Telecom
UBA, Ecobank, Others Turn to IBM Hybrid Cloud and AI Solutions to Accelerate Digital Innovation
IBM on Wednesday announced that major financial institutions across Africa have selected hybrid cloud and AI capabilities from IBM to unlock digital innovation and continue their work to develop digital-first solutions, ultimately broadening access to financial services on the continent.
COVID-19 continues to accelerate the already rapid changes that were happening across the financial services sector in Africa, fast-tracking the adoption of digital technologies to boost financial inclusion. With over 475 million Africans expected to be mobile internet users by 2025 GSMA –The mobile economy sub-Saharan Africa 2020, digital and mobile play a critical role in facilitating the delivery of digital financial services to consumers who transact on their mobile phones.
As banks focus their efforts on open innovation, security and high-value services, hybrid cloud solutions have become increasingly important to deliver seamless and secure digital banking experiences.
“Enterprises, especially those in highly regulated industries like financial services, face unique challenges when it comes to balancing innovation and regulatory compliance,” says Alan Peacock, General Manager, IBM Cloud.
“For decades, IBM has been fuelling the transformation of the financial services industry, bringing IBM’s trusted industry experience and leadership in security and data privacy to help banks modernize, transform operations and drive innovation.”
According to IBM’s COVID-19 future of business study, more than 59% of the organisations that participated said that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation, and more than 75% of responding executives indicated they expect changed customer behaviour to continue after COVID-19.
As companies in the financial services sector are speeding up transformation, IBM hybrid cloud and AI solutions are supporting their drive to accelerate digitalisation in different parts of the continent.
“In the past year we have seen banks navigate changes brought on by a growing preference for digital and mobile solutions, increasing smartphone penetration and the demand for convenience, innovation, and simplicity from today’s modern consumer, says Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh, Regional, General Manager for IBM North, East and West Africa.
“As banks across the continent take advantage of the opportunity to provide digital financial services which boost financial inclusion, IBM is working with Africa’s leading financial groups to deliver intelligent, cloud-based, digital-first innovation through IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI capabilities.”
Ecobank, the pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 33 African countries, has adopted a hybrid cloud approach to extend its reach to millions across Africa.
Using IBM Cloud, Ecobank migrated their flagship mobile banking application to leverage the on-demand capacity of resources that can support sudden spikes in traffic on its mobile banking services. Ecobank also has access to other IBM cloud services that can be used to develop more innovative, digital-first solutions to enhance their own client experience.
With over 12 million customers on its flagship mobile application, Ecobank is on an accelerated digital banking transformation journey and is set out to expand its digital offerings and grow the 30 million digital transactions it already processes on its platforms. As part of this journey, the Pan-African banking conglomerate has built scalable business solutions which allow for ease of integration with third-party providers using their open digital banking platform for a growing customer base.
Pan-African bank, Nedbank has set out to deliver superior digital experiences to customers. To achieve this, the bank is modernising its core banking applications with a hybrid cloud strategy and has partnered with IBM to help bring digital products and services to life.
To take advantage of the flexibility and agility offered by modern cloud technologies on this digitalisation journey, Nedbank explored a hybrid multi cloud approach, adopted the IBM Garage methodology to implement IBM Cloud Pak for Integration.
Through IBM Garage, the bank was able to deep dive and explore fresh solutions and in a week achieved what would have taken them months. Faced with the need to integrate complex legacy systems, Nedbank turned to IBM Cloud Pak for Integration to help build a simplified and standardised integration approach to their cloud strategy.
This enables Nedbank to shift their legacy applications into the cloud and integrate with other cloud-based applications they are consuming as they modernise and position for future innovation.
Attijariwafa bank, the Pan African Banking and Financial Group, has adopted IBM hybrid cloud solutions software to advance the digitisation of its banking operations, and quickly bring new digital services to its customers, all in a secure and flexible environment.
Using IBM Cloud Paks that are built on Red Hat OpenShift, the leading bank will streamline and better integrate front-and back-office processes and to modernise business and IT operations.
By deploying IBM Cloud Paks, Attijariwafa bank will modernise and manage its core banking applications like its corporate banking application, on a secure, integrated and easily scalable environment.
This will allow a rich and simple customer interaction while decreasing the time to bring new offerings to market. It will also enable the banks’ employees to focus their effort and time on serving their customers better.
This collaboration with IBM supports the digital transformation strategy of the bank and facilitates a full modernisation of the bank’s operations in an open, hybrid cloud environment.
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Africa’s global bank operating in 23 countries globally and with headquarters in Nigeria, has set a goal to grow its transaction volume significantly over the next few years and to deepen retail market penetration.
To achieve this, they would be required to attract the unbanked, acquire new customers through digital banking and retain existing customers by adopting a “No Transaction Must Fail (NTMF)” initiative.
Using IBM POWER9-based servers, Flash system storage and IBM PowerVC (Power system virtualization & cloud management), UBA set up a scalable, private cloud environment that is cost-effective taking the first step towards embracing a hybrid cloud model.
Customers’ needs are evolving as they seek banking services across channels and expect personalization. Co-operative Bank of Kenya turned to IBM to modernize their core banking platform and reach their customers on different channels including mobile and online while offering customized services driven by insights.
For this, they required a technology that would also empower their employees who work across teams to simplify processes, optimize customer data, while also achieving goals like reducing infrastructure and maintenance costs. With IBM Power and FlashStorage solutions, they now derive improved insights on customer data, faster query resolutions, quicker time-to-market on new services across channels – all backed by high available, scalable, cloud-and AI-ready technology.
Banco Mais, a leading bank in Mozambique, turned to IBM to help streamline its business processes and reduce turnaround times for customer-facing services. In the face of a growing competitive market locally, Banco Mais needed to develop financial service products faster to retain and gain market share.
Banco Mais implemented IBM Business Process Manager on Cloud service and was able to start projects quickly and deploy process application solutions without the need to build the IT infrastructure. By turning to this IBM Cloud solution, they could develop, test, run and monitor their business processes at a fraction of the time it would otherwise have taken. As a result, Banco Mais reduced turnaround time for loans by 60% and decreased the time it took to implement services that took 3 to 4 months by 85% to improve customer experiences.
Earlier this year, IBM announced the general availability of the industry’s first financial services-ready cloud platform, IBM Cloud for Financial Services, as well IBM Cloud Satellite. First revealed in 2019, the IBM Cloud for Financial Services is designed to help reduce risk for financial institutions, their partners and FinTechs, and innovate quickly with built-in controls that are adhered to by the entire ecosystem. IBM Cloud Satellite brings a secured, unifying layer of cloud services for clients across environments, regardless of where their data resides, delivering security, data privacy, interoperability and open standards found in hybrid cloud environments.
House of Representatives, during Tuesday’s plenary, approved the sum of N479.508 billion budget for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the 2026 fiscal year.
The resolution was passed after the clause-by-clause consideration of the report at the Committee of Supply.
While giving synopsis of the report, Peter Akpatason, chairman, House Committee on Communications, explained that the total sum of N479,508,260,000 is to be issued from the Statutory Revenue Fund of the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Out of the issued sum, N124,440,652,000 is meant for Recurrent Expenditure; N26,779,045,000 is for Capital Expenditure; N32,011,492,000 is for Special Projects, while the sum of N20 billion is for Transfer to Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), N276,277,071,000 is for Transfer to Federal Government for the financial year ending 31st December, 2026.
National Consumers Advocacy Network (NCAN), a consumer advocacy group focused on protecting the rights of consumers, has commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),for introducing a policy compelling telecom operators to compensate subscribers for poor network service.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Dr Tobi Olanrewaju, its president, the group described the directive as a bold and consumer-focused intervention.
The group noted that the move, which has already seen major telecom operators begin compensating subscribers with airtime credits, marks a shift from what it described as regulatory leniency to measurable accountability.
“For years, Nigerian telecom subscribers have endured suboptimal service quality with little or no consequence for operators,” the statement read.
“What we are witnessing under Dr Aminu Maida is a clear assertion that regulatory oversight must translate into tangible benefits for consumers. This is not merely about compensation; it is about restoring trust in the system.”
According to Olanrewaju, the policy’s provision for automatic compensation without requiring subscribers to lodge complaints demonstrates a strong understanding of the challenges faced by many Nigerians.
“This intervention acknowledges a fundamental principle that the burden of service failure should not rest on the consumer,” he said.
He added that linking compensation directly to actual service disruptions at the local level sets a new standard in regulatory practice.
The group also praised the Commission’s decision to monitor service quality at the Local Government Area level, describing it as a step towards capturing real user experiences rather than relying on general national data.
Olanrewaju further commended the Commission’s simultaneous push for telecom operators to invest in network upgrades, noting that the approach addresses both immediate and long-term concerns.
“While consumers receive immediate value for past deficiencies, the root causes of poor service are being systematically addressed,” he said.
The advocacy group urged telecom operators to embrace the directive as an opportunity to rebuild consumer trust and improve service delivery.
It also called on other regulatory agencies to adopt similar people-centred approaches in tackling systemic challenges across sectors.
“Dr Maida has demonstrated that regulation, when properly executed, can serve as a powerful tool for social and economic justice,” Olanrewaju added.
The group reaffirmed its support for the Commission’s ongoing reforms and called for sustained collaboration between regulators, operators, and consumers.
It added that the true success of the policy would be measured by lasting improvements in network performance across the country.
Telecommunications operators in Nigeria have reportedly recovered over N2 trillion from subscribers in a sweeping debt recovery campaign that has left millions unable to make calls due to unpaid airtime and data loans.
The aggressive enforcement follows new compliance requirements introduced by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), which telecom operators reportedly failed to meet, according to The News Chronicle.
This led to the suspension of airtime and data lending services and triggered a nationwide push to recover outstanding debts.
As part of the measures, indebted subscribers have had their lines restricted from making calls until their loans are fully repaid.
The move has disrupted daily life across Nigeria, particularly for small business owners and workers who depend heavily on mobile connectivity.
The lending service, valued at over N400 billion annually, has long served as a financial lifeline for many Nigerians, especially those without access to formal credit systems.
However, its sudden suspension has forced users to seek alternative means to clear their debts or abandon their lines altogether.
Meanwhile, a legal dispute involving Nairtime Nigeria Limited has added another layer of complexity.
A Federal High Court in Abuja recently ordered MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria to maintain access to key telecom infrastructure, including USSD and SMS services linked to the platform.
Despite the court’s interim injunction, lending services tied to the platform remain unavailable, indicating ongoing tensions between telecom providers, regulators, and fintech firms.
Industry stakeholders warn that the disruption highlights deeper challenges within Nigeria’s digital economy, where telecom infrastructure increasingly supports financial services.
Millions of users who rely on airtime and data borrowing remain disconnected, caught between regulatory policies, corporate disputes, and the need for affordable communication.
As pressure mounts, both regulators and telecom operators are expected to seek a resolution that balances consumer protection with uninterrupted access to essential digital services.
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