Under the agreement announced on Tuesday, funds managed by BlackRock will own an 80% stake in the venture, while Meta will retain the remaining 20%.

The project centres on a one-gigawatt data centre campus already under construction in El Paso. Once completed, Meta will become its first and sole occupant, using the facility to support its growing AI business.

The companies expect the first computing capacity to come online in 2028, subject to the transaction closing in the coming days.

The partnership comes as technology companies spend heavily on data centres to meet high demand for AI computing power. Rather than relying entirely on their own balance sheets, several firms are now turning to infrastructure investors and debt financing to fund increasingly expensive projects.

Meta said the El Paso campus is part of its investment strategy, having spent more than 15 years building and operating data centres and expanding that network through what it calls Meta Compute.

The Facebook parent previously disclosed plans to invest more than $10 billion in the El Paso site. It is also developing several other large data centres across the United States, including a facility in rural Louisiana that it expects to grow to five gigawatts of computing capacity with investment exceeding $50 billion.

Meta plans to invest up to $600 billion in data centre infrastructure by 2028 as it focuses on its long-term AI goal, including work on personal superintelligence, AI-powered advertising tools and smart glasses.

Commenting on the partnership, Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said:

“Building the infrastructure for superintelligence is key to making sure the benefits of this technology are distributed to everyone. Our partnership with Larry and the team at BlackRock allows us to move faster and at greater scale — pairing our deep expertise in designing and operating world-class data centres with one of the world’s leading infrastructure investors.”

BlackRock Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink added:

“We’re excited to partner with Mark and the Meta leadership team on the El Paso data centre campus, which will create thousands of skilled jobs and help drive economic growth in the local community. 

Companies around the world are looking for long-term strategic partners to help develop their most important projects, and BlackRock is built to meet that need. 

This transaction highlights the strength and scale of our combined capabilities with GIP and HPS, and how we can offer clients compelling investment opportunities at the centre of AI infrastructure and energy.”

Meta expects the project to create more than 4,000 construction jobs at peak, while about 300 permanent jobs will support operations after completion. More than 2,300 workers are already on the site.

The company is also investing in workforce development. The El Paso facility is part of America’s Workforce Academy, a free skilled trades training programme that guarantees graduates jobs with Meta partners at its data centre sites.

In addition, Meta has provided a $500,000 grant to El Paso public schools to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, alongside skilled trades training.

The company also plans to continue supporting local water restoration projects through partnerships with non-profit organisations.

BlackRock is backing workforce development separately through its Future Builders initiative. Supported by nearly $30 million from The BlackRock Foundation, the programme aims to train more than 12,000 electricians over three years to help meet growing demand for energy, infrastructure and data centre construction in Texas.

To finance the project, the partners will contribute their share of the estimated $14 billion development cost covering buildings and long-term power, cooling and connectivity infrastructure.

At financial close, Meta will transfer land and construction-in-progress assets valued at about $2.3 billion to the venture, while BlackRock will contribute roughly $4.9 billion in cash.

Meta will also receive a one-time distribution of about $1 billion to align ownership with the agreed 80-20 structure. Part of BlackRock’s investment will be funded through a $12.5 billion debt financing.

Meta will lease the entire campus from the joint venture under an initial four-year agreement, with options that could extend the arrangement for up to 20 years.

The post Meta, BlackRock Launch $14bn Venture to Build AI Data Centre Campus in Texas appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Yet, for millions of entrepreneurs, survival wasn’t merely about enduring another difficult year; it was about finding the financial tools to adapt, grow and create jobs.

That is the story emerging from Moniepoint’s 2025 Impact Report.

While the fintech giant is often recognised for processing billions of dollars in digital payments, its latest report suggests its biggest contribution may lie elsewhere: becoming an operating system for Nigeria’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The report presents a picture of a company evolving beyond payments into a growth partner, helping merchants access finance, manage operations, formalise their businesses and build long-term financial resilience.

More than Payments

For years, fintech competition in Nigeria has largely revolved around transaction volumes, customer acquisition and payment infrastructure.

Moniepoint’s latest report shifts the conversation.

Rather than leading with payment figures, the company measures success through business outcomes.

According to the report, 91 per cent of merchants said their business operations improved after joining the platform, 86 per cent reported higher earnings, while 88 per cent of businesses that accessed Moniepoint loans said those loans directly contributed to their growth.

Those figures tell a broader story about Nigeria’s entrepreneurial economy, one where access to finance and digital tools increasingly determines whether businesses merely survive or scale.

Credit Remains the Missing Ingredient

One of the biggest obstacles facing Nigerian SMEs has always been affordable financing.

Commercial lending remains expensive, collateral requirements exclude many entrepreneurs, and informal businesses often struggle to build the financial records needed to qualify for loans.

Moniepoint appears to be addressing part of that gap.

The company disclosed that it disbursed more than $700 million in MSME loans during 2025, with merchants that received financing recording a 36 per cent increase in average transaction value, an indication that businesses invested the capital into expanding operations rather than simply covering short-term expenses.

The impact extended beyond revenue.

More than 27 per cent of businesses surveyed said they increased their workforce after receiving financing, while enterprises using the platform collectively employed over eight million people during the year.

In a country where MSMEs account for the overwhelming majority of employment, expanding access to working capital has implications that reach far beyond individual businesses.

Helping Businesses Run Smarter

Access to finance alone rarely guarantees business success.

Many small businesses continue to rely on handwritten records, manual stock management and fragmented payment systems.

Recognising this, Moniepoint introduced Moniebook, described as Nigeria’s first integrated platform combining bookkeeping, inventory management, payment processing and sales reporting.

The platform enables merchants to monitor inventory in real time, automate financial records, manage staff and track business performance from a single dashboard.

Its adoption appears to be yielding measurable results.

According to the report, 96 per cent of merchants experienced improved transaction security, 91 per cent reported smoother business operations, while 86 per cent said the platform contributed to increased earnings.

For many entrepreneurs, technology is becoming less about convenience and more about operational efficiency.

Formalising Nigeria’s Informal Economy

Nigeria’s informal sector contributes more than 60 per cent of GDP and accounts for roughly 90 per cent of employment, yet millions of businesses remain outside the formal financial system.

Without formal registration, many cannot access credit, secure larger contracts or benefit from government support programmes.

Moniepoint says it worked with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to simplify business registration, helping formalise four times more businesses than previously achieved.

That effort complements the company’s second Informal Economy Report, produced in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), SMEDAN and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

Drawing insights from thousands of businesses and internal data covering more than five million informal business owners, the study found that 79 per cent of entrepreneurs experienced rising operating costs during the year, while 42 per cent had savings sufficient to last only one month.

Despite these pressures, many businesses continued to create employment and sustain local economies.

Financial Inclusion Beyond Banking

The report also highlights a gradual shift from financial access to financial wellbeing.

Among individual users, three in five reported increased savings after joining the platform, aided by products such as automated “save-as-you-transact” features and target-based savings accounts.

Overall, 83 per cent of users said their quality of life had improved, while 85 per cent expressed greater confidence in achieving their financial goals.

These findings suggest that fintech success is increasingly being measured not simply by transaction volumes, but by the extent to which digital financial services improve household resilience and business sustainability.

A Growing Ecosystem for Entrepreneurs

Beyond banking and payments, Moniepoint expanded its contribution to entrepreneurship through education, youth empowerment, women’s economic inclusion and business support programmes.

Its initiatives ranged from financial literacy training for women and persons living with disabilities to engineering fellowships, innovation challenges, grants for women-led enterprises and partnerships with universities to nurture future technology talent.

The company also continued to invest in physical support infrastructure following its upgrade to a national microfinance banking licence, allowing it to expand service centres across Nigeria while maintaining digital-first banking channels.

The Bigger Picture

For years, conversations around fintech have centred on valuations, funding rounds and payment volumes.

Moniepoint’s 2025 Impact Report offers a different narrative.

It argues that fintech’s greatest value lies not in moving money faster, but in helping businesses become more productive, employ more people, access finance, embrace formalisation and build resilience.

As Nigeria seeks new engines of economic growth outside oil, the fortunes of its more than 40 million MSMEs will increasingly shape the country’s future.

If the report’s findings are any indication, the next phase of fintech competition may no longer be won by the company processing the most transactions, but by the one creating the greatest economic impact for the entrepreneurs who keep Africa’s largest economy running.

The post Beyond Payments: How Moniepoint Powered Nigeria’s MSME Growth in 2025 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

That may sound ironic, but it is true. Every day, millions of people scan QR codes to pay for groceries, order meals, board flights, access Wi-Fi, log into apps and verify identities. 

The process is almost effortless, we point a camera, wait a second or two, and something opens. What we rarely stop to consider is that, within those two seconds, our smartphone has completed a remarkable chain of tasks involving computer vision, data decoding, cryptography, networking and cloud computing.

The QR code itself is only the starting point. Every successful scan has a carefully designed system that has evolved over three decades to make digital interactions faster, more reliable and more secure. 

Understanding that journey reveals how modern technology works and also explains why QR codes have become indispensable in payments, healthcare, logistics, retail and public services.

Before the Scan: Why QR Codes Were Invented

To understand why QR codes are important, it helps to go back to the early 1990s. Manufacturers were relying heavily on traditional barcodes to track products moving through factories and warehouses. 

Those barcodes worked well enough for identifying a single product number, but they had one major weakness: they stored very little information.

A standard barcode carries data in one direction using vertical lines of different widths. It can typically hold around 20 to 25 characters. That was becoming a problem for industries that needed to track larger volumes of information quickly.

In 1994, Japanese engineering company Denso Wave developed the Quick Response, or QR, code to solve this challenge. Unlike a barcode, a QR code stores information both horizontally and vertically, allowing it to contain thousands of characters while remaining compact. 

More importantly, it could be read from any direction, making it much faster for workers on factory floors.

For years, QR codes were largely within industrial environments. Their global spread came with smartphones. Once phone cameras became powerful enough to recognise QR patterns without requiring dedicated scanners, the technology found new life. 

The COVID-19 pandemic sped up that adoption even further as restaurants replaced printed menus, businesses introduced contactless payments, and governments used QR codes for health information and digital certificates.

Today, QR codes have become one of the simplest bridges between the physical and digital worlds.

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The Moment You Point Your Camera

Many people assume their smartphone simply takes a picture of the QR code and opens a website. In reality, the camera is doing much more than capturing an image.

The first task is finding the QR code itself. Modern smartphone cameras continually analyse what they see before you even press a button. They adjust focus, exposure and brightness to ensure the image is sharp enough for recognition.

At the same time, the phone’s computer vision system begins searching for three distinctive square patterns located at the corners of every QR code. These large squares, known as finder patterns, help the device determine where the QR code starts and ends, regardless of whether it is upright, tilted or viewed from an angle.

Once these patterns are identified, the phone measures the spacing between them. This allows it to calculate the size, orientation and perspective of the QR code. Even if the code is printed on a curved surface or viewed from the side, the software can compensate for distortion before attempting to read any data.

This entire process happens almost instantly. Before a single character is decoded, your phone has already solved several geometric problems.

Reading Thousands of Tiny Squares

A QR code may appear to be a random arrangement of black and white boxes, but every square has a purpose.

These tiny squares, known as modules, represent digital information. Black modules typically correspond to one binary value, while white modules represent the opposite. Together, they create a stream of binary data that computers understand.

However, not every square contains user information. Some modules define the QR code’s version, others indicate the type of error correction being used, while several guide the scanning process itself.

Once the camera has mapped every module correctly, the decoding software begins converting those patterns back into meaningful information. That information might be a website address, a payment instruction, contact details, Wi-Fi credentials or even plain text.

One of the most remarkable features of QR codes is their ability to recover missing information.

Have you ever scanned a QR code that was scratched, stained or partly covered by a sticker? It usually still works. That is because QR codes include built-in error correction based on Reed-Solomon coding, a mathematical technique widely used in digital communications and data storage.

Instead of storing only the original data, additional recovery information is embedded within the code. If part of the symbol is damaged, the decoder reconstructs the missing sections using the remaining data.

Depending on how the QR code was created, it can remain readable even when a significant portion has been damaged. This is one reason businesses confidently print QR codes on packaging, billboards and outdoor advertisements where wear and tear is unavoidable.

Your Phone Finally Knows What the QR Code Contains

Contrary to popular belief, QR codes are not limited to websites.

Once the decoding process is complete, the phone identifies the type of information that has been recovered.

It could be a web address, a telephone number ready to dial or might contain an email address with a pre-written subject line.

Some QR codes store calendar invitations, digital business cards, geographic coordinates or Wi-Fi login details. Others initiate app-specific actions such as pairing devices or logging into online services.

The operating system decides how to handle the information. If the decoded content is recognised as a website, your browser opens. If it contains Wi-Fi credentials, your phone offers to join the network. If it represents contact information, you may be prompted to save a new contact.

The QR code itself does not decide what happens next. It simply provides structured information that your device knows how to interpret.

What Happens When the QR Code Opens a Website?

This is where the invisible work of the internet begins. 

Suppose the QR code contains the address of a news website, your browser first checks whether the address is valid. If it is, the phone sends a request to the Domain Name System, better known as DNS. Think of DNS as the internet’s directory service. 

Humans remember names such as websites, while computers communicate using numerical IP addresses. DNS translates one into the other.

Once the website’s IP address is located, your phone attempts to establish a secure connection with the server hosting the website.

If the address begins with “https”, a process called the TLS handshake takes place. During this exchange, your device verifies the website’s digital certificate to confirm that it is communicating with the genuine server rather than an imposter. 

Encryption keys are then exchanged so that the information travelling between your phone and the website cannot easily be intercepted.

Only after these security checks are completed does your browser request the webpage itself.

The server responds by sending HTML, images, style sheets, scripts and other files that together create the page you eventually see on your screen.

If the website uses a Content Delivery Network, commonly called a CDN, many of those files may come from servers located closer to your physical location. This reduces delays and helps pages load faster.

All of this typically happens in less time than it takes to blink.

What Happens When You Scan a Payment QR Code?

Payment QR codes follow a different path.

Instead of directing you to a normal website, the QR code contains structured payment information. Depending on whether the code is static or dynamic, it may include the merchant’s identification number, payment provider, account details, transaction reference and, in some cases, the exact amount to be paid.

When you approve the payment through your banking or fintech app, the application securely sends the payment request through the relevant payment infrastructure.

In Nigeria, many interoperable QR payments operate through standards supported by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), enabling customers of different banks and licensed financial institutions to pay merchants using compatible applications.

Behind the scenes, the payment request is verified, account balances are checked, fraud controls are applied, and the transaction is authorised before confirmation is sent back to both the customer and the merchant.

Although the entire process may appear to take only a few seconds, multiple systems have already exchanged encrypted information to complete the payment safely.

Why QR Codes Still Need Common Sense

The QR code itself is neither safe nor dangerous. Like a hyperlink in an email or a web browser, it is simply a way of directing users somewhere. The risk, however, is in where it leads.

Cybercriminals, more and more, exploit QR codes in phishing campaigns, a tactic now widely known as “quishing”. 

Fake QR stickers may be placed over legitimate ones in restaurants, parking meters or public spaces, directing users to fraudulent websites designed to steal passwords, banking details or payment information.

Because people cannot immediately see the destination hidden inside a QR code, they are often more willing to trust it.

Fortunately, staying safe is straightforward.

Take a moment to preview the website before opening it. Check that the web address matches the organisation you expect. Avoid scanning damaged stickers that appear to have been placed over existing QR codes. Keep your phone’s operating system updated and use trusted payment applications whenever possible.

Technology can reduce risk, but informed users remain the strongest line of defence.

Why QR Codes Are Everywhere

Their growing popularity comes down to one thing: simplicity.

Businesses use QR codes because they reduce printing costs, simplify customer interactions and allow information to be updated without replacing physical materials. 

Restaurants no longer need to print new menus every time prices change. Airlines issue digital boarding passes instantly. Logistics companies track parcels more accurately. Hospitals identify patients and medical records efficiently. Event organisers manage ticket verification without lengthy queues.

Governments are also adopting QR codes for public services, while manufacturers use them to verify genuine products and improve supply chain visibility.

What began as a factory tool has become one of the most versatile technologies in the digital economy.

More Than Black and White Squares

The next time you scan a QR code, remember that you are not simply opening a webpage or making a payment.

Within a matter of seconds, your smartphone identifies geometric patterns, reconstructs damaged information, converts binary data into meaningful instructions, verifies digital identities, establishes encrypted internet connections and communicates with servers that may be hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away.

We rarely notice this because good technology disappears into the background. It performs extraordinary tasks without demanding our attention.

That is perhaps the greatest achievement of the QR code. It transformed one of computing’s most complex processes into something so simple that all we need to do is point a camera at a small square and wait.

Why a Damaged QR Code Can Still Work

One of the most surprising things about QR codes is that they do not need to be perfect to be readable. A torn corner, a coffee stain or a small logo placed in the middle does not automatically make a QR code useless. That is by design.

When a QR code is created, it does not only store the information you want to share. It also stores extra data specifically meant to recover missing pieces if part of the code becomes unreadable. This process, known as error correction, allows the scanner to rebuild information that has been lost or damaged.

QR codes support four levels of error correction. The higher the level, the more damage the code can tolerate, although this also reduces the amount of information it can hold.

• Level L: Recovers up to about 7% of damaged data.
• Level M: Recovers up to about 15%.
• Level Q: Recovers up to about 25%.
• Level H: Recovers up to about 30%.

This is why many companies can safely place their logos inside QR codes without affecting their functionality. The missing sections are reconstructed from the remaining data before the final information is decoded.

It also explains why a slightly faded QR code on a restaurant table often works just as well as a newly printed one.

The Infrastructure Behind Every Successful Scan

Scanning a QR code may feel like a direct interaction between your phone and a website, but the reality is far more complex.

Every successful scan depends on a vast digital infrastructure working quietly in the background. Mobile networks carry the initial request. Fibre optic cables transport data across cities, countries and continents at the speed of light. 

Internet Exchange Points allow different network operators to exchange traffic efficiently, reducing delays. Cloud data centres process requests, while Content Delivery Networks store copies of popular websites closer to users so pages load faster.

More than before, edge computing is also having an impact. Rather than sending every request to a distant cloud server, some services process information closer to where users are located. This reduces latency, improves response times and delivers a smoother experience, particularly for payment systems, streaming services and real-time applications.

In Nigeria, growing investments in carrier-neutral and edge data centres are helping improve digital services by bringing computing resources closer to businesses and consumers. The result is that QR code transactions, online banking, e-commerce and cloud applications become faster and more reliable.

Most users never see this infrastructure, yet every scan depends on it.

Why Businesses Have Embraced QR Codes

For businesses, QR codes are more than a convenient way to share information. They have become an important tool for improving efficiency, reducing costs and understanding customer behaviour.

Restaurants use QR codes to replace printed menus that quickly become outdated. Retailers use them to provide product information without overcrowding packaging. Logistics companies rely on them to track goods moving through warehouses and distribution centres. Hospitals use them to identify patients and manage medical records with greater accuracy.

Marketing teams value QR codes because they can measure engagement. A business can determine how many people scanned a code, roughly where the scans occurred, the time of day they happened and, in many cases, whether those scans resulted in purchases or registrations. That insight helps organisations evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns without relying solely on traditional advertising metrics.

Unlike printed information, the destination behind a dynamic QR code can also be updated without changing the code itself. A company may redirect customers from one webpage to another, launch a new campaign or update promotional offers while keeping the same QR code in circulation.

The Next Chapter for QR Codes

Three decades after their invention, QR codes continue to evolve.

They are increasingly being integrated into digital identity systems, electronic tickets, government services and secure authentication processes. Several countries already use QR-based systems for digital health records, tax services and official documentation. 

Financial institutions are expanding interoperable QR payments, while manufacturers are embedding QR codes into products to combat counterfeiting and improve supply chain transparency.

Security is also improving. Newer implementations are combining QR codes with one-time authentication, encrypted credentials and device verification to reduce fraud. Rather than disappearing, QR codes are becoming part of a bigger ecosystem where physical objects and digital services interact more seamlessly.

Their appearance has barely changed since 1994, but the technology surrounding them has advanced dramatically.

So…

The next time I scan a QR code to pay for coffee, join a Wi-Fi network or open a webpage, I will probably still complete the action in less than two seconds. What will be different is my appreciation of what those two seconds represent.

Behind that simple black-and-white square is a chain of technologies that includes computer vision, data encoding, error correction, internet routing, encryption, cloud computing and secure payment infrastructure. Each performs a specialised task before quietly handing control to the next, all without demanding our attention.

Perhaps that is why QR codes have become one of the most successful technologies of the digital age. They are not remarkable because they are complicated. They are remarkable because they hide that complexity so well.

The small square we scan every day is, in reality, a gateway to one of the most sophisticated digital processes most people will never notice.

The post What Happens Every Time You Scan a QR Code? Inside the Two Seconds That Connect You to the Digital World appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Quick Read:

• AI is projected to add $15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030, yet Africa’s digital economy lags at just 5% of the continent’s GDP compared to the 15% global average.  
• Despite having 18% of the world’s population, the continent holds less than 1% of global data centre capacity.  
• Africa’s trade coverage ratio for services with the US fell to just 51% in 2024, exposing a deep digital deficit against North American platforms that threatens to worsen as foreign entities consolidate advanced capabilities.  
• A new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) outlines three urgent structural priorities – Infrastructure, Mutualised Investment, and Open-Source Ecosystems – needed to transition Africa from a digital consumer to a digital value creator. 

As artificial intelligence and digital technologies compress decades of economic evolution into months, Africa faces a critical turning point.

A new report released today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), titled “Advancing Africa’s AI and Digital Economy,” warns that the continent risks falling into a familiar historical trap: exporting raw data to feed proprietary models built abroad, only to buy the technology back under expensive licenses.

The report highlights a stark economic imbalance. While AI development is set to inject $15.7 trillion into global GDP by 2030, Africa’s digital economy is expanding too slowly to keep pace.

It currently represents just 5% of continental GDP, trailing the global average of 15%. On its current trajectory, it will reach only 8.5% by 2050.

“Africa’s core challenge is no longer about technology adoption; it is about tech production,” says Hamid Maher, BCG managing director and Senior Partner; Head of BCG Tech Hub in Africa and a co-author of the report. “We have the world’s youngest population and the fastest-growing cloud market, but we lack the foundational infrastructure to own our digital future. Winning requires capturing value from the technology stack itself – building, governing, and retaining our data and talent locally.”

The cost of falling behind

Africa accounts for 18% of the global population but possesses less than 1% of the world’s data centre capacity. Furthermore, large language models (LLMs) adequately support less than 2% of the continent’s estimated 2,000 languages.

This infrastructure gap is severely compounded by a stark digital services imbalance. As highlighted in BCG’s companion report, Strengthening the Africa-Europe Corridor – A Strategic Imperative in a Multipolar World, Africa’s trade coverage ratio for services with the US was 51% in 2024, reflecting an extreme concentration of tech power.

With US digital platforms commanding market capitalisations between $1 trillion and $5 trillion, dwarfing global competitors, Africa faces an accelerating risk of an ever-widening tech deficit.

Without immediate local value capture, the continent risks a structural dependency where its clinical, behavioural, and environmental data are treated as raw materials exported to feed proprietary models built abroad, only to return home under license.

To reverse this outflux of economic benefits, the Advancing Africa’s AI and Digital Economy report outlines three key structural constraints that are contributing to underdeveloped digital infrastructure and weak foundations for AI enablement across Africa:

• Fragmentation:  Individually, Africa’s 54 economies are too small, not one exceeds $500 billion in GDP, to justify the infrastructure investment that a modern digital economy needs. Within countries, individual organisations have limited investment capacity. At both levels, fragmentation constrains scale. 
• The brain drain: Africa’s 62,000 AI specialists represent just 5% of the global AI workforce, and 38% of those professionals work remotely for foreign companies rather than building local ecosystems.  
• Reliance on imported systems: Costly licensing, coupled with vendor lock-in, limit flexibility, slow innovation and direct value outside the continent. Closed systems also constrain local participation and talent retention, with African companies paying up to 35% more than global peers for the same technology.

A blueprint for digital value creation

To reverse this trajectory, BCG identifies three priority areas for public and private sector leaders to strengthen the digital foundations needed to unleash Africa’s digital and AI economy:

Build infrastructure and data foundations through public-private partnerships (PPPs): Successful models show that governments should retain ownership and strategic oversight while leaving execution to the private sector.

Strong data governance promotes responsible use, supports adoption, and accelerates digital infrastructure growth.

The report points to Rwanda’s IremboGov platform – a long-term private concession enabling citizens to access over 100 public services and processing 51 million transactions – as a prime African example of robust digital infrastructure.

Mutualise investment to scale the effort: Because individual African economies are often too small to justify massive standalone infrastructure investments, pooling resources at the national, regional, or sectoral level can be the answer.

The report recommends utilising regulatory frameworks like the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade to incentivise shared infrastructure and lower the marginal costs of core capabilities, for example cloud services and fraud detection.

Pursue open-source architecture: Deploying non-proprietary digital public goods keeps tech talent in-country and prevents expensive licensing lock-ins.

Morocco’s National Population Register successfully utilised MOSIP, an open-source digital identity platform, to create a tailored system while anchoring technical capabilities and economic value domestically.

“As agentic AI and advanced robotics begin to disrupt traditional developing pathways like call centres and manufacturing, establishing strong domestic tech ecosystems is becoming an economic imperative for Africa,” notes Patrick Dupoux, BCG managing director, Senior Partner, and co-author. “At the same time, as digital systems become more open and interconnected, trust becomes increasingly important, creating the confidence needed to accelerate innovation, attract investment and unlock broad participation. Africa has both the ambition and the talent to shape its own digital future. By strengthening its digital foundations and retaining more value locally, the continent can transition from a digital consumer to a digital value creator in the global AI economy.”

The post BCG: Africa Risks Deepening AI Infrastructure, Digital Dependence appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

But it midwifed Moniepoint Inc., which today processes more than $250 billion in annual payment (transactions) value, serves over 20 million businesses and individuals, and has become one of Africa’s most influential fintech companies.

The transformation reflects more than a successful corporate rebrand. It mirrors a grit by the founders: Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, and the evolution of Nigeria’s financial technology industry itself, from solving banking infrastructure challenges to building digital ecosystems capable of supporting millions of small businesses and consumers.

Moniepoint’s newly released 2025 Impact Report, marking a decade since its founding as TeamApt in 2015, chronicles that journey through numbers, customer stories and milestones that underline how the company has steadily expanded from enterprise software into banking, lending, business management and cross-border payments.

Building from the infrastructure up

Unlike many fintech startups that launched consumer-facing apps first, TeamApt took a different route.

The company began by building financial technology infrastructure for Nigerian banks, eventually serving about 95 percent of them and indirectly reaching more than 10 million customers before launching its own financial products.

That infrastructure-first strategy would later become one of Moniepoint’s defining strengths.

In 2019, it introduced Moniepoint and Monnify, bringing payment acceptance, agency banking and virtual accounts directly to businesses and consumers. A year later, the company says it was processing as much as $7 billion monthly across more than 120 million monthly transactions, establishing itself as one of Nigeria’s largest agency banking networks.

The milestones continued to accelerate.

A banking licence followed in 2022. Personal banking services arrived in 2023 after TeamApt formally became Moniepoint Inc. In 2025, the company expanded again with MonieWorld, targeting diaspora remittances from the United Kingdom, and Moniebook, an integrated bookkeeping, inventory and payment management platform for businesses.

Today, those businesses collectively process over $250 billion in annual transaction value across Moniepoint’s subsidiaries.

Betting on small businesses

If one theme runs consistently through Moniepoint’s decade-long journey, it is Nigeria’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The company argues that expanding financial inclusion begins with making it easier for entrepreneurs to access payments, banking and credit.

According to the report, Moniepoint disbursed more than $700 million in loans to MSMEs during 2025, with three out of every four merchants receiving formal business credit for the first time through its platform.

The company says businesses that received credit recorded an average 36 percent increase in transaction value, while 88 percent of surveyed merchants reported business growth following access to Moniepoint loans.

The lending model departs from traditional collateral-based banking by relying on merchants’ transaction history and cash flow data to assess creditworthiness.

For Nigeria’s estimated millions of underserved small businesses, that represents a significant shift in how formal finance is accessed.

Financial inclusion beyond the cities

The report repeatedly returns to one challenge: inclusion. Although digital finance has grown rapidly, millions of Nigerians remain outside the formal banking system because of poor internet access, limited smartphone ownership or geographical barriers.

Moniepoint says its network now enables 100 million people to access digital payments through POS terminals deployed across all 774 local government areas of Nigeria.

Its USSD platform has also become an important access channel.

According to the report, five million Nigerians used Moniepoint’s USSD service during 2025, a 500 percent increase over the previous year, demonstrating continued demand for banking services that do not depend on smartphones or broadband connectivity.

That approach reflects a broader lesson emerging across African fintech: innovation succeeds not simply by introducing new technology, but by adapting technology to existing realities.

Closing the gender financing gap

Perhaps one of the report’s most striking statistics relates to women entrepreneurs. Moniepoint says lending to women-owned businesses grew by more than 300 percent in 2025, while women now account for 36 percent of its loan portfolio, well above the industry benchmark of 15 to 25 percent.

The company also reports that 62 percent of female entrepreneurs receiving loans through its platform had never previously accessed formal credit.

Using transaction data rather than traditional collateral requirements, Moniepoint argues, allows it to reduce bias and expand financing to entrepreneurs historically excluded from conventional lending.

Beyond payments

Payments may have built Moniepoint’s reputation, but the company’s ambitions now extend well beyond transaction processing.

The launch of Moniebook signals an attempt to become a business operating platform rather than simply a payment provider.

The application combines inventory management, bookkeeping, payment processing and financial reporting into one platform aimed at helping merchants run their businesses more efficiently. Since launch, 91 percent of merchants surveyed reported improved business operations, while 96 percent said transaction security had improved.

It reflects an increasingly common strategy among Nigerian fintech firms: evolve from offering single financial products into comprehensive digital ecosystems capable of supporting every aspect of business operations.

Beyond Business: Investing in Nigeria’s Future

Moniepoint’s impact extends beyond banking halls and POS terminals. Over the past decade, the fintech has steadily expanded its corporate social responsibility agenda to include education, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and technology talent development, initiatives that align with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Its education programmes alone reflect a long-term bet on Nigeria’s innovation economy.

Working with the University of Lagos, Moniepoint launched a nine-month full-stack engineering programme that graduated 150 software engineers, while also establishing a dedicated learning hub on campus. Moniepoint recently commissioned a Tosin Eniolorunda Design Lab, providing students across Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) with modern facilities for STEM education and product innovation.

The company was not done. It further in invested in nurturing entrepreneurship among young Nigerians through innovation challenges, startup funding, robotics competitions and university entrepreneurship programmes designed to help students transform ideas into viable businesses.

Few weeks back, Moniepoint Group launched ₦3 Billion Innovation hubs across three Nigerian Universities, namely, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Univeristy of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Ahmed Bello University (ABU).

The initiative represents one of the most significant private-sector investments in Nigerian higher education in recent memory.

Women have also remained a central focus. Beyond extending more credit to women-owned businesses, Moniepoint partnered with Tech4Dev and ACIOE Associates to provide financial literacy and cybersecurity training for women and persons living with disabilities.

It also supported women entrepreneurs through grants and business development initiatives in collaboration with the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).

Its social interventions extend into agriculture and public welfare. In partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the company supported payment and distribution for subsidised rice reaching 848,592 beneficiaries, while its collaboration with the Kaduna State Government is helping disburse ₦3 billion under the Ultra-Poor Graduation Programme aimed at expanding financial inclusion among vulnerable citizens.

These initiatives reinforce Moniepoint’s argument that financial inclusion is not merely about opening bank accounts but about equipping individuals and businesses with the knowledge, capital and opportunities required to participate meaningfully in the economy.

Recognition beyond Africa

Moniepoint’s growth has not gone unnoticed internationally. In 2025, the company was named among TIME’s Most Influential Companies, recognised by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies, featured among CNBC’s leading UK fintech firms, and received several industry awards recognising its work in financial inclusion and digital banking.

Such recognition places Moniepoint among a growing group of African fintech firms attracting global attention as investors increasingly look beyond traditional financial centres for innovation.

The next decade

While the report celebrates impressive milestones, it also points towards a larger ambition.

Chief Executive Officer Tosin Eniolorunda describes Moniepoint’s mission as creating “financial happiness” for Africans, a philosophy the company defines as moving customers from financial access to progress and ultimately long-term economic wellbeing.

Whether measured by the $700 million extended to small businesses, the 20 million customers using its platform, or the $250 billion processed annually, Moniepoint’s first decade illustrates how African fintech has evolved from enabling payments to building economic infrastructure.

For Moniepoint, the challenge now is no longer proving it can process transactions at scale.

It is demonstrating that a company born as TeamApt can continue evolving into one of Africa’s defining financial institutions, supporting entrepreneurship, expanding financial inclusion and shaping the continent’s digital economy over the decade ahead.

The post From TeamApt to Moniepoint: Inside the 10-Year Journey to a $250 Billion Fintech Powerhouse appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Unlike the pre-generative AI era, today’s consumer-focused computing systems require significantly more computing power, energy, memory, and storage.

This has created challenges in global technology supply chains as manufacturers find it difficult to meet growing demand.

These supply imbalances naturally make production more expensive. We are already seeing this with semiconductor shortages affecting parts of the consumer electronics industry in 2026.

To stay profitable, manufacturers have little choice but to pass some of these additional costs on to consumers, making products that were once relatively affordable more expensive.

Beyond component shortages, tech companies are gradually moving away from relying solely on hardware sales and are instead building recurring subscription businesses around their products.

If current market trends continue, some of today’s gadgets may become noticeably more expensive or offer less value by next year.

Here are four gadgets worth buying before 2027.

Compact Solid-State Storage (SSDs and USB Flash Drives)

For more than 50 years, storage devices followed a predictable trend: they became smaller, faster, more reliable, and surprisingly cheaper every year.

That trend is beginning to reverse.

Flash memory technology is still improving, but manufacturing costs are rising alongside demand. One of the biggest reasons is AI.

Modern AI data centres require enormous amounts of high-speed NAND flash storage for model training, inference, caching, and enterprise storage systems. This growing demand is putting increasing pressure on global flash memory production.

As a result, SSDs and even USB flash drives have become more expensive throughout 2026 after years of falling prices.

Why buy now?

If you have been planning to buy an external SSD, USB flash drive, or portable storage device for backing up files, now is a good time. Market prices have already increased by roughly 15% in many segments, and analysts expect supply conditions to remain tight through the first half of 2027. Waiting may simply mean paying more for the same storage capacity.

Portable Power Banks

Power banks may not seem like an obvious addition to this list, but they are also quietly becoming more expensive for several reasons.

The first is demand.

Power banks are no longer seen as simple emergency chargers. With larger smartphone batteries, faster charging standards, frequent travel, and unreliable electricity in countries like Nigeria, they have become everyday essentials. Premium, high-capacity models are now effectively portable power stations rather than simple battery packs.

The second reason is battery production.

Power banks are built with lithium-ion or lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells, meaning their manufacturing costs are directly linked to global battery material prices.

After falling for some time, lithium carbonate prices climbed sharply again in early 2026, while key battery chemicals such as lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF₆) also became more expensive.

Competition for these materials is increasing as well.

Smartphones are no longer the biggest consumers of battery resources. Electric vehicles, grid-scale energy storage systems, and AI data centres all require enormous battery installations for backup power and energy management.

As these industries continue expanding, battery manufacturers will likely continue facing higher production costs.

Why buy now?

If you already plan to purchase a quality power bank, especially a high-capacity or fast-charging model, buying now could save you money before further battery price increases reach consumers.

Premium Laptops

If you have been considering buying a premium laptop, this may be one of the best times to do so.

Modern flagship laptops are no longer judged only by CPU or GPU performance. AI processing has become a major selling point, with dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) now playing a much bigger role in premium computing.

These advanced chips are expensive to design and manufacture, particularly as the industry transitions to newer process technologies. As AI hardware becomes more powerful, production costs are also increasing.

That means future generations of premium laptops, including Microsoft’s Surface lineup and Apple’s MacBooks, could carry even higher starting prices than today’s models.

There is, however, some good news.

The affordable PC market is becoming more competitive thanks to better ARM processors. Manufacturers are producing efficient sub-$300 laptops that offer excellent battery life and enough performance for everyday computing.

If you do not need flagship performance, there will still be good-value options. But if your goal is a premium AI laptop, buying sooner rather than later could save you money.

Subscription-Free Health Trackers

Health-tracking wearables are also entering a major business transition.

Traditionally, buying a smartwatch or fitness tracker meant paying once and accessing most of your health data for free. That model is already changing.

Many manufacturers now realise that one-time hardware sales generate far less revenue than subscriptions. Instead of charging only for the device, companies are increasingly placing advanced health insights, sleep analysis, readiness scores, coaching, and long-term health trends behind monthly subscriptions.

Why buy now?

Buying a subscription-free health tracker today gives you long-term access to many health features without monthly payments. More importantly, it allows you to retain greater control over your personal health data before subscription-based ecosystems become the industry standard.

Technology is constantly redefining what is considered affordable and what becomes premium. While innovation will continue to deliver better products, it will not always make them cheaper.

If there are gadgets you already plan to buy, especially those affected by memory, battery, AI silicon, or subscription trends, purchasing them now could be one of the smartest ways to stay ahead of rising costs.

The post Buy These 4 Gadgets Before They Get More Expensive in 2027 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The development makes Johannesburg the first ExpressRoute Metro location on the continent and gives businesses access to more resilient and secure cloud connectivity.

The designation means organisations can connect privately to Microsoft Azure through two peering locations within the Johannesburg metropolitan area. That built-in redundancy helps reduce the risk of service disruption for critical applications and workloads.

Africa Data Centres’ JHB1 facility now serves as the second peering location in Johannesburg to provide local ExpressRoute Metro capability. With Johannesburg joining a small group of global technology hubs offering the service, businesses operating in South Africa can strengthen business continuity while improving the reliability of their cloud services.

Cassava will deliver the service through its cloud and cybersecurity business, Liquid C2. Using its network presence across both peering locations, Liquid C2 will provide Secure CloudConnect, a managed service that combines private cloud connectivity with integrated cybersecurity for organisations using Microsoft Azure.

Ziaad Suleman, senior vice president of Cassava Technologies South Africa and Botswana, said the designation of Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro is an important step for both the company and Africa’s digital infrastructure.

“Being designated a Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location is a defining moment for Africa Data Centres as well as for Africa’s digital infrastructure. It reflects growing confidence in the continent’s ability to support the next generation of cloud and AI-driven services while demonstrating the strength of our One Cassava model. 

“By combining the infrastructure capabilities of Africa Data Centres with the cloud and cyber security expertise of Liquid C2, we are providing organisations with the resilient, secure, and trusted digital foundation they need to accelerate innovation and growth.”

The launch also comes as regulators place greater focus on operational resilience, business continuity, risk management and data protection. Cassava said Secure CloudConnect is designed to help organisations strengthen security, reduce the risk of downtime and simplify the management of increasingly complex cloud environments while supporting compliance requirements.

Customers will also work with a single provider for cloud connectivity and security services while running business-critical operations on infrastructure built for high availability.

Vukani Mngxati, CEO of Microsoft South Africa, said the new capability will support the country’s growing demand for trusted cloud infrastructure.

“South Africa isn’t waiting for the AI era – it’s helping to shape it, and that ambition rests on digital infrastructure the country can trust. With Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro now available in Johannesburg, organisations across South Africa gain a more resilient and secure path to the cloud for their most critical workloads. 

“When businesses can build on trusted, resilient foundations, they can move faster, compete on the global stage, and turn South Africa’s digital ambition into real economic impact. We are proud to work with Cassava Technologies to help make that happen.”

The deployment also strengthens Cassava Technologies’ growth in Africa’s cloud infrastructure market as demand grows for secure, high-performance digital services. 

Combining the data centre of Africa Data Centres with the cloud and cybersecurity services of Liquid C2 will help achieve the company’s plan to enable businesses across the continent build more resilient cloud environments while supporting digital transformation.

The post Cassava Technologies Expands Africa’s Cloud Infrastructure with Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro in Johannesburg appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

We seldom think about what makes that speed possible or the network of data centres processing enormous amounts of information every second. 

And with digital services becoming more demanding, relying solely on large, centralised data centres has become limiting. Some applications simply cannot afford the delay that comes with sending data hundreds or even thousands of kilometres before it is processed.

That is where edge data centres come in.

Rather than replacing traditional cloud infrastructure, edge data centres extend it by bringing computing power much closer to where data is created and used. This allows businesses to deliver faster services, reduce network congestion and support applications that depend on real-time responses. 

The fast growth of artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks, connected devices and digital financial services is strengthening the need for this type of infrastructure around the world, including Nigeria. 

The country’s digital economy has really expanded, and edge infrastructure is becoming more relevant to banks, telecom operators, manufacturers, healthcare providers and government agencies that require fast, reliable and secure digital services.

What is an Edge Data Centre?

An edge data centre is a smaller computing facility located close to the people, devices or businesses using digital services. 

Instead of sending every piece of data to a large cloud facility in another city or country, some of that information is processed locally before only what is necessary is transmitted to a central data centre.

Think of it as the difference between visiting a neighbourhood supermarket and driving across town for every item you need. The closer option saves time and reduces traffic. Edge data centres work in much the same way.

For example, when someone in Lagos completes a mobile banking transaction, every request does not have to travel to a distant cloud region before a response is returned. 

Processing some of that information at an edge facility closer to the user reduces delay and improves the experience.

The same principle applies to smart factories, connected hospitals, traffic management systems and video streaming platforms. The closer computing resources are to users, the faster they can respond. 

Edge data centres are therefore not competitors to hyperscale facilities operated by major cloud providers, instead, they work together. The edge handles workloads that require speed, while larger facilities continue to manage long-term storage, large-scale computing and enterprise applications.

Why Edge Data Centres are Now Important

The amount of data being generated every day keeps growing. Smartphones, surveillance cameras, industrial sensors, payment terminals and connected vehicles all produce information that needs immediate processing.

If every request travelled to a distant cloud before a decision was made, users would experience delays, networks would become congested and cost of operations would surge.

Edge data centres help solve these problems in several ways.

They reduce latency, which is the time it takes for data to travel between a user and the system processing it. They also lower bandwidth consumption because not every piece of information has to cross long-distance networks. This improves efficiency and reduces pressure on internet infrastructure.

Another benefit is resilience. Even if connectivity to a central cloud facility is interrupted, many local services can continue operating because some computing takes place much closer to users. 

These advantages explain why edge infrastructure has become very important for sectors where every second counts.

Eight Features That Define an Edge Data Centre

1. Low-Latency Performance

The biggest advantage of an edge data centre is speed, because every digital request travels through networks before reaching a server. The farther that server is located, the longer the response takes.

When computing resources are placed much closer to users, edge facilities reduce the travel time significantly.

For an online shopper, the difference may seem small. For a financial institution processing thousands of payment requests every second or a manufacturing plant relying on automated equipment, those milliseconds are of great importance.

Low latency also improves cloud gaming, live video streaming, industrial automation, emergency response systems and many AI-powered applications that need immediate responses rather than delayed processing. 

2. Smaller and Modular Design

Unlike massive hyperscale campuses covering several hectares, edge data centres are designed to occupy much smaller spaces.

Some are housed inside purpose-built buildings, while others are deployed in compact modular units that can be installed close to business districts, industrial zones or telecom infrastructure.

This modular approach allows operators to expand capacity gradually instead of constructing very large facilities from the outset.

It also shortens deployment time and lowers initial investment costs, making it easier to meet the demand in different locations.

With digital services spreading beyond major cities, this flexibility has become one of the strongest advantages of edge infrastructure. 

3. Close to Users and Connected Devices

Location is one of the defining characteristics of an edge data centre.

Rather than serving an entire country from one location, operators distribute computing resources across multiple sites closer to businesses and consumers.

This improves application performance because information travels shorter distances.

Telecommunication companies use this approach to support faster mobile services. Manufacturers deploy edge infrastructure near factories to analyse machine data in real time, and hospitals can process medical information faster, while retailers improve inventory management and customer services.

The closer computing moves to the point where data is created, the more responsive digital services become. 

4. High Availability

Fast systems are of little value if they frequently go offline.

For this reason, edge data centres are designed with multiple layers of redundancy to keep services running even when equipment fails.

Most facilities include backup power systems, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), standby generators, redundant network connections and continuous environmental monitoring.

If one component develops a fault, another immediately takes over without interrupting operations.

Nigeria’s newest edge facilities are also adopting multiple power sources to improve reliability, stressing the importance of continuous service for financial institutions, telecom operators and enterprise customers. 

5. Carrier-Neutral Connectivity

One important feature many modern edge data centres offer is carrier neutrality.

This means customers are not restricted to a single internet or telecommunications provider.

Instead, businesses can connect to multiple network operators within the same facility, giving them greater flexibility, improved resilience and competitive pricing.

If one network experiences an outage, traffic can usually be redirected through another provider, reducing service disruption.

Carrier-neutral environments also make it easier for cloud providers, internet exchanges, content delivery networks and enterprises to interconnect efficiently.

For organisations that depend heavily on uninterrupted connectivity, this flexibility is a huge advantage.

6. Edge AI Functionality

Artificial intelligence is changing the way data centres operate, but not every AI task belongs inside a massive cloud facility.

To understand why edge data centres are becoming more important, it helps to distinguish between two stages of AI. The first is training, where large amounts of data are used to teach an AI model. 

This requires enormous computing power and is typically carried out in hyperscale data centres equipped with thousands of high-performance processors.

The second stage is inference and this is when a trained AI model is put to work, whether it is recognising a face at an airport, detecting fraud during a card payment or helping a factory identify faults in machinery. These tasks usually need answers within milliseconds.

Sending every request to a distant cloud allows for delays, but edge data centres solve this by running AI applications much closer to where the data is generated. The result is quicker decisions, reduced network traffic and a smoother user experience.

AI adoption is growing across sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing and telecommunications, and hence, edge infrastructure is expected to become more indispensable in supporting everyday AI services.

7. Strong Security

Data security has become one of the biggest concerns for organisations moving more of their operations online.

Edge data centres are designed with both physical and digital protection in mind. Buildings are usually made with access control systems, surveillance cameras, biometric authentication and around-the-clock monitoring to prevent unauthorised entry.

On the cyber side, operators deploy firewalls, encryption, intrusion detection systems and continuous security monitoring to protect customer workloads.

Processing some information closer to where it is generated can also reduce the amount of sensitive data travelling across public networks. That reduces exposure to some security risks, although organisations must still apply strong cybersecurity practices across their entire infrastructure.

Security is not just about preventing attacks, but equally about ensuring that systems are always available, data remains accurate and business operations continue without interruption.

8. Energy-Efficient Operations

Data centres consume significant amounts of electricity, making energy efficiency an important design priority.

Although edge data centres are smaller than hyperscale facilities, operators are investing more in technologies that reduce power consumption while maintaining reliable performance.

Many facilities use precision cooling systems that direct cold air only where it is needed, rather than cooling an entire room. Environmental sensors continuously monitor temperature and humidity to prevent equipment from overheating.

Power management software also helps operators identify inefficient equipment and optimise energy use.

As it stands, businesses are placing greater emphasis on sustainability, and efficient power use has become both an environmental and financial consideration. Lower energy consumption reduces the cost of operations while supporting sustainability goals.

Edge Data Centres vs Traditional Data Centres

While both types of facilities store and process data, they are designed to solve different problems.

This does not mean one is better than the other. Many organisations use both. An edge facility processes time-sensitive information, while a larger regional or hyperscale data centre manages long-term storage, analytics and backup.

Where Edge Data Centres Are Used

Edge infrastructure has become valuable across industries because many modern applications depend on speed.

• Banks use edge facilities to process payment requests quickly and improve customers’ digital banking experience.
• Telecommunications companies deploy edge infrastructure to support 5G services, reduce network congestion and deliver faster mobile connectivity.
• Hospitals benefit by processing medical imaging and patient monitoring data more quickly, particularly where delays could affect clinical decisions.
• Manufacturers analyse information from production lines in real time, allowing engineers to detect equipment faults before they lead to expensive downtime.
• Retailers use edge computing to improve inventory management, automate checkout systems and personalise customer experiences.
• Video streaming companies place content closer to viewers, reducing buffering and improving playback quality.
• Emerging smart city projects also rely on edge infrastructure to support traffic management, public safety systems and connected public services.

These examples illustrate why edge data centres are becoming the essential layer of digital infrastructure rather than a niche technology.

Challenges Limiting Adoption

The challenges limiting adoption include cost. Building multiple facilities across different locations usually requires higher investment than expanding a single central data centre.

Reliable electricity is another challenge in many markets, as operators must invest heavily in backup power systems to maintain continuous operations.

Fibre connectivity also varies across locations. Areas with limited high-speed network infrastructure may find it difficult to benefit fully from edge deployments.

Cybersecurity is another challenge. Distributing computing across many sites increases the number of locations that must be monitored and protected.

There is also a shortage of skilled professionals with expertise in designing, operating and maintaining modern digital infrastructure.

Overcoming these challenges will require steady investment in power, connectivity, technical skills and supportive public policy.

In Nigeria, Edge Data Centres Have Become More Important

The digital economy in Nigeria is growing by the day, and so is the volume of data generated every day.

Mobile banking transactions are also growing, with businesses migrating more applications to the cloud. Artificial intelligence is now frequently used across financial services, healthcare, education and customer support. At the same time, operators are expanding fibre networks and rolling out 5G services in more locations.

These developments are increasing the demand for infrastructure that can process information quickly and reliably.

Nigeria is also seeing more investment in local data centres, reducing reliance on hosting services located outside the country. 

This supports faster application performance, strengthens data sovereignty and helps organisations comply with data protection requirements. 

Recent investments by operators such as Rack Centre, Open Access Data Centres (OADC), Equinix, Kasi Cloud and emerging edge providers is proof that the country’s digital infrastructure market is expanding.

Edge data centres will not replace these larger facilities, but will extend their reach by bringing computing power closer to businesses and consumers across different parts of the country.

The post Edge Data Centres: What Every Executive Needs to Know Before the Next Infrastructure Investment appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The National Population Commission has launched an online platform for the registration of births and deaths across Nigeria, transitioning to a fully digital civil registration system.

The Commission said the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) platform became operational on July 1, 2026, allowing Nigerians to register births and deaths online without visiting registration centres for most processes.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the chairman of the NPC, Dr Aminu Yusuf, said the initiative would modernise the registration of vital events and improve national planning by providing more accurate and reliable population data.

He described the rollout as a commendable achievement in strengthening Nigeria’s civil registration system.

“It is my distinct honor and privilege on behalf of the National Population Commission to formally announce the full commencement of the digital registration of births and deaths on the vital record platform under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, effective 1st July 2026.”

Yusuf further noted that the platform is now operational across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, stating that the project builds on the launch of the E-CRVS system and the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on November 8, 2023.

According to him, Nigeria records an estimated five million births every year, yet millions of children are still unregistered.

He disclosed that birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57% nationwide, while death registration remains below 20%.

“These gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning,” he said.

To improve access to registration services, Yusuf said the Commission has established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas. He added that the number will be expanded to about 8,000 centres.

The NPC chairman said the digital platform provides faster processing, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork and waiting time, automated data validation, stronger database security and a foundational database that will support other national data systems.

He also announced that the Commission had signed a partnership agreement with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Bankforte Technologies Limited to decentralise and strengthen birth registration services across the country.

On funding, Yusuf said the Commission had reviewed charges for specialised administrative services, including record modification, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests, to support the long-term sustainability of the digital platform.

He, however, assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services would still be highly subsidised as part of the Commission’s commitment to achieving universal birth registration.

The post Nigeria Launches Online Birth Registration as NPC Accelerates E-CRVS appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Pushing its second-quarter revenue below market expectations, the company’s stock was down about 23% before the opening bell after IBM released preliminary quarterly results that missed analysts’ forecasts.

The decline also weighed on the entire software sector, with Dow futures falling and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF losing more than 4%.

IBM now expects second-quarter revenue of $17.2 billion, below the $17.86 billion analysts surveyed by LSEG had projected. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to reach $2.93, missing estimates of $3.02.

Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna admitted the company had failed to respond quickly enough to changing customer spending priorities.

“This quarter we faltered.”

He added: “We did not adapt and move quickly enough, and numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall.”

Krishna said IBM noticed a big shift in customer spending during the final weeks of June.

“In the last few weeks of June, we saw clients shift their quarterly capex spend toward servers, storage, and memory purchases to secure supply-constrained infrastructure ahead of expected price increases.”

He also said the company had expected some disruption from supply chain challenges but underestimated the scale of the change.

“While we anticipated some supply-chain related impact in our expectations, we did not anticipate the magnitude of the capex reprioritisation.”

The transition shows surging demand for hardware used in artificial intelligence systems. A global shortage of memory chips has also added to the problem.

Since late 2025, hardware prices have increased after major memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, directed more production towards specialised chips for AI data centres.

Much of that capacity has already been committed under long-term contracts, tightening supply for conventional servers, personal computers and smartphones.

Micron has previously warned that supply limitations are likely to continue.

“tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027 as a result of AI-driven demand across all segments coupled with structural supply constraints.”

IBM said revenue in its infrastructure business fell 7% during the quarter, even though total company revenue increased by 1% from a year earlier.

The disappointing update also hit other software companies. Microsoft, ServiceNow, Salesforce and Intuit each fell between 3% and 5% in premarket trading.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group, said investors are now watching closely to see how long businesses continue directing more of their technology budgets towards hardware and cybersecurity instead of software.

IBM is scheduled to release its full second-quarter financial results on July 22.

The post IBM Shares Plunge After Revenue Miss as Customers Shift Spending to AI Hardware appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.