Broadcasting
Essential functions for AI transformation to fuel Africa’s growth
By Linda Saunders, Country Manager & Senior Director Solution Engineering, Africa, Salesforce
I’ve just returned from Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco, where leaders from around the world were talking about what comes next in the “agentic era” – a future where AI systems don’t just automate tasks, but plan, reason and act independently to achieve complex goals. What struck me most is how relevant these conversations are to Africa right now.
Across the continent, businesses are being asked to do more with less. They’re expected to grow faster and serve more people, but budgets and teams aren’t growing at the same pace. AI can help bridge that gap: not by being a shiny new tool, but by becoming a dependable partner that takes on the heavy lifting. To get there, we need more than technology. We need the right functions inside our organisations to guide and manage this adjustment so that it remains safe, ethical and genuinely useful.
From where I sit, these five functions are essential for any African business preparing for this new era:
1. AI agent management: Turning ideas into action
This role ensures that AI is used for the right reasons and for clear business outcomes. It starts with identifying where AI can make a measurable difference, whether that’s improving customer service, speeding up internal processes, or advancing financial inclusion, something we’ve already seen by companies like Absa, which is using AI to deliver faster, more accessible banking services.
Given the understandable skepticism around AI in Africa, especially concerns about job losses or data misuse, anyone using an AI agent must show real, practical benefits. It’s time to move from experiments to work that actually matters.
2. AI risk and governance: Building trust from the start
AI use is impactful when people trust it, which requires strong safety barriers from the very start.
Africa faces a unique challenge: many global AI models are trained on data that doesn’t reflect our languages, cultures or contexts, which can create bias, errors, and even harm in some cases, as we’ve seen with content systems that fail to moderate hate speech in African languages.
Robust AI governance, people, process and technology puts the right checks in place: bias testing, transparency reviews, data protection and ongoing monitoring. This isn’t about introducing more red tape; it’s about building and maintaining trust. If AI tools are going to act and make decisions independently, the safeguards must be solid, visible and consistent.
3. AI operations management: Scaling for dependability
The reality is that most – almost 95% – AI pilots fail. Often it’s because companies try to build everything from scratch, only to run into security risks, bad data or runaway costs.
In Africa, failed pilots are even more painful because budgets are tighter. The AI operations management function prevents this. It handles the day-to-day running of AI systems, by deploying them properly, keeping them stable, monitoring performance and making sure they stay secure.
Working inside this function is the AI platform engineer, whose job is technical and hands-on: they connect agents, data and applications into a single, reliable workflow. They make sure the system runs smoothly around the clock and can deploy digital labour when demand grows.
AI management teams must keep the operation steady and aligned with the organisation’s needs; the platform engineer makes the machinery actually work.
4. AI Workforce Training & Development: Bridging tech and talent
Technology only works when people understand how and when to use it. This is where the training function becomes critical.
A significant digital literacy gap exists, with only half of African countries including computer skills in their school curricula. The AI learning and development manager must prioritise structured training, moving from basic AI awareness to role-specific capability development, ensuring employees are prepared for the “human-agent collaboration” that defines the future of work. Salesforce’s latest Slack Workforce Index shows people using AI are 81% more satisfied with their job than those who aren’t, making training a critical function for talent attraction and retention.
5. AI workforce integration: Augmenting human potential
This is about fostering seamless, productive collaboration between human employees and AI systems. The goal is to augment human capabilities, enabling employees to focus on creative and strategic tasks and reduce friction.
By automating repetitive and time-consuming activities, AI can free employees to focus on high-value work and strategic initiatives. We’ve seen real-world success, such as Secret Escapes increasing autonomous resolution rates from 10% to 30%, which allows human employees to focus on higher-value interactions. The AI collaboration strategist defines the essential interaction points and optimises collaboration models to ensure AI enhances our human ingenuity.
Africa’s opportunity in the agentic era
The move toward agentic systems isn’t just another tech upgrade. It changes how work actually gets done. For Africa, it’s a real opportunity because it has the potential to deliver better public services, faster responses, and the ability to grow without inflating limited budgets.
These five functions, from governance to workforce integration, give organisations the structure they need to use AI safely and effectively. Without them, AI is guesswork, but with them, it becomes something that can genuinely support growth.
After witnessing many AI success stories at Dreamforce, one thought kept surfacing: while success and profit are noble causes, Africa has a duty to set the bar higher and use AI as an opportunity to elevate its people and solve real human problems.
Can we, as Africans, afford to miss this opportunity to make meaningful change on a continent that knows too well the price we pay for being left behind? Africa’s AI success starts with each of us taking up the responsibility to participate, develop ourselves, train our people, rethink our workflows, and place skills where they’ll make the biggest difference. We need AI solutions that reflect our values and serve our people.
Awba-Ofemili Development Union (ADU) Health Committee has officially announced the launch of the Awba-Ofemili Health Awareness Campaign 2026, a community-wide initiative designed to promote preventive healthcare, disease awareness, early detection, health education, and healthy living across Awba-Ofemili.
Awba-Ofemili Health Awareness Campaign
The campaign, themed “Beyond Elu-Ulee (Buruli Ulcer): Building a Healthier Awba-Ofemili,” will be held on Thursday, 17 September 2026, at the Civic Centre, Awba-Ofemili, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
The programme builds on the success of the committee’s maiden Elu-Ulee (Buruli Ulcer) Awareness Campaign, which raised awareness on Buruli ulcer and strengthened community engagement on preventive healthcare.
According to the Chairman of the ADU Health Committee, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, KSM, the 2026 campaign represents a significant expansion of the committee’s health intervention agenda.
“This campaign is about moving beyond awareness to action. We want to deepen community health education, encourage early detection of preventable diseases, strengthen school health initiatives, promote First Aid awareness, and build sustainable partnerships that will improve the health and well-being of our people,” he said.
The 2026 campaign will feature community health education, free basic health screening, school health support, First Aid awareness programmes, and stakeholder engagement with healthcare professionals, development partners, and community organisations.
The committee has called on sons and daughters of Awba-Ofemili, residents, friends of the community, corporate organisations, philanthropic individuals, NGOs, healthcare institutions, and development partners to support the initiative through financial contributions and strategic partnerships.
To support the implementation of the campaign, the ADU Health Committee has opened a dedicated fundraising channel through Fidelity Bank Plc, with donations payable to Awba-Ofemili Education Volunteers (Account No. 6060490921).
The Committee appealed to all supporters to use “HEALTH FUND” as the transfer narration so that contributions can be properly recorded and accounted for under the ADU Health Committee Health Fund.
Secretary of the ADU Health Committee, Mr. Cornelius Nwakonobi, emphasized that every contribution would make a meaningful impact.
“No donation is too small. Every contribution will support community health education, medical outreach, school health programmes, First Aid support, and preventive healthcare initiatives. Together, we can build a healthier, stronger, and more resilient Awba-Ofemili,” he stated.
The ADU Health Committee reaffirmed its commitment to working with government agencies, healthcare professionals, development organisations, the Nigerian Red Cross, community stakeholders, and the Awba-Ofemili diaspora to advance sustainable health interventions in the community.
For partnership enquiries, sponsorship, or additional information, interested organisations and individuals are encouraged to contact the ADU Health Committee Secretariat.
Broadcasting
NBC Files Fresh Appeal against Judgment Barring it from Imposing Fines on Broadcast Stations
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has filed an application seeking the permission of the court of appeal to file a fresh appeal against the judgement of the federal high court in Abuja barring it from imposing fines on erring broadcast stations.
In the application filed at the court of appeal in Abuja by Dapo Akinosun, counsel to the NBC, the commission argued sanity in Nigeria’s broadcasting sector is under threat and that the public interest would be better served if the court grants the application.
On January 17, 2024, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, a judge at the federal high court in Abuja, restrained the NBC from imposing a N5 million fine on broadcast stations sanctioned in 2022 over allegations of “undermining Nigeria’s national security by broadcasting documentaries on banditry in Nigeria”.
The affected broadcast stations were Multichoice Nigeria Limited, owners of DSTV; TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV); Trust-TV Network Limited; and NTA StarTimes Limited.
The suit was filed by Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the NBC appealed the judgement filed an appeal at the court of appeal in Abuja.
In June, the court of appeal dismissed the commission’s appeal, holding that it was “fundamentally defective” and incompetent.
Jane Inyang, lead judge of the panel, held that the parties before the lower court were identified as “Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (as applicant) and National Broadcasting Commission (as respondent)” but in the notice of appeal the purported appellant was described as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission”,
The judge held that the discrepancy was significant and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the commission’s appeal.
In the application, the NBC urged the court to grant it leave to raise and argue a fresh issue on appeal relating to the legal capacity of MRA to institute and maintain the original suit before the lower court.
The commission argued that the defect in the earlier notice of appeal, which resulted in the dismissal of its appeal, arose “solely from an inadvertent misdescription” of its name by its lawyer.
The NBC told the court that the subsisting judgement raises questions on the commission’s statutory powers to regulate broadcasting and enforce compliance with broadcasting standards in Nigeria.
The commission argued that the subsisting judgment is capable of creating uncertainty regarding its regulatory powers if it is allowed to stand.
The NBC also argued that without the pronouncement by the appellate court on the issues raised in the appeal, its regulatory framework would be weakened.
“A weakened regulatory framework may embolden non-compliance with established broadcasting standards, thereby increasing the dissemination of false, misleading and unverified information capable of causing unnecessary public anxiety, panic and social unrest,” the NBC said.
“Absence of effective regulatory oversight may further encourage irresponsible broadcasting practices and the misuse of broadcast and digital media platforms by persons who deliberately publish sensational, inaccurate or inflammatory content to intimidate, harass or unduly influence individuals, institutions and public discourse.”
David Adedeji Adeleke, known professionally as Davido, has shared his past suicidal thoughts as he dropped Oriadé, his sixth studio album yesterday.
Davido
Davido said he chose the date on purpose as it marks exactly 15 years since he began his professional music career.
Oriadé is a Yoruba word combining “Ori,” meaning destiny, and “Adé,” meaning crown.
It translates to “the crowned head.” The album has 13 tracks and features Black Sherif, Aya Nakamura, Leon Thomas, Mayorkun, and Llona.
It follows his 2025 project, 5ive, which reached number two on the Billboard World Albums chart.
Davido also announced an international tour to support the new record.
In the days leading up to the release, Davido gave interviews that revealed personal details about his past and his current life.
Speaking to Vibe Magazine on Thursday, he described a 2014 incident in Ghana that left him feeling suicidal.
He said he invited a woman back to his hotel room after a show, and she later posted a photo of him sleeping online.
He said the fallout overwhelmed him.
“My daddy was calling me. My sisters were calling me. If I saw the balcony that day, I would have jumped,” he said.
He said he was young at the time and did not fully understand the consequences of his actions.
He described the experience as a turning point that changed how he thinks about privacy and fame.
In the same interview, he explained why he often dresses down in public despite his wealth.
He recalled a trip to the South of France where he went out in shorts and slippers without his watch.
“I’ve been on jets, I’ve been flying, I’ve been in all these places since I was a baby. I’ve been seeing money since I was a baby. So all these things don’t really excite me,” he said.
He added that he sometimes prefers to drive a Toyota to the supermarket in Atlanta instead of one of his luxury cars.
In a separate livestream with Davrel, Davido spoke about how his life has changed since marrying his wife, Chioma, and becoming a father.
He said his home no longer holds the large crowds it once did.
“I can no longer have 100 people in my house like before,” he said.
He said he speaks to Chioma every day regardless of his schedule.
He also disclosed that he spends between $200,000 and $300,000 a month on himself, not including costs for his wife, children, jewelry and cars.
He said the amount is lower when he is in the United States, where he described his lifestyle as quieter.
Fake Agency: ICPC Indicts NITDA, Others over Inadequate Due Diligence
Tax Reform Built on Taxing Prosperity, Not Poverty– Adedeji
UNESCO Taps Oguamanam,Nigerian Scholar to Advisory Body on Science, Tech Ethics
MTN Alerts Subscribers over Fake 25GB Anniversary MTN Data Giveaway
X Replaces Revenue Sharing wit New Creator Rewards Programme
EFCC Busts NIS Visa Overstay Racket, Uncovers N700m in an Account
Fact-Check: Elon Musk’s “Tesla Pi Phone” is Internet Rumor
NBC Tasks Broadcasting Stations over 2028 DSO Global Deadline
NBC Scraps Annual Digital Access Fee on DSO
Glo Sponsored African Voices to Feature Netflix’s “The Polygamist” Stars
General News3 days agoGuinness Rewards Consumers with ₦17 Million in First Week of ‘Open for More’ Promo Draw
News3 days agoWorld Bank Debars United Aviation Services, Owner over Fraudulent Activities
E-Business3 days agoNITDA Introduces Cloud Certification Boost Data Localisation Compliance
Telecom3 days agoNCC, Enugu Sign Deal to Operate Digital Industrial Park, Learning Centre
E-Financial3 days agoBOI Opens N250Bn Bond Offer to Fund Businesses
News3 days agoEnugu State Approves Land for ITF’s Digital Fabrication Centre
Telecom3 days agoGITEX Nigeria to spotlight Africa’s $1trn AI economic potential
General News3 days agoMeta Hit With $567m US Court Order Over Alleged Harm to Children