E-Business
Igbos Not Ready for Digital Wealth, Laments Ekeh, Zinox Boss
Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, chairman of Zinox Group, one of Africa’s biggest integrated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) conglomerates, has declared that the Igbo ethnic group is not ready to take advantage of the limitless opportunities which abound to create digital wealth.
Speaking on Wednesday, April 14th at the first ever Enugu State Investment Summit tagged Oganiru 2016 which held at the Michael Okpara Square, Ekeh decried the nonchalant attitude of some South East Governors who, according to him, have near zero investment on infrastructure for digital wealth creation in the 21st century.
Serial digital entrepreneur Ekeh who featured as one of the guest speakers at the summit wondered how leaders in the region intended to create billionaires who will pay taxes in the near future without any form of concrete investment in place for providing opportunities and nurturing the youths.
“I must state here that the Igbos are not ready for digital wealth creation as it is obvious that leaders in the region are not ready to transit to building the knowledge economy which holds the key to achieving this,” he stated.
“Digital wealth is the new mega wealth that rewards the effort in few months or years but you must create solid platforms to uplift you; It is about building creative platforms for our kids and millions of today’s restive youths which will channel their energies and passion towards what is termed today as true miracle wealth. Increased access to education as captured in the building of a knowledge economy, a clear change of attitude, visioning the bigger picture and liberalization of access to information through ICT are core essential requirements to achieving this.
“This is a century of results and not efforts and sincerely, no one was created by God to be poor in this century but government must invest in critical infrastructure for her people to benefit.”
Ekeh, who expressed deep concern with the resource gap between Igbos of his age and the next generation of youths, disclosed that many in his generation were able to build and defend their franchises because the economy was transiting in all sectors from analogue to digital, which they were able to key into.
“This is why you will observe that there is no noticeable gap between my generation and when the likes of erstwhile leaders and successful businessmen from the South-East such as Odimegwu Ojukwu, Chief Augustine Ilodibe, Godwin Alaefuna Tabansi, Akwiwus and Ferdinand Anaghara, among others held sway.
“It is unfortunate that the next level after us has not been able to interface due to lack of determination by government to invest and create platforms that will host our brilliant but impatient kids to activate wealth in this century. Some states in Nigeria are now run on pay-as-you-go as some of our leaders are not interested in investing in quality relevant infrastructure which is the foundation to sustenance of an economy. This is why all manners of social vices such as kidnapping have become an occupation.
“My sincere advice is that it is not too late to make a fresh start. The Presidential Hotel Enugu and Imo Concorde Hotel, for instance could be converted by both state governments into digital incubation centres which could raise 200 companies each with a prospect of creating more wealth in the next four years than the annual allocation of each state. Why can’t we host the largest movie production studio and entertainment centre in same premises for cost efficiency?
“The multiplier effect is unquantifiable in the long run as the first two years will see each state employing over a thousand five hundred potential dollar billionaires. I panic because my people love the good life, have energy and intelligence and are today more educated than most of us and the generation before us. If the government ignores them in this new race for digital wealth, they will incubate negatively and the Igbo nation may face eternal crisis.
“We are now in a century where Godfathers will become obsolete in the 2nd quarter while competence, capacity and commitment shall be the basis for survival. We are nearly over with the phase where bank loans and contracts are extended based on emotions or who you know. We are now faced with the reality of knowledge of what you do as many youths can potentially create more wealth in a year than their parents created in two generations.”
While commending the Enugu State Government for the courage in organizing this world-class summit, he advised the Governor to identify few sectors that Enugu must lead in Africa and possibly in the world and invest in them.
Ekeh urged leaders in the South-East to embrace the global revolution in digital wealth creation.
“You must invest in quality education, protect basic infrastructure like fibre optic cables, power stations, telecoms towers and cell sites etc. for the growth of the region. There are so many investors including myself looking for conducive places in Nigeria to invest and Enugu could be that hub that should be seen as cost efficient, friendly and futuristic.”
Ekeh who received a standing ovation for his speech, advised Igbo parents to invest less on dead, analogue assets like property and other short-term status assets and instead take sensible risks with their well-informed children. While describing himself as a testimony in the new digital space, he insists that parents must trust our well-trained youths because they understand global economic direction, are better educated, more exposed and will create unquantifiable wealth with style for themselves, the family, state and the nation.
According to him, his book which is set for release next year will reveal a bit more on these worthwhile and life-changing interventions.
The three-day summit with the theme, “Beyond Oil: Fostering Inclusive Economic Growth & Sustainable Development”, brought together local and international business leaders and investors, bankers, financiers, the diplomatic community and the academia to explore Enugu’s rich potential – and that of the entire South-East – in a wide range of industries including agriculture, solid minerals and mining, power generation and distribution, infrastructure and real estate development, tourism and hospitality, education, ICT, media and entertainment.
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
X has announced plans to discontinue its Revenue Sharing programme and introduce a new Original Content Rewards programme to reward creators for producing original content on the platform.
The social media company announced the changes at the weekend in a post on its X Creators handle, saying the new programme would reward creators who contribute original content.
“Today, we’re introducing the Original Content Rewards Program, a new way to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X,” the company said.
X said it would stop accepting new enrolments into the Revenue Sharing programme from Friday, while existing participants would continue earning until September 7, 2026.
“Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new enrollments into Revenue Sharing,” it said.
According to the company, existing Revenue Sharing participants will receive three final payouts, with two scheduled for August 14 and August 28, while the final payment for earnings accrued through September 7 is expected around September 11.
X said existing Revenue Sharing participants would begin getting access to apply for the new programme from September 8, subject to meeting its eligibility requirements.
The first payout under the Original Content Rewards programme will be made on August 28, 2026, while existing Revenue Sharing creators who enrol in the new programme from September 8 will receive their first payment on September 25.
Under the new programme, eligible creators will earn from qualified impressions generated by their original content, with payments made every two weeks.
X defined qualified impressions as unique impressions from Premium users on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50 per cent of a post is visible.
On the other hand, “The following are excluded from qualified impressions: impressions from the same account counted more than once per post; paid, promoted, or artificially generated impressions; and fraudulent impressions,” it said.
To qualify, creators must be at least 18 years old, live in a country where the programme is available, maintain an account in good standing and have either a personal or vusiness account.
They must also subscribe to X Premium, Premium+ or Premium Business, have at least 500 verified followers and record at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within the previous 90 days.
X said creators must also regularly post original content to remain eligible.
“We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment, and contribute meaningful perspectives to the conversation,” the company said.
The platform said original content could include threads, videos, memes, graphics, illustrations, reporting, analysis, commentary and reactions that add meaningful value to existing conversations.
It said creators who use content produced by others would need to add meaningful commentary, context, analysis, humour or creative transformation for such posts to qualify.
“Building on existing conversations is a core part of X, but simply reposting someone else’s content is not enough,” it said.
X said minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments or simple text overlays would generally not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.
It also warned that content copied or substantially reproduced from another creator, content downloaded and re-uploaded from X or another platform without being the original author’s, automated content, disinformation and misleading content would be ineligible.
The company said accounts that violate the programme’s requirements could be temporarily or permanently removed from it, depending on the severity of the violation.
It added that creators would be responsible for ensuring they had the necessary rights, permissions or licences to use content created by others.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” X said.
The company said the new programme was intended to reward creators who make the platform more valuable by bringing original ideas and perspectives to its conversations.
“The Original Content Rewards Program is designed to reward the creators who start them, shape them, and move them forward,” it said.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has introduced so-called Nigeria’s Certified Cloud Register, regulatory framework developed under the agency’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative to determine which cloud providers are authorized to handle sensitive data, such as banking records.
In effect, from October, NITDA requires banks, fintech companies and other regulated organisations to source cloud infrastructure providers from a national register of certified firms approved to host sensitive financial and government data.
The Certified Cloud Register, is expected to strengthen data sovereignty, improve regulatory oversight and support the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) data localisation policy, which takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Under the framework, banks, fintechs, government institutions and other regulated entities will be able to verify whether cloud service providers, data centre operators, managed service providers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure companies have met NITDA’s certification requirements before entrusting them with critical digital workloads.
The initiative is expected to provide regulated institutions with a standardised process for selecting cloud infrastructure providers that satisfy Nigeria’s technical, security and regulatory requirements.
According to NITDA, the framework establishes “a common national standard, an independent assessment process and a public register of approved providers that banks, fintechs and government institutions can rely on when selecting cloud infrastructure partners.”
The register is expected to become a key compliance tool ahead of the CBN’s directive, which requires all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria to be stored and processed locally, effective from January 1, 2027.
The policy applies to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, payment service providers, switching companies and other financial institutions.
The certification regime is also expected to reshape Nigeria’s cloud computing ecosystem, making regulatory approval a major requirement for cloud providers seeking to handle sensitive data for regulated industries.
Figures cited by NITDA showed that Nigeria’s 10 largest banks spent about N177.91 billion on information technology in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 31 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
A sizeable portion of the investment currently supports cloud infrastructure hosted outside Nigeria, a trend the new certification framework is expected to address by encouraging greater utilisation of compliant local infrastructure.
NITDA said the certification programme will apply the same technical and regulatory standards to indigenous cloud providers and international hyperscale operators, creating a level playing field for all companies seeking to provide cloud services to regulated sectors.
The agency also disclosed that more than 85 per cent of Nigerian businesses currently rely on cloud services, with the majority using infrastructure hosted outside the country.
It said the new framework is aimed at improving confidence in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure while promoting local capacity and enhancing oversight of critical national data.
Speaking on the objective of the initiative, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general of NITDA, said the programme is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy rather than exclude foreign technology companies.
According to him, the initiative is intended “to redefine the terms under which Nigeria participates in the global digital economy rather than isolate the country from international technology providers.”
The Certified Cloud Register forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to deepen digital trust, strengthen cybersecurity and ensure that critical financial and public sector data are managed in line with Nigeria’s evolving data governance and sovereignty objectives.
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