General News
CBN Restructures Operations of BDC
The Central Bank of Nigeria is to review the licenses of Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in a move aimed at sanitizing that segment of the foreign exchange market.
Professor Chukwuma Soludo, governor of the CBN said the move formed part of the resolutions of the CBN Financial Sector Surveillance Committee (FSSC) which had a two-day marathon meeting between February 23-24, 2009 to review among other things developments in the foreign exchange market especially the Bureau de Change.
The governor descended on over 1,147 BDC operators which operations it accused of not being consistent with the Anti-money Laundering laws apart from being a major source of leakage in the system.
The apex bank consequently came up with the classification of the market into classes A and B to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of supervision and assigned special transactions to BDCs which may scale through to Class A category.
Also, the operating licenses of the BDCs are being reviewed and the apex bank in no distant time would withdraw the licenses of the defaulting BDCs.
Soludo explained that the apex bank has decided to reform the BDC segment of the foreign exchange to ensure full compliance with all the extant laws and regulations and especially to ensure that money bought from the CBN were not used to fund illegal transactions.
He listed that the BDCs which qualifies for class A category would be allowed to engage in the following conditions including sale and purchase of Forex, prepaid cards, travelers’ cheques, authority to import foreign exchange (subject to compliance with Anti-money Laundering (AML) requirements, money transfer and participation in the CBN foreign exchange cash auction.
The requirements to be in class A include minimum paid up capital of N500 million verifiable at all times, mandatory deposit with the CBN $200,000 non-interest yielding, non-refundable application fee of N100,000, licensing fee of N1 million, annual renewal fee of N250, 000 and minimum IT infrastructure that enables the BDC to make daily returns to CBN.
For class B, the CBN Governor said the BDCs were to continue its operations under the existing guidelines and they can buy and sell foreign exchange while sale is subject to a minimum of $5,000 per transaction.
He assured that the CBN would engage the services of other regulatory agencies including the NDLEA, EFCC and the Police to ensure that BDCs and authorized dealers in the foreign exchange market comply fully with all laws and regulations guiding the market.
General News
Vitel Wireless, First MVNO Begins SIM Distribution

Vitel Wireless, Nigeria’s first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) has entered into partnership with Slot Systems Limited for distribution of its SIM cards and other gadgets around the country.
Chudi Nwabueze, managing director, Vitel Wireless who described the partnership as a defining moment for his company said Vitel Wireles’s purpose is clear: to transform connectivity in Nigeria through innovation, affordability, and seamless access.
Nwabueze, who spoke in Lagos recently at the official engagement with Slot said Vitel Wireless, as the nation’s first Mobile Virtual Network Operator is committed to creating smart, reliable solutions that break down barriers to communication and make it easier and more cost-effective for people to stay connected anytime, anywhere.
“This partnership with SLOT is a meeting of shared values and vision. By combining our innovative mobile services with SLOT’s extensive retail presence, we are making Vitel Wireless SIM cards and the connectivity they offer more accessible than ever before. Customers will now be able to purchase, register, and top-up their SIM cards conveniently within their own communities.”
He described the collaboration as more than just distribution, ”it is about empowering people. It is about bridging the connectivity gap with technology, accessibility, and affordability at the heart of everything we do.”
Nwabueze further explained Vitel Wireless SIM card is a location technology awareness card. It can track whereabouts of a person. This information can help the police, on official demand, in case of unfortunate incident.
He said the disadvantages of tracking a person’s whereabout outweighs the advantages.
He explained that access code is given to another person for tracking.
“We operate as a core network and we have integrated with all the major networks in Nigeria, including international calls. So, on a simple language, we are a GSM company, that you do call, SMS, data and we offer more value like safety. And the good news is that we are spread out in the 36 States plus Abuja FCT in Nigeria.
General News
Digital Realty Nigeria Launches ServiceFabric Platform Today

Digital Realty Nigeria, a carrier-neutral data centre operator, will be launching its ServiceFabric® platform alongside opening of its new LKK2 Data Centre in Lagos today.
ServiceFabric Platform in Lagos Nigeria, aligned with Digital Realty’s commitment to enabling seamless global interconnectivity for businesses, providing enterprise customers in Nigeria with the ability to connect whenever, wherever, and to whoever they need to.
Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, managing director, Digital Realty Nigeria, said that the presence of ServiceFabric in Lagos will support the growing demand for hybrid IT and multi-cloud connectivity, empowering businesses with a secure, software-defined interconnection platform.
“As you are aware, data is driving our world forward across every aspect of the economy. To unlock the opportunities of data we provide the meeting place for Companies, Technologies and Data to come together across Africa, one of the fastest growing continents, and in the process, we enable bold new ways to expand and grow,” he said.
Digital Realty’s global data centre footprint gives customers access to the connected communities that matter to them with over 300 facilities in 50 global metros across 25 countries on six continents. Digital Realty currently maintains client base of over 5,000 customers including over 1,500+ enterprises, 1,300+ networks service providers, and over 1,000+ cloud and IT providers. It offers datacentre services to 250+ of the Fortune 500 companies.
General News
Meta Refactors AI Strategy, Freezes Hiring to Focus on Superintelligence

Meta Platforms has frozen hiring in its artificial intelligence division following months of aggressive recruitment, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The hiring freeze, which took effect last week, coincides with a broader restructuring of the company and restricts current employees from moving between teams within the AI division. The duration of the freeze has not been disclosed.
“There might be exceptions to the block on external hires, but they would need permission from Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang,” the sources said. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the freeze, describing it as “basic organizational planning: creating a solid structure for our new superintelligence efforts after bringing people on board and undertaking yearly budgeting and planning exercises.”
Meta has been a leading player in the AI talent race, offering some researchers pay packages worth nine figures and acquiring startups to secure key personnel. Analysts have raised concerns over the high cost of such hiring, warning that Meta’s stock-based compensation could affect shareholder returns.
The restructuring divides Meta’s AI operations into four teams: TBD Lab, focused on superintelligence; an AI products team; an infrastructure team; and a long-term exploratory team called Fundamental AI Research. The reorganization follows criticism of the company’s previous AGI Foundations team, responsible for Meta’s Llama large language models, which underperformed expectations after its latest release.
After the Llama release in April, CEO Mark Zuckerberg became personally involved in recruiting, reaching out to researchers at OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and other labs. Offers sometimes reached $100 million in total compensation, with one overture to Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch valued at $1.5 billion, though he declined.
To strengthen its AI efforts, Meta also brought on Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and Safe Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Gross, with the company acquiring stakes in their ventures as part of the recruitment. By mid-August, Meta had hired over 50 AI researchers and engineers from companies including OpenAI, Google, Apple, xAI, and Anthropic.
Investor concern over the cost of tech giants’ AI expansions has contributed to a recent selloff in technology stocks. In an August 18 research note, Morgan Stanley analysts warned that rising stock-based compensation at Meta and Google could either drive AI breakthroughs or dilute shareholder value without clear innovation gains.
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