E-Business
Software Market Hit $342Bn in 2012-IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) has released the latest results from the Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, showing that for year 2012 the software market reached a total size of $342 billion.
The report said that worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year, which was in line with IDC’s previous forecast of 3.4% and less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011.
Nigeria only last weekend commissioned the first software incubation centre in Lagos, with five others in the offing, however, the IDC report showed that Middle East and Africa software markets accounted for 9.5% of the total market.
The IDC report confirmed that in 2012 confirms the beginning of a more conservative growth period. In the middle of this scenario, there are faster growing market segments, such as Data Access, Analysis and Delivery, Collaborative Applications, CRM Applications, Security Software, and System and Network Management Software. Every one of these markets grew in the 6-7% range, about double the rate for enterprise software as a whole.
Commenting on the result, Henry D. Morris, senior vice president for Worldwide Software, Services and Executive Advisory Research, said, “The global software market, comprised of a multi-layered collection of technologies and solutions, is growing more slowly in this period of economic uncertainty. Yet there is strong growth in selective areas. The management and leveraging of information for competitive advantage is driving growth in markets associated with Big Data and analytics.
“Similarly, rapid growth in cloud deployments is fueling growth in application areas associated with social business and customer experience. Both these initiatives require a reliable and secure infrastructure, driving investments in security and system/network management. The combination of these forces is advancing the growth to what IDC has termed the third platform”.
Three primary segments comprise the total software market in IDC’s software taxonomy: Applications; Application Development & Deployment (AD&D); and Systems Infrastructure Software.
Among the three primary segments, the AD&D segment, which comprised nearly 24% of total software revenues in 2012, was the fastest growing market with a 4.6% year-over-year growth rate.
Growth in the AD&D segment was largely driven by the performance of the Data Access, Analysis, and Delivery and the Structured Data Management secondary markets with 6.0% and 5.9% growth rates, respectively.
Business Intelligence and Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) solutions are pushing the growing trend for these markets because of widening Big Data and Analytics adoption.
Big data and analytics are also closely tied to the fast growth social business software markets, where the combination of contextual data and the “right” expertise is becoming critical for supporting enterprise decision making and data driven customer experience solutions. Oracle continued to lead the AD&D segment with steady market share of 21.6%, followed by IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and SAS.
Among these vendors, Microsoft and SAP stood out by each gaining almost a half point of market share year over year.
In the Applications primary market segment, which comprised 49% of total software revenue, year-over-year growth for 2012 was 3.3%, which is slightly lower than for software overall.
Within this market segment, CRM and Collaborative Applications stood out with year-over-year growth rates near 7%.
While the former is driven by the cloud migration trend and the large investments by businesses to deliver a better customer experience to the “social customer”, the latter is largely driven by the Enterprise Social Software market, which grew at 24.8% year over year and gained more than 5 points of market share over three years.
Mobile, while not a direct enterprise applications driver, is however a contributing factor and driver for businesses moving to newer and more mobile device agnostic enterprise software. From a vendor perspective, Microsoft led the Applications primary market in 2012 with 13.7% of market share followed by SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Adobe; IBM showed the highest growth rate as it is expanding its portfolio coverage in the Middleware, Infrastructure and Information-related markets to the Applications markets.
The third primary segment of the software market is System Infrastructure Software, which comprised 27% of total software revenue and grew 3.3% year over year in 2012.
The Security Software and System/Network Management Software secondary segments both grew more than 6% year over year as these solutions provide the infrastructure – whether in the cloud or on-premise – to support the 3rd Platform.
Although the other two System Infrastructure Software secondary segment (Storage Software and System Software) had flat growth in 2012, the Virtualization sub-segments had double-digit growth rates. Microsoft remains the clear leader in System Infrastructure Software overall with 28% of market share, followed by IBM, Symantec, EMC, and VMware.
On a regional basis, the overall software market was heavily influenced by the downward trend in Western Europe, which represented 26.5% of the worldwide market and was the only region to experience negative growth in 2012.
The U.S. market, which represents more than 45% of the overall market, grew 6.0% year over year while the emerging markets in Latin America, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), and Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMA) also experienced solid growth in 2012. The countries with the greatest growth in 2012 were Saudi Arabia, Peru, Colombia, China, and Turkey.
E-Business
Nigeria Strengthens Cybersecurity, Launches National Cleanup Plan

Nigerian government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has announced a strategic collaboration to strengthen cybersecurity and clean up the nation’s cyberspace.
Recognizing that cybercrime knows no borders, Nigeria also reaffirmed its commitment to fostering stronger global partnerships within the cybersecurity ecosystem.
This announcement was made during a press conference before the inaugural National Cybersecurity Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Abuja from July 9th to 11th, 2025.
Sa’ad Abubakar, national cybersecurity coordinator from the Office of National Security Advisor, said fighting cybercrime must take the whole of society and the whole of the government approach.
According to him, “Apart from the deterrent approach whereby government agencies such as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrest individuals, take them to court and prosecute them, the youth can be nurtured into better citizens who can showcase their capacity in better ways and be useful to the country.”
Similarly, Kashifu Abdullahi, director-general, NITDA, also stressed the need for collaborative efforts in fighting cybercrimes.
According to him “Then, in addition to that, we also want to build a stronger global collaboration with the global cyber security ecosystem, because when you look at cybercrime in general, it doesn’t respect the borders.
“Someone can commit a crime from Ghana using a Nigerian ID in the US. So you can look at him physically in a different jurisdiction, pretending to be in another jurisdiction, committing the crime in another jurisdiction.
“So without that kind of synergy and working together, it will be difficult to address these challenges. The third one is challenge. The third one is getting an alternative to cybercrime for our kids in Nigeria. We have this as a major challenge.”
Inuwa further highlighted the upcoming conference’s importance, noting that it would tackle key issues through workshops, discussions on emerging threats, cross-border cybersecurity collaboration strategies, and training programmes.
He also announced that the National Cybersecurity Conference 2025 would feature the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, recognising top contributions in the field.
The DG extended an invitation to global partners to collaborate with Nigeria in building a safer digital future.
The press conference was attended by notable figures, including Ahmad Sa’ad Abubakar, National Coordinator of, the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre (NCCC); Hanniel Jafar, Representative of the President, of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN); Ankit Shukla, Managing Director, QNA Marketing Management LLC and members of the press and other stakeholders.
E-Business
AXIAN Telecom Invests in Jumia Post-MTN Era

XIAN Telecom has acquired an 8% stake in pan-African e-commerce company Jumia Technologies, citing the platform’s fintech and logistics strengths as key drivers of its backing.
This marks the first major telecom investment in Jumia since MTN Group’s exit in 2020.
AXIAN, a fast-growing telecom and digital services provider with operations across Africa, disclosed the purchase in a Schedule 13D filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the financial terms were not disclosed, AXIAN Telecom CEO, Hassan Jaber, described the move as a strategic alignment with Jumia’s growth trajectory and digital ecosystem.
“Jumia’s achievements in digital retail and fintech, particularly through JumiaPay and its logistics network, make it a very attractive investment for us. We believe in Jumia’s potential to promote financial and economic inclusion, which aligns with our core values,” said Jaber.
Once dubbed the “Amazon of Africa,” Jumia became the first African-founded tech company to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019.
But years of underperformance, leadership changes, and competitive pressures dented investor confidence.
In October 2020, South Africa’s MTN Group offloaded its 18.9% stake for $138 million, well below the $698 million value it once held post-IPO.
Since then, Jumia has undergone a significant transformation. Under CEO Francis Dufay, appointed in 2022, the company exited low-performing markets like South Africa and Tunisia, cut costs, and doubled down on core markets – Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.
The firm is now focused on high-growth verticals, including everyday essentials and digital financial services.
Jumia’s regional CEO for East Africa, Vinod Goel, recently revealed plans to scale up international brand offerings and open its logistics network to third-party businesses.
Jaber underscored that AXIAN Telecom’s investment signals renewed confidence in Jumia’s long-term potential.
The telecom firm’s CEO said the company views Jumia as a key player in advancing Africa’s digital economy, aligning with AXIAN’s mission through its fintech and digital infrastructure brands such as Yas and Mixx by Yas.
E-Business
NIMC Plans to Register 95 Percent Nigerians by December

Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general, National Identity management commission (NIMC) has said that the commission is set to register 95 percent of Nigerians into the National Identity Database before December 2025.

Abisoye Coker-Odusote,, DG, NIMC
She made this statement at a press briefing to highlight the commissions goal aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly on digital governance and inclusive development.
The mass enrollment drive will be powered by a combination of improved infrastructure, expanded registration centres, and robust public sensitization campaigns.
As of May 2025, NIMC reports over 120 million Nigerians have been enrolled, and about 100 million more would be captured by December.
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