News
BlackHouse Media Launches Plaqad A Global Communications Platform

BlackHouse Media (BHM), one of the most successful PR companies to come out of Africa, is launching Plaqad, a global automated communications platform that looks to help brands, agencies and individuals run end-to-end social and web campaigns.
Plaqad is the first solution in the world to offer a one-stop-shop for all things needed to implement a successful marketing campaign.
Earlier in June, the company, Plaqad, launched its initial offering, SocialCred, a free influencer and social media ranking tool that leverages non-traditional metrics to measure influence on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
SocialCred provides social media users with actionable insights to grow their influence, while providing brands with sufficient data on influencers to make informed decisions on which creator to partner with. The tool, by downplaying traditional metrics like reach and impressions, also helps to counter influencer fraud and measure real engagement.
“Plaqad, a contorted way of spelling the word ‘placard,’ is a protest against the norm; the traditional forms of communication that disenfranchise brands and individuals from effectively making their voices heard because of budget, location or size,” said BlackHouse Media and Plaqad Founder, Ayeni Adekunle.
“As the first marketing software company from Africa launching on a global stage, we understand and recognize the importance of being heard, hence our mantra, ‘Make your voice heard’.”
Ayeni founded BlackHouse Media over 14 years ago, building up a roster of top-tier clients such as Coca-Cola, Heineken, MultiChoice, ViacomCBS, MTN and Reckitt Benckiser, and a workforce of nearly 100. “We conceived the idea for Plaqad to help democratize an important aspect of modern communications,” said Adekunle.
End-to-End Communications Platform
Plaqad integrates the features of an online freelance marketplace and a robust social media tracking analytics platform to help brands seamlessly connect with their target audience. It provides them with the people, platforms and tools they need to succeed, eliminating the need for expensive third-party tools.
“Our platform gives every individual and brand a voice in the marketplace by opening up access to quality talent and tools and automating the entire process of executing PR and marketing campaigns,” said Plaqad CEO Gbenga Sogbaike. “Plaqad levels the playing field, giving SMBs the ability to connect to quality service providers regardless of budget, while also tracking their campaigns realtime right in one place.”
Plaqad provides a seamless talent solution and analytics platform for individuals and brands who want to run data-driven and cost-effective social and web campaigns in record time.
Ranking Influence
SocialCred is Plaqad’s response to the mushrooming issue of influencer fraud and fake news. Its algorithm measures real influence and minimizes influencer fraud by downplaying traditional metrics like follower count, reach and impressions, focusing instead on engagement rate, audience sentiments (positive, neutral or negative), content quality and the creators’ ratio of original to shared posts within a 30-day window.
While designed as a tool for influencers and the brands that want to engage with them, the free app is available to all social media users. Individuals are awarded badges – titled A-Lister, Big Shot, Socialite, Trend Setter, JJC, Superstar, and Learner – based on their rankings.
Beyond the fun factor, SocialCred’s badges serve an important function, helping brands assess and select influencers based on their influence quotient across Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The platform makes it easier for brands to find genuine influencers who can drive real actions.
It also helps influencers to get better – and acquire bigger and better badges – by offering tips and tools to boost their visibility and social credibility.
“We have a fake news problem across Africa and the world, and Plaqad is here to distinguish the real from the fake,” says Plaqad CEO Gbenga Sogbaike. “SocialCred, our first tool, does just that, promoting transparency in influencer marketing and helping to counter influencer fraud. SocialCred separates real influencers from those simply faking it.”
The Plaqad marketplace and analytics platform will be in full release beginning November 30. From November 30 through December 15, Plaqad is offering brands, agencies and individuals the opportunity to test drive the game-changing platform at no cost. For more information, visit plaqad.com.
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
News
Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
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