News
Troyka, Hotsauce Task Techpreneurs on Global Competitiveness

Troyka Group and the partner Hotsauce have urged startups in the country, especially, those in the technology space, to sharpen their skill sets for global competitiveness.
The duo made their feelings known while fielding questions from journalists on the recent Viva Technology Startup Connect Paris 2016.
Troyka Group in partnership with and Hotsauce had offered three (selected) Nigerian Startups a chance to participate in the competition; though about five startups from Nigeria applied but were selected by the Organisers.
According to Mr Dayo Adefila, CEO/Co-Founder, HotSauce, the ‘failure’ of the startups underscores the call on them (the startups) to intensify efforts in developing globally relevant application while solving local needs.
Adefila added that they were ready to fulfill the promise to cater for the logistics involved to/from Paris, as a measure to align the country’s applications along the world’s most innovative startups and the major global players in digital transformation.
Viva Tech 2016 apparently, exceeded expectation, because as over 45,000 entrepreneurs, corporate executives, venture capitalists and other investors participate in a purpose-built environment in Paris.
“When Troyka Group and HotSauce agreed to sponsor our (Nigerian) startups, the goal was in accordance with the event’s, which aimed at providing a real-time platform for collaboration and a high-level stage for discussions around the impact technology has on both businesses and society.
“However, no startup from Nigeria was selected; not that they did not apply. We do no really see it as a failure; rather it call for an appraisal of the ecosystem in the country. On our part, we were ready, having worked with incubation centres such as Lagos Angel Network (LAN); Co-Creation Hub; iDEA Hub and others. So, we will still provide a report on the event, but critical at the moment is for all and sundry to collaborate on how to support the industry for global relevance. On the part of the startup, they need to reappraise their business models, embrace mentorship, because marketing and presentation skills will help you to convince the venture capitalists to buy into your tested ideas,” he advised.
Solomon Ikhioda, chief future officer (CFO), Troyka Holdings, extolled the Nigerian press for swift circulation of news about Viva Tech, which he rated better than in other African countries, but wondered why over close to twenty startups from South Africa and many from Kenya, reacted to the news earlier than their Nigerian counterparts.
Ikhioda, therefore, called for closer government and startup relationships, especially on policy formulation to gestate globally, relevant and competitive applications.
He noted that Viva Tech 2016 has offered the companies leeway to perfecting their plans for more sponsorships in future, hence, “We are ever ready to partner or sponsor startups in Nigeria with tested or proven application and who are willing to compete at the world stage. It’s true we are about ten years behind in the world startup ecosystem. For instance, we can attest to Mpesa’s strides in mobile money (in Kenya) and has become a sort of template for other countries/companies to apply, we may have even better applications in Nigeria, but until proven at the global stage, such ‘disruptive technology remains local”.
“At Viva Tech, major companies came looking to use open innovation to hack some of their most strategic business challenges and to partner with startups to find the right solutions, top venture capitalist looking for future investment opportunities and the opportunity to pitch them live at Viva Technology Paris and accelerators, incubators and other major actors,” he said.
In a committed effort to ensure that Nigerian tech startups also get a chance to participate in this grand opportunity, Troyka Holdings, Nigeria’s foremost marketing communications company, and HotSauce, its digital innovation company, offered to sponsor select Nigerian startups that qualify to pitch, however, the Organisers did’t inform us of any Startup selected from a Nigeria. “While the country rues the missed chance, we have to go address whatever might be issues facing startups, because they are the future blue chip companies we have. We are happy about the Aso Villa Pitch Day and other events organized by NITDA. Same time, we believe there should be improved communications between the startup and the government for pious policy thrust to leverage for national development,” Ikhioda added.
He added that Troyka Group’s interest on technology industry in Nigeria was based on facts that technology is the backbone of the future economy.
The rate of change and the level of disruption driven by modern technology are exponential.
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
News
Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
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