General News
Why in-House R&D Often Beats Acquired Tech when it Comes to Giving Customers Great Software
By Andrew Bourne, Region Manager, Africa, Zoho Corporation
When it comes to choosing technology providers for their businesses, CTOs and IT leaders have two options. The first is adopting a ‘best-of-breed’ approach, which involves hand-picking several disparate apps and products by different vendors, each one serving a specific need effectively. The second option is to take a ‘single vendor/integrated stack’ approach, choosing one tech provider who offers a suite of pre-integrated applications that addresses multiple business requirements in one go. Customers today increasingly prefer the second option to streamline their business processes.
In a bid to cater to this demand for unified software suites, technology companies—especially those that provide best-of-breed apps, are racing to expand their capabilities. Often, they do this through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), buying up apps to satisfy customers’ growing needs. While this approach has some appeal — most notably, it allows vendors to quickly secure market share without building something from the ground up — this is inherently flawed.
By making extensive use of M&As, software vendors risk ending up with a poorly integrated “Frankenstein’s Monster”-style technology stack which falls short of the promise of application consolidation and doesn’t really add value for customers.
The trouble with M&A – Cultural and technological integration issues
M&A activity comes with an array of complications, including culture clashes, redundancies, office politics, increased attrition rates, and tech integration challenges. In fact, a 2016 Harvard Business Review article went as far to say that “M&A is a mug’s game, in which typically 70% – 90% of acquisitions are abysmal failures.”
Those failures ultimately impact the customer, by putting them in the same situation they’d be in if they were trying to work with a string of different products.
Even the biggest companies struggle when it comes to successfully integrating acquisitions. In the consumer space, users know this all too well. Take Yahoo for example. When it bought Tumblr for US$1.1-billion in 2013, it thought it had a surefire winner on its hands. Yahoo’s idea was to strengthen its social media platform services by integrating Tumblr’s blogs more tightly into its network using the former’s personalization technology and search infrastructure. Unfortunately, Yahoo never managed to properly integrate the micro-blogging social network and even stripped it of some of its most celebrated features.
Similarly, Microsoft’s difficulties with Skype are well-chronicled. Having acquired the peer-to-peer calling and messaging service for US$8.5-billion in 2011, Microsoft initially planned to integrate Skype’s telephony architecture into its user communication platform and a few other services. That integration took so long and had such flawed execution that consumer confidence took a massive hit. As a result, when the Seattle-based tech giant launched Teams in 2016, it developed its own video-calling feature in-house instead of leveraging Skype’s capabilities to ensure aesthetic consistency as well as a more streamlined fit among its enterprise collaboration solutions suite.
On observation, it is typically public companies that spend billions acquiring disparate technologies, in order to inherit massive customer bases and expand sales to satisfy investor demands for constant growth. Unfortunately, when an acquisition fails, it’s the customers who bear the brunt of incompatible integrations and broken user experiences. Rather than banking on high-profile acquisitions that hold higher odds of failure, vendors that have their customers’ best interests at heart could also consider investing in developing their own software and services.
The case for going in-house
Developing native technologies and building products in-house surely takes its sweet time. Of course, an integrated suite of business solutions that’s built on a unified tech stack can take even longer, and also religious investment across in-house R&D/innovation capacities, homegrown talent, and resource upskilling. But the investment is worth the effort. Not only does it save big money and make things simpler, it also projects trust and credibility, helping build long-lasting customer relationships.
Creating complementary applications from scratch also ensures that they contextually integrate with one another from the get-go. It also provides a consistent look and feel in performance, making its customers more likely to accept the new product. On the other end, customers too benefit from a set of applications that work in perfect unison to drive better organisational processes and improve collaboration.
When it comes to building great enterprise technology that lasts, therefore, it’s much better for vendors to build in-house than to try and buy their way to growth and expansion.
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has warned Nigerians against dealing with 15 unregistered entities using company names and registration numbers that are not in the commission’s records.
In a public notice signed by CAC Management, the commission said it had discovered the use of purported company names and RC numbers that are not registered with the CAC, urging the public to disregard them and verify all business information directly from its portal.
“The CAC remains committed to protecting the integrity of the Companies Register, upholding the law, and ensuring a safe and transparent business environment in Nigeria,” the CAC said.
According to the notice, the following are the entities not registered with the CAC:
Famas Services Nigeria Limited (RC: 216312)
Promo Dutch Investment Limited (RC: 396654)
Dialack Concept Nig. Ltd (RC: 297772)
Purpleheart Construction and Real Estate Mgt. Co. Ltd (RC: 1210548)
M/S Loktu Enterprises (BN: 373466)
Loktu Enterprises (BN: 400390)
Badatoyak Ltd (RC: 521322)
Johson Nats Limited (RC: 198492)
Peoples Club Nigeria International (CAC/IT/41191)
Jiba Enterprise (BN: 577523)
Civil Engineering Solutions Nigeria Limited (RC: 33001)
Gabdoff Hotel Ltd (RC: 112409)
Amoka Group (BN: 545221)
BEEC Nigeria Limited (RC: 30143)
- Adetunji (BN: 657466)
Explaining the reason for the commission’s publication, the statement noted that it aligns with its statutory role of maintaining an accurate and reliable companies register, protecting investors, and preventing fraudulent activities in the business environment.
The commission urged Nigerians to always confirm the status of any company or business name through its official portal.
General News
IHS Nigeria Leads Gender Based Violence Awareness Walk, Reaffirms Zero Tolerance with Advocacy Seminar
Demonstrating unwavering commitment to a safe and dignified workplace, IHS Nigeria held an awareness walk followed by a high-impact seminar as part of activities to commemorate the global 16 days of activism to End Gender-Based Violence against women and girls.
The initiative underscored the organisation’s ongoing efforts to sensitize the community, educate employees, strengthen internal safeguards, and reinforce its zero-tolerance policy for all forms of harassment and abuse.
After the walk along Adeola Odeku and Idejo Streets on Victoria Island, employees convened for a seminar at the IHS Nigeria corporate head office, where Bukola Konkwo, Associate Director, Operations Excellence IHS Nigeria and one of the leaders of the Women in IHS Network (WIIN), reiterated the organisation’s position on gender-based violence in her opening remarks:
“Violence does not discriminate, and neither should our compassion. At IHS Nigeria, boldness is not just a value on paper, it is a call to action. We are intentional about ensuring every employee feels safe, respected, and empowered.”
The seminar featured two leading voices in Gender Based Violence advocacy. Titiola Vivour Adeniyi, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency and Nwanne Okafor, Victimologist and Gender Based Violence Advocate. Speaking during the seminar, Titilope stressed the urgency of prevention and education:
“Gender-based violence is not a special-class problem. Anybody can be a victim. Our responsibility is to know the signs, protect one another, and intervene early. When we know better, we do better.”
She also encouraged organisations to prioritise consent education, confidential reporting, and background checks, practices IHS Nigeria has already integrated through its Safe Zone Committee, a confidential support system for staff.
Nwanne Okafor, also spoke on the role of colleagues in recognizing and responding to abuse in the workplace:
“Many victims don’t need you to fix their situation, they need your support, your sensitivity, and your discretion. Speak up when necessary. Silence gives violence permission.”
Her session included real-life cases that underscored how abuse affects workplace productivity, mental health, and safety.
The awareness walk, saw both male and female staff members from across various departments marching in solidarity with survivors and advocates worldwide and served as a public declaration of IHS Nigeria’s commitment to building a culture rooted in respect, safety, and accountability.
Reinforcing IHS Nigeria’s stand, during her closing remarks, Titilope Oguntuga, Director, Sustainability, IHS Nigeria, captured the spirit of the event:
“This conversation doesn’t end today. Now that we know better, we must all do better, by advocating, supporting, and actively contributing to a workplace free of violence in any form.”
IHS Nigeria continues to strengthen its internal systems, policy frameworks, training programs, safe reporting channels, and continuous awareness sessions, to ensure that every employee is protected and empowered. The organisation reaffirms its zero-tolerance policy for any form of harassment, abuse, or violence, and remains committed to leading the corporate sector in progressive, people-centered safety standards.
Nigeria’s economy expanded by $3.98$ per cent in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
GDP
This growth rate marks a slight improvement from the $3.86$ per cent recorded in the same period of 2024.The report highlights a mixed but generally positive recovery across key sectors. Aggregate GDP in real terms stood at ₦57.03 trillion, up from ₦54.85 trillion in Q3 2024.
The Services sector remained the largest contributor to overall output at $53.02$ per cent, followed by Agriculture at $31.21$ per cent. Key growth drivers included crop production, telecommunications, real estate, trade, and financial services.
The non-oil sector continued to be the main engine of the economy, expanding by $3.91$ per cent. This strong performance outpaced both Q3 2024 ($3.79$ per cent) and Q2 2025 ($3.64$ per cent). Agriculture grew by $3.79$ per cent, driven predominantly by crop production.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector posted a particularly strong real growth of $5.78$ per cent, with its contribution to real GDP rising to $9.10$ per cent. Furthermore, Financial and Insurance Services recorded a significant real growth of $19.63$ per cent.
In contrast, real growth in the Manufacturing sector slowed to $1.25$ per cent, down from $1.74$ per cent in the previous quarter.
The oil sector posted a real growth of $5.84$ per cent, a marginal increase from $5.66$ per cent in Q3 2024. This growth was linked to an average crude oil production rise to $1.64$ million barrels per day (mbpd), up from $1.47$ mbpd a year earlier.
Despite this positive change in output, the sector’s contribution to real GDP remains modest at **$3.44$ per cent$.Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, noted that while most sectors sustained positive momentum, growth remains uneven.
Strong gains in ICT, finance, agriculture, and trade were crucial in stabilizing overall output. This data aligns with projections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which, in October 2025, revised Nigeria’s 2025 growth outlook upward to $3.9$ per cent, citing higher oil production, stronger investor confidence, and a supportive fiscal stance as key drivers.
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