Telecom
FG Directs NCC to Issue Research Grants on Artificial Intelligence
The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, has directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to provide grants for tertiary institutions to enhance research on robotics and emerging technologies.
Prof. Isah Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, disclosed this during the International Conference on Computing and Advances in Information Technology, organised by Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria on Tuesday.
The three-day conference which was organised by the Department of Computer Science of the institution has “Fostering Digital Economy Through Recent Trends in Information Technology’’ as its theme.
Pantami said the ministry was passionate about supporting emerging technologies in the area of 5G, artificial intelligence, robotics and many more.
To achieve this, the minister said he directed the NCC to come up with research grants that would be given to higher institutions to partake on research in emerging technology.
He said there was a meeting about three weeks ago to review proposals sent by academics in order to see how the Federal Government would support them with research grants in the area of emerging technologies.
According to Pantami, there is a research grant under the National Information Technology Development Agency, where the Federal Government sponsors young academics to higher institutions abroad.
He said all these initiatives were to support digital economy of the country.
The minister noted that according to the world economic forum, as at 2016, the global contributions of ICT to economic development stands at 16 per cent, and the figure has been predicted to reach 50 per cent by 2022.
He added that the world economic forum had also predicted that by 2022, 132 million jobs would be created within the digital economy sector.
Pantami further noted that the global economy had been digitalised; new opportunities were coming up, particularly with the emergence of the disruptive technology like artificial intelligence, robotics, 5G, quantum computing, virtual realities and many more.
“All these aspects of emerging technologies come up with new opportunities that make ICT to dominate the world economy; as it is today, ICT was a key enabler to the growth and development of the world economy,’’ the minister said.
He added that the trend was the same in Nigeria, as in 2020 the National Bureau of Statistics said the fastest growing sector of Nigerian economy was the ICT.
“In the first quarter of 2021, the fastest growing economy in the country was ICT, in the second quarter of 2021, the contribution of ICT to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 17.92 per cent,’’ he said.
He, therefore, attributed the unprecedented ICT’s contribution to GDP on policies of the ministry, stressing that within two years the ministry with its agencies came up with 16 national policies.
He added that of the 16 developed national policies, more than a dozen were being implemented, like the `National Digital Economy Policy Strategy for a Digital Nigeria”, which he described as the umbrella policy upon which other policies were developed.
Pantami said the ministry was coming up with subsidiary legislations and regulatory instruments to support the development of ICT sector in the country.
In his remarks, Prof Kabiru Bala, Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, said the conference was in line with the university’s efforts aimed at reviving the long standing academic and stakeholders’ engagement.
Bala said that the academic and stakeholders’ engagement was aimed at boosting awareness creation, knowledge sharing and influencing national and international policy formulations.
The vice-chancellor said the international conference on computing and advances in information technology with a theme “fostering digital economy through recent trends in information technology’’ was relevant and timely.
“The digital economy is an economy which operates predominantly with the help of digital technology. It implies the global network of economic activities processes, transactions and interactions among people, businesses and devices among others supported by ICT
“The digital economy permeates the world economy; information was flowing within and across borders with unprecedented volumes, with significant impact on innovation, trades, global value chain and society; while few aspects of our life remained untouched by digitalisation,” Bala said.
He noted that “emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and cloud computing, among others led to breakthroughs that characterised our world today; this conference is therefore relevant and timely.”
Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief Enterprise business officer, MTN Nigeria, has assured the network subscribers that the new end-user billing system for the use of USSD services will jot affect them.
USSD, otherwise Unstructured Supplementary Service Data codes are commonly used for banking transactions, airtime recharges, and other mobile services.
The telco said that there is no significant impact or change other than the fact that they will now pay the same N6.98 per session (120 seconds) with their airtime instead of direct bank debit.
Saint-Nwafor, said this during a chat with MTN MIP fellows, explaining that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered telecom operators to ensure that the new billing model resolves trust issues and ensures transparency in the billing process.
“Our regulator insisted that at the end of every month, we are going to be providing history and statistics on the performance of the service across the board”, she explained.
Saint-Nwafor added that the new billing model has standardized messaging across all operators and ensures consistent communication with customers.
“We will take all the error codes and map them into messages that are standardised across the board. So, if you initiate a transaction, you will know if it is failing. And, when the transaction fails, you will know if it is from your bank or the telco,” she explained.
The U.S. government has recovered $225 million in what is now the largest seizure of funds linked to a cryptocurrency investment scam.
In a statement released Wednesday, June 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the recovery followed an extensive investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, using blockchain analysis and other forensic tools. The statement did not confirm whether any arrests had been made.
According to the authorities, the stolen funds originated from fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes that tricked victims into believing they were making legitimate investments. More than 400 individuals around the world, including dozens in the United States, were reportedly affected.
The operation involved a sophisticated money laundering network that carried out hundreds of thousands of blockchain transactions to obscure the source and ownership of the stolen assets.
“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims,” said Shawn Bradstreet, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Secret Service office in San Francisco.
Bradstreet added that U.S. officials hope the recovered funds can eventually be returned to the rightful victims.
Cryptocurrency investment fraud accounted for over $5.8 billion in reported losses in 2024 alone, according to the statement.
In a rousing declaration that is electrifying minds across the continent, Hon. Nnaemeka Ani, Special Adviser on ICT to Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for a homegrown digital revolution under the banner “Africa Will Rise: By Code, By Courage, By Us.”
Hon. Nnaemeka Ani
The message, part challenge, part philosophical—seeks to galvanize African innovators to move beyond buzzwords and build technology with impact and legacy in mind.
“Let’s stop building for hype. Let’s start building for legacy,” Ani urged while speaking to ICT journalists over the weekend. “Let’s stop waiting for someone else. Let’s start creating the future—on our own terms.”
At the heart of Ani’s vision is a shift from tech consumerism to tech authorship. With innovation hubs sprouting across cities like Enugu, Lagos, Kigali, Jo’Burg, and Nairobi, and a growing community of developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs determined to solve Africa’s unique challenges, the movement is already taking shape.
Ani emphasized that Africa’s future lies not in flashy apps or international admiration but in persistent, intentional solutions that uplift communities—solutions that digitize public services, bridge rural-urban divides, empower women and youth, and build resilience in food and climate systems.
“We have the talent,” he said. “Now it’s time to harness it—to stop building for likes and start building for lasting impact.”
With support from leaders like Ani and rising momentum in Africa’s tech corridors, it seems that a new chapter is being written—one line of code at a time.
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