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British High Commissioner Seeks Increased Access to Internet for Nigeria’s Digital Economy

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Catriona Laing, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, said the country needs a combination of, increased access to safe, affordable, faster and better quality internet, an encouraging regulatory environment, a skilled talent pool, and access to investment and partnership opportunities.

 

She stated this at the graduation of about 2,400 girls trained in digital skills through the ‘DigiGirls Digital Empowerment’ programme of CyberSafe Foundation across Nigeria.

DigiGirls Digital Empowerment is a UK-supported programme that equipped girls on digital skills like Digital Marketing, E-Commerce, Data Analytic and Graphic Design, among other skills that would enable them to have access to gainful employment within and outside Nigeria.

According to her; “Through the Digital Access Programme, we are working with the Federal Government, state governments and policy makers on removing systemic barriers to connectivity expansion – for example the Right of Way charges that make laying broadband more expensive.

“We are pleased to say that a number of states have reduced or ended these charges all together, which is excellent progress, and we would encourage other states to consider doing the same.

“We have also worked with the Federal Government to roll-out a 5-year national broadband plan that will help expand the Nigeria’s broadband connectivity from the current 38% penetration to 75%, by 2025.

“Working with our partner the KPMG, we are also providing technical support and capacity building on cybersecurity for Nigeria including work to develop a cybersecurity toolkit for the millions of Small and Medium Enterprises across Nigeria.

Speaking on what the British government is doing to support Nigeria to close the gender gap in digital skills, she said: “The UK supports Nigeria in its bold ambition to create 100m jobs in 10 years and we believe that the Digital Economy can play a major part in unlocking this.

“Improving girls’ access to education is a key part of the UK’s G7 Presidency and is at the heart of global efforts to build back better from the pandemic.

“That is why we are pleased to be here today at the graduation of the first cohort of 2400 women and girls who benefited from the Digi-Girls project.

“We are also delighted that, as announced last month by the UK’s Minister for Africa, during her visit to Nigeria, we are able to expand this project to directly benefit an additional 4000 women, and reach a further 10,000 women through the train the trainer approaches.

“We believe that such programmes will help in addressing the digital inequality in Nigeria – that currently holds a 15 percent gender gap against women,” Laing said.

 


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E-Business

UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

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United Kingdom has issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple, mandating that the company create a backdoor to access users’ encrypted iCloud data.

UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

This directive, issued under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requires Apple to provide British security officials with the means to retrieve all content uploaded to iCloud by any user worldwide.

Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, introduced in 2022, offers end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, ensuring that only users can access their information.

The UK’s demand challenges this security measure, potentially compelling Apple to either comply by creating the backdoor or withdraw the ADP feature from the UK market.

Compliance could set a precedent, leading other governments to request similar access, thereby raising global privacy concerns.

The UK Home Office has declined to confirm or deny the existence of such notices, stating, “We do not comment on operational matters, including, for example, confirming or denying the existence of any such notices.”

This development underscores the ongoing tension between governmental surveillance efforts and technology companies’ commitments to user privacy.

 


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E-Business

Oracle Adds AI Pricing Features to Financial Software

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Oracle on Thursday added another set of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to NetSuite, one of its corporate finance software offerings, including some that might make it faster for consumers to get a price quote on purchases like custom bicycles.

Oracle has taken a different tack with AI than rivals such as Microsoft. Rather than racing toward general purpose virtual assistants, Oracle has decided to add targeted features that speed common-but-tedious tasks like entering a brief write-up of how a sales meeting went into a corporate records system.

Another such task that is common in the business world is giving a customer a price quote on a complicated purchase that might have a lot of options, when a sales professional would need to sift through materials to come up with a price.

NetSuite on Thursday announced a feature to compile such a quote via conversation with a chatbot asking what the customer wants, which can either be used by sales professionals behind the scenes to speed up their work, or directly by consumers in the case of e-commerce businesses.

“When you buy something like a bicycle, you have to configure it – figure out what parts you want and which parts work together. We all do it when we buy our cars on the web these days,” Evan Goldberg, executive vice president of Oracle NetSuite, said.

“If you can configure (products) for customers more easily, you can do more deals in a day, or each deal costs less.”

To power those features, Oracle has decided to skip the costly race to develop huge AI models and instead works with partners such as Canadian startup Cohere.

Goldberg said that Oracle’s recent agreement to build massive data centers with ChatGPT creator OpenAI could lead to working with it as well, though the two firms have made no formal announcements.

“I think you could safely say that there’s a possibility that OpenAI will be part of this,” Goldberg told Reuters. “We are eager to work with OpenAI.”

 


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IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

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IBM, the American multinational technology giant, has reportedly announced plans to exit Nigeria, Ghana, and other key African markets, transferring its regional operations to MIBB, a subsidiary of the Midis Group.

IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

The move, which according to TechCabal was revealed in a statement by the company, effective April 1 2025, is part of a new operating model IBM is adopting across select African countries.

Under this arrangement, MIBB will take over IBM’s local operations, customer support, and relationships while marketing and selling IBM products and services across 36 African nations.

“MIBB will market and sell IBM products and services in 36 African countries, thereby giving MIBB’s sales network direct access to IBM products, services, and support, further boosting innovation and growth in the region,” IBM stated.

IBM has been a key player in Africa’s tech industry for decades, providing critical infrastructure for banking, telecom, oil and gas, and government services.

However, its planned exit follows a trend of multinational corporations leaving Nigeria.

In December 2024, Swiss cement giant Holcim announced its departure from Nigeria, selling its 83% stake in Lafarge to a Chinese firm.

Similarly, South African grocery retailer Pick n Pay disclosed plans in October 2024 to exit Nigeria by selling its 51% stake in a joint venture.

IBM has yet to respond to media inquiries regarding the specifics of its transition strategy and reasons for the exit.


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