E-Business
Konga Thrills Shoppers to Amazing Deals @Live Auction

In an exciting show of commitment to customer satisfaction, Konga began the year with great fanfare by giving its shoppers unbeatable discounts on a wide range of products at its recent live auction which was held in Lagos.
The event which was streamed live on its social media platforms and YouTube had hundreds of followers bidding for the best prices on products ranging from 50kg bags of rice, sandwich makers, kettles, Apple iPhones and many other items.
Sharing his excitement about being able to participate in the auction, Adegboye George, a bidder at the event said “I joined the Konga Live Auction on social media because there were some household items I had been saving to buy for a long time. When I heard that Konga was going to be giving about 50% discount on some items I was interested in, I decided to give it a try. There were so many other people also bidding with me and when they finally selected winners it was very clear that those who got their items bided well for it. I’m happy I participated and I will join the next one.”
Celebrating the success of this event, other shoppers have called on the management of Konga to hold live discounted sales regularly, especially as rising prices and challenging economic conditions impact the cost of goods and services across the country.
Speaking on this development, Uvie Eromosele stated that “the Konga live auction was a lifesaver for me and my family. As a working mum of 3, I really needed some household items like kettles and foodstuff, and thanks to Konga I am now able to get them at prices we could not get anywhere before. Imagine buying a bag of rice for half the price in this economy. I want to ask the people at Konga to continue holding this auction often so that many of us can buy what we need at good prices.”
Following the outcome of the auction, brands and manufacturers have shown strong interest by listing their products for sale with Konga at its events.
Dave Omoregie, the Chief Operating Officer said “as a company we are dedicated to supporting our customers with value offerings on their favourite products and are quite pleased that through this platform we are able to provide our customers with the best products and at the best prices to meet their daily needs.”
The February edition of the event is scheduled to be held on the 5th of next month.
E-Business
UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

United Kingdom has issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple, mandating that the company create a backdoor to access users’ encrypted iCloud data.
This directive, issued under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requires Apple to provide British security officials with the means to retrieve all content uploaded to iCloud by any user worldwide.
Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, introduced in 2022, offers end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, ensuring that only users can access their information.
The UK’s demand challenges this security measure, potentially compelling Apple to either comply by creating the backdoor or withdraw the ADP feature from the UK market.
Compliance could set a precedent, leading other governments to request similar access, thereby raising global privacy concerns.
The UK Home Office has declined to confirm or deny the existence of such notices, stating, “We do not comment on operational matters, including, for example, confirming or denying the existence of any such notices.”
This development underscores the ongoing tension between governmental surveillance efforts and technology companies’ commitments to user privacy.
E-Business
Oracle Adds AI Pricing Features to Financial Software

Oracle on Thursday added another set of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to NetSuite, one of its corporate finance software offerings, including some that might make it faster for consumers to get a price quote on purchases like custom bicycles.
Oracle has taken a different tack with AI than rivals such as Microsoft. Rather than racing toward general purpose virtual assistants, Oracle has decided to add targeted features that speed common-but-tedious tasks like entering a brief write-up of how a sales meeting went into a corporate records system.
Another such task that is common in the business world is giving a customer a price quote on a complicated purchase that might have a lot of options, when a sales professional would need to sift through materials to come up with a price.
NetSuite on Thursday announced a feature to compile such a quote via conversation with a chatbot asking what the customer wants, which can either be used by sales professionals behind the scenes to speed up their work, or directly by consumers in the case of e-commerce businesses.
“When you buy something like a bicycle, you have to configure it – figure out what parts you want and which parts work together. We all do it when we buy our cars on the web these days,” Evan Goldberg, executive vice president of Oracle NetSuite, said.
“If you can configure (products) for customers more easily, you can do more deals in a day, or each deal costs less.”
To power those features, Oracle has decided to skip the costly race to develop huge AI models and instead works with partners such as Canadian startup Cohere.
Goldberg said that Oracle’s recent agreement to build massive data centers with ChatGPT creator OpenAI could lead to working with it as well, though the two firms have made no formal announcements.
“I think you could safely say that there’s a possibility that OpenAI will be part of this,” Goldberg told Reuters. “We are eager to work with OpenAI.”
E-Business
IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

IBM, the American multinational technology giant, has reportedly announced plans to exit Nigeria, Ghana, and other key African markets, transferring its regional operations to MIBB, a subsidiary of the Midis Group.
The move, which according to TechCabal was revealed in a statement by the company, effective April 1 2025, is part of a new operating model IBM is adopting across select African countries.
Under this arrangement, MIBB will take over IBM’s local operations, customer support, and relationships while marketing and selling IBM products and services across 36 African nations.
“MIBB will market and sell IBM products and services in 36 African countries, thereby giving MIBB’s sales network direct access to IBM products, services, and support, further boosting innovation and growth in the region,” IBM stated.
IBM has been a key player in Africa’s tech industry for decades, providing critical infrastructure for banking, telecom, oil and gas, and government services.
However, its planned exit follows a trend of multinational corporations leaving Nigeria.
In December 2024, Swiss cement giant Holcim announced its departure from Nigeria, selling its 83% stake in Lafarge to a Chinese firm.
Similarly, South African grocery retailer Pick n Pay disclosed plans in October 2024 to exit Nigeria by selling its 51% stake in a joint venture.
IBM has yet to respond to media inquiries regarding the specifics of its transition strategy and reasons for the exit.
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