Telecom
NITDA Collaborates with PAN Africa Female Youth Initiative on Digital Literacy
National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, is expanding its collaboration tentacles to strengthen digital inclusiveness through a partnership with the Pan African Female Youth Initiative (PANFYL) focused on upscaling digital literacy among women.
This pact was reached during the visit of the founder of PANFYL and some of her executive members to the NITDA corporate head office in Abuja.
PANAFYL is a coalition of young female progressives across the African continent, aiming to end the digital gender gap by championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education among girls and women.
The Director General of NITDA could not agree less with the vision of the PANFYL, he clearly affirms that the agency is constantly ensuring the inclusiveness of all genders, including persons with special abilities, in its implementation processes of the mandates enshrined in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and the NITDA Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP, 2021-2024).
Inuwa emphasised that NITDA has several educational programmes at all levels/demography, irrespective of gender or physical abilities, leveraging both physical and online platforms.
He mentioned the NITDA Academy and the ongoing partnership with Coursera, CISCO, and a host of others, which are open to all and sundry online.
He elaborated on the need for continued collaborations with industry stakeholders in providing diverse platforms to enable digital capabilities to aid the attainment of the 95% digital literacy goal by 2030.
The NITDA Boss acknowledges that the IT development and regulatory government agency is assiduously working towards enabling opportunities for collaboration with international, local, private, and non-governmental organisations such as the World Bank and some indigenous NGOs, Nat View, the Gina Mata Initiative, and a few others.
“Digital literacy is essential in finding, evaluating, creating, and communication through cognitive technical skills through the application of Information Communication Technology,” Inuwa explained the necessity to equip the Nigerian populace with the benefits of technology especially with the potential embedded in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Although the NITDA boss revealed that there have been challenges in getting a good number of women to attend these programmes, he hopes that the collaboration with PANFYL will improve the sensitization campaign for more women to become digitally literate.
Inferring from the Rockefeller Foundation, he said that, “there are issues of socio-cultural norms and income disparities; based on statistics, we have also seen that 42 percent of women are earning way less compared to men in terms of what they are supposed to earn because of their limited abilities within the digital space”.
He further disclosed, “with the aim to close the gap that exists between men and women in terms of use and access to digital technologies, we have come up with a national gender digital inclusion strategy in a draft format for now.”
He added that the vision of the strategy is to enhance women’s participation, positioning them among the drivers of economic growth and development.
The strategy should also address issues like a safe online experience, protection against online harassment or threats, and equal opportunities for men and women.
“We believe that leadership is about inclusivity. That’s why at NITDA, we delegate, empower people, and encourage them to make decisions,” he added.
Mr Inuwa proceeded to discuss game theory, stating that there are two types of games, finite and infinite games. A finite game has known rules and known players, while in an infinite game, there are no established rules.
He said to succeed in an infinite game, there are five principles; first, a just cause, second, a trusting team that would support the leadership. Third, a worthy rival, fourth, the need to have existential flexibility, and lastly, the courage to lead.
He assured the team that the training proposal would be reviewed to capture where both organisations’ objectives align for collaboration, and hopefully, looks forward to jointly hosting the summit before the end of the year to have the summit and training.
“I believe that with this kind of initiative, we can be able to bring our women to parity with their male counterparts, and we look forward to having a productive partnership with you,” said Inuwa.
MTN Nigeria is accelerating investments in network expansion and modernization to address rising demand for mobile and data services across the country.
The operator is deploying additional base stations, upgrading existing infrastructure, and expanding fiber connectivity to improve network capacity, coverage, and service quality.
The investments are designed to support increasing smartphone adoption, higher data consumption, and the growing use of digital services by consumers and businesses.
MTN said the expansion aligns with its long-term strategy to enhance customer experience while strengthening Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
The company expects the ongoing upgrades to improve connectivity, support economic growth, and enable broader access to reliable telecommunications services as demand for high-speed broadband continues to increase.
Airtel Africa’s CEO, Sunil Taldar, has announced the telco’s commitment to connecting 5,000 schools across its operating countries in Africa to the internet by 2027 through its philanthropic arm, Airtel Africa Foundation, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
So far, the $57m partnership, which was launched in 2021, has cumulatively connected 3,296 schools and provided access to over 2 million learners and about 40,000 teachers. 64 digital learning platforms have been zero-rated thereby enabling more than 11m users to access educational content at no cost.
Speaking during a visit to St. Monica’s Girls School in Lusaka, which is one of the 300 schools already connected to the internet in Zambia, the Airtel Africa CEO stated that the initiative is having a profound impact on the quality of education by expanding access to digital learning resources for African children, in collaboration with governments.
Mr Taldar added: “Students are accessing best-in-class education from the curriculum developed by UNICEF in partnership with various Ministries of Education and provided through Airtel’s connectivity.
“We are also training teachers, so that they deliver digital education effectively. We aim to continue deepening meaningful connectivity in schools by providing free internet access, zero‑rated platforms and training teachers across the continent”.
Expressing her appreciation, the Headmistress of St. Monica’s Girls’ School, Sr Matilda Soloko said: “Being among the first schools connected in the initial stage, our learners have been able to study using the learning portal and their studies have been intensified. We remain grateful to Airtel and UNICEF.”
UNICEF’s Country Representative for Zambia, Dr Saja Farooq Abdullah said: “What this partnership has brought is really bridging the equality gap and the digital divide. It is making sure that every child learns wherever they are. It was exciting and interesting to see and hear from the girls how they can learn at their own pace, how they can review the materials, and how they do their homework with comfort.
The Director of Secondary Education in Zambia’s Ministry of Education, Yvonne Mwemba Chuulu lauded UNICEF and Airtel for the partnership saying: “At the Ministry of Education, we cannot do it alone, and we are grateful for the partnership that we have today.
“Our children are able to learn in a blended fashion, where we have a teacher who is also employing digital devices. We have also heard from the learners that they are able to access the portal when they are at home, which is a good thing because our learners continue to learn in the comfort of their homes”.
The School Connection programme is expanding digital learning to learners in 13 countries: Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. By equipping these schools with internet connectivity and training teachers on using the digital tools, it is providing children, particularly in underserved and remote regions, with the digital tools and skills they need to thrive.
Airtel Africa Foundation is advancing inclusive development across four strategic pillars, Financial Inclusion, Education, Environmental Sustainability and Digital Inclusion.
MultiChoice has officially become a wholly owned subsidiary of French media company Canal+, marking the completion of one of the largest acquisitions in Africa’s media and entertainment industry.
The integration brings the South Africa-based pay television operator under the full ownership of Canal+, a global media group with operations in 70 countries.
Announcing the completion of the transaction on Thursday, Chief Executive Officer of Canal+ Africa and MultiChoice, David Mignot, described the development as the beginning of a new phase of growth for the broadcaster.
“MultiChoice is now a full subsidiary of a truly international media group operating in 70 countries.
“The group was founded in France, is listed in London and Johannesburg, and has a strong African presence with operations in more than 45 countries,” Mignot said.
The acquisition combines Canal+’s international operations with MultiChoice’s extensive footprint across sub-Saharan Africa, where it serves millions of households through its DStv and GOtv platforms, as well as the Showmax streaming service.
According to Canal+, the integration will strengthen MultiChoice’s competitive position by giving it access to broader financial resources, technology, content partnerships and operational expertise.
The company said the combined business would increase investment in local content production, sports broadcasting and streaming services as competition intensifies from global platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
The transaction is also expected to provide MultiChoice with greater access to international markets at a time when traditional pay television operators are adapting to changing consumer viewing habits and the rapid growth of digital streaming platforms.
Canal+ has expanded steadily across Africa over the past decade and now assumes full control of a business operating in more than 45 African countries, further strengthening its position in the continent’s media and entertainment sector.
The acquisition followed Canal+’s gradual increase in its shareholding in MultiChoice, which began in 2024.
After exceeding the regulatory threshold, the company launched a mandatory offer in April 2024 to acquire the remaining shares of the Johannesburg-listed broadcaster.
Following regulatory approvals and shareholder acceptance, Canal+ secured control of MultiChoice in 2025 before completing the process that has now made the company a wholly owned subsidiary.
Industry observers describe the acquisition as one of the most significant media transactions involving an African company, reflecting a broader trend of consolidation as global entertainment firms seek greater scale to compete in the streaming era.
Police Busts Syndicate Who Allegedly Stole N3Bn from Financial Institution
MTN Accelerates Network Expansion to Meet Surging Telecom Demand
Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m
TeKnowledge, Equinix Partner to Advance Nigerian Digital Infrastructure
NSIB Faults Runway Identification, Reveals Cockpit Disagreement in Asaba Jet Incident
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Mobile Internet Gender Gap Widest in Africa – GSMA
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
Telecom2 days agoNCC Seeks Cost-Based Pricing Framework for Ducts
E-Financial2 days agoCBN Warns against Rejection of N100 Banknotes
Telecom1 day agoFixed Wired Internet Market Lags as Mobile Gains Ground
News2 days agoFlutterwave Secures Circle Ventures Investment to Deepen USDC Payment
Telecom2 days agoMeta Introduces Muse Image With Advanced AI Image Editing Across WhatsApp and Instagram
E-Financial2 days agoBVN Enrollments Hit 69.55m- NIBSS
News2 days agoHow EFCC Turned Recovered Loot Into School Supplies for Thousands of Nigerian Students
News1 day agoStudy Reveals How Moniepoint is Powering Nigeria’s $11Bn Food Service Sector