E-Business
NCC to Realize Win, Sabi by 2010
Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that he is poised to realizing Wire Nigeria, State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (Sabi), by 2010 when his tenure is expected to elapse.
He restated his commitment to leave a legacy of very professional and strong regulatory body, and a robust telecoms network crisscrossing the entire nation before he quits the scene in 2010.
Dr. Ndukwe said he believes that once the right processes are put in place, there will be no reason why things would not continue to move in the right direction, and that he would entrench those ideals within the one and half years left of his tenure.
He listed some of his priorities to include massive expansion of telecom transmission infrastructure across the country through the Wire Nigeria (WIN) project, spreading broadband and Internet services to urban and semi urban locations through the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative, SABI, and achieving a profound improvement in quality of services across the networks.
"Between now and 2010, this country will have even a more robust telecom industry. I will like to continue to develop the manpower of the Commission and set up the right processes. My major aspiration is to continue to develop the commission to be manned by very good people that will be able to sustain and maintain the reputation of the Nigerian Communications Commission even after I have left", he said.
He said Nigeria has a lot to celebrate on the 7th anniversary of the telecom revolution as Nigerian has become the leading telecom nation in Africa in terms of subscriber base, at more than 54 million lines as at today, and is one of the top ten countries in the world in the field of growth of the telecom industry.
According to him, the sector has witnessed surprise expectations with huge investments still coming. He cited the buying of Multilinks by Telkom South Africa, the merger of four operators to form the bigger Visafone, the partial acquisition of Intercellular by Sudatel, and expansion of the investment base of Starcomms which has also gone to the stock market, as very significant in the attractiveness of the industry to telecom investments.
"Since January this year, the telecom network has witnessed steady growth which currently outstrips 1.2 million lines every month, which indicates the fact that the growth rate is still not abetted. This also shows that Nigeria has witnessed economic growth because there is a linkage between acquisition of telecom services and economic improvement", he said.
Ndukwe also said Nigeria is proud to be playing host to other African regulators who are seeking to understudy the various processes and strategies adopted by the Commission to register the current successes. These countries include Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Liberia, Gambia among others.
He noted that the Commission has been very active on the issue of quality of services across the networks with marginal improvements recorded against all odds. According to him, some of the measures taken in this direction include the imposition of compensation to the subscribers. He said this is the first time a telecom regulator in Africa, if not in any part of the world, would force the operators to pay compensation to all the active subscribers in their networks.
He said the reason for forcing the compensation was because the Commission believed that the subscribers would have lost some seconds and minutes as a result of the unacceptable quality of services rendered by the affected operators.
Engr. Ndukwe also listed the projects by the Commission to address prevalence of phone thefts in the country before the end of the year, and the latest attempts to register prepaid SIM cards in order to combat incessant criminal activities perpetrated through use of phone lines without usage identities, as some those actions focused on improving the value of phone services in the country.
The commission he explained is working with the National Identity Management Commission, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and other bodies to ensure that a good and credible database is put in place for the benefit of all.
On the issue of slow start by some operators who have not launched services since receiving license, the NCC boss said he is aware that Etisalat has done a test run on its network and had placed calls to him from its network while he was out of the country. He said the Commission has written Alheri (Member of Dangote Group which has a 3G license) to understand why much has not been heard from the company. But he was quick to add that it is the operator that paid huge license fees and failed to launch that is actually loosing money as it would not make sense to pay $400 million and keep the license.
On the slow growth of the landline network in Nigeria, Dr. Ndukwe said that most of the land line infrastructures across the world today were built in the 1980s and the 1990s, which he said was the time that Nigeria missed the opportunity and that up to 2000, rather than progress, Nitel’s infrastructure has retrogressed.
He noted that with the fibre optics projects going on with some operators like Globacom, their may be some hope. While agreeing that the cabling infrastructure is best for high bandwidth traffic, he however said some wireless systems are now carrying as huge bandwidth which is the reason why some of the operators have embraced it.
E-Business
Kike, Nigerian Tech Firm Launches ‘Kike AI’ for Kitchen Innovation

Kike Technologies, a Nigerian technology firm, has launched ‘Kike AI’, a revolutionary artificial intelligence-driven kitchen application designed to transform Nigeria’s food and cooking gas industries.
The app aims to enhance convenience for consumers while optimising gas supply through predictive technology.
Speaking at the launch event, Femi Oye, CEO of Kike Technologies, highlighted the app’s ability to address a common household issue, unexpected depletion of cooking gas.
“Using advanced algorithms and data analytics, this app can forecast when a user’s gas cylinder is running low, enabling them to order refills ahead of time,” Oye explained.
Beyond individual household benefits, Kike AI is expected to have a broader economic impact by creating jobs within the logistics, gas retail, and food industries.
“We anticipate significant job growth as the app gains traction, particularly in delivery and gas station services,” Oye noted.
The app is also designed to bridge the digital gap, specifically targeting women and marginalised groups by providing them with opportunities to showcase their culinary skills and earn a sustainable income.
According to Oye, this initiative will not only empower women economically but also help preserve Nigeria’s rich culinary heritage.
By leveraging AI technology, Kike AI aims to revolutionise everyday cooking experiences, support economic development, and create essential employment opportunities in Nigeria’s growing tech and food sectors.
The application is expected to drive a shift towards more efficient cooking gas management, ensuring affordability and ease of access for millions of users.
E-Business
Africa’s Data Workers are Being Exploited by Foreign Tech Firms – Report

Data workers in Africa often have a hard time, according to a report published in theconversation.com, a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good.
The article by Mohammad Amir Anwar, senior lecturer in African Studies and International Development, University of Edinburgh, found that data workers in Africa face job insecurities – including temporary contracts, low pay, arbitrary dismissal and worker surveillance – and alarming physical and psychological health risks.
The consequences of their work can include exhaustion, burnout, mental health strain, chronic stress, vertigo and weakening of eyesight.
Data work includes text prediction, image and video annotation, speech to text validation and content moderation.
The world of data work is built on labour arbitrage – exploiting the fact that workers earn less and have less protection in some countries than in others.
Large technology firms often outsource this work to the global south, including African countries like Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar, and also India and Venezuela.
The result is complex production networks that are generally opaque and shrouded in secrecy.
Workers and researchers have issued many warnings about data workers’ health.
Despite numerous court cases in multiple jurisdictions, nothing much has been done to address these issues either by tech companies or by regulators.
Still, the news of the death of a Nigerian content moderator, Ladi Anzaki Olubunmi, who was found dead in her apartment in Nairobi, Kenya on 7 March 2025, came as a shock.
While the circumstances of her death are still unclear, it has renewed calls for wider systemic change.
Her death has sparked condemnation from the Kenyan Union of Gig Workers, which demanded an investigation.
Since 2015, we have been studying the central role of African data workers in building and maintaining artificial intelligence (AI) systems, acting as “data janitors”.
Our research found that companies rarely acknowledge the use of human workers in AI value chains, thus they remain “hidden” from the public eye. In other words, the world of AI is built on the toil of human workers most people are unaware of.
In this article, we outline key steps needed to protect these data workers in Africa.
They include business process outsourcing regulations, ensuring quality rather than quantity of jobs, and providing social protection. There is also a need to name and shame companies that maltreat data workers.
Data work needs tighter regulation.
Regulation
Business process outsourcing is the practice of procuring various processes or operations from external suppliers or vendors.
Firms that do this are sometimes trying to evade local regulations (like minimum wages) and responsibility towards workers’ welfare (via sub-contracting and the use of temporary employment agencies).
This is happening in Africa as some data training firms and digital labour platforms circumvent local labour laws.
But there is more to the story.
Data work is also seen by lawmakers and practitioners as a solution to the rampant unemployment and informality across Africa.
African governments have actively created regulatory environments that enable these practices to thrive, despite adverse outcomes for workers.
Nonetheless, new regulations have been proposed lately, like the Kenyan government’s Business Law (Amendment) Bill, 2024 targeting the wider business process outsourcing and IT-enabled services sector.
Particularly, it makes business process outsourcing firms responsible for any claim raised by employees. It ensures some accountability for firms bringing data work to Africa.
Other governments should follow with similar measures ensuring worker rights are enforceable. Some data workers are hired on contracts as short as five days and get paid less than the local minimum wage.
Firms found violating labour standards should be penalised.
In fact, there is an urgent need to create regional or continent-wide regulatory frameworks covering the business process outsourcing sector, limiting the space for firms to exploit workers.
It’s possible, however, that jobs might be lost as firms relocate to places with favourable laws, an everyday reality in the outsourcing networks.
Quality, not quantity
African governments should prioritise the quality of jobs and not quantity. Policymakers should think about wider national economic development plans, particularly structural diversification and upgrading of their economies.
Historically, these strategies have resulted in success in some states, addressing social and economic issues such as unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Another option for African governments is to enhance social protection among data workers.
Financing this is a serious issue, so proper taxation and compliance among workers and employers is urgently needed.
Finally, there is a role for naming and shaming firms that treat their data workers poorly. There is evidence that such efforts improve compliance and firms’ behaviour.
Worker movements
African data workers have taken risks in openly speaking about their experiences.
But these kinds of approaches work well when combined with collective bargaining.
Workers have historically won their labour and civil rights after long and hard-fought struggles.
There is a long history of African worker movements and trade unions resisting the apartheid and colonial regimes across the continent.
While the freedom of association is enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and most governments have legislation committed to collective bargaining, it is rarely implemented in the new outsourcing sectors, particularly data work.
It is also difficult to organise workers in the industry, because of the high churn rate. For instance, data training firms like Sama offer short-term contracts to employees, often as short as five days.
Some firms are hostile to workers’ organising activities.
But numerous data worker-led associations have emerged in Africa recently, some led by the co-authors of this article.
Techworker Community Africa, African Tech Workers Rising, African Content Moderators Unions and Data Labelers Association are among them.
These initiatives are crucial to ensure workers have decent remuneration, work-life balance, adequate working hours, protection against arbitrary dismissal, safe working environments, and contributions towards their health and welfare.
Several high-profile court cases are currently being pursued by African data workers against Meta and Sama.
There is precedent. In 2021. Meta was ordered by a Californian court to pay US$85 million to 10,000 content moderators.
AI-dependent tools such as ChatGPT or driverless cars would not exist without African data workers. They are tired of being “hidden”. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
Mophat Okinyi, Kauna Malgwi, Sonia Kgomo and Richard Mathenge co-authored this article.
E-Business
NIMC Says NIN Mandatory to Government Loans

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said the National Identification Number (NIN) is a mandatory requirement for securing government loans.
NIMC said on its social media platform that the identity number has become compulsory for Bank of Industry (BOI) loans.
NIMC said, “Enroll for your NIN today to access business aid and other opportunities from the Bank of Industry.
“To access the services of the Bank of Industry (BOI), enroll for the NIN.”
Recall that the federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI), established three funds totaling N200bn to support businesses across Nigeria.
The fund will be accessed at nine per cent interest, to be disbursed by the Bank of Industry (BOI).
The funds established by the government were the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS), the FGN MSME Intervention Fund, and the FGN Manufacturing Sector Fund.
The government appointed BOI as the executing agency for the funds and is empowered with the responsibility for their day-to-day administration.
“The Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS) is a N50bn grant scheme to support eligible Nano Business owners. The grant will be disbursed to a minimum of 1,000 beneficiaries, especially women and youths, per Local Government Area (LGA) in the 774 LGAs across the nation and the six Council Areas in the FCT.
“The target Nano businesses include traders, food vendors, ICT businesses, transporters, artisans, and creatives, among others,” said Dr. Olasupo Olusi, managing director/chief executive officer, BOI.
- Broadcasting3 days ago
DStv Revenue Plunges as MultiChoice Loses Nearly 4m Subscribers
- News2 days ago
NIPSS Projects Petrol Prices to Hit ₦750/Litre Before Year’s End!
- Telecom3 days ago
NCC Asks Consumers to Monitor Data Usage to Authenticate Consumption
- Telecom3 days ago
Phone Theft: AMCODET Urges Mandatory Registration @ Point of Purchase
- News3 days ago
TikTok Sale Deal Expected Before April 5 Deadline – Trump
- News3 days ago
Questions Over House of Reps Threat to Arrest NIMC DG
- E-Financial3 days ago
Fidelity Bank Records a 210.0% Growth in PBT to N385.2bn
- E-Financial2 days ago
Fidelity Bank Reports N385.2Bn Pre-Tax Profit for 2024