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Why Businesses Should Consider Opening Offices in Small Towns and Villages

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By Andrew Bourne, Region Manager, Africa, Zoho Corporation,

For a while now, tech companies and workers have been eyeing smaller cities to escape the exorbitant real estate costs, manic lifestyles, and endless traffic jams in traditional tech hubs. The time is ripe for this trend to pick up as COVID-19 has induced massive reverse migration with employees moving back to their homes, closer to their families.

Another trend that the pandemic brought forth is expatriates returning to their respective countries due to job loss or other reasons. This reverse-globalisation goes hand-in-hand with the sudden rise in the demand for local goods and services. Soon, delivering local solutions for local problems will become essential. At Zoho, we call this transnational localism – crafting localised solutions with a global mindset to create small, self-reliant communities.

There are businesses that are bound to a geographical location because their customers are in the same area. However, if you are a cloud service provider and serve national or global customers, there is absolutely nothing that binds you to a crowded city. With the availability of high-speed internet in smaller towns and rural areas, work can happen from anywhere. For startups, there are many more benefits of moving away from urban areas.

Lower costs give you a longer runway

Most costs are determined by the cost of the real estate. If you choose to be in a metro city, not only do you face exponentially higher office expenses, you also have to pay high salaries to support the higher cost of living. If, on the other hand, you choose to be in a small town or a village, you will be able to set up the office at a fraction of the cost, and also afford your employees a much better standard of living. The costs that you save will provide a longer runway for your company and also contribute to continued R&D investments.

In an industry like software, your geographical location is of little importance as you can serve customers from anywhere. With this belief, we opened Zoho’s first village office in southern India almost a decade ago, and even launched our customer support software (Zoho Desk) from there in 2016. We continue to manage the whole product from there, and have recently expanded our efforts in opening more rural offices.

Solving the talent problem

One of the often-cited reasons for businesses to stay in crowded metros is the dearth of talent elsewhere. The reality is that people from small towns and villages migrate to cities in search of better-paying jobs. By opening an office in rural areas, you will be taking the jobs to where the talent is. You can hire and groom the local youth, who can prove to be an asset to your organization.

In Zoho’s rural office, we run a branch of Zoho Schools of Learning, a programme wherein high school students are inducted and trained in computer programming for 18-months, after which they are hired. These students, who are today full-time employees at Zoho, have contributed in building products that are used globally. Empowering the rural youth with similar opportunities will close the skills gap in smaller towns and encourage people to stay.

Cross-pollination of ideas and overall development

Since the middle of the 20th Century, urbanisation has increased exponentially. The majority of the world’s population has lived in cities since 2009. Despite the benefits, there’s also been a cost for this. Around the globe, once-thriving small towns have either been killed by urbanisation or are shadows of their former selves, with declining and ageing populations.

By building smaller, distributed offices in these areas, tech companies can help revitalise these small towns and villages. Not only will their presence act as an incentive for people to live there, but they’ll also encourage growth of other businesses that support that presence. When smart and talented people get involved at the grassroots, they can apply their knowledge in solving local problems. This will help create a better future for rural communities, which, in turn, will contribute to holistic economic growth of the country.


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

E-Business

Galaxy Backbone Celebrates the Federal Government’s Paperless Civil Service Milestone

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Galaxy Backbone (GBB) aligns with and celebrates the successful announcement by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on the achievement of a Paperless Civil Service, a significant milestone in Nigeria’s public sector reform and digital transformation agenda.

The milestone was formally highlighted at a press briefing led by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who commended Galaxy Backbone for its sustained support and contribution throughout the implementation of the programme.

GBB has played a critical role in enabling this transition by providing secure, scalable, and shared digital infrastructure that supports the digitisation of government processes across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Through the 1Government Cloud, MDAs have been empowered to migrate from paper-based workflows to digital platforms, improving efficiency, collaboration, data security, and service delivery across the Federal Civil Service.

In addition, GovMail, GBB’s secure government email platform, has strengthened official communication, enhanced records management, and reinforced cybersecurity standards—key pillars in sustaining a paperless operating environment.

Galaxy Backbone acknowledges the collective efforts of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries, Directors of ICT, consultants, partners, and dedicated public servants whose commitment and collaboration ensured the smooth delivery of this initiative.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, was represented at the press briefing by Akintayo Bamisaye, Acting Group Head, Research, Digital Innovation and Skills Department (RDIS).

GBB describes the achievement as a strong close to 2025 and reaffirms its commitment to supporting the Federal Government in building a modern, efficient, and digitally enabled public service.


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Jumia CEO says Black Friday Signals Nigeria’s E-Commerce Maturity

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At the close of 2025, Temidayo Ojo, the CEO of Jumia Nigeria, reflected on a year-end shopping season that points to the growing maturity of the country’s e-commerce market. “Black Friday is no longer a single, short-lived spike in activity,” he said.

“It has become a familiar, anticipated moment in the retail calendar, where consumers shop deliberately and with confidence.”

Preliminary KPIs for the two months ended November 30, 2025, show strong year-on-year growth in both orders and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), with GMV growth outpacing order growth. This indicates that customers are placing fuller, more considered baskets rather than shopping in fragmented transactions. Nigeria ranked among Jumia Group’s better-performing markets, with engagement remaining steady throughout the Black Friday period rather than spiking briefly and tapering off.

A key factor behind this performance is the growing familiarity of consumers with online shopping. Customers are increasingly leveraging platform features such as saved carts, brand stores, and price comparison tools to plan purchases in advance. This trend suggests that digital commerce is becoming embedded in everyday habits rather than being viewed as a one-off event.

Ojo also highlighted the role of Jumia’s JForce network in connecting digital commerce to local communities. “Our agents are critical to ensuring that customers across Nigeria, including secondary cities and smaller communities, have access to variety, consistent pricing, and reliable delivery,” he said. “During peak periods like Black Friday, JForce agents can respond faster, serve more customers efficiently, and build stronger local relationships. This isn’t just a distribution channel—it’s a pathway to sustainable income and inclusion.”

Reflecting on the overall performance, the CEO concluded: “What we’re seeing this year-end is steady engagement across categories, stronger consumer confidence, and partners like our JForce agents benefiting from increased activity.

“It confirms that Nigeria’s e-commerce ecosystem is maturing, growing in a more structured and resilient way. As the December Holiday Sale continues, we expect these patterns of familiarity, trust, and participation to sustain momentum and drive both commerce and community impact across the country.”


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E-Business

Galaxy Backbone Tops FG’s Website Performance Ranking

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Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) has been ranked first overall in the 2025 Federal Government Website Performance Scorecard.

Galaxy Backbone Tops FG's Website Performance Ranking

This is a landmark achievement for Nigeria’s digital economy.

The ranking, conducted by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), is the definitive benchmark for digital excellence and transparency across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

Professor Ibrahim Adepoju Adeyanju, managing director and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, received the award during a ceremony in Abuja.

He described the feat as a validation of the agency’s“Nigeria First”data sovereignty strategy and its relentless pursuit of service excellence.

This recognition comes as the Federal Government intensifies its push to achieve a fully paperless civil service by December 31, 2025.

GBB has been the primary architect of this transition through its 1Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform, which now hosts the operations of almost all federal MDAs.

The award adds to a growing list of accolades for Galaxy Backbone in 2025, following its recent win of the “International Standard Excellence Award for Best IT Service Provider.”

As the central hub for government shared services, GBB’s performance serves as a blueprint for other agencies currently undergoing digital transformation.

With its expanded fiber-optic backbone now covering over 13 states and its secure cloud solutions, Galaxy Backbone remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s vision to become a leading digital nation by the end of the decade.

 


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