News
e-Payment: N/A Plans New Law to Protect System

Suddenly conscious of the dangers of practicing electronic payment (e-payment) system without legislation, the National Assembly has begun moves to put in place relevant laws to protect the implementation of the system, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
e-Payment is becoming a commonly used payment method in a wide variety of transactions and may be used in such transactions as banking, utility bill payment, tax payment, and consumer purchases as well as government transactions.
The e-payment concept was meant to check fraudulent practices among banks, government agencies and the business/real sector of the economy but the problems associated with the programme are now worrisome. For instance, there are no policies in place to guide transactions.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that electronic payments are generally subject to the same contract laws as more traditional payment methods and that clearly leaves the system in hands of lethal gang of manipulators.
Also, at present Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), switching companies and commercial banks are the institutions responsible for the needed perfection in the e-payment system while the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) is just a fringe player.
Luckily, the Anti money Laundering and Cyber Crime Coalition, formed by a body of members of the two chambers of the National Assembly has taken the first major step at ensuring that e-payment is available, accountable, accessible, scalable, and comprehensive.
Bassey Etim, member, House of Representatives and coordinator of the coalition, said the body came together with the objective of creating awareness about the dangers of Money Laundering, Cyber crimes and other ICT- related crimes as well as work towards formulating appropriate legal framework to effectively combat the menace.
It was formed in 2008 in consideration of the rising incidences of money laundering cases and the spate of cyber-related crimes and the attendant negative effects on the national economy.
Support has also come from the executive arm of government with, Mr. Ibrahim Dankwambo, accountant general of the federation urging the National Assembly to expedite action on the important piece of legislation.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that e-payment legislation will address some of the common problems of the system including late return or no response in respect of applied funds, use of different IT platforms by different banks resulting in lack of interconnectivity, non uniformity of account numbers as different banks use different digits and none naira based transactions.
The law will also address other obstacles including lack of awareness of the benefits inherent in it, low appreciation of ICT, low level of education, uneven spread of available ICT infrastructure and epileptic power supply among others.
The place of the Nigerian Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) will also be clearly defined under the law to put paid to claims and counter charges between the two.
Elsewhere, Dr. Chris Uwaje, president, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (Ispon) proposed “ National Software Development ACT to establish the National Software Commission, National Software Product Procurement Accreditation Board (NSPPAB) and relevant agencies” to help Nigeria bridge the digital divide and become an economic giant.
He also called for “Electronic Commerce and Digital Transaction and Digital Signature Act to regulate electronic commerce and digital transactions. Digital Copyrights and Cyber-Regulation Act to protect digital copyrights and regulate cyber activities and Software Standards Act to regulate Software standards, performance and security.”
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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