Telecom
MTN Launches Livestock Tracking Solution, Mobile Electricity
To help reduce challenges with cattle grazing and the judicious use of land across Nigeria, MTN Nigeria has launched the MTN Livestock Tracking Solutions (LTS) to assist herdsmen in monitoring and tracking their livestock, while the MTN Mobile Electricity will provide affordable electricity to rural community dwellers. Katsina.
These solutions will help reduce the incidence of wandering cattle and provide electricity to entrepreneurs and rural dwellers. The mobile electricity solution in partnership with Nova-Lumos will bring clean, modern and affordable electricity to MTN customers in the rural areas.
Amina Oyagbola, MTN executive, announced the launch of these solutions in her goodwill message at the first Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit 2016.
According to her, “This ICT solution can track the location of cattle, send panic or emergency alerts to the authorities in times of trouble and help with creating grazing areas separate from farmlands. It can perform location tracking for cattle and geo-fencing for grazing areas. It makes use of GPS technology and is solar-powered to ensure that you can always stay in touch with your cattle, everywhere they go.”
On the mobile electricity solution, she said, “Our customers in rural areas can therefore replace kerosene lanterns, candles and flashlights with electricity that can power phones, fans, radios, TVs all at once and this service is already running in Katsina State. We are truly excited about these products and their implications for accelerated socio-economic development across the country. His Excellency, Governor Masari had expressed his belief in our ability to devise a solution and we are pleased to say that we have done just that.”
Oyagbola also expressed MTN’s preparedness to support e-government objectives at all levels. “We believe ICT is the future and MTN is committed to supporting Katsina and indeed Nigeria to ensure preparedness and empowerment towards this future.” she said.
The summit was declared opened by President Muhammadu Buhari during which he called for cooperation and partnerships between the states and the investors in view of the government’s drive to grow local contents and increase export.
“The world is now a global village. This summit is therefore a great opportunity to link up with others for the benefit of both parties. Our natural partners are those with requisite skills and financial capabilities to invest. Our major strength is farming and livestock. Two of the richest countries in the world namely New Zealand and Denmark built and developed their economies on these pillars. Properly harnessed, a combination of people with skills and money with those blessed with resources is a win-win partnership,” Buhari said.
Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Masari in his remarks stated that the future of development lies with technology which must be adequately utilized.
He acknowledged the support of the private sector in improving the economy of the state while pledging to ensure his government supports any innovation that will continue to enhance the standard of living of the indigenes of Katsina and improve the economic status of the state.
The first Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit was a three-day event aimed at attracting investments in Kastina from local and foreign investors particularly in the areas of livestock production and meat processing, power generation, medium to large scale agricultural production among other areas.
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.
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