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Women Entrepreneurs: NITDA Reaffirms Commitment to Create Enabling Policies and Foster Economic Growth

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Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment as the nations apex IT regulatory body towards creating enabling policies for the development, use and adoption of Digital Technology in supporting and enhancing the living standard of women entrepreneurs across the country.

The DG said this at the first edition of the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA) Women and Youth Leadership Symposium which held in Abuja.

Inuwa who was represented by Dr Amina Sambo Magaji, Deputy Director, Digital Economy Development Department of the Agency, noted that given NITDA’s mandate, the organization is deeply drawn to developmental initiatives which explains the importance the Agency attaches to the symposium.

“NITDA supported the symposium with Technology Tools that will help enhance Entrepreneurship especially amongst Women and Youth in general”.

According to the NITDA Boss, the inability of a country to create digital presence in today’s dynamic digital world translates to having a nonexistent Nation.

“Technology is an enabler that many people around the world leverage on to create their digital presence. Without the right technological tools, we will not be able to advance as a country, economically and politically. In the light of this, NITDA is very interested and supportive of this symposium”.

Outlining the Agency’s several opportunities that support Women and Youth Entrepreneurship, Inuwa said a subsidiary was specifically established and named Office of the Nigeria Digital Innovation (ONDI), primarily to foster the growth of Technology and Innovation in Nigeria.

The President of the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA), Filimena Viera, while observing that whereas, women and youths constitute the significant percentage of the world’s population, their continued deprivation in virtually all areas of affairs has increasingly become a source of concern; attributed the factors responsible to their age, gender, limited opportunities and assumed lack of political experience.

Viera noted that among the major reasons for African continent’s backwardness is the fact that Women and Youth have not been given their rightful places in governance.

“Youths are the future, hence the need for the creation of relevant platforms where they can exchange ideas, experiences and amplify best practices.

“To address the menace of Women and Youth marginalisation, effective policy framework mechanism has to be in place, so as to ensure equity and to guarantee a sustainable society where basic human rights are recognized. Platforms that will inspire, mentor and avail the Women and Youth training on the required kkill set cannot be over emphasized”.

Meanwhile, as part of it’s contribution towards guaranteeing the development of Women and Youth Entrepreneurship as championed by the Sub – regional Parliamentarians Association, twenty laptop computers were donated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA) is an umbrella body of all Female members of the ECOWAS Parliaments; primarily established to assist Parliamentarians from the Sub – region use their legislative mandates to empower Women through qualitative legislation.

NITDA’s presence at the event further underscored the parastatal’s immense regards for women empowerment and efforts toward inspiring both Women and Youth Entrepreneurial skills in Nigeria, through the Agency’s mentorship guidance and technical support.


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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

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Gombe Commissioner of Police Visits GBB Command Centre, Strengthens Collaboration on ICT-Driven Security Solutions

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L-r : Ibrahim Bello, Regional Coordinator, North East, Galaxy Backbone(GBB) Limited, CP Bello Yahaya, Commissioner of Police, Gombe State. During the tour of GBB's state of the art Safe City, Command Centre in Gombe.
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Galaxy Backbone (GBB) Limited welcomed the newly appointed Commissioner of Police for Gombe State, CP Bello Yahaya, on a courtesy visit to its North East Regional Office and Safe City Emergency Command Centre.

This visit underscored the growing synergy between law enforcement and technology-driven solutions in strengthening security operations and fostering digital transformation in the region.

During the visit, CP Bello Yahaya was received by Mr. Ibrahim Bello, Regional Coordinator of GBB North East Regional Office, alongside key members of the GBB team.

The engagement provided a platform to explore strategic collaborations aimed at enhancing security infrastructure, digital transformation, and capacity-building initiatives for the Gombe State Police Command.

The Commissioner was taken on a guided tour of the Safe City Emergency Command Centre, a state-of-the-art facility that forms a critical part of the National Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure Backbone (NICTIB) project.

The centre plays a pivotal role in improving security architecture across Gombe State and the North East region, leveraging cutting-edge surveillance systems, real-time monitoring tools, and integrated emergency response mechanisms.

With its advanced Unified Communications System, security analytics, and digital emergency response coordination, the Safe City Command Centre provides law enforcement with real-time intelligence, proactive threat detection, and seamless inter-agency collaboration, enabling a more effective and responsive approach to public safety.

CP Bello Yahaya expressed keen interest in leveraging ICT solutions to strengthen policing efforts, emphasizing the importance of technology in modern crime prevention, data-driven policing, and crisis management.

He highlighted the need for enhanced digital transformation, improved connectivity, and expanded training programs to equip officers with the necessary skills to operate effectively in a digitally evolving security landscape.

Galaxy Backbone reaffirmed its commitment to supporting law enforcement agencies, government institutions, and critical stakeholders through innovative ICT solutions, secure cloud infrastructure, and digital training programs.

By providing access to high-speed connectivity, cybersecurity frameworks, and cloud-powered command centres, GBB continues to drive the adoption of smart policing solutions and enhanced security management across Nigeria.

The visit concluded with a shared commitment to deepening engagement between Galaxy Backbone and the Gombe State Police Command, focusing on optimizing digital transformation initiatives for law enforcement efficiency, expanding the scope of ICT-driven surveillance and emergency response systems and strengthening training programs for officers to enhance digital skills and operational effectiveness.

As Nigeria’s leading digital infrastructure provider, Galaxy Backbone continues to shape the future of public safety, digital governance, and cybersecurity, ensuring that law enforcement agencies have access to the best tools to protect lives and property.

 


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Salesforce Collaborates with Tech Leaders to Launch AI Energy Score for Model Efficiency

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Salesforce, in collaboration with Hugging Face, Cohere, and Carnegie Mellon University, announced the release of the AI Energy Score, a first-of-its-kind benchmarking tool that lets AI developers and users evaluate, identify, and compare the energy consumption of AI models.

Salesforce also announced it will be the first AI model developer to disclose the energy efficiency data of its proprietary models under the new framework.

The AI Energy Score aims to address the lack of transparency about the environmental impact of AI models. Similar to how ENERGY STAR transformed energy efficiency standards for appliances and electronics, this initiative establishes a clear, trusted benchmark for AI model sustainability.

“Reducing AI energy consumption lowers operational costs, optimises infrastructure, and enhances long-term sustainability and profitability. We are proud to work with industry leaders to build a more transparent AI ecosystem,” says Linda Saunders, Salesforce Country Manager and Senior Director of Solution Engineering for Africa.

The AI Energy Score will debut at the AI Action Summit, where leaders from over 100 countries, the private sector, and civil society will convene to harness AI for good. By enhancing transparency, the score can drive market preference for efficient models and incentivise sustainable AI development. Recognised by the French Government and the Paris Peace Forum for its transformative potential, the AI Energy Score features:

  • Standardised Energy Ratings: A standardised framework for measuring and comparing AI model energy efficiency.

  • Public Leaderboard: A comprehensive leaderboard that features scores for 10 common AI tasks — such as text generation, image generation, and summarisation — performed by 166 models, including Salesforce’s SFR-Embedding, xLAM, and SF-TextBase.

  • Benchmarking Portal: A platform where AI developers can submit their open or proprietary AI models to be evaluated and added to the leaderboard. Open models can be automatically tested, while closed models can be evaluated through a secured testing sandbox.

  • Recognisable Energy Use Label: A new 1- to 5-star label that rates AI model energy use, with five stars indicating the highest efficiency. This helps developers and users easily identify and choose more sustainable models. Once rated, AI developers can generate standardised labels to share their models’ energy score, with built-in guidance on the proper label display for visibility and impact.

Last year, the company introduced Agentforce, the agentic layer of the Salesforce Platform for deploying autonomous AI agents across any business function. Agentforce offers tools to build and customise agents, as well as a library of ready-to-use skills for sales, service, marketing, commerce, Tableau, Slack, and more.


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Breaking….Tariff Hike: MTN Apologizes to Nigerians but Silent on Reversal

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MTN Nigeria Communication Plc has apologised to customers for the 200 per cent tariff hike.

Breaking....Tariff Hike: MTN Apologizes to Nigerians but Silent on Reversal

MTN’s apology came in the wake of public outcry for raising tariff above the 50 per cent upward review approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The network provider urged netizens to ‘forgive and forget’.

Recall that MTN surprised its customers by raising its 15GB data bundle from N2,000 to N6,000, reflecting 200 per cent hike.

MTN also reviewed the 1.5TB plan from N150,000 to N240,000, which represents a 60 per cent hike.

Before, a 100GB bundle cost N20,000 but the network reviewed a 90GB bundle to N25,000.

The 600GB bundle has been raised from N75,000 to N120,000 for 480GB, representing 60 per cent surge.

The operator has apologized for the increase but no mention was made on whether the data price would be reviewed.

MTN said in a message:

“To our 15G digital bundle lovers,

You dey vex. We know.

We know how upsetting it must have been to suddenly wake up to a 200% increase on your favourite digital bundle.

We could share several reasons, and provide explanahions, bur omo, all that One na story.

We don cast. We get it and admit it. Let’s just say na mistake.

In this love season, don’t stay angry with us. Please Forgive and forget. You matter die and we will never stop showing you how much.

Let’s continue our relationship.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours Truly,

MTN Nigeria”


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