The decision is expected to push up the price of soft drinks and similar products.

Lawmakers took the decision during plenary while considering the report on the Customs, Excise Tariff, etc. (Amendment) Bill.

The new system hands the Minister of Finance responsibility for setting the exact rate, in line with fiscal guidelines.

Under the old arrangement, manufacturers and importers paid N10 per litre on carbonated drinks, energy drinks, and other sweetened beverages.

Authorities introduced the tax in 2022 to discourage high sugar intake and raise funds for health programmes.

Over time, inflation weakened that structure. A bottle of soft drink that sold for about N150 when the tax began now sells between N350 and N500. The fixed levy lost much of its effect on both price control and consumption patterns.

The Senate argues that the new percentage-based model will restore relevance to the tax. It also aims to improve revenue generation while linking collections more closely to current market prices.

Between 2022 and 2025, the N10-per-litre charge generated about N108.6 billion for the government. Lawmakers say the figure no longer matches the scale of public health needs.

A portion of the new revenue will support a dedicated health fund. The fund will support primary healthcare, disease prevention, and health insurance coverage for vulnerable groups across the country.

Public health formed a large part of the issue. Diabetes affects about 8% of Nigerians, or roughly 18 million people. Hypertension is more widespread, affecting an estimated 40% of adults.

Costs of treatment keep increasing and on average, households spend about N608,940 annually per patient managing non-communicable diseases. National spending on these conditions stands at about N1.92 trillion each year.

Most healthcare expenses still fall directly on families. Many households pay out of pocket when a serious illness occurs, which increases financial pressure.

Nigeria also ranks high in global soft drink consumption. Citizens consume about 38.6 million litres daily, placing the country as the fourth-largest consumer worldwide.

Sugar demand stands at about 1.8 million metric tonnes each year. More than 90% of this demand comes from imports. Local refining is dominated by known operators such as Dangote Sugar Refinery and Golden Penny.

Health experts have long linked high sugar intake to rising cases of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. They argue that sugary drinks contribute significantly to these trends.

Stakeholders in the industry are divided on the policy. The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has warned against higher taxes on sweetened beverages. It argues that consumers already face strong economic pressure.

Health specialists, however, are aiming for stronger taxation. Some studies recommend rates of up to 20% of retail price, or as high as N130 per litre, to reduce consumption meaningfully.

Global health bodies, including the World Health Organisation, have also supported sugar taxes as a tool to curb lifestyle-related diseases.

On the implications for consumers, prices of popular soft drinks, energy drinks, and similar products are likely to increase once the new rate takes effect. Demand may also shift if prices surge.

Manufacturers may feel pressure as well, with higher costs affecting sales volumes, but it may also push companies to expand low-sugar product lines.

For the health sector, the policy could provide additional funding over time. This may ease dependence on out-of-pocket spending, though outcomes will depend on implementation.

Equity concerns are part of the discussion. Lower-income households in Nigeria may feel the sugar tax impact of higher prices more steeply, especially in a market where sugary drinks are widely consumed.

The post Nigeria Senate Approves New Sugar Tax That Will Push Up Price of Soft Drinks appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

On a global level, the report shows total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased by 4.0% compared to April 2025 levels (+4.0% for international operations), and capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK), decreased by -0.4% compared to April 2025 (-0.9% for international operations).

“Air cargo demand grew 4% year-on-year in April, driven by strong Asia-linked trade flows. But this positive news masks a more complex operating environment. Severe disruption at major Gulf hubs due to the war in the Middle East continued to reshape trade routes and constrain capacity on key corridors. With dedicated freighters carrying much of the growth, air cargo is once again keeping supply chains moving amid trade disruptions. The coming months will test how well the sector can absorb continued geopolitical uncertainty and elevated operating costs,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.

Several factors in the operating environment should be noted:

• Global trade contracted in March by 2.1% month-on-month after four consecutive months of growth, highlighting the continued vulnerability of trade momentum to geopolitical shocks.
• Jet fuel prices rose sharply in April, up 121.1% year-on-year, alongside a 77.7% increase in crude oil prices.
• Global manufacturing sentiment remained in growth territory in April, strengthening from March. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose 1.9 points to 53.4, while the PMI for new export orders reached 50.2. With both indicators above the 50-point expansion threshold, conditions remain supportive for air cargo demand.

April Regional Performance

Asia-Pacific airlines saw a 10.5% year-on-year growth in air cargo demand in April, the strongest rise of all regions. Capacity increased by 5.3% year-on-year.

North American carriers saw a 5.0% year-on-year increase in air cargo demand in April. Capacity increased by 1.2% year-on-year.

European carriers saw a 6.0% year-on-year increase in demand for air cargo in April. Capacity increased by 3.0% year-on-year.

Middle Eastern carriers saw a -18.2% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo in April, the weakest performance of all regions. Capacity decreased by -22.9% year-on-year.

Latin American and Caribbean carriers saw a -2.8% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo in April. Capacity increased by 1.2% year-on-year.

African airlines saw a 7.7% year-on-year increase in demand for air cargo in April. Capacity decreased by -9.4% year-on-year.

Trade Lane Growth

Air cargo performance diverged across major trade lanes in April. Africa-Asia led growth followed by Asia-Europe, with intra-Asia also holding strong on regional trade. In contrast, Gulf-linked corridors were severely disrupted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The post African Airlines Record 7.7% YoY Rise in Cargo Transport April 2026 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The idea of fast, unlimited, wired broadband arriving at the door, like it does in London or Seoul, has felt like a distant dream.

MTN FibreX is trying to change that story. Rebranded and relaunched in April 2025, it has grown from a quiet niche product into Nigeria’s dominant fixed broadband service in less than twelve months. As of February 2026, FibreX holds approximately 88.7% of Nigeria’s entire fixed broadband market.

The Numbers So far:

“Our goal is clear, between 2026 and 2028, we want FibreX to reach over 8 million homes across Nigeria. This is about empowering people to connect and thrive in the digital economy.” — Egerton Idehen, Chief Broadband Officer, MTN Nigeria.

What Exactly is MTN FibreX?

FibreX is MTN Nigeria’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband service. Physical fibre-optic cables are run directly into your home or business, delivering internet speeds that a mobile SIM card simply cannot match, with no data cap, no throttling, and no Fair Usage Policy (FUP) hidden in the fine print.

The service was formerly known as MTN Fibre Broadband and existed quietly for nearly a decade with very modest adoption, ranging between 2,000 and 9,000 users at any given time.

The April 2025 rebrand to FibreX coincided with aggressive expansion, a more competitive pricing structure, and a clear strategic mandate: become Nigeria’s largest FTTH operator, by a wide margin.

It’s working. By January 2026, FibreX had 89,441 subscribers, a 658% jump from 11,794 in January 2025. The biggest single-month surge came in September 2025, when the service added 16,640 new users (a 56.8% month-on-month jump). The highest recorded monthly increase since MTN started the service nearly 10 years ago.

The Plans: What You Pay, What You Get

Plans in 2026 range from ₦30,000/month to ₦200,000/month, covering speeds of 50 Mbps to 1GB. All plans are fully unlimited with no speed throttling. The router is provided free-to-use, and installation is free in covered areas. All plans also offer symmetrical upload and download speeds.

The Honest Verdict: Pros & Cons

The Upsides

Areas of concern: 

FibreX vs Starlink vs Spectranet

The honest take from multiple reviewers in early 2026 is consistent: if FibreX cable (over-the-air) has been laid on your street, it is the most cost-effective unlimited home internet option available in Nigeria today.

The challenge remains coverage, Starlink still wins where fibre hasn’t reached, but it costs more than four times as much in the first year when you factor in the hardware kit.

The Elephant In the Room: 9,218 Fibre Cuts

Here is where we have to be straight with you. MTN FibreX has a reliability problem, and it’s not entirely MTN’s fault, but it is MTN’s problem to solve.

In 2025, MTN recorded 9,218 fibre cable cuts across Nigeria, averaging more than 25 per day. Road construction crews sliced through buried cables. Vandals targeted infrastructure.

Cable thieves did what cable thieves do. The result: customers experienced outages that lasted hours, sometimes days, with sparse communication from the company during the downtime.

“For the past three days, the MTN FibreX network has been absolutely terrible, unstable connection, frequent downtimes, and speeds nowhere near what was promised. It’s been oversold.” – Nnamdi Nwabuisi, MD, Nikenga.com (via LinkedIn)

Dr. Karl Toriola, MTN’s CEO publicly acknowledged the issue and pledged accountability. But acknowledgement alone doesn’t restore the connection of a remote worker on a deadline.

The company logged over 1.6 million customer complaints through its service channels in 2025, a figure that should sit uncomfortably in every board review.

This is arguably the biggest risk to FibreX’s growth trajectory. Nigeria needs better legislation to protect buried or ‘over-the-air’ infrastructure, stronger penalties for vandalism, and better coordination between telecoms operators and road construction authorities. Until that systemic fix arrives, no amount of cable-laying will fully solve the outage problem.

Who is FibreX Actually for?

The Big Picture: What this Means for Nigeria

FibreX is not just a product launch. It’s a bet on a different version of Nigeria’s digital future, one where home broadband is as normal as owning a TV.

Nigeria’s broadband penetration reached 53.07% by January 2026, up from 45.61% a year earlier. But the vast majority of that is mobile broadband.

Fixed wired connections remain a rounding error compared to 104 million mobile broadband subscriptions.

MTN’s ambition to connect 8 million homes by 2028, a 160-fold increase from current levels, is the kind of infrastructure push that, if achieved, would fundamentally reshape how Nigerian families work, learn, and create.

It aligns directly with the National Broadband Plan’s target of 70% broadband penetration and the expansion of Nigeria’s fibre backbone from 35,000 km to 125,000 km.

But a 160-fold increase is a massive ask. Today’s 110,564 FibreX subscribers are impressive as a growth story. As a fraction of 8 million homes, it is 1.4%.

The distance between here and there requires capital (MTN spent ₦1 trillion in capex in 2025, much of it on fibre), policy support, and, critically, a resolution to the vandalism and fibre-cut crisis that is simultaneously the biggest operational headache and the most persistent threat to consumer trust.

“We are going to be, by a country mile, the largest fibre-to-the-home operator, and we’ll also eventually provide redundancy solutions where you have a combination of fibre and fixed wireless access so that at no point in time do you ever experience any outage.” — Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria

The Bottom Line

MTN FibreX is the most compelling home broadband option in Nigeria if it has reached your street. The pricing is genuinely competitive, ₦30,000 a month for unlimited 50 Mbps, with free installation and a free router, is hard to argue with.

The speed tiers cover every use case from a student’s bedroom to a small business office. And the absence of data caps or throttling removes the daily anxiety that defines Nigeria’s mobile data experience.

The caveats are real, though. The fibre-cut problem is not cosmetic, it is a structural weakness in Nigeria’s physical infrastructure that no single company can fix alone.

The coverage map still leaves most of the country unserved. And new subscribers need to budget at least ₦30,000/month from day one.

But the direction of travel is unmistakably right. The 658% subscriber growth in a single year reflects genuine product-market fit. The 8-million-home ambition, if even 30% is achieved by 2028, would represent a qualitative shift in how millions of Nigerians experience the internet.

For too long, home internet or braodband in Nigeria has meant rationed megabytes and a hotspot shared across six devices. FibreX isn’t the finished article. But it might just be the first believable step toward something better.

Overall Rating

The post MTN FibreX: The Home Broadband Nigerian Homes Have Been Waiting for? appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

New figures released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the economy grew faster than the 3.13% recorded in the same period of 2025. 

Still, growth slowed slightly from the 3.99% posted in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The report points to resilience in the non-oil sector, even as crude oil production weakened during the quarter.

Agriculture recorded one of the strongest improvements. The sector grew by 3.15% in real terms, compared with just 0.07% in the first quarter of last year. Crop production was the biggest driver within the sector.

Services were the largest part of the economy, contributing 57.73% to total GDP. The sector expanded by 4.31% during the quarter, although that was slightly below the 4.33% growth recorded a year earlier.

Industry also improved moderately, growing by 3.50% from 3.42% in the corresponding period of 2025.

Nigeria’s non-oil sector continued to carry most of the economy. According to the NBS, the sector grew by 3.94% in real terms and accounted for 96.08% of total GDP in the quarter.

Telecommunications, crop production, trade, cement manufacturing, financial institutions, real estate, construction and road transport were among the sectors that supported growth.

Telecommunications was one of the strongest performers. Information and communication activities grew by 10.98% year-on-year and contributed 11.31% to real GDP, higher than the 10.59% recorded in the same quarter of 2025.

Trade contributed 17.89% to real GDP, while real estate accounted for 13.10%. The finance and insurance sector grew by 8.54%, and construction expanded by 6.38%.

In nominal terms, the country’s GDP stood at N110.79 trillion in the first quarter of 2026. That represents a 17.79% increase from the N94.05 trillion recorded in the same period last year.

Oil production, however, was under stress. Average daily crude oil output fell to 1.55 million barrels per day, lower than the 1.62 million barrels per day recorded in the first quarter of 2025. Production also dropped slightly from the 1.58 million barrels per day posted in the previous quarter.

Even with weaker output, the oil sector still recorded real growth of 2.57%, up from 1.87% a year earlier. Its contribution to total real GDP stood at 3.92%, slightly below the 3.97% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

The report also showed mixed performances across other sectors. Arts, entertainment and recreation recorded strong growth of 11.25%. On the other hand, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply contracted by 15.30% in real terms.

Education growth slowed to 1.22%, down from 2.47% in the same period last year.

Nigeria is currently dealing with high inflation, expensive living costs and pressure on household spending. Inflation has remained above 15% despite ongoing reforms aimed at stabilising the economy.

Since 2025, the federal government has pushed ahead with policies including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and fiscal reforms as it tries to strengthen public finances and attract investment.

Compared with some African economies, Nigeria’s latest GDP growth figure placed it ahead of South Africa, where growth slowed to 1.9% in the same period. Ghana recorded 3.5% growth in the first quarter of 2026.

The post Nigeria’s GDP Grows 3.89% in Q1 as Agriculture, Telecoms Lift Non-Oil Sector appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Quarter one results released by the three companies show a split in performance. Unilever strengthened margins and maintained strong cost control, Nestlé stayed profitable while working through finance and leverage pressure, while Cadbury faced the toughest squeeze on earnings despite growing sales.

Investors have piled into the three stocks since last year. Even with issues around inflation, weak consumer spending and higher operating costs, the companies are still among the strongest gainers on the NGX consumer goods index.

As of May 22, 2026, Cadbury’s share price had risen 15.2% this year to N69 from N59.90 at the start of January, after returning 179% in 2025. 

Unilever gained 133% year-to-date, climbing from N72 to N168 following a 124% rally last year, while Nestlé advanced 59.6% to N3,125 from N1,958 after returning 119% in 2025.

Despite the sharp rallies, technical indicators still reveal investors do not see the stocks as heavily overstretched. Nestlé’s 14-day Relative Strength Index stood at 32.43, Cadbury closed at 51.18, while Unilever came in higher at 66.02.

Together, the three companies generated N425.13 billion in revenue during the first quarter, up 12.15% from the same period last year. Gross profit also rose 12.5% to N169.56 billion, leaving combined gross margin almost unchanged at 39.88%.

Pressure became more visible lower down the income statement.

Combined operating profit slipped slightly to N91.64 billion because selling, marketing, distribution and administrative expenses rose faster than revenue growth. Operating margin fell to 21.55% from 24.30% a year earlier.

Still, lower finance costs helped soften the impact. Combined pre-tax profit climbed 31.14% to N92.39 billion, while post-tax profit rose 19.05% to N49.66 billion.

Even with the increase, the companies retained less than N12 in profit from every N100 in revenue.

Cadbury recorded the weakest margin performance among the three firms.

The company grew revenue by 7% to N39.83 billion in the first quarter, but the cost of sales rose faster at 15.43%, pushing gross profit down 10.39% to N10.89 billion. Gross margin dropped to 27.34% from 32.65%.

Operating expenses also jumped sharply to N5.88 billion from N2.86 billion. That dragged operating profit down by more than half to N4.72 billion, while operating margin weakened to 11.85% from 26.02%.

Cadbury’s finance position improved during the quarter. The company reported an unrealised foreign exchange gain of N870.60 million compared with N75.89 million in the same period last year, while interest expense on borrowings dropped to N370.63 million from N1.12 billion.

That helped the company move from a net finance cost position in Q1 2025 to a net finance income of N477.92 million this year. Even so, profit after tax still declined 39% to N3.64 billion.

The weaker margins also affected earnings per share, which fell to 160 kobo from 262 kobo a year earlier.

Still, Cadbury’s balance sheet showed some improvement. Shareholders’ equity rose 27% to N17.06 billion. However, cash reserves weakened significantly as net cash declined to N8.76 billion from N15.02 billion at the start of the year, largely due to inventory build-up and loan repayments.

Nestlé was the biggest revenue and profit generator among the three companies.

The food company grew first-quarter revenue by 10.59% to N326.13 billion, while profit after tax increased 29.23% to N39 billion.

Gross margin stayed broadly flat at 40.49%, but operating costs continued to rise. Operating expenses increased to N56.84 billion from N45.86 billion, reducing the operating margin to 23.13% from 25.14%.

Finance costs, however, eased considerably and supported profit growth.

The latest result also marked Nestlé’s sixth consecutive profitable quarter since returning to profit in late 2024. The company linked the recovery to naira stability and improved margin management.

Its balance sheet also improved during the quarter. Shareholders’ equity rose sharply to N51.6 billion in March 2026 from N12.9 billion at the end of December 2025.

Even with the recovery, investors are still watching whether the company can sustain profitability, reduce leverage and return to regular dividend payments. Nestlé last paid dividends in 2022.

Unilever delivered the strongest operational performance of the three companies.

Revenue rose 25.96% to N59.17 billion, while the cost of sales increased at a slower pace of 15.77%. That lifted gross profit by 41.17% to N26.61 billion.

Gross margin improved to 44.98 per cent from 40.13%, while operating profit climbed 38.88% to N11.48 billion. Operating margin also strengthened to 19.41% from 17.60%.

Unlike Cadbury and Nestlé, Unilever’s earnings growth came largely from stronger operations and higher cost management rather than relief from finance costs.

The company also maintained the healthiest balance sheet among the three firms. It closed the quarter with positive working capital of N93.36 billion, a current ratio of 2.34 times and a debt-to-equity of just 0.02 times.

Unilever is also still ahead on shareholder returns; the company paid N3.75 per share in dividends in 2025, while Cadbury and Nestlé have not declared dividends since 2022.

Unilever appears to be benefiting from stronger operations, healthier liquidity and lower debt exposure. Nestlé’s recovery is gaining ground, although leverage and dividend consistency are still issues to be dealt with. Cadbury, meanwhile, is still growing sales but faces challenges from growing costs and weaker liquidity.

The post NGX Consumer Goods: High Costs Squeeze Q1 Margins Despite Revenue Growth for Cadbury, Nestlé, and Unilever appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

It was a reminder of how deeply football has embedded itself into the emotional, economic, cultural and political fabric of modern society.

For millions of Nigerians, Arsenal’s triumph was personal. Across Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu and countless towns and villages, bars overflowed with excited fans draped in red and white. WhatsApp groups exploded with banter.

Offices suddenly became tactical analysis rooms. Even those with little interest in European geography could identify the Emirates Stadium, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Mikel Arteta with astonishing familiarity. Football has become the closest thing the modern world possesses to a universal civic language.

Yet beneath the excitement lies a deeper and more consequential story, one that intersects business, politics, economics, youth development and national identity.

Football today is no longer merely a sport; it is a multi-billion-dollar global industry and one of the most sophisticated ecosystems in modern capitalism.

The world’s leading football clubs are now global corporations. Clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Manchester United generate billions of dollars annually through broadcasting rights, sponsorships, merchandising, hospitality, tourism, digital media, and global fan engagement. Entire economies now exist around football.

Television networks spend astronomical sums securing broadcasting rights. Airlines, banks, betting companies, telecom operators, automobile manufacturers and technology firms aggressively scramble for sponsorship visibility.

Sportswear giants battle for kit partnerships worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Stadiums have evolved into year-round commercial assets hosting concerts, conferences, restaurants, museums and tourism experiences.

Football also employs millions of people globally, athletes, coaches, analysts, physiotherapists, lawyers, broadcasters, marketers, content creators, event managers, security personnel, travel operators, hospitality workers and technology developers. In many respects, football mirrors the modern economy itself.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, scheduled to take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico from June through July, will further demonstrate football’s unparalleled global reach. Millions of fans from every continent, including many Nigerians like me, will travel across North America to participate in what has become one of humanity’s largest recurring gatherings.

Governments will spend billions on infrastructure, logistics, transportation, tourism promotion and security because they understand that football is now a geopolitical and economic instrument as much as a sporting competition.

Countries increasingly deploy football as a tool of soft power. Qatar used the 2022 World Cup to dramatically elevate its international profile.

Saudi Arabia is investing aggressively in football as part of its broader economic diversification and global rebranding strategy.

The United Arab Emirates transformed the acquisition of Manchester City into a powerful branding platform that projected Abu Dhabi onto the global stage. Across Europe, football clubs are central to tourism economies and urban identity.

Unfortunately, Nigeria, arguably one of the most football-passionate nations on earth, has not yet fully understood football’s economic potential. This is the paradox. Every weekend, millions of Nigerians consume European football religiously.

We passionately support clubs thousands of kilometres away. We know the names of foreign coaches, owners and players. Nigerian youths wear jerseys of Arsenal, Barcelona and Liverpool more proudly than they wear the shirts of many domestic clubs.

Yet our local football ecosystem remains underdeveloped and structurally fragile. Most Nigerian football clubs remain dependent on state governments for survival.

Stadium infrastructure is poor. Match-day experience is weak. Broadcasting revenues are negligible. Merchandising is underdeveloped. Club governance often lacks transparency and commercial sophistication.

Youth development structures remain inconsistent despite Nigeria’s immense reservoir of talent. Perhaps most importantly, Nigerian corporate institutions have not invested in football at the scale required to transform the industry.

This is surprising because the opportunity is enormous. Football possesses something every corporation desperately seeks, emotional connection.

Few marketing platforms can rival football’s ability to command loyalty, identity and public engagement across class, ethnicity, religion and geography.

In a country as fragmented as Nigeria, football remains one of the rare national experiences capable of creating shared emotion. Corporate Nigeria should recognise this more strategically.

The most sophisticated global companies no longer view sports sponsorship merely as philanthropy or advertising; they view it as ecosystem investment, consumer acquisition, data generation, youth engagement and brand positioning.

When companies sponsor clubs, leagues and sporting infrastructure, they are not simply buying visibility; they are buying relevance. This is why multinational brands spend billions associating themselves with football.

Nigeria’s leading banks, telecom companies, energy firms, manufacturers and financial institutions should, therefore, play a far greater role in building sustainable football ecosystems.

Sponsorship should extend beyond occasional tournament branding into long-term investments in academies, broadcasting, stadium infrastructure, women’s football, sports technology and community engagement.

The returns may not always be immediate, but they are profound. Football also has important political implications. In countries with large youth populations and high unemployment, sport can become a stabilising social force. It creates aspiration, discipline, identity and economic opportunity. It channels youthful energy away from social fragmentation and towards collective purpose.

Nigeria’s political leadership must therefore begin to treat sport as economic infrastructure rather than recreational entertainment. Well-managed sports ecosystems generate jobs, stimulate tourism, encourage urban renewal and strengthen social cohesion. They also create international visibility that money alone cannot easily purchase.

Consider how cities such as Manchester, Barcelona and Madrid derive enormous global recognition from football. Even individuals who may know little about British or Spanish politics can identify these cities instantly because football has become their global cultural ambassador.

Nigeria possesses similar possibilities. Cities like Lagos, Enugu, Aba, Kano and Port Harcourt already possess strong football cultures capable of supporting commercially viable sporting ecosystems, if properly managed. Indeed, there are encouraging signs that Nigerian football can become commercially sustainable when serious corporate capital, professional management and institutional vision converge.

One notable example is the partnership between Rangers International F.C. and Afrinvest West Africa Limited. In October 2023, Afrinvest entered into a three-year partnership with Rangers, one of Nigeria’s most iconic football institutions and a club deeply woven into the social and cultural fabric of Eastern Nigeria.

The partnership was not conceived merely as a branding exercise; it was designed to strengthen the club’s administration, improve player welfare, support medical infrastructure and help reposition Rangers as a modern professional football institution.

The results were almost immediate. Within months of the partnership, Rangers won the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League title, their first league triumph in eight years and the eighth league championship in the club’s illustrious history.

Today, Rangers are once again on the brink of history. Heading into the final round of the 2025/26 NPFL season, the club sits atop the table with 65 points, narrowly ahead of Rivers United F.C. on 64 points, with one decisive fixture left against Ikorodu City F.C. on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Victory would secure Rangers a record-extending ninth Nigerian league title and represent two championships in three consecutive seasons.

That achievement would not merely be a footballing success story; it would be evidence of something larger and more important, the transformational power of properly structured private capital in Nigerian sport.

Too often, conversations about Nigerian football focus exclusively on talent. But talent alone is never enough, according to American author, orator and pastor John Maxwell.

Sustainable sporting success requires organisation, finance, medical support, governance systems, fan engagement, performance analytics and institutional stability. Football, like business itself, thrives where there is structure.

The Rangers experience demonstrates that when finance meets football, performance improves. Confidence rises. Fans return to stadium. Players become more motivated.

Administrative efficiency increases. Commercial credibility grows. Success then begins to reinforce itself. This is precisely how the great football institutions of Europe evolved over decades into globally recognised sporting enterprises.

The broader lesson for Nigeria is, therefore, clear: football clubs cannot continue operating merely as social projects or politically dependent institutions.

They must increasingly become professionally managed commercial organisations capable of attracting long-term investment capital and strategic corporate partnerships.

Rangers International’s recent resurgence offers a compelling blueprint for what becomes possible when football ambition is matched by financial discipline, institutional support and corporate vision.

Nigeria has always produced extraordinary football talents. From Nwankwo Kanu and Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha to Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala, our players have excelled globally despite systemic limitations at home. Imagine what Nigeria could achieve if our football institutions matched the scale of our talent and passion.

The success of Arsenal this season also offers another lesson relevant to Nigeria. Great institutions are rarely built overnight.

After years of disappointment, near misses and criticism, Arsenal rebuilt patiently under Arteta through disciplined leadership, strategic investment, youth development and organisational clarity. Their triumph was not accidental. It was the product of vision, structure and persistence.

Nigeria itself requires a similar long-term mindset. Whether in football, business or governance, sustainable success depends less on emotional reactions and more on institution-building.

Ultimately, football is no longer merely about 90 minutes on a pitch; it is business, culture and politics. It is also media, diplomacy, identity and economics. For countries wise enough to understand its power, football can also become an engine of national transformation.

As Arsenal fans celebrate around the world and as the global football community prepares to converge on North America for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria must ask itself an important question: Will we remain merely passionate consumers of global football culture, or will we finally build a football economy worthy of our passion, talent and population?

The recent resurgence of Rangers International under a professionally structured corporate partnership offers a practical Nigerian example that football investment, when properly executed, can generate both sporting success and broader economic value.

The answer may shape not only the future of Nigerian sport, but also part of the future of Nigeria itself.

*Dr Chioke is the Group Managing Director of Afrinvest West Africa.

The post Football, Business and Nigerian Politics: Lessons from Arsenal’s EPL triumph appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The company, through its Konga Corporate service, is simplifying procurement for organisations by providing dedicated account management, competitive bulk pricing, and seamless delivery solutions tailored to corporate needs.

Businesses often face challenges when sourcing large quantities of office equipment, branded merchandise, and corporate gift items, especially when dealing with multiple vendors and logistics bottlenecks.

Konga Corporate noted that its service is designed to eliminate these procurement headaches by offering organisations a single platform for sourcing genuine products ranging from laptops and office electronics to promotional materials and smart devices.

The company explained that clients benefit from dedicated procurement support, bulk purchase discounts, and streamlined delivery coordination, helping businesses save both time and operational costs.

“With Konga Corporate, businesses no longer need to deal with endless negotiations or multi-vendor complications. Our goal is to simplify procurement while ensuring organisations receive authentic products at competitive prices,” a reliable source, said.

The service targets organisations looking to upgrade office infrastructure, procure branded corporate items, or manage large-scale business purchases efficiently.

Konga Corporate also encouraged businesses seeking procurement support to engage directly with its corporate sales team for customised solutions and bulk order management.

The post Konga Corporate Positions as Stress-Free Bulk Shopping Solution appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Team Block X from Obafemi Awolowo University emerged as champions and taking home a ₦5 million prize.

Team Setld claimed second place with ₦3 million.

Team Supermart earned ₦2 million in third.

The competition, themed: “Smart Systems: The Intelligent Economy,” recorded its most impressive turnout since inception, attracting over 1,600 undergraduate applicants from universities across Nigeria, more than ten times the participation figures from the previous edition.

Segun Agbaje, GTCO group chief executive officer, delivered the keynote, urging participants to recognise the global weight of their capabilities.

“You are not just among the brightest minds in Nigeria; you are among the finest talents anywhere in the world,” he told the audience. “If this hackathon were held in any country, your skills, ideas, and determination would still earn you a place here.”

Agbaje also made a case for the undervalued strengths of introverted thinkers.

“Charisma may open doors, but it is thoughtful minds that build lasting impact,” he said. “This hackathon is a platform for those quiet but brilliant minds to show the world what they are capable of.”

A Competition That Has Found its Footing

Eduofon Japhet, managing director of HabariPay, attributed the surge in interest to a growing community of alumni who have become vocal advocates for the programme.

“We’ve grown more than tenfold in participation,” she said. “Past participants from previous editions have become our strongest ambassadors, sharing how the experience transformed their skills, confidence, and careers. Their success stories created anticipation long before applications opened.”

From the 1,600-plus submissions, 600 teams were shortlisted, with over 500 proceeding through multiple competitive rounds to the grand finale. Japhet described a selection process designed for transparency, with evaluators assessing team quality, core skill sets, and prior work documented through GitHub portfolios.

The Stakes and the Rules

Organizers made clear from the outset that integrity was non-negotiable. Several teams were disqualified for violations including submitting multiple entries under different email addresses, participating remotely, and using AI tools such as ChatGPT. The decisions, Japhet noted, were necessary to preserve fairness for all participants.

The top three finishers earn more than prize money. Winners advance into the Squad Pinnacle Program, a three-year initiative offering structured training in front-end and back-end engineering, cybersecurity, and product development, with the explicit aim of preparing participants for employment in Nigeria’s tech industry.

A Standout Pitch: Guild

Among the solutions that drew attention during the finals was Guild, a platform designed to connect informal workers, artisans, tradespeople, and daily wage earners, with employers and the broader financial system.

The concept uses a voice agent named Tola, operable in Nigerian English, to match workers such as bricklayers to job opportunities and process payments through Squad’s infrastructure.

After 90 days of activity, users accumulate a financial record that formal lenders can assess, a potentially significant step toward financial inclusion for millions of Nigerians historically locked out of the banking system.

From Participant to Mentor

One of the event’s more telling narratives came from Oluwamuyiwa, a third-place finisher in a previous edition who returned this year not as a competitor but as a mentor, guiding teams through the pressures of building a functional product under tight time constraints.

“The main challenge was building the app from an idea within a short time before presenting on stage,” he recalled, a challenge he now helps others navigate.

Not every team made it to the finals, but the spirit of the event extended beyond the podium. Moses, team leader of Team Sapphire from Zaria, described overnight build sessions and travel disruptions on the road to the competition. Despite not advancing to the top 50, the team’s AI-driven agricultural e-commerce concept, which holds buyers’ payments in escrow until product verification, is one they intend to continue developing independently.

Looking Ahead

Hackathon 3.0 marks a measurable step forward in HabariPay’s stated mission to close the gap between university education and the practical demands of Nigeria’s tech economy. With each edition expanding its reach, the programme is quietly becoming one of the more credible pipelines for engineering talent in West Africa.

For HabariPay and GTCO, that appears to be precisely the point.

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Shein accused Temu of using thousands of its product photographs to sell copied versions of Shein-branded clothing on Temu’s platform. 

The company told the court that Temu tried to benefit from Shein’s market position by reproducing images created by Shein employees.

“This was an attempt to steal a march on an existing participant in the market, and Temu has sought to obtain, we say, an unfair advantage,” Shein’s lawyer Benet Brandreth said in court.

The trial is expected to run for two weeks and is part of a case between both companies across several countries, including the United States.

During proceedings, Shein’s legal team said Temu had withdrawn part of its defence covering almost 2,300 disputed photographs. Brandreth compared the decision to “the defendant waiting to see if the witnesses will turn up, only to plead guilty”.

Temu denied the allegations and argued that Shein’s lawsuit was not simply about protecting copyright. Its lawyers said the case was aimed at slowing down a rival that has grown rapidly in global online retail.

Temu, owned by PDD Holdings, has also filed a counterclaim against Shein. The company is seeking damages after Shein secured a court injunction that forced thousands of Temu product listings offline.

At the centre of the counter-claim is Temu’s accusation that Shein tied suppliers into exclusive agreements, making it harder for competitors to access manufacturers. That competition law dispute is expected to go to trial next year.

The court case is happening at the same time that both companies are facing pressure from regulators in Europe and the United States. Authorities have increased investigation over supplier treatment, product safety, labour standards and the flood of low-cost parcels entering Western markets.

Temu is currently under investigation in the European Union over possible breaches of product safety regulations. Shein, meanwhile, is still being questioned about labour practices within its supply chain as it works towards a possible London stock market listing.

The companies have built huge international businesses by selling ultra-cheap fashion, accessories and household goods directly to shoppers online. Their rapid growth relied heavily on customs exemptions for low-value imports, which helped keep prices low.

That advantage has started to get weaker. The United States removed its de minimis customs exemption for low-value e-commerce parcels in 2025, increasing costs for retailers shipping directly from China. 

The European Union is also preparing to end similar exemptions in July 2026, a move that could affect the expansion plans of both companies.

The issue has already spread beyond Britain. Shein sued Temu in the United States last year over alleged copyright infringement, while Temu later filed its own case accusing Shein of disrupting its marketplace through what it described as “unwarranted notices”.

Although the London case focuses on copyrighted photographs and copied designs, the result could stretch further. 

The post Shein and Temu Clash in London Court Over Copyright, Competition Issues appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The approval was granted at the company’s Annual General Meeting held on April 30, where shareholders endorsed Resolution 9, authorising the transfer of a 60 per cent stake in MoMo Payment Service Bank and Y’ello Digital Financial Services to MTN Group Fintech B.V..

A Strategic Realignment

The transaction will be executed through a hybrid structure involving both primary capital injection and secondary share acquisition.

Under the arrangement, MTN Group’s fintech arm will inject fresh capital into the businesses while simultaneously acquiring shares from the Nigerian subsidiary.

Following completion, both entities will consolidate their stakes into a newly established holding company to be registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The move is designed to streamline regulatory oversight and position the fintech business for future investment and expansion.

Shifting Risk, Unlocking Growth

The restructuring represents a significant strategic shift for MTN Nigeria, effectively transferring a larger share of the financial and operational burden of its fintech operations to the parent group.

This allows the Nigerian unit to refocus on its core telecommunications business, particularly at a time when network expansion, data demand, and infrastructure investments remain capital intensive.

Industry analysts say the move aligns with MTN Group’s broader “Ambition 2030” strategy, which prioritises scaling fintech and digital services as key growth drivers across its markets.

Addressing Fintech Losses

MTN Nigeria acknowledged that its fintech subsidiaries are currently loss-making, underscoring the high capital requirements associated with building and scaling digital payment platforms.

By reducing its direct exposure, the company is expected to free up capital for network investments while enabling the fintech arm to access deeper funding support from the group.

Positioning for Investment and Scale

The creation of a dedicated holding company is also expected to enhance strategic flexibility, making it easier to attract external investors and partners.

The structure will support expansion into key growth areas, including:

• Rural financial inclusion
• Merchant acquisition
• Digital payments infrastructure

With Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem expanding rapidly, the restructuring positions MTN’s fintech business to compete more aggressively while leveraging the scale and financial strength of the broader group.

What it Means for the Market

The deal underscores a growing trend among telecom operators to separate and scale fintech operations independently, recognising their distinct capital needs and growth trajectories.

For MTN Nigeria, the message is clear: double down on connectivity, while letting the group lead the charge in fintech expansion.

The ₦152 billion restructuring may not just be a corporate reorganisation, it could mark the next phase in MTN’s evolution from a telecom operator to a fully integrated digital services powerhouse.

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