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FG Pledges to Protect Local Airline Operators

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Osita Chidoka,  Minister of Aviation
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Osita Chidoka, minister of Aviation, has said that the Federal Government will continue to protect local airline operators in Nigeria’s aviation sector.

He gave the assurance when the management of Arik Air paid him a courtesy visit at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Aviation in Abuja.

Chidoka, according to a statement from the ministry yesterday, said the concerns raised by Arik were traceable to global conspiracy by the developed world to make sure that the developing countries remain constrained.

He noted that it was not a Nigerian conspiracy against the local airlines and that it affects other sectors.

The minister, however, assured his guests that the government would do all it can to improve local operations.

“The good thing is that those of us who know about this global conspiracy will do everything to protect the local operations in the aviation industry,” he said.

Chidoka advised the local operators to improve their services to meet with global standards.

He said, “You have to make a transition. You cannot run your business as if you are running it for only Nigerians. Go global in your operations because we are used to global services.

“A lot of things have to be done to improve the internal operational systems in the local industry to be able to compete with the global system.”

He added that the government wants to create safe and secured airports and that the partnership with local operators was necessary for this to be achieved.

“I am ideologically attuned to local industries and we are ready to ideologically make a shift to partner with the local operators to grow their businesses. We are going to be partners in progress in the interest of the passengers for we are looking forward to a Nigerian company that will take the bull by the horn and I know that Arik is up to it,” he said.


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Moniepoint Marks 10 Years of Transforming Nigerian Businesses

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Moniepoint Inc., Nigeria’s definitive platform for small businesses and Africa’s all-in-one financial ecosystem, today released its 2025 Year in Review, marking a decade of “financial happiness” and a transformative year of growth.

Moniepoint Marks 10 Years of Transforming Nigerian Businesses

Moniepoint

Highlighting its role as the backbone of Nigeria’s entrepreneurial economy with over 6 million active businesses, the company revealed that its microfinance bank has now disbursed over ₦1 trillion in credit to thousands of businesses from provision stores and supermarkets to building materials sellers.

It is worthy to note that on average these businesses experienced growth by more than 36% after accessing credit, signposting its primacy as a transformational growth level and instrument of deepening shared prosperity.

Moniepoint uses alternative data points that include transaction histories, business patterns and payment behaviours in a bid to accommodate what traditional credit scoring misses to drive financial inclusion and access to credit.

The company’s 2025 performance reinforces its role as a critical financial infrastructure which not only supports the Nigerian economy, but also impacts everyday lives, creating immense value.

Founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, Moniepoint Inc (formerly known as TeamApt Inc) has established itself as the leading financial platform for Nigeria’s vast network of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), offering an integrated suite of services, including digital payments, business bank accounts, credit, foreign exchange (FX), and management tools.

During the year, as Nigeria’s largest merchant acquirer, now powering 8 out of every 10 in-person payments made across the country, Moniepoint MFB, the banking and payments subsidiary, processed ₦412 trillion in transaction value handling more than 14 billion transactions. This clearly suggests that Moniepoint is well-positioned to play a greater role in Nigeria’s steady march towards a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

“Our journey has been one of intentional evolution,” said Tosin Eniolorunda, Group CEO and Founder of Moniepoint Inc. “What started as a passion to solve overlooked problems has evolved into a platform powering the dreams of millions.

“As 83% of employment in Africa exists in the informal economy, our mission to create financial happiness is an operational mandate that guides our product development, our market expansion, and our capital allocation decisions.”

Beaming with enthusiasm, Eniolorunda continues, “Yet for all we have accomplished, we approach our second decade with the clarity that our work remains unfinished.

“As we enter this next chapter, we do so with strengthened conviction in our strategy, deepened partnerships with world-class institutional investors, and an organisation scaled to deliver on Africa’s entrepreneurial potential.

“The infrastructure we have built over the past decade provides the foundation. The journey is far from over, but our resolve has never been stronger. To our partners, our customers, and our team: thank you for a decade of impact. We are just getting started.”

In 2025, Moniepoint Inc. reached a series of critical inflexion points, highlighted by the successful completion of its Series C funding round, which raised over $200 million in equity financing from leading institutional investors, including Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Visa, the International Finance Corporation, and Verod Capital.

The year also marked the launch of MonieWorld in the United Kingdom, extending Moniepoint’s platform to serve the African diaspora by strengthening key remittance corridors and laying the foundation for the delivery of comprehensive cross-border financial services.

Moniepoint MFB re-launched its savings product in a firm demonstration of the company’s commitment toward its’ oft stated mantra of providing financial happiness. Data reveals in terms of savings behavioral patterns, the majority of users choose to save on a daily basis, with focus across business operations (24%), rent (16.5%), and education (10%) representing top savings priorities.

The launch of Moniebook and the acquisition of a national Microfinance Bank license for Moniepoint MFB further expand the company’s regulated capabilities and product depth.

TeamApt Ltd, the switching and processing subsidiary of Moniepoint Inc., also achieved major regulatory and operational milestones in 2025 that have solidified its position in the global payments landscape. After a rigorous certification process, the company successfully secured licenses from Mastercard and Visa to act as a processor and acquirer for these global card schemes..

This strategic move allows TeamApt to support international card payments directly and offer these critical switching services to other businesses across the continent.

Monnify, the web payment gateway processed N25 trillion in the period under review, demonstrating remarkable resilience and industry confidence firmly positioning it for more business-to-business transactions.

Moniepoint’s impact extended beyond banking into critical social interventions even as the company partnered with the Federal Government to support the Rice Intervention Programme, reaching nearly 850,000 beneficiaries, and worked with the Kaduna State Government in grants disbursement to vulnerable citizens.

Through these initiatives, Moniepoint continues to build the infrastructure required to unlock Africa’s entrepreneurial potential, positioning itself as a trusted partner for the delivery of large-scale economic empowerment programmes.

As Moniepoint Inc. enters its second decade, its well chronicled decade-long evolution from a backend technology provider to a household name, directly complements the Nigerian government’s vision of a more inclusive, data-driven, and productive financial landscape. To read more about the 2025 Year in Review Report:, visit http://2025.moniepoint.com


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Paradigm Initiative Hails New Data Protection Laws as World Marks Privacy Week

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As the world observes Data Privacy Week under the theme “Take Control of Your Data,” Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has commended countries that enacted or strengthened data protection laws in the past year to protect citizens’ privacy rights.

Paradigm Initiative Hails New Data Protection Laws as World Marks Privacy Week

PIN

The week marks the January 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first international treaty on data privacy and protection.

PIN spotlighted Djibouti, The Gambia, and Burundi for passing data protection laws in June, September 2025, and January 2026, respectively. It also recognised Botswana, whose law took effect in January 2025, and Algeria, which amended its legislation in July 2025 to mandate Data Protection Officers.

“We applaud these strides,” PIN said, urging data protection authorities across Africa to prioritise implementation and enforcement to uphold data subjects’ rights.

In Nigeria, PIN’s advocacy has yielded key wins. In 2024, it challenged unauthorised websites selling sensitive personal and financial data of Nigerians for as low as N100. Strategic litigation forced United Bank for Africa (UBA) PLC to pay N8 million to customer Miss Folashade Molehin for unlawfully opening a domiciliary account without her consent.

In 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled against Domino’s Pizza (operated by Eat’n’Go), awarding Chukwunweike Araka Akosa N3 million for unsolicited direct marketing via his phone. The court deemed it a violation of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and Sections 25 and 26 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023. The case originated via PIN’s Ripoti platform, which documents and redresses digital rights abuses across Africa, offering pro-bono legal aid.

Yet challenges persist. PIN warned that countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Sudan, Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, and Western Sahara lack robust laws, exposing citizens to grave privacy risks.

It called on Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Libya to urgently enact data protection frameworks.


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MTN Group Names Shoyinka Shodunke IT Core Design Executive Ahead of March 2026

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MTN Group has announced the appointment of Shoyinka Shodunke as Executive: IT Core Design and Delivery, effective 1 March 2026.

MTN Group Names Shoyinka Shodunke IT Core Design Executive Ahead of March 2026

Shoyinka Shodunke

Shoyinka brings more than 29 years of experience in technology leadership, digital transformation and innovation across Africa’s telecommunications sector.

His career spans several senior roles, including Director of Technology at Vodafone Ghana, Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO) at MTN Cameroon, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at MTN Zambia, and General Manager: Architecture for the MTN Shared Services Hub in Southeast Africa.

He currently serves concurrently as CIO for MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa, where he has led large-scale digital initiatives impacting more than 80 million subscribers and overseen a technology ecosystem comprising over 350 professionals.

Shoyinka is recognised for a leadership approach anchored in adaptive intelligence, resilient system design and collaborative value creation.

His work has focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance human creativity, strengthen system resilience and drive innovation at scale.

In 2025, he was named MTN Group CIO of the Year for his role in advancing one of Africa’s most ambitious digital transformations, supporting MTN’s evolution from a traditional telecommunications operator into an AI-enabled technology organisation.

He also received the Tech Champion in Telecoms and CIO of the Year awards at the CIO and C-Suite Awards Africa.

His academic background includes an Advanced Management Programme (AMP) at Harvard Business School, an MBA from the University of Northampton, a Postgraduate Diploma in Global Management from the University of Salford Manchester, and a Bachelor of Technology in Mathematics and Statistics from the Federal University of Technology in Nigeria.

In his new role, Shoyinka will lead the development and execution of standardised and AI-enhanced IT architectures across MTN’s footprint.

His responsibilities will include integrating AI-driven automation, predictive analytics and digital transformation initiatives to improve customer experience, operational efficiency and service agility, while accelerating innovation cycles and time-to-market.


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