General News
How Tech Companies Can Help Reverse Talent Erosion in Rural Communities

By Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager, Africa, Zoho Corporation
For decades, companies, especially tech providers, have followed a certain operational pattern. They start out in a major city, raise funding from investors, attract talent from nearby towns and villages, and then repeat the model in another major city as they expand. However, the events of the last 12 months have shown us that this workforce model may actually be inefficient and detrimental to the world at large, in that it’s causing talent erosion in rural communities. Youth emigration, encouraged by scarcity of choice and opportunity in remote areas, is rendering these communities unstable and helpless in the long run.
One of the countermeasures to address rural decline is for tech companies to recognise that talent can operate from anywhere and provide employees the option of working from anywhere. By allowing skilled tech workers to work from their rural home towns, we can help previously struggling communities to become self-sufficient economic clusters and reduce many of the inequalities that have caused so much societal unrest over the past few years.
At Zoho, we refer to this approach as ‘transnational localism,’ which is all about the organisation’s growth being rooted in closely working with and serving the local communities around the world, all while staying globally connected through shared knowledge, capabilities, and culture. In line with this vision, when it comes to building human capital with a community-level impact, we believe that it’s important for tech companies to take the jobs right where the majority of the talent is – rural towns and villages.
The problem with concentrated resources in the urban landscape
Today, the majority of the resources and opportunities are concentrated in urban areas across the world. That’s why it’s common for tech graduates and entrepreneurial minds to flock to San Francisco, Tel-Aviv, Cape Town, Nairobi and other urban capitals to get a high-paying job or build their startups. The cities are home to top universities (providing the best tech talent), large reserves of capital (needed for investment), established entrepreneurial communities (having the much-needed support networks), and bustling tech hubs. The same holds true for other industries in other cities as well (finance in London, New York, and Johannesburg, for example).
Reversing the impact with rural tech offices, with the help of cloud connectivity
Over the past year or so, however, the uptick in digital adoption (owing to the pandemic) has shown us that remoteness does not limit exposure any more. Even as other supply chains were shut down or disrupted by COVID-19, businesses were able to carry on operating because connectivity and collaboration were unaffected by the pandemic.
Thanks to digital technologies like the cloud, pervasive broadband and virtual networking services, many employees who moved to their native locales (either to be closer to family or for a more relaxed pace of living owing to uncertain times) were able to continue working remotely without any interruptions.
This was also the time when Zoho decided to open small satellite offices to provide our employees, who had returned to their home towns, with an official working space nearby. The rural offices, which we first established in India, received such positive feedback from our employees that we accelerated our plans and opened many offices over the last year.
As of now, there are more than 30 Zoho offices in rural and non-urban areas around the world (most of them are in India; other regions include the US and Mexico). We will continue to build more of these offices across the world, to enable willing employees to relocate to their home towns and villages.
When skilled professionals return to their home towns, it results in a cross-pollination of ideas. Deep knowledge sharing networks slowly emerge and skill transfers become easier, leading to continual upskilling of the rural youth. This, coupled with new job opportunities created by rural tech offices, can contribute towards a better future for smaller communities and also promote holistic economic growth.
Embracing a better way
Today, we are clearly past the times when the only way for tech companies to maintain their corporate culture and build globally-competitive solutions was through city-centre monolithic office towers with sleeping pods and ping pong tables. There’s a better, more sustainable option now, facilitated by digital connectivity – a remotely distributed workforce strategy underpinned by a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model, with hub offices in secondary cities/towns and smaller ‘hubs’ in neighbouring villages that are instrumental in local community development and wealth creation.
General News
NDPC’s Data Protection Revenue Rose 93.6 Percent to N12Bn in 2024

Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) data protection cumulative revenue rose by 93.6 per cent to N12 billion in 2024 from N6.2 billion in 2023.

Dr. Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner, NDPC
This was revealed by the Commission in its 2024 Annual Data Protection Report.
The Commission further revealed that a total of 23,000 jobs were created in the data protection industry in 2024 representing a 127 per cent increase when compared with the 10,123 jobs created in 2023.
NDPC added that compliance revenue also increased to N1.5 billion from N325 million recorded in 2023, while the number of verified Data Protection Officers increased from 1,955 in 2023 to 2,888 in 2024.
The Commission’s 2024 Data Protection Report stated that the number of companies that filed compliance audit reports also increased from 3,451 in 2023 to 4,691 in 2024.
Commenting on the report, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner, NDPC, said Nigeria has made significant progress in safeguarding the freedoms and interests of data subjects since the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in 2023.
“The growth trajectory follows the developmental priorities of the Federal Government as well as the Strategic blueprint of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
“More importantly, it is a demonstration of our commitment to the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (NDPSRAP) 2023-2027,” he said.
He added that the Commission has been holding data controllers and processors accountable for their acts and omissions under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act).
He also said the requirement for fair, lawful, and transparent processing of personal data, rights to information, access, and objection to data processing, which many may esteem lightly prior to the 4th Industrial Revolution, are now very fundamental to the work of the Commission.
“This means that a trader in Ariara, Gusau or Balogun markets can rest assured that his/her personal data will not be used to open a bank account or to take a loan without his/her consent,” Olatunji stated.
General News
SERAP Sues Tinubu over Alleged N167Bn Projects Fraud

President Bola Tinubu has been dragged to court by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), over alleged N167 billion project fraud.
A statement made available to journalists by SERAP on Sunday pointed out that Tinubu’s failure to order prosecution of contractors who collected money to the tune of N167 billion to execute projects, but failed to do so, triggered the lawsuit against him.
SERAP said it identified 31 ministries, departments and agencies of government that failed to have their projects executed, despite funds committed to the contractors handling those projects.
The civil society organization decried the huge number of failed projects across agencies of government.
Noting that transparency is key to accountability, it urged the government to disclose all information related to the fraudulent contracts.
“Nigerians have the right to democratic governance, to influence government decisions, and to assess progress while holding officials accountable,” SERAP said in the statement.
The statement identified a number of government agencies with failed projects.
The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), alone allegedly paid N100 billion to companies for projects that were never completed.
Other MDAs with failed contracts include, Nigerian Correctional Service, National Pension Commission, Abuja, Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, Office and Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF.
Also listed are Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Federal Medical Centre, Bida, Niger State, National Centre for Women Development, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Business and Technical Examinations Board, NABTEB, and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
General News
Fortune Global Shipping Aims to Transform Nigeria’s Business Landscape

Fortune Global Shipping and Logistics Limited is set to transform the business landscape of the logistics industry through services in oil and gas logistics, project cargo and lots more.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dr. Eric Opah, in a statement said the organisation is expanding into more regions across the globe with its latest addition of a corporate office in Benin Republic, while the Abuja and Lekki free trade zones which follow soon will be part of asset acquisition to serve the clients better.
In the statement tagged, “Plans for 2025: Global Business Expansion, Exciting Benefits for Customers Top the List,” Opah said he remains committed to upholding and promoting global standards and will stop at nothing in providing value added services to support clients and help them thrive this year.
He said: “The organisation is expanding into more regions across the globe with its latest addition of a corporate office in Benin Republic, while the Abuja and Lekki free trade zones which follow soon will be part of asset acquisition to serve the clients better.
“Much more, the number one Africa logistics partner has reiterated the commitment to provide innovative and ‘value-centric’ services in oil and gas logistics, project cargo and lots more.
“We remain committed to upholding and promoting global standards and will stop at nothing in providing value added services to support our clients and help them thrive this year.”
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