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W.TEC to Train Girls, Women on ICT Skills Nationwide

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A non-governmental organisation, Women Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is set to train 1,180 girls and women nationwide on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills.

The Head of Communications and Research of the organization, Mr Yemi Odutola, made the disclosure over the weekend in Lagos.

According to him, the training will be conducted through W.TEC’s ‘MakeHer Space’ programme.

Odutola described MakeHer Space as a hands-on technology training project for ladies, carried out in partnership with Google.

Odutola said the initiative was designed to motivate selected ladies to create technology and engineering-based solutions that would solve problems in their communities and provide information about career options.

“The programme is designed to cater for young women mostly from lower-income households living in communities where the MakeHer Space-targeted populations reside.

“We will be training girls between ages 10 years and 17 years (in school) and ladies that are 18 years to 25 years (out of school).

“The programme is targeting 1,180 participants this year,” Odutola said.

He said that with the completion of the pilot phase, the programme would be extended from Lagos to other states, including Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi and Abuja.

Odutola said that due to COVID-19 pandemic, virtual sessions for out-of-school participants would feature classes on electronics and digital circuit technologies, mechatronics, and problem and market research presentations.

He said that the out-of-school group programme would run for one month, with each session lasting for two hours.

Odutola said the in-school group would meet once a week for one month, adding that each session would last for four hours.

“This training is targeted at teaching girls and women to create technology and engineering-based solutions that solve problems in their communities.

“It will also help young women to develop abilities to work in teams and in engineering-centred projects, develop marketable and practical skills in art design, mathematics and critical thinking,” he added.

According to him, W.TEC will also be running a programme tagged ‘MentorHER’.

He said the programme scheduled for six months was designed to link successful women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as mentors to selected female undergraduates of those courses.

“The new cycle features mentors from all over the world, who have been mentoring our ladies from their diverse fields in STEM.

“There are 25 mentors and 25 mentees currently involved in an ongoing cycle, a bigger membership is planned for the next cycle slated to commence in the last quarter of this year,” Odutola said.

He said that the organisation would also be running other programmes which would include Early Innovators for children, Staying Safe online programmes and Inclusive Technology for all (designed for physically challenged people).


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Legend Internet Repays N10Bn Commercial Paper

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Legend Internet Plc has announced the full and timely repayment of its Series 1 Commercial Paper under its N10bn multi-layered issuance programme, marking a key milestone in the company’s engagement with Nigeria’s debt capital market.

Legend Internet Repays N10Bn Commercial Paper

Aisha Abdulaziz, chief executive officer, Legend Internet Plc,

The repayment, completed on schedule and in full, underscores the company’s financial discipline and its continued commitment to maintaining strong investor relations in a tightening funding environment.

The Series 1 issuance had earlier attracted significant demand, recording a 119.7 per cent oversubscription at launch, reflecting strong investor appetite and confidence in the company’s credit profile, operational performance, and long-term expansion strategy.

Speaking on the repayment, Aisha Abdulaziz, chief executive officer, Legend Internet Plc, said the outcome reinforces the company’s credibility and operational strength.

“The successful repayment of our Series 1 Commercial Paper demonstrates Legend Internet’s unwavering commitment to meeting its financial obligations and maintaining the trust of the investment community.

This milestone further reinforces the strength of our business model, operational discipline, and long-term vision for building resilient digital infrastructure across Nigeria,” she said.

She added that investor confidence has remained central to the company’s funding strategy, saying, “We remain deeply appreciative of the confidence shown by our investors, advisers, issuing houses, and market partners during the issuance and throughout the tenor of the programme. Their support continues to position Legend Internet for sustainable growth and expansion.”

The Commercial Paper programme forms part of Legend Internet Plc’s broader capital strategy aimed at supporting broadband infrastructure expansion, strengthening working capital efficiency, and accelerating investment in Nigeria’s digital connectivity.

Legend Internet Plc operates as a digital infrastructure and broadband services provider, with a focus on fibre connectivity, enterprise solutions, and next-generation digital services designed to expand access and support economic inclusion across Nigeria

 


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FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

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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.


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Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

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

Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

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.


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