Nigeria’s Enugu State plans AI insitute in bold bet on digital talent exports
Enugu State in southeastern Nigeria says it is planning an artificial intelligence institute intended to prepare graduates for roles in global digital markets. Arinze Chilo-Offiah, the governor’s special adviser on digital economy and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, who leads the project, frames it within a broader economic argument. “If you look at (diaspora) remittances, they rival what we earn from crude,” he told TechCabal on Tuesday during a visit to his Enugu office. “So the question becomes, what is our real competitive advantage?” He argues that talents, particularly in specialised fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and software engineering, offer a clearer path for the digital economy of the state. The plan signals a shift in how subnational governments in Nigeria are thinking about economic development, moving from reliance on physical industries toward exporting digital talent into global markets. The Nigerian federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, plans to train 3 million technical talents by 2027. Building a talent pipeline The AI institute is part of the Enugu government’s broader “talent city” framework that integrates training, outsourcing, and infrastructure into a single pipeline, according to Chilo-Offiah. The idea, he shared, is to align education directly with employer demand, so graduates can move into jobs rather than wait for opportunities to emerge. He said the proposed institution would operate as a specialised AI institute with degree-awarding status under the National Universities Commission (NUC), rather than a conventional university. In the interim, it could function as a satellite campus under the Enugu State University of Technology with a provisional licence, before eventually becoming an independent institution. Under this structure, students—including undergraduates from institutions such as the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)—could transition into approved academic pathways, subject to admission requirements. He said the model would combine the credibility of a degree-awarding institution with the flexibility and practical focus of a specialised training centre. The wider ecosystem begins with a 750-seat business process outsourcing (BPO) centre already under construction, alongside a larger 2,000-seat knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) facility. These centres are expected to handle global contracts spanning software engineering, AI services, and data operations. The proposed AI institute would sit above this layer as an elite training hub modelled loosely on India’s Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Chilo-Offiah. Entry would not follow Nigeria’s traditional university admission system. Instead, candidates will be selected through competitive assessments, with preference given to applicants who already possess foundational technical training. Enugu is also working with the NUC to formalise programme recognition, he said. “This is not another mass university,” Chilo-Offiah said. “It’s for the best of the best.” The goal is a direct pathway between education and employment. Graduates would transition into outsourcing roles tied to international clients, earning global incomes while in Nigeria. The government says it is already engaging foreign companies to secure opportunities for future graduates. A bet on infrastructure and partnerships Physically, the project is based on both refurbished facilities and new infrastructure. A key component is an abandoned digital industrial park located in Nike, Enugu, originally built by the Nigerian Communications Commission but left incomplete due to funding shortfalls. The facility will be handed over to the state government under a long-term agreement in June 2026, according to Chilo-Offiah. Nearby, an existing commercial building is being converted into the BPO hub, while a new 21,000-square-metre “tech hall” is planned to house the AI institute and other advanced facilities, including labs, prototyping spaces, and even residential quarters for founders and researchers. The early phases of the broader ecosystem are estimated to cost about $15 million, covering both capital investment and initial operations, according to a document shown by Chilo-Offiah. However, Enugu is not positioning itself as the sole funder. Instead, the state is leaning heavily on private-sector partnerships. Chilo-Offiah disclosed that Special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) will be created to attract investors and operators, with the government playing more of an enabling role than a controlling one. “I’m not a believer in the government doing everything,” he said. “We want the private sector to run it and invest.” This approach mirrors the structure of emerging outsourcing hubs. Ekiti State, for instance, is building a similar talent outsourcing model, though without a dedicated AI institute. In the BPO project, for example, the state is funding renovations, while private partners such as Norrsken are providing equipment and managing operations. Africa’s AI learning ecosystem Enugu’s push to build an AI university comes as African countries experiment with different models for AI education. In Nigeria, most efforts are still embedded within existing institutions, with programmes at the University of Lagos and the Federal University of Technology, Akure leading the way. Momentum has been building. In October 2025, OpenAI selected the University of Lagos to host its first AI Academy in Africa, offering specialised research and training resources. Launched in April 2026, the initiative is part of a broader network of “University Innovation Pods” (UniPods), where AI drives research and commercialisation. Meanwhile, FUTA—long known for its School of Computing—has emerged as a key hub for the national AI research scheme, anchoring postgraduate AI training in West Africa. Elsewhere on the continent, countries like Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya are building more specialised institutions for artificial intelligence research and training. These efforts reflect a shift toward dedicated AI faculties and applied research centres rather than embedding AI solely within traditional university departments. In Egypt, Al Alamein International University was established in 2020 in New Alamein City as part of the country’s fourth-generation university programme. It places AI, data science, and advanced engineering disciplines at the centre of its curriculum. South Africa’s African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI) is based at the University of Pretoria and was formally launched in August 2025. The institute focuses on AI research that connects academia with public policy and industry, particularly in areas such as governance, development, and applied machine learning. In Kenya, AI-focused innovation hubs have emerged within universities such as Dedan Kimathi
Read MoreSama to lay off over 1,100 Kenyan workers after Meta contract ends
Samasource Impact Sourcing Inc (Sama), a Kenya-based business process outsourcing firm, will lay off over 1,100 employees in Nairobi after receiving notice from Meta that it will terminate a major content and data annotation contract. The San Francisco-headquartered data labelling firm said in a statement it had issued a formal redundancy notice on Thursday to 1,108 workers at its Nairobi delivery centre, most of whom are tied to the now-terminated workstream. The layoffs are expected to take effect later this month, in line with Kenya’s labour laws. The job cuts deal a fresh blow to Kenya’s fast-growing but fragile AI outsourcing sector and underline the volatility of an industry that has positioned Kenya as a critical node in the global artificial intelligence supply chain, but which remains heavily dependent on a handful of large US technology clients like Meta. Sama said it had attempted to engage Meta following the termination notice in a bid to preserve jobs, but the discussions did not yield a reprieve. “As is standard in our industry, client programmes evolve, and we work closely with our partners to manage these transitions responsibly,” said Annepeace Alwala, Sama’s country lead and vice-president for global delivery. “Our immediate priority is supporting our employees through this change and ensuring continuity across our broader operations.” The company said the redundancy process is being conducted in compliance with Section 40 of Kenya’s Employment Act, which governs layoffs, including notification requirements to employees and authorities. While Sama did not disclose the value of the contract, Meta has been one of its most prominent clients, relying on outsourced workers in Nairobi to label and moderate data used to train artificial intelligence systems. The relationship has previously drawn scrutiny from labour activists over working conditions in content moderation and data annotation roles. The layoffs will ripple beyond Sama’s workforce, hitting a segment of Kenya’s labour market that has been actively promoted as a source of digital jobs for young people. Nairobi has in recent years emerged as a hub for “impact sourcing”, a model that employs workers from underserved communities to deliver digital services for global firms. Sama has been one of the most visible players in that ecosystem, marketing itself as an ethical outsourcing partner that provides living wages, medical cover, and mental health support to workers handling often sensitive or distressing content. Alwala said the company would extend support to affected staff, including counselling and transition assistance. “We recognise the significant impact on the team and the local community,” she said. The development raises questions about the sustainability of Africa’s role in the AI value chain, where companies such as Sama, OpenAI contractors, and other outsourcing firms provide the human labour underpinning machine learning systems built by global tech giants. Sama said it would continue focusing on its core business of data annotation and model evaluation, and maintaining standards in data security and responsible AI, even as it navigates one of the largest workforce reductions in its Nairobi operations to date. The Meta contract was one of Sama’s most high-profile engagements in Nairobi, anchoring a large share of its workforce in data annotation work tied to the development of artificial intelligence systems, including the company’s AI-enabled Ray-Ban smart glasses. A recent investigation by Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten, working with Kenyan journalists, shed light on the nature of that work. It found that footage captured by users of Meta’s AI glasses is routinely reviewed and labelled by contracted workers in Nairobi to help train the underlying models, raising questions about privacy, consent, and the global division of AI labour.
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The solar-powered medical kiosks bringing doctors to remote Chadians
When Abakar Mahamat was completing his Master’s in Information Technology (IT) engineering at ISGA (Institut Supérieur des Génies et des Affaires), Morocco, in 2021, he did not think he would end up building medical kiosks. At first, he tried to build an app that would connect patients to doctors in his home country, Chad, because of the healthcare access gap he found during his research. What stood out to Mahamat was the effort it took for people to get a consultation. Chad has about 0.8 physicians per 10,000 people, far below the global benchmark of 2.5 medical staff per 1,000 people, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO). For many patients, getting care means travelling long distances and spending on transport to navigate a system that is physically out of reach. An app felt like a clean fix to bring medicine closer to the people. However, as Mahamat began to sketch what would eventually become Telemedan, the idea changed. An app assumes that patients have smartphones and stable internet connectivity enough to sustain a consultation. In Chad, where internet penetration stands at 13.2%, a purely digital solution might struggle to solve the problem it was built for. “Remote areas in Chad have a very low rate of electrification and connectivity,” Mahamat said. “The Internet is expensive for remote areas, so developing a mobile app for this context was not suitable.” Diagnosis required more than just talking. For doctors to get an accurate diagnosis of a patient, they need to conduct tests such as checking the blood pressure and what the heartbeat sounds like, checking for muffled sounds in the lungs, knowing the body temperature, and the blood oxygen level. “During the teleconsultation, what if the doctors need to know the temperature or the blood oxygenation levels in the patients? An app doesn’t have tools to get that data,” he said, reflecting on the early stages of the idea. In 2021, Mahamat and Ahmed Kotoko launched Telemedan, a solar-powered medical kiosk that connects Chadians in rural provinces to medical doctors. Inside the kiosk Telemedan works like a small clinic, designed to handle consultation and diagnosis of a patient in one place. A patient could walk in, book an appointment to connect with a doctor using video conferencing. According to Mahamat, Chad’s Ministry of Health provides the doctors through a 2022 partnership Mahamat explained that the doctors follow a pre-screening process and are selected through the National Digital Health Program, a government initiative for the effective implementation of digital health tools in the country. “This ensures that the clinicians involved are qualified, aligned with national standards, and integrated into the public health system,” he said. A man using Telemedan’s Kiosk. Image source: Telemedan The kiosk is equipped with a set of medical devices that allow the doctor to gather real-time diagnostic data during the session. These tools are what Mahamat describes as on-site diagnostics, and include a dermatoscope for examining skin conditions, a stethoscope for heart activity, an otoscope for ear examinations, an oximeter for measuring blood oxygen levels, and temperature sensors. For maternal care, the kiosk also includes a probe that can be used to monitor the foetus. This setup is meant to close the gap that a standard video consultation cannot, because the doctors are receiving inputs that emulate a physical examination. Interacting with these tools is not always known, particularly for first-time users. Because of this, each kiosk is manned by a trained local operator who steps into position to set up the devices and provide assistance. “The kiosk is placed in a private area where there are only the patients and their doctors. The local operators can be nearby if the patient needs help with the on-site diagnostics,” he added. Telemedan’s kiosks also handle care continuity; doctors can issue prescriptions at the end of a session, which patients can print directly from the kiosk. At the same time, patients receive updates and reminders through SMS on their phones to ensure that they can follow up on appointments or treatment without needing a smartphone. For users with a smartphone, Telemedan is extending this information and follow-up layer through a mobile application that is currently in development. According to Mahamat, this app will allow patients to access their prescriptions and medical records as an extension of the Kiosks. Mahamat noted that the kiosks are optimised for environments with unreliable infrastructure; they are solar-powered and connect to the internet using a mix of 4G and satellite systems, depending on what is available in each location. “In some areas it’s working perfectly,” he said of 4G, “but in some areas that are very, very far we are using the satellite antenna… for more efficiency.” Assembly of Telemedan Kiosk. Image source: Telemedan Each kiosk takes about two weeks to produce, according to Mahamat, because some components, like the touchscreen, are imported before local assembly. He noted that the kiosks are designed to be low-maintenance, not needing constant intervention. Local operators are trained to handle minor physical issues, such as disconnected components, while more complex software problems are resolved remotely by the Telemedan team. “If you have a problem with the software, we can fix that at a distance,” he said, but for hardware issues like a broken screen, the team may need to step in physically. Telemedan has begun to layer in additional capabilities, more recently, an AI-powered tool used for detecting diabetic retinopathy through retinal scans, Mahamat noted, describing it as one of the first steps in integrating AI into the system. Partnerships and pricing Telemedan’s business operation is such that the people who need the service the most are not the ones who pay for the infrastructure. The kiosks themselves cost about $10,000 per unit, and that cost is not passed on to patients, because Telemedan sells directly to governments and public health programmes and organisations that are working to expand access to care. This structure makes Telemedan a business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) model, with patients as
Read MoreThree million Nigerians in gig economy, nearly a quarter in ride-hailing, Bolt report says
Three million people now work in Nigeria’s gig economy, and nearly a quarter of them are in ride-hailing, according to a new report by Ipsos, a global research firm, commissioned by Bolt, obtained by TechCabal. At an estimated value of $5.18 billion, the gig economy is no longer a minor layer of Nigeria’s labour market. In 2023, there were about 17.5 million online gig workers in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, according to the World Bank. Prolonged inflation crisis and shrinking formal job opportunities have pushed more young people into self-employment and digital gig work. By the third quarter of 2023, 87.3% of employed Nigerians were already in self-employment. The report disclosed that ride-hailing, in particular, was filling a gap the formal economy had failed to close. Ride-hailing ranks second only to e-commerce in gig-work participation, ahead of freelancing, micro-tasks, and remote work, Ipsos noted. Nearly six in 10 participants (59%) remain active for more than one year. Ipsos said it surveyed over 250 drivers each in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. “Flexible earning opportunities are becoming an essential part of how many Nigerians earn today,” said Teddy Appa-Dankyi, Senior General Manager, West Africa at Bolt during the report’s presentation on Tuesday. Across Africa, drivers’ motivations are consistent. In South Africa, drivers point to financial stability; in Kenya, independence and self-sufficiency. In Nigeria, it is the ability to earn extra income on demand. But the appeal in Nigeria is increasingly colliding with reality. Ride-hailing may be expanding access to income, but higher petrol prices, naira depreciation, rising vehicle maintenance and spare parts costs, and fixed platform commissions are squeezing drivers’ margins. Fuel prices in Nigeria have risen from less than ₦1000 ($0.74) to over ₦1,200 ($0.89) in 2026. While 64% of the surveyed participants said their standard of living had improved, drivers also described working longer hours just to stay afloat. “I drive several hours just to recover costs, but every extra fare helps me keep the car and feed the family,” one of the surveyed drivers was quoted as saying in the report. There are also structural gaps. Participation remains overwhelmingly male-dominated, with women accounting for only 4% of ride-hailing workers in Nigeria. In markets like Kenya and South Africa, targeted inclusion efforts are beginning to shift the balance, Ipsos stated. For policymakers, the implication is becoming harder to ignore. “As flexible earning opportunities become more common across Africa, there is an opportunity for policymakers, platforms, and stakeholders to work together to ensure the gig economy continues to expand access to opportunity while remaining sustainable and inclusive,” said Weyinmi Aghadiuno, Head of Regulatory and Policy, Africa at Bolt. While the report noted that ride-hailing will remain a primary livelihood source for many across Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, economic volatility and rising operational costs will continue to pressure drivers’ earnings. But platform innovation, including electric vehicle adoption, and drivers expanding into parcel delivery and food logistics, may offer respite, the report noted.
Read MoreWelcome to TechCabal 4.0: Become an Insider
You’ve been reading TechCabal for free. That’s not changing. But some of our reporting is moving behind a gate. The stories built on sources nobody else has. Investigations that don’t stop at what happened but push into why it happened and what comes next. To read them, you need to become a TC Insider. It takes less than 15 seconds: drop your email, get a code, punch it in. On the other side, reporting no other publication on this continent does. Early and discounted access to our events, including our flagship conference, Moonshot, in October. And a look behind the curtain at how we make the work. Welcome to the other side. A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about TechCabal 4.0. This is it. We’ve reorganised our newsroom into four verticals: Money, Startups, Enterprise & Policy, and Life & Work. Each vertical has dedicated reporters whose job is to go deeper than the headline, find sources nobody else has, and tell you what it means for how technology is reshaping life and work on the continent. That’s what you just unlocked. As a TC Insider, you also get early and discounted access to our events, including Moonshot, our flagship conference in October. And periodically, we’ll pull back the curtain on how we report and produce our best work. Welcome to TC 4.0.
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Zuri Health expands mobile clinic fleet across high-traffic Nairobi
Zuri Health is expanding its fleet of mobile clinics in Nairobi after its first bus covered its operating costs, giving the Kenya-based healthcare startup a model it believes it can scale. The startup has added two more buses, bringing its total to three. Two of the buses operate as a self-contained clinic, powered by solar energy and fitted with equipment for diagnostics, dental care, and cervical cancer screening. The third bus supports logistics and restocking, allowing the clinical units to run continuously without relying on fixed infrastructure. Mobile clinics in Kenya have long been used for outreach by counties and non-profits, often running as short-term campaigns. Zuri is trying to turn that model into a revenue-generating service by operating the clinics daily in high-traffic areas. For many low-income workers, the cost of seeking care is not just the consultation fee, but the hours lost travelling and waiting at facilities. Zuri places clinics in high-density areas to cut travel time and reach people who would otherwise skip care. New Zuri Health bus One of the equipment in the buses An X-ray section in the bus Founded in 2020, Zuri Health offers primary care through a mix of telemedicine and physical clinics. Its bus fleet takes those same services into high-density areas, bringing care closer to patients without relying on fixed facilities. “A market trader will not have to close her stall or spend hours travelling to a hospital,” the company’s chief executive, Ikechukwu Anoke, told TechCabal. “We are taking the hospital to them. We validated this over the past three years through medical camps across Kenya. We understand what these communities need, and with Zuri Express running daily, people can access care immediately.” Doctor consultations on Zuri Health start at KES 500 ($3.87), with a typical visit costing about KES 1,500 ($11.60), including tests and medication. That is lower than most private hospitals in Kenya, where consultations often range from KES 2,000 ($15.47) to KES 5,000 ($39) or more. Public hospitals charge less, typically between KES 100 ($0.77) and KES 1,500 ($11.60). Zuri generates revenue from two main sources: walk-in patients and corporate clients that book on-site health checks for staff. The company also works with insurers, including the government-backed Social Health Authority (SHA), Britam, and Madison, expanding access beyond out-of-pocket payments. Buses rotate across locations based on demand patterns drawn from medical camps and data from Zuri’s digital platform, where patients can consult doctors remotely, book visits, and manage follow-ups. If the model works at scale, it could change how care is accessed in Nairobi and bring routine treatment closer to where people live and work.
Read MoreStoripod strikes deal to distribute Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s books digitally
Storipod, a mobile-focused microblogging platform designed for African creators, has struck a deal with Narrative Landscape Press to bring books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and other leading African writers onto its mobile reading platform, a move that could grow its local content push. The agreement will see titles from the Lagos-based publisher distributed digitally via Storipod, as both companies look to widen access to African literature in markets where readers are increasingly consuming content on their phones rather than in print. With weak distribution and high prices limiting print sales, many publishers, including media outlets, are turning to mobile platforms to reach readers who are already consuming most content on their phones. “This partnership represents our shared commitment to making African literature accessible to everyone, everywhere,” Eghosa Imasuen, co-founder of Narrative Landscape Press, told TechCabal. Storipod’s model seeks to increase access to African literature across the continent. Its platform allows readers to unlock books chapter by chapter, a micropayment approach designed to lower upfront costs and align with mobile consumption habits. Once accessed, chapters remain in a user’s digital library. The initial rollout will include several high-profile titles, among them Dream Count by Adichie, alongside works by Chude Jideonwo, Adorah Nworah, Pede Hollist, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, and Nikki May. The agreement gives Narrative Landscape a digital route to global audiences while retaining control over intellectual property, a sensitive issue in an industry where piracy and weak enforcement have historically undermined revenues. Beyond distribution, the partnership suggests a shift within African publishing towards prioritising digital rights management and alternative revenue models in response to shifting consumer behaviour. For Storipod, the partnership will add literary weight to a platform it claims already hosts more than 150,000 creators and is available in over 170 countries. “The completion of this agreement sets a new standard for the continent’s publishing infrastructure,” James Nelson, co-founder and chief executive of Storipod, told TechCabal. “Our model aligns with modern consumption habits while ensuring creators are compensated for every tap.”The deal bets on rising internet and smartphone use. In Nigeria—the two companies’ core markets—mobile devices account for more than 80% of web traffic, with roughly 100 million internet users. Across Africa, smartphone penetration is projected to reach 700 million by the end of 2026, according to GSMA’s Handset Affordability Coalition.
Read MoreAfrica can’t build 54 clouds, and importing one won’t fix it
I sat in on a cloud panel at GITEX Africa in Morocco on April 8, 2026, that was less about how countries and companies are adopting the cloud, but more about who is controlling it. The session, themed ‘Africa’s Cloud Moment – Build Regional or Stay Fragmented,’ brought together Kashifu Abdullahi, director-general of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Abderrahmane Mounir, chief executive officer, Maroc Data Centers, Morocco. The session was moderated by Adil Al Youssefi, CEO, Africa Data Centres Kenya. “If digital is a lifestyle to us, then cloud is the oxygen to sustain it,” Abdullahi said. “We need to own and shape and control the oxygen to sustain our lifestyle.” Africa has about 19% of the world’s population. Abdullahi highlighted that it only had 0.6% of the global data center and computing capacity. “We do not control our own digital future. We cannot survive without the cloud; we need to cloudify Africa. But nobody can do it for us; we need to do it ourselves,” the NITDA boss stated. The fragmentation problem The conversation about cloud sovereignty can quickly slip into protectionism, where governments push to keep data within their borders, favour local providers, and limit the role of foreign cloud companies in the name of control. Abdullahi argued that digital self-determination is more important. “It is about us as a sovereign continent having the capacity for digital self-determination. Therefore, we need to work together,” he said. Mounir argued that if every country tries to achieve self-sovereignty, it will come at a cost that can’t scale. “There is an economic challenge to build this fragmented cloud all around the country,” he said. “The effort needs to be done in as many countries on the continent.” Navigating the continent’s macroeconomic challenges is crucial to harnessing the potential of the digital economy, and the only way to do that is to build together, Youssefi noted. Demand for data centre capacity on the continent is expected to rise to two gigawatts by 2030, requiring at least $10 billion in investment, according to projections from McKinsey, a global management consulting firm. Currently, the combined installed capacity of the continent’s top five markets (Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa) is under 500 MW, less than what France had in 2024 (about 800 MW). “Fifty-four African countries cannot build individually. But we also cannot import the solutions from outside. We have to craft our own solutions there,” Youssef said. The building ambition Abdullahi referenced Gaia-X as a template for the continent. The European Union launched Gaia-X in 2020, an initiative that aims to build an interoperable, secure data infrastructure that complies with its standards. The strategy aims to strengthen the EU’s digital sovereignty in the face of the hegemony of North American players. America’s Amazon AWS owns 28% of the global cloud market, followed by Microsoft’s Azure at 21%, and Google Cloud at 14%. In the fourth quarter of 2025, global cloud infrastructure service spending grew to $119 billion, and thanks to the AI boom, the cloud market is expected to keep growing year-on-year. Africa has the Smart Africa Trust Alliance, a cross-border data exchange guideline. The African Continental Free Trade Area also has protocols for digital trade. But experts had noted that the implementation has yet to meet its ambition. “We need to build digital highways between African countries so that we can start creating and capturing value from the data we are creating,” NITDA’s boss said. “We need to look at all those regulations and policies.” Owning the cloud will also entail harmonising data laws. “If you want to push things across the borders, there is the regulation aspect that also has to be cross-border, with all the concepts of data indices to give guarantees and to basically harmonise the regulation between countries,” Mounir said. So, who builds? Shared cloud infrastructure will continue to remain a dream without execution, Youssefi said. On who should take the lead, Abdullahi noted that both the private and public sectors have roles to play. The government has regulatory roles, while the private sector has capital expenditure expectations. Mounir noted that governments must put their skin in the game. “They need to put a piece of investment. That is how it is going to work. It is to have an anchor within the country, to have some sort of institutional investor,” he said. Much of the cloud infrastructure on the continent is currently private sector-led. MTN Nigeria completed the first phase of its $235 million data centre and cloud infrastructure in 2025. Cassava Technologies has launched Africa’s first AI factory in South Africa, where it is deploying thousands of GPUs, Youssefi said. “A couple of thousand GPUs is a drop in the ocean, as we said briefly earlier, compared to what is required across the continent for us to reach the ratio of one in five that we have at the macro level,” he said. Failure to act now will keep Africa out of the fourth industrial age, NITDA’s boss argued, especially with rising AI deployment making the ownership of cloud infrastructure expedient. “We know that who owns our data controls us,” he added.
Read MoreNigeria’s NIGCOMSAT says it earned $1.6 million amid satellite dispute
Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), the country’s state-owned satellite company, earned ₦2.2 billion ($1.6 million) in revenue in 2025, chief executive Jane Egerton-Idehen said. The growth—up from ₦650 million ($470,854) in 2024— comes as questions linger over the future of Nigeria’s only working communications satellite, amid a dispute over $11.4 million in unpaid fees to a Chinese company. Egerton-Idehen described the growth as part of a deliberate trajectory rather than a one-off spike. “It’s not going to be a flat line; it’s a growth curve,” she said during a press briefing in Lagos on Friday. Broadcasting remains the backbone of NIGCOMSAT’s earnings, accounting for more than 50% of total revenue. The company supports over half of Nigeria’s licenced broadcasters, according to Egerton-Idehen. Its next phase of growth will rely on broadband capacity, which she says remains significantly underutilised. “Our biggest opportunity is broadband,” she said. “That’s where the journey to ₦8 billion ($5.8 million) will come from.” The ambition is significant for a company that spent years rebuilding customer trust after the loss of its first satellite in 2008 and years of declining confidence in its services. NIGCOMSAT says it is targeting multiple segments within the broadband market, including consumer internet, enterprise connectivity, and infrastructure support for telecom operators. The growth targets sit against an unresolved operational risk. NigComSat-1R, Nigeria’s only working communications satellite, was built for a 15-year lifespan and has been extended to 2028 through technical upgrades. The government plans to replace it with a new satellite that year, followed by another in 2029. But an ongoing financial and operational dispute with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), which manages the satellite, has raised questions about its reliability in the interim. Egerton-Idehen acknowledged the gaps the company has had to close. “We had to win customers back,” she said. “Some left and never returned because of past experiences. Now we are fixing those gaps—service quality, awareness, and technology upgrades.” A crucial growth area for NIGCOMSAT is cellular backhaul, where satellite capacity is used to connect remote mobile base stations to core networks, particularly critical in rural Nigeria, where laying fibre infrastructure is often uneconomical. State governments have also emerged as a meaningful customer segment, with Adamawa, Gombe, Cross River, and Imo already using NIGCOMSAT’s services for connectivity and digital infrastructure projects. Beyond commercial services, NIGCOMSAT plays a strategic role in Nigeria’s defence and security architecture. Satellite technology enables secure, real-time communication in areas without terrestrial network coverage, such as forests and offshore waters. Egerton-Idehen explained that military operations rely on satellite-enabled systems installed on moving assets like armoured vehicles and naval ships, allowing them to transmit voice, video, and data back to command centres. “In environments where there is no mobile coverage, satellite becomes the only option,” she said. “It can be deployed on anything that moves—or doesn’t move—and that’s critical for national security.”
Read MoreNomba and Globus Bank say they built a loan book with sub-1% defaults
Defaulting on a loan with some digital lenders can turn into relentless phone calls, frozen accounts, office raids, threats, and, in some cases, public shaming. In 2025, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) introduced fines of up to ₦100 million ($72,000)—or 1% of annual turnover—for lenders who resort to harassment and intimidation as loan recovery tools. Those defaults, when they pile up, become the bad loans quietly eating into a lender’s balance sheet. Nomba and Globus Bank say their credit model is built to stop that from happening, and the numbers, so far, back them up. The Nigerian fintech and tier-3 commercial bank said their 18-month credit partnership has disbursed ₦21.3 billion ($15.3 million) to Nigerian businesses, with less than 1% of those loans classified as non-performing. That figure covers lending across wholesale and retail, professional services, food and hospitality, oil and gas, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Bad loans are rising across Nigeria’s banking system Loans are built on the premise that they should be repaid on schedule, and when repayments are delayed beyond the standard 90 days, the loan is classified as non-performing. Non-performing loans (NPLs) affect how much banks can lend: the higher the share of bad loans, the more capital is tied up, and the more cautious lenders become about extending new credit. NPLs in Nigeria’s banking industry have been rising. In early 2023, the figure stood at 4.2%, but was estimated to reach 7% by the end of 2025. These increases in NPLs are often tied to currency devaluations, inflation, and other economic pressures that make repayment harder for borrowers. Nomba and Globus Bank said their lending model looks nothing like that. The companies said their portfolio is performing differently because of how their loans were structured and managed. Instead of relying on traditional methods of assessing creditworthiness that use financial statements and fixed collateral, the partnership said it used a different approach to assessing businesses and tracking loan performance. “That number did not happen by accident,” said Yinka Adewale, chief executive Officer of Nomba, referring to its NPL ratio. “It happened because we built underwriting infrastructure that actually works, data that is real, collateral that is meaningful, and borrowers who have genuine skin in the game.” How Nomba and Globus’ credit model works Under this model, businesses eligible to apply for loans are selected based on how much of their financial activity runs through Nomba. “Of the over 600,000 businesses we bank in Nigeria today, we internally cap the credit-eligible universe at approximately 20,000,” Adewale said. He explained that eligible businesses must be formally registered, generate steady transaction volumes, have sufficient history on the platform, and understand debt obligations. Even within that pool, lending is limited. Nomba said it currently serves roughly 10% of those eligible merchants. Crucially, merchants do not need to submit financial statements when applying for loans. Instead, they are assessed continuously on the transaction data they already generate on Nomba’s infrastructure. “Nomba underwrites against what businesses actually do, not what they report,” Adewale said. “Nomba sits at the centre of its merchants’ daily transaction activity; it has direct, real-time visibility into revenue flows, settlement patterns, operational cycles, and cost structures.” That data forms the basis of its credit decisions, replacing the financial audits and credit histories that traditional lenders rely on. Credit facilities in this model are sized to about 1% of a business’s annual revenue, keeping repayment obligations within a range that should not strain daily operations. Once loans are disbursed, merchants are continuously monitored on a rolling 30-day basis with the same infrastructure that determined their creditworthiness to monitor changes in revenue that may affect loan repayment. “The system flags deterioration automatically, before it materialises into a missed payment, and triggers the appropriate response, whether that is a restructure, a borrower conversation, or a recovery action,” Adewale said. A second pillar of Nomba and Globus’ lending model is what they described as digitised collateral, a mix of inventory tied to the specific loan use case, digital assets such as stocks or stablecoins, and semi-liquid physical assets. “The mechanism is contractual. Assets are pledged at origination and tied to the credit facility through legal documentation. In a default scenario, those assets form part of the recovery pathway,” Adewale said. Because digital assets are volatile, borrowers must also provide a 30% cash collateral cover upfront, creating a buffer against sudden value drops. In a default scenario, the pledged assets and the cash cover form the primary recovery pathway. A model built on visibility The model’s strength is also its most obvious weakness. Assessing creditworthiness and managing digital collateral works best when a merchant’s financial activity is primarily run on Nomba. “If we cannot underwrite with confidence, we do not extend credit,” Adewale said, explaining that this forms a major reason why its credit model is capped. The sub-1% performance of its loans may also be shaped by what it excludes. With only about 20,000 out of over 600,000 businesses considered eligible, and even fewer actually receiving loans, the model is applied to a narrow segment of businesses. Cash-heavy businesses or those operating across multiple platforms are less likely to qualify because they present thinner data trails for Nomba to track. Even within a tightly controlled model, defaults are not eliminated. If loans go bad in this model, Nomba said its first response is restructuring the loan to align with the business’s current capacity. Where restructuring fails, recovery of the 30% cash cover and pledged digital assets follow. The structure of Globus Bank’s and Nomba’s partnership is split along institutional strengths. Globus Bank provides capital and operates within its lending licence, while Nomba controls the credit layer, from identifying borrowers to underwriting, real-time monitoring, collateral management, and managing repayment. Risk is also shared between both partners, although Adewale said Nomba carries most of it. Nomba is presenting this as a blueprint rather than a ceiling. It plans to expand the credit model to other sectors through additional partnerships.
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