News
Nigeria Loses $243m in 51 Days after Twitter Ban
The decision by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to ban Twitter in Africa’s most populous country in June, has dealt a blow to its revenue ambitions, according to africanews.com
According to Netblocks Cost of Shutdown Tools, which uses the classic Free Digital App GDP impact technique, Nigeria has lost at least $243 million in the past 51 days since the Twitter shutdown.
Despite this, Twitter on Thursday posted stronger-than-expected earnings for the second quarter thanks to growing advertising demand across all geographic regions and types of ad products.
The San Francisco-based company earned $65.6 million, or 8 cents per share, in the April-June quarter. That’s up from a loss of $1.38 billion, or $1.75 per share, a year earlier.
In Nigeria, Twitter recorded $1.19 billion in revenue in Q2 2021, against the $683.4 million Twitter reported for the corresponding period of Q2 2020.
The United Nations, foreign capitals from Washington to London and rights groups have all condemned the ban as a threat to freedom of expression.
Nigeria’s broadcast regulator took a step further, ordering television and radio channels to suspend their Twitter accounts and stop using the social media giant for news, branding its use as “unpatriotic.”
Even using a VPN to access the platform would lead to investigation and possible suspension of broadcast licenses.
For a young channel like News Central, expanding but still fighting for its place in the market, the Twitter ban is a setback.
“We largely depend on the referrals we get from Twitter to attract to our YouTube Channel, and to our channel on the satellite StarTimes,” Oladayo Martins, head of the digital for News Central told AFP.
“The last report shows a drop of 40 percent of our viewers in the past five days. We are a pan-African channel, but driven mostly by the Nigerian youth.”
– Army of the young –
In Africa’s largest economy, three-quarters of the population of 200 million are younger than 24 — a generation that is also hyper-connected to social media.
Young activists turned to Twitter last year to organize the #EndSARS protests against police brutality that eventually grew into the largest demonstrations in Nigeria’s modern history before they were repressed.
For broadcasters, social media is more than an essential tool.
“We show our lives on Facebook, we show our lives on Instagram, but when we want to have a conversation or when we want to debate social issues, we use Twitter,” said Tolulope Adeleru-Balogun, the head of programming.
One of the chain’s flagship programmes, NC Trendz, discusses hot topics on the Web with its trends and hashtags to give a pulse of society.
“We used to talk about gender-based issues, in Uganda we followed the opponent Bobi Wine house arrest, we used it in South Africa also during the lockdown,” she said.
“It is an important barometer for us to understand and know what a big proportion of people say in their country. Africa is not a (single) country, but a lot of our problems, as young Africans, are similar. And Twitter brings the continent together.”
– Stability a priority –
Buhari’s government has defended the decision, saying that Twitter had become a platform for activities threatening the country’s stability, particularly for an outlawed separatist group in the southeast.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed this week dismissed worries about freedom of expression saying Nigeria’s stability was a priority. He said social media companies would now have to register and license locally in Nigeria.
But rights groups question the legality of the decision. Nigeria parliament has not passed legislation regarding to the ministry’s move against Twitter.
One broadcaster has already decided to take the government to court.
“Criminalizing the use of Twitter is also excessive and unlawful, there’s no provision within our laws that support such draconian policies and practices,” Osai Ojigho, country director for Amnesty International in Abuja.
The ban has provoked some calls for protests online or on the street, but for the moment Nigerian broadcasters are following the ministry’s orders.
At Arise News, a private channel popular with Nigerian youth, social media remains an essential tool for growth.
The broadcaster’s YouTube channel grew from 40,000 subscribers last year to 145,000 this year. Arise’s Twitter account leaped from 39,000 subscribers in 2020 to more than 292,000 now.
In Arise’s offices in a glass office tower in Lagos’ chic Ikoyi district, journalists have disconnected the VPNs. But Arise tweets still flow from their offices in London and Washington.
“Fortunately, we still have a lot of engagement coming from the diaspora in the UK, in the US,… and a lot of young Nigerians use VPN,” said Agharim Irabor-Omoruyi, social media manager.
On Thursday morning, #AriseNews was the most shared trend for Nigerian web users, despite the ban.
On the same day, the channel got a visit from President Buhari, 78, for his first interview since the start of his second term two years ago.
Asked the question that everyone was waiting to know, when and if Twitter was going to be restored, the head of state smiled and replied that he was keeping the answer to himself.
Glovo, a multi-category tech company, has announced its integration into the generative AI ecosystem with the launch of its “Shopping Assistant” for ChatGPT and Claude. Users can now discover retail products, compare prices, and seamlessly order any item using natural conversational language with the AI systems.
The Glovo experience inside such platforms introduces a conversational commerce model that shifts from a search-based web to an intent-based web. Rather than navigating traditional app menus and filters, users can express needs, such as asking for a “last-minute gift for a coffee lover under ₦50,000”, and the assistant handles semantic search, location validation, and product curation.
A Seamless, Concierge-Like Experience
Once both platforms have been connected through either ChatGPT or Claude apps, the user will be able to have a multi-turn dialogue where the assistant remembers context and constraints, such as budget caps. Users receive a visual carousel of up to five highly customised product options available at local stores. Each product displays its image, name, store details and ratings, and price. While the search and discovery experience takes place directly on the Generative AI platforms, selecting a product via the “view on Glovo” button takes the user to the Glovo mobile or web app, where the payment and final purchase are exclusively completed.
Strategic Focus on Retail and Growth
Glovo is prioritising the retail and grocery sectors for this initial launch, capturing the established habit of using AI for product research. Generative AI has driven a significant jump in retail traffic globally, so this first-mover advantage aims to meet customers where they are meeting Gen AI daily, and ensure it captures high-intent organic traffic as search behaviours evolve.
“We’re always looking for ways to meet our customers where they already are. Being available on Claude and ChatGPT means people can discover what Glovo has to offer as part of a natural conversation, with no friction. Glovo has always been about being the everyday app that provides choice and convenience, and this is another step in that direction”, said Shiro Theuri, Chief Technology Officer at Glovo.
How to look for products in the Glovo app through ChatGPT or Claude
- The user must sync ChatGPT or Claude with the Glovo app with the plug-in.
- Once synced, the user must type in @glovo followed by their request.
- The AI platform displays a carousel with 5 available options for the user.
- If the user wants to purchase any of the products or continue searching within the Glovo app, they must click “View on Glovo”, which will redirect the user to the Glovo app or website.
- After the order is confirmed, the store will prepare the item(s) and the courier will head up to the pick-up location. The user will receive the order in minutes.
Southeast Asia cybercrime networks are expanding operations into Africa as crackdowns intensify in the subregion, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The massive, unintended geographic shift triggered by intense pressure from international task forces in Myanmar and Cambodia,have seen highly sophisticated criminal networks now establishing footholds in major tech hubs across Kenya and Nigeria, transforming local technical talent into accomplices for industrial-scale digital theft as reported by https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/
This strategic migration represents a critical evolution in the $17 billion crypto scam economy.
Transnational scam syndicates are organized criminal networks that run industrial-scale online fraud using trapped or trafficked labor.
The UNODC has documented this diversification, noting that African nations are increasingly targeted as operational bases due to robust internet infrastructure and a surplus of unemployed tech workers.
In response, local authorities are engaged in a frantic game of catch-up against well-funded foreign cartels.
Recall that in 2025, UNODC, described the shift as part of a broader trend in which crime “spreads like a cancer,” into regions with weaker enforcement and limited digital safeguards.
The report pointed to the rapid proliferation of online fraud operations, including cryptocurrency scams and phishing schemes, moving from countries like Myanmar and Cambodia into new footholds in Africa—particularly Nigeria.
A recent case publicized June 12, 2025 by the WeChat public account West Africa Chinese Voice illustrates the trend: Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 177 Chinese nationals in Lagos and Abuja between December 2024 and January 2025.
The suspects were allegedly running scam centers under the guise of corporate offices, where local Nigerians were trained to carry out online investment frauds—many following the “pig-butchering” model, which builds trust with victims before luring them into fraudulent crypto investments.
Authorities seized hundreds of SIM cards, high-performance computers, and prewritten scam scripts during the raids
Ugochukwu Eze, a 47 year-old man, was on Thursday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to steal a total of N800m.
Ugochukwu also known as Amazon, was arraigned before the court by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).
DSS accused Ugochukwu of fraudulently hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to remove and divert the sum of N800 million into several accounts in other financial institutions.
M. Bajela,prosecuting counsel, DSS, in the charges filed before the court alleged that the defendant and others now at large, between 2023 and 2026, conspired among themselves and unlawfully and seriously hindered the function of Suntrust Bank Plc’s computer system server and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800 million belonging to the bank.
Ugochukwu was also accused of concealing and transferring various sums of money traced to the unlawful cyber-attacks to some account in some financial institutions.
The offences alleged to have been committed by the defendant according to the prosecutor contravened sections 5; 6(1) and 8 of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2024. And Sections 10, 20 and 18(2)(D) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
Based on his plea of not guilty, the prosecutor asked the court for a trial date, and prayed the court to remand the defendant in the facility of the correctional services pending the time trial will commence.
However, E. Afrogha, defendant’s lawyer, told the court that she has filed her client’s bail application. adding that her client has been in the DSS custody for over a month.
But the prosecution counsel told the court that he has not been served with the bail application, not withstanding that his witnesses are available.
Based on the counsels’ submissions, Justice Friday Ogazi, presiding judge, adjourned the matter to August 24,2026 for hearing of the bail application.
The judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) pending the hearing of the bail application.
One of the counts against the defendant reads: “That you UGOCHUKWU EZE (AKA AMAZON) (M) (47 YEARS) sometime between 2023 and 2026 in Lagos, and other places within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, unlawfully seriously hindered the function of SunTrust Bank Plc’s computer system, and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800, 000,000.00 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) belonging to the said SunTrust Bank thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc.) Act, 2024.”
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