Telecom
ICT Accounts for 1% of Nigeria’s Total Employed Populace – Report
According to UNCTAD, there are only about 479 000 people employed in Nigeria’s ICT sector, despite the west African country being one of the economies with rising ICT and telecom sectors.
These employees account for about 1% of Nigeria’s total employed populace. The UNCTAD report cites Sierra Leone as one of the African countries where there has been strong growth in mobile connectivity.
The report also finds that while an increase in mobile and internet penetration in certain African countries is boosting trade in telecommunications and e-commerce, mobile connectivity is not robust enough and employment in specialist ICT areas remains subdued.
These are key findings from a new report Information Economy 2017, released by the United Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) this week.
The Report identifies Senegal and Tanzania as the African countries with the most notable economies where “telecommunications accounted for 85% of ICT services exports”.
ICT platforms and services are boosting Africa’s economies as e-commerce emerges.
However, “the Central African Republic, Eritrea and South Sudan, have not increased as much” in terms of robust growth in mobile cellular services.
“Mobile cellular services in (this) group reach less than a third of the population, and the telecommunications markets are yet to be liberalised,” said the report.
However, for countries such as Rwanda and Zambia, a rise in mobile subscriptions has boosted imports and trade in communications equipment.
The UNCTAD report did not provide specific details regarding the value of imported communications equipment in the two countries.
“Rwanda and Zambia, the rise in mobile subscriptions occurred simultaneously as the rise in imports of communications equipment,” it said.
In Rwanda, mobile subscriber numbers reached 8.5 million in August this year after rising by 1% from the July numbers according to the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority.
MTN controls about 42% of the mobile market share in Rwanda; Tigo has about 39% while Airtel Rwanda has about 19%.
Zambia’s Communications Minister, Brian Mushimba said in May that the country had about 12 active mobile phone subscribers as at the end of 2016, while the country is reportedly keen to add a new mobile operator.
The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has also confirmed that there are about 5.2 million mobile internet subscribers in the southern African country.
African countries have also lagged other global peers in terms of posting cloud computing jobs online, with the cloud still emerging as an important aspect of ICT services.
“In Africa, most countries have not yet posted a single one (cloud vacancy). Even relative tech hubs, such as Egypt and South Africa, accounted for only 0.5 percent each of the announced vacancies,” said UNCTAD researchers.
In the wake of increasing geopolitical tension, Cassava Technologies has unveiled its National Sovereign Cloud offering for African governments.
The solution, the company claims, will help the continent’s governments ensure data is kept on infrastructure that remains under local legal and operational jurisdiction.
According to the official announcement, made yesterday, the solution provides “secure, locally-governed digital infrastructure that enables the deployment of AI-enabled public services”.
The overarching solution encompasses cloud, cyber security, AI computing infrastructure, as well as local language AI models and skills support for governments.
The announcement comes amid increasing uncertainty over the hosting of sensitive national data on cloud services operated by foreign hyperscalers, which are subject to legal frameworks, such as the U.S. CLOUD Act. The CLOUD Act opens the door to allow American authorities to access data stored on the servers of US hyperscalers, wherever those servers are physically located.
Cassava has claimed separately that currently, “approximately 33% to 45% of the world’s data is hosted in the USA”.
The company added: “A sovereign cloud reduces exposure to extraterritorial laws, improves cyber resilience, and ensures that model weights and training data for public AI remain under national custody.”
The Africa Data Centres Association’s 2026 Economic Report states that “data sovereignty has evolved from a legal aspiration into a strategic policy lever”.
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group COO and Group Chief Technology and AI Officer, Cassava Technologies said: “Across Africa, governments are accelerating their digital transformation agendas and are increasingly focused on ensuring that data and digital infrastructure remain secure and sovereign.”
Announced at the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, this week, the Sovereign Cloud offering launch accompanied the launch of Cassava’s Cloud Partner programme.
The partner programme targets mobile network operators and system integrators across Africa to resell and distribute AI, cloud, and other digital services using Cassava’s infrastructure and technology platforms.
El Beheiry added: “We are expanding Africa’s sovereign AI ecosystem to build solutions that address the continent’s unique challenges while creating new opportunities for growth and digital inclusion.”
The programme offers partners access to NVIDIA Cloud Partner solutions, Cassava’s AI Factory, its own native AI solutions and its AI Multi-Model Exchange, which supports both Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini models.
Mazen Mroue, a non-executive director at MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, has resigned effective February 27, 2026, to prioritise other responsibilities within the MTN Group, the company announced in a Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) filing.
MTN Nigeria
The notice, signed by company secretary Uto Ukpanah, stated: “This is to enable Mr. Mroue to focus on other priorities within MTN Group Limited. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Mr. Mroue for his immense service to MTN Nigeria and wishes him success in his future endeavours.”
Mroue joined MTN Nigeria’s board on June 1, 2022, bringing over 28 years of telecom experience. A veteran MTN executive, he previously served as CEO of MTN Uganda and MTN Liberia, non-executive director at MTN Cyprus, and held leadership roles at MTN Ghana.
Since February 2022, he has been MTN Group’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, overseeing technology strategy and governance. Earlier, as MTN Nigeria’s COO from August 2018 to January 2022, he also sat on the MTN Nigeria Foundation board.
The exit follows MTN Nigeria’s stellar 2025 results, posting a ₦1.70 trillion profit before tax—reversing a ₦550.3 billion loss in 2024 driven by forex woes—marking one of the telco’s strongest rebounds.
Google has rolled out support for Yorùbá and Hausa languages in its AI-powered Search features—AI Overviews and AI Mode—enabling millions of Nigerians to get quick answers, summaries, and conversational web exploration in their mother tongues.
The update forms part of Google’s push to cover 13 African languages, including Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Sesotho, Kiswahili, Setswana, Wolof, and isiZulu, selected based on high search activity across the continent.
Now, a Kano student can ask complex questions in Hausa, while an Ibadan trader seeks business tips in Yorùbá—both receiving culturally nuanced AI responses via text or voice on Android, iOS, or web.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s West Africa Communications Manager, said: “Building truly global Search requires nuanced local understanding. With Gemini-powered AI, we’ve made advanced capabilities relevant in Yorùbá and Hausa, so Nigerians converse naturally with Search in their mother tongues.”
To use: Open the Google app, tap AI Mode, and query in Hausa or Yorùbá for personalised guidance—breaking language barriers and making technology reflect Nigeria’s diverse identity.
Police Says Victims Enable Cyber Attacks Out of Ignorance
Bank Accuses Magistrate, Lawyer of Using Fake Order to Steal N3.5m from Account
FG Launches NERD to Combat Certificate Fraud
NCDC Issues Public Advisory on Cerebrospinal Meningitis
Goodnews Naija Launches ‘Building in Nigeria’ Series on Entrepreneurs, Real Sector Builders
Dr. Cairo Ojougboh Foundation Bolsters Nigeria’s Education Drive with ₦2.7m Student Support
Kaspersky Brings more Transparency to Threat Detection with New Hunt Hub
PwC Reveals AI Scaling Gap Slows Africa’s Digital Transformation
Kaspersky Discovers New Phishing Campaign Exploiting Google Tasks Notifications to Steal Corporate Credentials
esentry 2025 Report Shows Healthcare, Financial Services and Telecoms as Staging Grounds for Increased Cyberattacks in Africa
General News2 days agoFCCPC Bans Lagos ‘No Refund’ Policy, Vows Fines and Shutdowns for Traders
E-Financial2 days agoSenate Targets Fintech Overreach, Vows Ponzi Crackdown After ₦1.3trn CBEX Scam
E-Business1 day agoPolice Says Victims Enable Cyber Attacks Out of Ignorance
Telecom2 days agoGoogle Adds Yorùbá, Hausa to AI Search, Boosting Access for Millions of Nigerians
E-Financial1 day agoQuest Merchant Bank Achieves CBN Regulatory Recapitalisation Milestone
E-Financial2 days agoSmartCash Launches ‘No Be Cho Cho Cho’ Campaign to Boost Digital Banking in Nigeria
Telecom2 days agoMTN Nigeria Non-Executive Director Mazen Mroue Quits to Focus on Group Role
Telecom2 days agoNativeID Launches Free Digital Identity Platform to Shield Nigerian SMEs from Scammers