote addresses, panel discussions and curated sessions addressing themes around innovation, growth, funding and the global positioning of Nigerian creative talent.
According to Iyanda, the long-term goal is to build a platform that remains relevant across generations.
“Our goal is to build a platform that remains useful over time, one that documents progress, connects stakeholders and contributes meaningfully to policy and practice,” he said.
Further details on speakers, partners and the full programme will be announced in the coming weeks.
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