Telecom
TD Africa Commits to Empower Over 10 Million Nigerian Women By 2025
TD Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading distributor of tech, lifestyle and cutting-edge solutions has unveiled plans to engender a mindset shift and contribute to harnessing the latent potential of Nigeria’s burgeoning female population by empowering over 10 million women by 2025.
Disclosing the laudable initiative on Thursday, January 20, 2022 was Chief Executive, TD Africa, Mrs. Chioma Ekeh.
The first group of beneficiaries of the women empowerment initiative were the wives of junior employees drawn from TD Africa and other companies in the Zinox Group. To flag off the project, the women had earlier toured the office facilities in Gbagada followed by another elaborate tour of the state-of-the-art Tech Experience Centre located in Yudala Heights, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Mrs. Ekeh, while receiving the first set of beneficiaries at Yudala Heights, charged them to channel their minds with positive thoughts and be courageous to take firm actions, regardless of the circumstances. She used the peculiar traits of the TD Africa brand symbol – depicted by a lion head known as Simba, as staff of the company are addressed – as an analogy to buttress her point.
“Women must remain strong, courageous and tenacious, just like the Simba. As the bedrock of the society, they should never allow their past experiences, no matter how bad, dictate their future. They must take learnings from the experiences and rise above their challenges.’’
Further, Mrs. Ekeh urged the women to steer clear of unnecessary distractions and unhealthy competition with no one.
“Continually work on improving yourself, all the time. That is enough. The results will show in good time too….
‘‘…It is also important to have the “I can do” mindset. It is only in the DOING that the deeds get done. So, get up and go. Go do it. As important as money is, empowerment is not all about that. Sharing ideas, sharing authentic stories, training, mentoring are some other more enduring ways to empower,’’ she counselled.
Speaking on the objectives and vision of the project, Mrs. Ekeh stated it will positively affect millions of women in the coming years, while urging them to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that abound from the initiative.
Research estimates from premier data platform Knoema indicate that in 2021, the female population for Nigeria stood at about 104 million. Over the last 50 years, the female population in Nigeria grew substantially from 29.3 million to 104 million persons, rising at an increasing annual rate that reached a maximum of 2.98% in 1978 and then decreased to 2.54% in 2021. Women, by virtue of their nature, also play essential care-giving and grooming roles in the society.
Mrs. Ekeh is of the view that the foregoing makes a conscious effort to engage this gender of utmost and critical importance.
‘‘Empowering a woman means empowering the family, the community, the society and the entire country. That one woman will teach many people; from siblings, to offsprings, to in-laws and to all she encounters. Why waste this rich resource we can put to good use?” she queried.
‘‘We hope to impact at least 10 million women in the space of two to three years and these empowered women will empower a whole lot more in the world. It is not all about money,” she concluded.
As part of the session, the management team of TD Africa comprising the Coordinating Managing Director, Mrs. Chioma Chimere; Managing Director, Sales, Mrs. Gozy Ijogun; Head of Tech Experience Centre, Chidalu Ekeh; Mrs. Kelechi Nwamara and Mrs. Foluke Morakinyo of the Human Resource unit had a one-on-one conversation with each of the beneficiaries to understand their means of livelihood and identify the challenges. The exercise was for proper documentation and to proffer customised solutions.
Reactions from participants showed their excitement from the exposure and optimism for a better future. The women, who are mostly petty traders, couldn’t hide their expectations with respect to gaining access to mentorship and other forms of support for their businesses.
A shoe seller, Mrs. Macbeth Stella said the experience was very inspiring and highly motivating.
“I’m very happy to be here. I feel encouraged and hopeful that coming here will boost my spirit to do my business better and be very supportive to my husband. I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” she enthused.
Another respondent expressed delight at the possibility of securing access to seed funds or soft loans to aid her business.
“My name is Chika Lilian Gabriel. I was able to learn so many things and also network with like minds. This is my first time to visit the place my husband works and it’s a good experience.
‘‘I am excited about the prospects of being able to access financial support to grow my business and I want to get higher just like the Yudala Heights,” she said.
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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