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Ghana Hosts Regional Prep Meeting for ITU World Telecom Development Conference

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Hamadoun Toure, secretary general, ITU
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The Regional Preparatory Meeting for Africa, ahead of ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference 2014, opened yesterday in Accra, Ghana, to access the ongoing implementation of the Hyderabad Plan of Action agreed at the last edition of the Conference in 2010 and identify priority areas for ICT development strategies in the African region.

The meeting, will be in session until October 4 and is expected to  push for ICTs as agents of development and empowerment in Africa.

ITU’s sixth World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14) will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, March 31 to April 11, 2014.

The gathering of policy makers, regulators and experts from around the world will forge a plan of action for telecommunication and ICT development over the next four years.

The preparatory meeting in Accra will address key areas of interest for the African region.

Hamadoun I. Touré , ITU secretary-general, welcomed the opportunity to hold the preparatory meeting for WTDC-14 in Accra. “Ghana has been endowed with natural resources like many other African countries, but it has built on its human capital and innovation to develop high economic growth and count among top per capita GDP rates on the continent,” Touré said in his message.

“This is an inspiration for us to invest in ICT development in Africa and capitalize on the inherent talent for innovation among African people to generate overall economic growth and achieve the goals of sustainable development.”

Ghana enjoys over 100% mobile cellular subscriptions with 26.33 million subscribers recorded in February this year.

Mobile broadband subscriptions surpassed 33 per cent with over 17 per cent of the population using the Internet.

Addressing the opening session of the meeting, ITU Deputy Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, said, “ITU is committed to connecting the world, and to bring the benefits of ICTs to the world’s people. We will continue to make bold steps in accelerating progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals.”

Noting that the RPM aims to advance openness and inclusion in the discussions of ICT for development and ITU’s commitment to connecting the world serves as “a catalyst for Africa’s attainment the Millennium Development Goals”, Mr Edward K. Omane Boamah, minister for Communications and Technology of Ghana, remarked, “Over the past five years, Africa’s mobile market overtook fixed lines in 2001 and now outnumber fixed telephone lines by nearly ten to one, with mobile cellular subscribers set to grow to more than 300 million by the year end.”

He noted that this potential for development brings Africa into the Information Technology Age.

The African region has experienced remarkable growth in mobile-cellular networks and services development since 2008, allowing an increasing number of the almost 850 million people in the region to get connected and join the information society.

Within five years, the region’s mobile-cellular penetration rate has doubled from 32 to 64 per cent and active mobile-broadband penetration, which was practically non-existent in 2008, has grown to almost 11 per cent.

ICT uptake in the region has been growing faster than in other regions, with the 2008-2013 growth rates of key ICT services well above the global average.

“Credit goes to governments for their political will, to the private sector for investing in the ICT sector, and to the citizens for a high uptake of these new technologies,” said Brahima Sanou, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “I believe the future is very bright for Africa.”

Sanou pointed to the global population of young people born in the digital age that are nurtured on information and communication technologies as an integral part of their lives.

“More than 20 per cent of the population in Africa consists of young people within the 15-24 age range – as compared to 12.4 per cent in Europe,” Sanou noted.

“As the future is in the hands of the youth, the prospects for Africa are very good.”

The RPM was preceded by the Regional Development Forum (RDF) for Africa. The Forum provided a platform for open dialogue, cooperation and partnerships among telecommunication/ICT policy makers, regulators, industry, academia, regional and international development agencies and organizations on telecommunication/ICT issues of regional concern.

Based on ICT for Development and Empowerment in Africa – IDEA, the sessions focused on broadband as an enabling agent for development and empowerment in Africa, examining innovative ways and initiatives to bring broadband applications and services to users, especially in the areas of governance, healthcare, commerce, agriculture and education.

Particular attention was given to the ITU m-Powering Development initiative and the potential for mobile applications to change lives.

Enhancing cybersecurity featured prominently with an emphasis on creating a safer cyberspace for children, electronic transactions, and personal data protection with the establishment of Computer Incidence Response Teams (CIRT).

Countries of the region welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the preparations for the upcoming world conference in 2014. A series of regional meetings have taken place around the world this year to provide inputs to WTDC-14, with two more of the six preparatory meetings remaining.


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MTN Mulls AI Tech to Protect Infrastructure as Cable Cuts Hit 13,000 in 18 Months

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MTN Nigeria has said that there are plans to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI) technology to monitor and protect its fibre optic cables across the country.

MTN Mulls AI Tech to Protect Infrastructure as Cable Cuts Hit 13,000 in 18 Months

Yahaya Ibrahim, chief technical officer (CTO), MTN, said the technology will detect vibrations, identify the cause, and alert relevant personnels.

According to Ibrahim who spoke during a session for the ongoing MTN Media Innovation Progamme, the proposed innovation comes amid concerns over the growing spate of telecoms infrastructure vandalism, which have led to multiple cable cuts, and the destruction of towers.

This, he said, would enable the company to promptly deploy agents to the site.

The system is being developed in collaboration with Huawei Technologies.

Providing data on fibre cut incidents in an email correspondence, the CTO said MTN recorded over 9,000 cable cuts in 2024.

He said 4,700 cables were destroyed as at the end of June 2025 alone, bringing the total to about 13,700 incidents in 18 months.

A breakdown of the incidents by zone showed that about 2,500 cuts occurred in northern Nigeria, 2,800 in south-west, while 3,500 were recorded in the south-east and south-south regions combined.

“If we look at the cuts per region, the Southeastern and South South states have more cuts and this is where we have the most hotspots for Fibre and site vandalism,” Ibrahim said.

“Akwa Ibom, Abia and Rivers stand out in states. While in specific locations Omoku and Egbema stand out for fibre vandalization.”

The MTN official said vandalism and road construction account for 69 percent of total cable cuts across the country.

Ibrahim said the incidents often disrupt services, with an average downtime of 15 hours recorded per month.

“Some regions are higher than others,” he said.

“All services will be down, that means no one will be able to use any services.

“We spent N17.6b in 2024 and budget for 2025 based on PO issued for maintenance and relocation is N26.3b.”

In addition to the expenditure, MTN is said to also conduct route patrol, route monitoring, and construction bypass — which involves the creation an alternative route that allows for the temporary or permanent relocation of essential resources around a construction site.

Ibrahim said the telco also invests in having a diverse route for resilience, relocation of fibre, holding stakeholder engagement, and working with communities for policing.

The technical officer confirmed that there are collaborations in place with state and federal authorities to secure fibre routes.

 

 

 


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NASENI and BPP Forge Nigeria First Alliance to Champion Local Goods and Services

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National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on Monday, 28th July 2025, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of “Nigeria First” Policy on Procurement, projects and other related matters.

The Nigeria First Policy is an initiative of the Federal Government, aimed at promoting Nigerian-made goods, services and utilization of Local content, infrastructures and other value chain.

As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda initiative of the Government, the policy seeks to encourage local production and consumption of Nigerian goods or services, also to support Nigerian business and entrepreneurs, foster economic growth and development, reduce dependency on imported goods and to promote Nigerian culture and identity. Also, by prioritizing local content, the policy aimed to create jobs, stimulate economic activity, and increase Nigeria’s global competitiveness.

Speaking at the  MoU signing ceremony which took place at the Headquarters of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) office in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said, with the signing of MoU and implementation of the Nigeria First Policy, 80% of challenges faced while trying to convince investors and foreign partners would have been solved, as Nigeria will cease to be dumping ground for foreign goods, while focusing on promotion of Nigerian products, goods and services.

Halilu said that with support now coming from BPP, the over 50 market ready NASENI products will be off the shelves and gain patronage of Nigerians, adding that NASENI has gained for the country over 2 billion dollars from its recent partnership activities with China alone.

“One thing that is clear when I took over the leadership of NASENI was the determination to move the Agency from just producing prototypes to commercialization of its technologies and products, this was complemented by the turn around which we did in rebranding the Agency.

“We have 50 market-ready Nigeria branded products. NASENI is building the biggest renewable energy park in Nasarawa and has entered into partnership with Abuja Technology Village to boost Technology Transfer and innovation, enhance local manufacturing capacity, transform NASENI’s research-focused installation into full production facilities, promote national brands and local production”, he further explained.

Buttressing the partnership between NASENI and BPP, he said that it is expected that the policy would have transformative impacts on Nigeria’s economy and human capital development, aligning with national goals for industrialization, youth employment, and economic diversification. “This also shows that our efforts are not in vain:”

Earlier in his speech, the Director-General of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Dr. Adebowale Adedokun said that the MoU between BPP and NASENI offers a structured bridge between production and procurement and how to take locally made solutions off the shelves and to place them at the center of public service delivery, which aimed at aligning Government policies with national priorities as well as giving practical force to the Nigeria First Policy.

According to him, “NASENI’s innovations, from tractors to tablets, from surveillance drones to solar backup systems, will now be actively prioritized in the procurement plans by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. We are institutionalizing a framework that makes local options not just preferable, but the default option before all others.

Specifically, he said further that with the signing of the MoU, the “BPP will now integrate NASENI’s Product catalogue into the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal, NOCOPO, and therefore encouraging other MDAs to follow suit”

He noted that the “Nigeria First Policy is not an act of protectionism, but an act of patriotism grounded in performance, and it is targeted at fastracking Nigeria’s industrial revolution”. He remarked that “NASENI has invested in quality assurance. Its products are certified by national institutions such as SON and NAFDAC. This means NASENI’s offerings will now be visible, verifiable, and measurable across all MDAs. First, we are integrating NASENI’s catalogue into the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal, NOCOPO. Between January and June this year alone, NOCOPO’s enhanced price intelligence has helped Nigeria save over 173 billion naira, 155 million dollars, and 1.7 million euros.”

While calling on all MDAs to follow NASEN’s footprint in promoting Made in Nigeria products, he said that the BPP’s revised threshold is now five billion naira for goods and ten billion for works, meaning that MDAs can act faster, while they continue to strengthen post-review and audit mechanisms.

He emphasized that the role of BPP is to ensure that these standards are rewarded with access, and that MDAs no longer look outside when the best is being made inside. “For the avoidance of doubt, let me say here that we will be backing this commitment with reform actions”.


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Treepz Launches in Canada, Secures University of Toronto-Supported Program as First Corporate Travel Client

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Treepz, Africa’s fast-growing corporate mobility technology company, has expanded its operations into Canada, marking a significant milestone in its global strategy. The announcement was made at Brampton City Hall, Ontario, with full support from the Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown.

The event, which featured key stakeholders and dignitaries, included the official announcement of Treepz’s partnership with the African Impact Initiative, a University of Toronto-sponsored program. Under the agreement, Treepz will provide comprehensive travel logistics—including flights, accommodation, experiences, and ground transportation—for program participants visiting four African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda.

Speaking at the launch, Mayor Brown described the expansion as “a proud moment for Brampton,” lauding Treepz’s founders for creating a brand that has served over six million customers since its inception in Nigeria in 2019. He added that Treepz’s ability to manage mobility in Lagos, one of Africa’s busiest cities, is a testament to the strength of its operational capacity.

Onyeka Akumah, Treepz Founder and CEO, expressed gratitude to city officials and program partners, noting that the move solidifies Treepz’s role as a globally recognized African brand.

“This launch is a strong statement of intent, not just for Treepz, but for all African startups. We are proud to be serving clients in both Africa and North America,” he said.

Treepz’s entry into Canada was supported by several Canadian organisations, including the World Trade Center’s TAP program, the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance, and the BHive Program.

It follows Treepz’s participation in the Techstars Toronto Accelerator in 2021, which played a pivotal role in its expansion roadmap.

The launch signals a new era for Treepz’s operations and marks a historic moment for African-led innovation in the global travel technology space.


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