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IT Maturity Increasing Among MEA Manufacturers-IDC

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With Middle East and Africa (MEA) manufacturers showing considerable enthusiasm for IT and comfortably outspending their counterparts in Central and Eastern Europe, the sector is well set for a significant boost in productivity and increase in competitiveness, according to the latest findings released today by IDC Manufacturing Insights.

A recent end-user survey conducted across MEA by IDC Manufacturing Insights shows that manufacturers in the Middle East, in particular, now view IT as an area that can help accelerate their manufacturing maturity.

To this end, more comprehensive and competitive IT strategies are being put in place in core MEA countries, and more mature decisions regarding IT environments are being made, with customer-oriented initiatives and integration across the enterprise resonating particularly strongly.

IT solutions that can be developed around the core enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite are also being viewed as powerful tools for fulfilling key strategic objectives.

“MEA manufacturers are becoming more mature in their use of IT,” said Martin Kuban, IDC Manufacturing Insights’ lead research analyst for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMA)

“Ongoing industrialization and market optimism have translated into increased IT spending, which has helped to accelerate this process. IDC forecasts that 2014 will be a very dynamic year in terms of IT deployments in the MEA manufacturing vertical.”

Focusing in closer detail on the so-called ‘3rd Platform’ technologies of mobile computing, cloud, social media, and Big Data, IDC Manufacturing Insights’ survey findings confirm that these are still niche segments in MEA.

Nevertheless, IT budgets for the deployment of these progressive technologies are constantly rising across the region, particularly in relation to cloud.

Mobility and Big Data analytics are currently regarded as the new technologies that bring the most value to the MEA manufacturing industry.

Social business remains small, while cloud computing is a pervasive IT force currently influencing all new IT purchases across the region; smaller and more agile manufacturing companies, in particular, are increasingly setting up their IT environments based on the IaaS and SaaS delivery models.

IDC Manufacturing Insights’ survey findings revealed the following key insights into manufacturing value chains:

Asset-oriented manufacturers are generally less dynamic with their IT investments and less flexible in terms of undergoing internal change; however, they are showing signs of transformation, driven primarily by the changing external environment and stronger competition.

Brand-oriented manufacturers are most visibly strengthening their customer orientation by enforcing supply-chain collaboration and business intelligence in an effort to succeed in the more competitive and demanding consumer markets.

Engineering-oriented manufacturers continue to pursue quality and manufacturing excellence, with cost featuring at the top of mind for most of their IT decisions.

Technology-oriented manufacturers form the most dynamic manufacturing value chain; they easily recognize the value of utilizing IT within the manufacturing process, and consequently show the most enthusiasm for adopting 3rd Platform technologies.


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E-Business

Galaxy Backbone Celebrates the Federal Government’s Paperless Civil Service Milestone

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Galaxy Backbone (GBB) aligns with and celebrates the successful announcement by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on the achievement of a Paperless Civil Service, a significant milestone in Nigeria’s public sector reform and digital transformation agenda.

The milestone was formally highlighted at a press briefing led by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who commended Galaxy Backbone for its sustained support and contribution throughout the implementation of the programme.

GBB has played a critical role in enabling this transition by providing secure, scalable, and shared digital infrastructure that supports the digitisation of government processes across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Through the 1Government Cloud, MDAs have been empowered to migrate from paper-based workflows to digital platforms, improving efficiency, collaboration, data security, and service delivery across the Federal Civil Service.

In addition, GovMail, GBB’s secure government email platform, has strengthened official communication, enhanced records management, and reinforced cybersecurity standards—key pillars in sustaining a paperless operating environment.

Galaxy Backbone acknowledges the collective efforts of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries, Directors of ICT, consultants, partners, and dedicated public servants whose commitment and collaboration ensured the smooth delivery of this initiative.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, was represented at the press briefing by Akintayo Bamisaye, Acting Group Head, Research, Digital Innovation and Skills Department (RDIS).

GBB describes the achievement as a strong close to 2025 and reaffirms its commitment to supporting the Federal Government in building a modern, efficient, and digitally enabled public service.


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Jumia CEO says Black Friday Signals Nigeria’s E-Commerce Maturity

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At the close of 2025, Temidayo Ojo, the CEO of Jumia Nigeria, reflected on a year-end shopping season that points to the growing maturity of the country’s e-commerce market. “Black Friday is no longer a single, short-lived spike in activity,” he said.

“It has become a familiar, anticipated moment in the retail calendar, where consumers shop deliberately and with confidence.”

Preliminary KPIs for the two months ended November 30, 2025, show strong year-on-year growth in both orders and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), with GMV growth outpacing order growth. This indicates that customers are placing fuller, more considered baskets rather than shopping in fragmented transactions. Nigeria ranked among Jumia Group’s better-performing markets, with engagement remaining steady throughout the Black Friday period rather than spiking briefly and tapering off.

A key factor behind this performance is the growing familiarity of consumers with online shopping. Customers are increasingly leveraging platform features such as saved carts, brand stores, and price comparison tools to plan purchases in advance. This trend suggests that digital commerce is becoming embedded in everyday habits rather than being viewed as a one-off event.

Ojo also highlighted the role of Jumia’s JForce network in connecting digital commerce to local communities. “Our agents are critical to ensuring that customers across Nigeria, including secondary cities and smaller communities, have access to variety, consistent pricing, and reliable delivery,” he said. “During peak periods like Black Friday, JForce agents can respond faster, serve more customers efficiently, and build stronger local relationships. This isn’t just a distribution channel—it’s a pathway to sustainable income and inclusion.”

Reflecting on the overall performance, the CEO concluded: “What we’re seeing this year-end is steady engagement across categories, stronger consumer confidence, and partners like our JForce agents benefiting from increased activity.

“It confirms that Nigeria’s e-commerce ecosystem is maturing, growing in a more structured and resilient way. As the December Holiday Sale continues, we expect these patterns of familiarity, trust, and participation to sustain momentum and drive both commerce and community impact across the country.”


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Galaxy Backbone Tops FG’s Website Performance Ranking

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Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) has been ranked first overall in the 2025 Federal Government Website Performance Scorecard.

Galaxy Backbone Tops FG's Website Performance Ranking

This is a landmark achievement for Nigeria’s digital economy.

The ranking, conducted by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), is the definitive benchmark for digital excellence and transparency across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

Professor Ibrahim Adepoju Adeyanju, managing director and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, received the award during a ceremony in Abuja.

He described the feat as a validation of the agency’s“Nigeria First”data sovereignty strategy and its relentless pursuit of service excellence.

This recognition comes as the Federal Government intensifies its push to achieve a fully paperless civil service by December 31, 2025.

GBB has been the primary architect of this transition through its 1Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform, which now hosts the operations of almost all federal MDAs.

The award adds to a growing list of accolades for Galaxy Backbone in 2025, following its recent win of the “International Standard Excellence Award for Best IT Service Provider.”

As the central hub for government shared services, GBB’s performance serves as a blueprint for other agencies currently undergoing digital transformation.

With its expanded fiber-optic backbone now covering over 13 states and its secure cloud solutions, Galaxy Backbone remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s vision to become a leading digital nation by the end of the decade.

 


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