| By: Francis Onyemachi

Nigeria has set a target of 30 per cent 5G network penetrations under its National Broadband Plan, but adoption remains well below that goal nearly four years after the technology’s launch, according to industry analysts.

Nigeria first conducted its 5G trial on November 25, 2019, making it the first country in West Africa to test the technology.

The proof-of-concept trial was launched in Abuja by MTN Nigeria in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, (Innovation) and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

However, Nigeria’s first commercial 5G network was rolled out on September 18, 2022, by MTN Nigeria.

Following this initial launch in cities like Lagos and Abuja, Mafab Communications and Airtel Nigeria subsequently entered the market with their own 5G services.

Four years post commercial launch, NCC put 5G network penetration at 14 per cent of the population and usage at 5 per cent.

Overall broadband penetration stood at 55.67 per cent, with more than 120.7 million active broadband subscriptions, the NCC said.

“An Apollo Moon Landing Trap”

Wande Adalemo, CEO of Wave5Wireless, said Nigeria risks repeating the pattern of the United States’ Apollo moon-landing programme, where the political objective, beating the Soviet Union, was achieved and public and financial interest collapsed once the flag was planted.

“We are seeing a version of this ‘Apollo effect’ play out with Nigeria’s 5G,” Adalemo said, arguing that telecom operators rushed to acquire 5G spectrum licences from the NCC largely for corporate prestige, then encountered the harder task of building out physical network infrastructure once that marketing objective was met.

Adalemo said Nigeria’s digital economy remains stuck in that trap:

“Heavy capital deployment in wealthy urban clusters, with the mass market and industrial economy still disconnected from high-speed broadband”.

He called for 5G to be treated as a unified infrastructure ecosystem rather than a network of standalone cellular towers, arguing that federating existing fibre and Wi-Fi capital, comparable to Interswitch’s role in unifying Nigerian banking infrastructure, offers a faster path to scale than continued siloed tower deployment.

Adalemo cited global data showing more than 80 per cent of data traffic moves over Wi-Fi rather than mobile networks.

Cost and Infrastructure Pressures

Adalemo identified naira depreciation, electricity supply, fibre-optic cable cuts and national grid instability as the central obstacles to 5G rollout.

Telecom equipment is imported in foreign currency, he said, while operators earn revenue in naira, a mismatch worsened by currency depreciation.

He said Nigeria recorded more than 27,000 fibre-line cuts over the past year, a figure broadly consistent with NCC data reported elsewhere, and said recurring national grid collapses force operators to run diesel generators to keep 5G masts operational, adding significantly to costs.

Adalemo urged government-backed initiatives to de-risk fibre deployment for private operators, alongside parallel action on power supply and infrastructure security.

He specifically called on the Federal Government to accelerate Project BRIDGE, the national fibre rollout initiative, and urged the NCC to support interoperable infrastructure-sharing frameworks such as Wave5Wireless’s own AMPPS architecture, which the company positions as a clearinghouse connecting mobile network operators (MNOs) and fixed wireless/FTTH internet service providers (ISPs).

The FG has secured approximately $822 million (equivalent to roughly N1.2 trillion depending on exchange rates) in multilateral funding and grants for Project BRIDGE (Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth).

The nationwide $2 billion initiative aims to deploy 90,000 km of open-access fibre optic infrastructure across the country

However, on the residential ISP market, Adalemo said Nigeria’s largest fibre-to-the-home providers remain capped by low addressable markets, citing Spectranet’s subscriber base at approximately 108,000 and other providers between 15,000 and 45,000, and argued that shared-infrastructure overlay models could expand that addressable base.

On mobile operators, he said dense commercial districts such as Balogun, Alaba and Computer Village suffer poor indoor cellular signal due to building density, and argued MNOs should prioritise infrastructure-sharing arrangements over independent tower construction to resolve urban congestion.

He also called for device-financing partnerships between telecom operators, fintechs and device manufacturers to expand the base of 5G- and Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone users through micro-installment schemes.

A Second View: Government Investment is the Gap

Frank Samuel, a financial and technology analyst, said Nigeria’s 5G rollout has relied too heavily on private telecom investment without commensurate government funding, leaving citizens exposed to gaps in access and service quality.

He also cited weak enforcement against infrastructure vandalism, saying security agencies have not treated protection of telecoms infrastructure as a policing priority despite existing legal frameworks.

Samuel proposed measurable indicators to track progress over the next two years: adoption of cloud-based tools as a proxy for broadband quality, the speed of digital financial transactions in remote areas rather than Lagos alone, and uptake of 5G home routers, such as those introduced by MTN under a subscription model.

He linked broadband expansion to the Federal Government’s target of a $1 trillion digital economy, arguing that improved connectivity enables broader participation in digital and AI-driven platforms, which in turn supports productivity, incomes and tax revenue.

The post Wave5Wireless CEO Explains Why Nigeria’s 5G Isn’t Taking Off as Expected appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Nigeria has only 265,000 active fibre-to-the-home subscriptions nationwide, even as the country’s total internet subscriber base has grown to 154.72 million, a gap regulators and telecoms operators say threatens the sustainability of the nation’s broadband ambitions.

The figures were disclosed by Dr Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in a keynote address at the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria’s (ATCON) Critical Conversation Forum on FTTH, held in Lagos, recently.

The scale of the gap

According to Maida, Nigeria’s FTTH penetration sits below the African average of 2.5 per cent and far below the 47 per cent average recorded in mature broadband markets globally.

This is despite overall internet growth: active subscriptions rose from 141.99 million in April 2025 to 154.72 million in April 2026, while broadband penetration climbed from 48.81 per cent to 55.67 per cent over the same period. As at March 2026, 4G accounted for 53.76 per cent of mobile network share and 5G for 4.20 per cent.

Nigerians consumed an average of approximately 1.4 million terabytes of data monthly over the preceding six months, Maida said.

Separately, Egerton Idehen, chief broadband officer at MTN Nigeria, put FTTH penetration against the country’s housing stock at approximately 1.5 per cent, which he described as critically low, and pointed to right-of-way (RoW) charges from state governments, compounded by informal levies from community development associations and land-owning interests (Omo-onile meaning ‘land grabbers’), as major cost burdens on deployment.

Cables under attack

The NCC recorded over 27,685 fibre-cut incidents (equaling one incident per 19 minutes, for the year), more than 27,000 cases of access denial, and 4,210 cases of theft across telecom operators between January and December 2025, Maida said.

He linked the figures to the full operationalisation of the Presidential Order designating telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII).

The NCC, the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy inaugurated a Joint Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables in February 2025 to coordinate protection efforts around road works.

Right-of-way reform advances, but gaps remain

Thirteen states have fully waived RoW charges, while sixteen others have adopted the National Economic Council’s recommended rate of N145 per linear metre, Maida said, adding that the NCC’s Ease of Doing Business Portal now publishes state-by-state data on RoW charges and approval processes.

The Commission is also conducting a Wholesale Fixed Broadband Market Assessment to evaluate competitiveness in the wholesale fixed broadband market.

However, Biodun Omoniyi, MD/CEO of VDT Communications, cautioned during a panel session that RoW represents only a fraction of total deployment costs, and urged states to legislate protective frameworks against damage from uncoordinated public works.

Panellists also noted that even in states that have waived formal RoW charges, multiple agencies continue to impose other levies.

Backbone expansion underway

Maida referenced Project BRIDGE, the federal government’s initiative to extend the national fibre backbone by approximately 90,000 kilometres to reach all 774 Local Government Areas. Low-level design work for 40,000 kilometres of the network has begun, supported by development partners, with last-mile FTTH infrastructure identified as the necessary complement to the backbone investment.

Industry voices: patient capital, shared infrastructure

Tony Emoekpere, ATCON President, told the forum that mobile networks are not designed to deliver full broadband, positioning FTTH as the only sustainable route to national penetration targets, and called for greater industry self-regulation on infrastructure-sharing standards.

Eric Chen, Director of Strategy at Huawei, presented industry analysis linking every 10 per cent increase in fixed broadband penetration to approximately 1.5 per cent GDP growth, a figure attributed to Huawei’s own analysis rather than an independently verified source.

Chen cited China’s post-2013 policy of mandating in-building fibre for new construction, paired with open-access rules guaranteeing at least three operators per facility, as a model Nigeria could adapt through “Dig-Once” and fibre-ready building mandates.

Amin Dayekh, MD/CEO of Megamore Wireless Broadband, called for a four-part investment compact: patient, infrastructure-minded capital; proactive infrastructure protection ahead of excavation; realistic recognition that wireless ISPs will continue serving markets where fibre economics aren’t yet viable; and affordability built into policy upstream rather than imposed on retail pricing. Without it, he warned, Nigeria risks shifting “from a divide of availability to a divide of affordability.”

Segun Okuneye, chairman of the ATCON Fibre Clean-Up Committee, reported that a pilot phase of the association’s cable clean-up project has begun across high-density routes in Lagos, including the Ikeja corridor, Lekki Phase 1 and Victoria Island, in partnership with the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA).

What happens next

The forum’s communiqué carries 17 recommendations, including calls for the NCC to expedite and publish its Wholesale Fixed Broadband Market Assessment, for state governments to legislate protection for licensed infrastructure and address informal levies, for operators to adopt international outside-plant standards and join the ATCON clean-up project, and for financiers to structure FTTH investment around realistic, longer payback timelines rather than short-cycle returns.

ATCON said it will transmit the communiqué to the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, and participating state governments.

The post ‘One Fibre Cut Every 19 Minutes’: ATCON FTTH Forum Highlights Nigeria’s Broadband Bottleneck appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The flight, operated by Air Peace, arrived at the Hajj/Cargo Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos late Thursday, where officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service documented the new arrivals.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the airlift was part of an ongoing government-sponsored repatriation exercise for citizens who feel endangered by the recent wave of xenophobic tensions in South Africa.

Of the five evacuation flights conducted so far, Air Peace has operated four, bringing home a total of 1,085 Nigerians: 262 on June 11, 2026; 271 on June 30, 2026; 268 on July 3, 2026; and 284 on July 9, 2026.

ValueJet Airlines operated the second flight, evacuating 66 Nigerians on June 24, 2026. Combined, the total number of Nigerians repatriated from South Africa since the crisis began now stands at 1,151.

In a statement, Air Peace confirmed it had completed the fourth phase of its humanitarian evacuation operation, safely bringing home the latest 284 Nigerian nationals in collaboration with the Federal Government.

The flight, operated with the airline’s Boeing 777-200 wide-body aircraft, “underscores Air Peace’s continued commitment to supporting national emergency response efforts by providing safe and seamless transportation for Nigerians affected by the recent wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.”

“With the successful completion of today’s mission, Air Peace has now safely repatriated 1,085 Nigerians across four humanitarian evacuation flights, having previously evacuated 262 Nigerians on June 11, 271 on June 30, 268 on July 3, and 284 on July 9,” the airline said. “The milestone further reinforces the airline’s enduring readiness to deploy its fleet and operational capabilities in the service of the nation whenever duty calls.”

“More than an airlift, the ongoing evacuation exercise reflects Air Peace’s unwavering humanitarian philosophy; one rooted in compassion, patriotism and an abiding commitment to ensuring that Nigerians, regardless of where they may be, can always count on a safe journey home in times of crisis,” the airline said.

The carrier said the latest operation adds to its broader record of humanitarian interventions.

“Since commencing operations, Air Peace has undertaken more than sixteen evacuation and relief missions across Africa and beyond, deploying its aircraft in support of emergency repatriations, humanitarian crises and other national interventions,” it said. “As Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace remains steadfast in its mission to connect people beyond destinations, delivering hope, restoring families and standing ready to answer the call whenever Nigerians need a way home.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa said the latest batch of returnees comprised 272 adults and 12 infants, with two officials also on board the flight.

The post TRACKER: Nigeria Has Now Evacuated 1,151 Citizens from South Africa amid Xenophobic Attacks appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

In a country where “national service” has too often translated into national sacrifice, the Federal Government has rolled out what it calls the most comprehensive overhaul of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in its 53-year history.

Approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the reforms promise a shift to civilian operational leadership, technology-driven call-ups, extended orientation camps, specialised career streams, and a spiffy new uniform to replace the threadbare, sweat-inducing khaki that has defined generations of reluctant graduates.

One can almost hear the applause in Abuja. Meanwhile, parents across the federation exhale a cautious sigh, wondering if this time, the scheme might stop sending their children into harm’s way dressed as moving targets.

Born with noble intentions after the Civil War to foster unity in a fractured nation, the 1973 relic has frequently functioned as a one-year lottery with appalling odds.

The official rhetoric behind these new reforms aims to change that, transforming the NYSC into a “skills-driven, productivity-focused engine” capable of feeding a projected $1 trillion economy.

Under the new playbook, the traditional three-week camp stretches to six weeks, structured into neat, corporate-friendly fortnights.

The first two week for civic responsibility and national values (the traditional patriotism booster shot); week 3-4, career mapping, business planning, and basic accounting (to teach corps members how to budget their allowances against skyrocketing inflation) and 5-6, specialised training across 11 career tracks, including tech, agriculture, and health.

Primary assignments will better align with academic backgrounds, reducing the spectacle of engineering graduates teaching primary school pupils with no materials. The traditional, sweat-soaked Passing Out Parade will also yield to a “formal graduation ceremony.”

Sarcasm aside, these elements deserve genuine applause. Civilian leadership might inject fresh administrative energy, unburdened by military hierarchy, provided it doesn’t devolve into another layer of political patronage.

More importantly however, the corporate buzzwords dance gracefully around the elephant in the room, one that isn’t wearing a newly redesigned uniform, but rather carrying an AK-47 on an unpoliced highway. For over a decade, the greatest hazard of national service hasn’t been the lack of running water, but a terrifying game of geographical roulette.

Corps members, fresh out of university and brimming with youthful idealism, are posted to unfamiliar territories where they must dodge banditry, secessionist violence, and kidnapping syndicates.

The mandatory journey to service has become a multi-day gauntlet through highway badlands where a corper’s uniform behaves less like a shield of state protection and more like a neon sign for ransom negotiators. Recent tragedies, including the killing of corps member Abdulsamad Jamiu in Abuja, are painful reminders that “service” sometimes ends in an obituary.

To its credit, the new framework mentions a “risk-sensitive deployment” system. Details, however, remain scarce. While operational leadership pivots to civilians, the military is expected to handle security.

This creates a spectacular paradox: we are demilitarising the administration at the exact moment the operational environment requires tactical counter-insurgency expertise. A civilian Director-General using a digital call-up process cannot algorithmically dissolve a bandit checkpoint.

Without a radical overhaul, “risk-sensitive deployment” will simply become bureaucratic shorthand for sending the children of the elite to Lagos and Abuja. Meanwhile, the politically invisible will continue to test their faith in the hinterlands.

True reform demands more than policy pronouncements and prettier khaki. If the NYSC is to transform from an existential gamble into a genuine national asset, the government must implement actionable security and structural updates:

First things first, establish a digital shield. Every corps member deployed to a medium- or high-risk zone should be integrated into a tech-enabled early-warning network.

The NYSC mobile app should feature mandatory, zero-data check-ins and instantaneous SOS routing directly to localised military and police rapid-response units.

Second, create commercialised local placement. If the private sector wants to attract elite talent from the tech or medical streams, it must pay a mandatory security premium into an expanded NYSC Welfare and Protection Fund. These corporate sponsorships should guarantee secure, gated accommodation at Primary Places of Assignment (PPAs).

Third, set up the regional cluster model. National integration loses its charm when it requires crossing geopolitical zones via unsecured roads.

The scheme should adopt a decentralised model where corps members are deployed outside their home states, but strictly within neighbouring states or secure corridors where safe transit infrastructure actually exists.

Besides, the Corps must institute accountability and alternative paths. Here, I’m thinking hybrid or virtual models for high-risk zones. Furthermore, when corps members die in service, thorough independent investigations, not perfunctory probes, must follow, with swift compensation and institutional accountability.

Yes, it is time for the government to modernise the NYSC! But modernisation without confronting the hard truth risks purely cosmetic change.

A glossy certificate in digital marketing or automated agriculture is entirely useless if the recipient does not survive the year to collect it.

If these reforms deliver safer and more productive services, they will mark a historic turning point. The corps members and their anxious families deserve a promise that outlasts the press release.

*Eromosele, a corporate communications expert and sustainability advocate, writes via: elviseroms@gmail.com

The post Is the NYSC Reform Another Uniform Makeover? appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The expansion of Nigeria’s digital economy is gathering pace, with fintech companies driving financial inclusion, Artificial Intelligence being adopted across sectors, public and private services moving online, while businesses continue to rely on cloud computing.

These developments, which continue to foster digital transformation, have also widened the country’s cyber threat ecosystem.

Ransomware and identity theft have been identified as some of the biggest threats confronting organisations today.

According to a report cited by Nigeria Data Protection Commission chairman, Vincent Olatunji, ransomware attacks in Nigeria account for about 35% of total financial losses while identity theft and data breaches contribute roughly to overall digital economy losses, as the country accounts for 45% of reported cyberattacks across the continent.

Experts, however, said these attacks have escalated from isolated incidents into organised criminal operations capable of crippling businesses, organisations and financial institutions.

Bright Anyanwu, senior compliance manager & MLRO, West, Central & East Africa at Yellow Card, said the surge being witnessed in the sector is not accidental, describing it as a collision of three forces.

Nigeria’s Digital Economy Expanding Faster than its Security Architecture

Anyanwu stressed that Nigeria’s digital economy has expanded faster than its security architecture, citing 45% of reported cybercrime incidents on the continent

“Nigeria now accounts for roughly 45 per cent of reported cybercrime incidents on the continent, with attack patterns spanning phishing, ransomware, business email compromise, and identity theft targeting financial institutions, telecom platforms, and public systems.  When you digitise onboarding, payments, lending, and government services at this pace, every new endpoint is a new attack surface,” he said

Stolen Identity Data

The Compliance Manager explained that stolen Nigerian identity data has become a commodity with global liquidity.

According to him, dark web actors continue to sell stolen private databases, credentials and telecom records, citing claims of over 60 million traded records, alongside about 130,000 exposed healthcare records.

“Threat intelligence assessments have documented dark web actors actively selling Nigerian banking databases, stolen credentials, and telecom records, with claims of over 60 million records being traded, alongside exposed healthcare data covering roughly 130,000 patient entries.”

Anyanwu noted that identity theft stops being a specialist crime to become industrialised once identity data remains cheap and abundant.

“On this note, criminals no longer need to break into your systems; they simply log in with credentials purchased for a few dollars.”

Changing Business Model

In this part, the expert stated that ransomware itself has changed its business model. Identity misuse is now involved in over 80% of ransomware operations, while roughly three-quarters of attacks include data theft rather than encryption alone.

In his words, ransomware and identity theft are two stages of the same value chain, adding that both are no longer separate threats.

He pointed to fintech and financial services, telecoms, healthcare and government agencies as the most vulnerable sectors in Nigeria today.

According to him,

“The most vulnerable sectors in Nigeria today are financial services and fintech, because that is where the money and the KYC data sit; telecoms, because SIM infrastructure underpins authentication for almost everything else; healthcare, because patient records are rich, poorly protected, and rarely monitored; and government agencies, where legacy systems hold enormous citizen datasets, including national identity records, with uneven security controls,” he said.

He also described Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) as a silent casualty that sits in the supply chains of larger institutions, but increasingly serves as the entry point rather than the target.

How Digital Transformation Changed the Economics of Cyberattacks

For Abraham Udu, director of programs at the Association of Certified Financial Crimes Specialists (ACFCS) West Africa, digital transformation has significantly changed the economics of attack, noting that a criminal needed technical skill to breach a Nigerian bank five years ago, while attack chains have become modular and rentable today, with concerns on AI-enabled social engineering rising in 2026.

“Today, the attack chain is modular and rentable. Ransomware-as-a-service, phishing kits, and initial access brokers mean that a threat actor in Lagos or Lagos Island can assemble a sophisticated campaign from off-the-shelf components.

“The methods that concern me most in 2026 are, first, AI-enabled social engineering. AI-generated phishing lures have eliminated the traditional red flags, such as poor grammar and are lifting click-through rates dramatically, and a growing share of attacks now arrive through SMS and messaging apps, where mobile users are far more likely to click,” Udu said.

Udu said that this matters enormously in Nigeria as a mobile-first market where deepfake voice and video are also now being used to impersonate executives in payment authorisation fraud, which puts every finance and treasury function on notice.

Udu also cited identity-based intrusion, with credential theft rising 160% in 2025, with 1.8 billion logins stolen from infected devices globally.

According to him, attackers increasingly bypass the perimeter entirely by abusing legitimate credentials, session cookies, and SIM swaps.

The program lead also highlighted supply chain and third-party compromise, where attackers breach one vendor or managed service provider and inherit access to dozens of institutions downstream.

He added that multi-extortion ransomware has changed the nature of attacks, noting that,

“The threat is no longer ‘we encrypted your data’ but ‘we will publish your customers’ KYC files and report you to your regulator’. For a licensed financial institution, that reputational and regulatory extortion is often more coercive than the encryption itself.”

From his point in the virtual asset sector, he said the laundering side of this economy is witnessing in real time.

He noted that blockchain analytics has actually made crypto one of the more traceable rails for ransomware proceeds, which is why compliant, licensed VASPs are increasingly part of the solution.

Biggest Gaps Despite Continued Cybersecurity Investment

The experts said the most successful attacks in Nigeria do not defeat technology alone but also exploit weaknesses in governance, revealing that organisations keep buying tools while the fundamentals remain broken.

They identified four persistent gaps, including people, process, technology and governance.

According to Anyanwu, security awareness is still treated as an annual compliance video rather than continuous behavioural training.

He said:

“The human is the primary attack surface, yet receives the smallest share of the security budget. There is also a serious skills shortage, particularly outside Lagos and Abuja, that leaves capable tools running without capable operators.”

Speaking on the issue of process, Anyanwu explained that incident response plans exist on paper but are never tested.

In his words, very few Nigerian institutions run genuine tabletop exercises for a ransomware scenario, leaving the first 48 hours of an attack chaotic.

“So when an attack lands, the first 48 hours are chaos, and it is in those 48 hours that most of the damage crystallises. Backup discipline is another quiet failure. Backups are compromised in nearly four out of ten ransomware incidents, usually because they were connected to the same network and protected by the same credentials attacker had already compromised.”

In the area of technology, Udu explained that the gap is not the absence of tools but the lack of identity-centric architecture.

He noted that over 80% of ransomware operations rely on stolen credentials. Multi-factor authentication, privileged access management, and continuous monitoring of identity behaviour are not optional extras. They are the control environment.

Meanwhile, governance was identified as the deepest gap. The expert lamented that cybersecurity is still reported to the board as an IT metric rather than owned as an enterprise financial crime and operational resilience risk.

“Boards should be interrogating cyber risk with the same rigour they apply to credit risk and AML risk, with defined risk appetite, residual risk measurement, and clear accountability. Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and the GAID 2025 framework, the NDPC now requires breach reporting within 72 hours and mandatory audits for data controllers, yet many institutions could not meet a 72-hour notification obligation today because they lack the detection capability to know they have been breached at all.” Udu added. 

Immediate Steps for Businesses and Individuals

According to the experts, the next 12 months will reward institutions that move from reactive detection to preventive, intelligence-led resilience.

Cybersecurity is no longer an IT expense. In 2026, it is the licence to operate in Nigeria’s digital economy.

The experts urged businesses to make identity the new perimeter by enforcing phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication across critical systems, maintaining immutable offline-tested backups, rehearsing restoration, and conducting a full ransomware tabletop exercise.

This should involve the board, legal, compliance, and communications within the next quarter, insisting that the middle of a crisis is the wrong time to learn an incident response plan.

“Map and assess third-party and vendor risk, since your resilience is only as strong as your weakest supplier. And integrate cyber threat intelligence with your financial crime function, because ransomware, identity theft, fraud, and money laundering are now one continuous chain, and institutions that still manage them in silos will always be a step behind,” Anyanwu stated.

For regulators, a coordinated national framework for breach notification, a funded cross-sector threat intelligence sharing mechanism anchored by ngCERT, and consistent enforcement were identified as key updates that would change behaviour faster than any new rule.

He tasked regulators to also deepen public-private partnership with licensed VASPs and blockchain analytics providers, because tracing and freezing ransomware proceeds is one of the few points in the attack chain where the criminal is genuinely exposed.

He encouraged individuals to use strong, unique passwords with a password manager, enable two-factor authentication on banking, email, and SIM services, treat every unsolicited link, call, or ‘urgent’ payment request as hostile until verified through a separate channel, and guard NIN, BVN, and identity documents as carefully as cash.

On the role of AI, he encouraged faster adoption in security operations to stay ahead of attackers, noting that timely deployment can reduce breach response times by around 80 days and save close to $2 million per incident on average.

The post Why Ransomware, Identity Theft Top Nigeria’s Growing Digital Threats appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The Federal Government has finalised plans to evacuate another 270 Nigerians from South Africa as part of its ongoing voluntary repatriation programme.

The returnees are expected to arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in the early hours of Wednesday aboard an Air Peace aircraft deployed for the evacuation.

Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the schedule in a statement on Monday.

He said the aircraft would depart Lagos on Tuesday afternoon for Johannesburg before returning with the evacuees overnight.

“In continuation of the ongoing evacuation of our nationals from South Africa, the Air Peace aircraft deployed for the process is expected to depart Lagos tomorrow, Tuesday 7 July, 2026, for Johannesburg, South Africa at 3.30 p.m.

“The aircraft will depart Johannesburg for Lagos with 270 returnees at 12.00 midnight, and the estimated time of arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos is 5.00 a.m. on Wednesday, 8 July, 2026, all things being equal,” the statement read.

The evacuation is being coordinated by the Federal Government through the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria and other relevant agencies to facilitate the voluntary return of Nigerians who have indicated a willingness to come home.

Air Peace has also continued to support government-assisted evacuation operations, including the repatriation of Nigerians from countries affected by conflicts and other emergencies.

The latest flight follows the arrival of another batch of evacuees at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on Friday, July 3, aboard a chartered Air Peace flight from Johannesburg.

Mrs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, minister of Foreign Affairs, said the flight brought back 268 Nigerians, alongside two officials and crew members.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu noted that three earlier evacuation flights had already returned 593 Nigerians before the latest operation, adding that the exercise remains open to Nigerians who voluntarily register, undergo screening, and are cleared for evacuation.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has issued a new advisory to Nigerians living in South Africa, urging those who feel unsafe to take advantage of the remaining evacuation flights, with the final flight scheduled to arrive in Nigeria on July 10.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu gave the advice in a post on her verified X account on Monday while announcing a final call for documentation for Nigerians wishing to return under the ongoing evacuation programme.

She said the government remains deeply concerned about the safety of Nigerians in South Africa following the continued xenophobic protests and attacks on migrants, especially after the deaths of two Nigerians identified as  Musa Yunana Joe and Charles Iroegbu.

The minister urged Nigerians who believe their lives are at risk to register immediately for the remaining evacuation flights, saying, “There are no signs that the situation is improving.”

The post Xenophobia: Nigeria to Evacuate 270 Additional Citizens from South Africa Wednesday appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Nigeria’s Federal Government on Sunday rejected claims that it spent roughly ₦8 trillion, equivalent to about 2% of GDP, outside the approved budget, calling the allegations a misrepresentation of observations by the International Monetary Fund.

In a detailed statement signed by Taiwo Oyedele, finance minister and coordinating minister of the Economy, the government said recent public commentary had wrongly interpreted remarks by IMF Resident Representative Christian Ebeke and the Fund’s 2026 Article IV Consultation Report as evidence of illegal or secret expenditure.

“The Federal Government does not operate a ‘shadow budget’ or expend public funds outside the constitutional and statutory framework,” the statement said.

Oyedele emphasized that all federal spending complies with Sections 80–83 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), requiring authorization through Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts, or other laws passed by the National Assembly.

He noted that multi-year capital projects, statutory transfers, debt service, and special interventions established by law are standard features of public finance and not evidence of off-budget activity.

The government challenged critics to identify specific projects allegedly executed without legislative approval and provide verifiable evidence rather than conjecture.

Background:

• Ebeke’s July 1 Remarks and IMF Report

The controversy stems from comments made by IMF Resident Representative Christian Ebeke on July 1 in Lagos to business executives.

Ebeke stated that Nigeria had about 2% of GDP in public spending, roughly ₦8–8.8 trillion based on recent nominal GDP levels, that was not recorded in official budgets.

This created a statistical discrepancy, making the reported fiscal deficit appear smaller than the government’s actual financing needs.

“These unreported expenditures are linked in part to large government projects carried out off-budget,” Ebeke said, adding that improving transparency is critical because such spending raises concerns about procurement processes and oversight.

He noted that authorities had begun addressing the issue through repeal and re-enactment of prior budget laws to bring some spending onto the books, though updated implementation reports were still needed.

This aligns with the IMF’s 2026 Article IV Consultation (Executive Board concluded June 1, 2026; staff report published around June 8–9).

The report highlighted a statistical discrepancy of 2.7% of GDP in 2025 consolidated government operations, which “could reflect spending not captured by the Office of the Accountant General.”

It also referenced additional capital spending outside the previous budget perimeter that is now being incorporated.

Executive Directors expressed concerns about off-budget spending and called for faster progress on budget processes, public financial management (PFM), fiscal reporting, transparency, and accountability.

The IMF has acknowledged Nigeria’s reform progress under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, including fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange unification, and revenue measures, but consistently flagged gaps in fiscal data comprehensiveness and budget credibility as areas needing improvement.

Political Reactions

Opposition figures quickly amplified the IMF comments.

Atiku Abubakar, former vice president of Nigeria  called for an immediate probe into the alleged ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded spending, describing it as fiscal impunity.

Other critics, including activist Omoyele Sowore and Labour Party leader Peter Obi, used the disclosure to question government accountability.

Government Context and Reforms

The Finance Ministry statement clarified distinctions between appropriation, authorization, financing, and statistical reporting under international standards (such as Government Finance Statistics).

Many items cited in public debate, statutory allocations to agencies and development commissions, cost-of-collection retained by revenue agencies, Federal Capital Territory spending, special interventions for security/infrastructure, and debt service, are established by Acts of the National Assembly and disclosed in various fiscal reports, even if their presentation differs from the annual Appropriation Act.

Oyedele noted that President Tinubu had already moved to address overlapping budgets. In his December 19, 2025 presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, Tinubu requested an end to multiple and overlapping budgets and the adoption of a single, cohesive framework. The 2026 budget was subsequently passed and signed into law.

Nigeria continues PFM reforms, including digitalization of financial processes, treasury management improvements, and efforts to align budget presentation with international standards. These have been positively noted by the IMF and credit rating agencies, the statement said.

“Public debate is both welcome and essential in a democratic society,” Oyedele added. “However, it should be based on facts and an accurate understanding of Nigeria’s constitutional and fiscal framework. Mischaracterising technical observations as evidence of unlawful expenditure neither advances informed public discourse nor strengthens democratic accountability.”

The government reaffirmed its commitment to prudent fiscal management, transparency, and working with the National Assembly and oversight institutions to strengthen governance in line with international best practices.

The episode underscores persistent challenges in Nigeria’s fiscal transparency at a time when accurate data on deficits, borrowing needs, and public investment is critical for investor confidence, debt sustainability assessments, and coordination between fiscal and monetary policy.

While the government frames the IMF observations as technical reporting issues rather than illegality, and points to ongoing reforms including budget harmonization, the public and political reaction highlights how statistical discrepancies can quickly become flashpoints in a high-debt, low-revenue environment.

Continued progress on bringing all spending within a unified, timely reporting framework will be closely watched by markets and multilateral partners.

The post FG Denies Operating ‘Shadow Budget’ after IMF Official Flags ₦8 trillion Unreported Spending appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The Federal Government has evacuated another batch of Nigerians from South Africa as it continues the evacuation of citizens affected by the ongoing anti-migrant violence.

The latest group arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Friday, July 3, 2026, aboard a chartered Air Peace flight from Johannesburg.

Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, minister of Foreign Affairs, said the flight brought back 268 Nigerians, along with two officials and crew members.

In a statement posted on her X account, the minister said President Bola Tinubu had directed that the evacuation exercise should continue despite the expiration of the June 30 ultimatum issued by anti-migrant groups in South Africa.

“The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has directed that the evacuation of Nigerian nationals from South Africa who are at risk as a result of the ongoing xenophobic protests and attacks should continue, even after the June 30, 2026 deadline,” she said.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu noted that three earlier evacuation flights had already brought home 593 Nigerians before the deadline, adding that the exercise remains open to all Nigerians who voluntarily registered, were screened and cleared for evacuation.

“The evacuations remain ongoing. The Federal Government is committed to bringing home safely our nationals who voluntarily registered to be evacuated and have been duly screened and cleared,” she said.

She added that the government-funded Air Peace flight departed O.R. Tambo International Airport at 5:36 a.m.

“Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in adherence to that unbreakable bond between citizen and state, remains dedicated to this mandate. The protection of our citizens abroad remains our priority, a central pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda. The dignity of our citizens abroad matters, and we remain committed to upholding it,” she added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement issued on Thursday by its spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the latest evacuation would move the government closer to completing the return of Nigerians who voluntarily registered to leave South Africa.

The ministry said 593 Nigerians had already been evacuated in previous operations.

According to the ministry, the first batch of 258 evacuees arrived in Lagos on June 11 aboard a special Air Peace flight and were received by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, before being handed over to relevant ministries, departments and agencies for documentation and profiling.

It explained that logistical challenges delayed the second evacuation flight, forcing some Nigerians to remain temporarily at the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria, where they were accommodated by the mission.

The ministry added that a Nigerian philanthropist paid the airfare for 66 stranded Nigerians, who returned to Lagos on June 24, while another 269 evacuees arrived on June 30 through the second government-arranged evacuation flight.

It also disclosed that three additional evacuation flights had been scheduled to bring home about 700 more Nigerians who voluntarily registered, were screened and cleared for evacuation.

The ministry also dismissed allegations that officials at the Nigerian Mission demanded money from intending evacuees.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to place on record that all the special evacuation flights are fully paid for by the Federal Government and at no cost to the returnees.

“This clarification is necessitated by insinuations and false allegations that some staff of the Nigerian Mission were requesting money before enlisting our nationals for the evacuation flights. That is totally false, fake news and should be discarded.”

The Federal Government has also revealed plans to engage South African authorities on compensation for businesses and properties abandoned by affected Nigerians.

The post Xenophobia: Nigeria’s South Africa Evacuations Near 600 as Third Flight Brings Home 269 More appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Only 5% of Africa’s digitally delivered services are currently traded within the continent, presenting a significant untapped opportunity for intra-African trade, investment and digital transformation.

This was stated by Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s minister for Industry Trade and Investment, at the 2nd AfCFTA Digital Trade Forum.

Held in Lagos on Tuesday, July, 1, 2026, Oduwole said Nigeria is taking deliberate steps to unlock the opportunities offered by digital trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Nigeria’s approach to unlocking that opportunity has been deliberate and consultative. In April 2025, FMITI undertook the first comprehensive mapping of Nigeria’s digital services ecosystem. Through that exercise, we developed Africa’s first directory of digital services firms, disaggregated by sector, and identified five priority expansion markets for Nigerian businesses including  Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa,” she said.

Oduwale added that the mapping exercise also revealed an important policy gap.

She said many digital businesses no longer fit neatly into traditional industry classifications, making it necessary to update existing frameworks.

“Many digital businesses no longer fit neatly within traditional industry classifications. We are therefore updating our business classification framework to better reflect today’s digital economy, ensuring that our policies, incentives and support programmes are designed around the businesses that are actually driving growth.”

The minister also noted that trade ministers, policymakers and technical experts from across Africa recently met in Abuja to review progress on the implementation of the AfCFTA and discuss ways to expand Intra-African Trade.

“Over the past few days, Trade Ministers, policymakers and technical experts gathered in Abuja to review progress on implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area and to consider what more is required to unlock its full potential. Those discussions reinforced an important point: negotiating this agreement was only the beginning. The real value lies in whether businesses can leverage it to scale across our continent.”

Oduwale said governments have a responsibility to build an ecosystem that makes it easier for startups and digital businesses to grow across Africa.

“We often speak about Africa’s unicorns when we talk about digital trade and the digital economy. The ecosystem we celebrate today was built by founders who had to be exceptionally resilient just to get started, and even more resilient to scale.

“Our responsibility now is to ensure that the next generation does not have to rely on that same level of resilience. That it becomes easier to build, easier to scale, and easier for capital to find great businesses. That is what success should look like. That is how we move from ambition to implementation,” she said.

The minister said Nigeria has already built a strong foundation for digital trade through its fintech ecosystem, ICT sector and innovation landscape, but stressed that harmonised policies are needed to support seamless cross-border transactions.

“If a business can build a world-class product in Lagos but struggles to receive payments in another African market or navigate different regulatory requirements every time it crosses a border, then we have not yet unlocked the full promise of the AfCFTA. That is the work ahead of us. It is also the challenge and the opportunity that brings us together today.

“Nigeria’s digital economy already provides a strong foundation for this work. ICT contributes close to 18% of our GDP. Nigeria is home to approximately 28% of Africa’s fintech companies, and more than 60% of Nigerians are under the age of 25, giving us one of Africa’s largest pools of digital talent,” she added.

She added that while Nigeria’s digital ecosystem is expanding commendably, growth must be sustained through the creation of a policy environment that supports innovation and enables businesses to thrive across African markets.

The post AfCFTA: Africa Trades Just 5% of Its Digital Services within its Own Borders appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Nigeria recorded more than 27,600 fibre cable cut incidents and 4,210 cases of cable theft in 2025, the country’s telecoms regulator said on Tuesday, underscoring the infrastructure risks weighing on the West African nation’s push to expand broadband access.

Dr. Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said the figures, which also included more than 27,000 cases of access denial to telecoms infrastructure had informed the government’s decision to designate telecoms infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure, a status intended to give it stronger legal protection.

Speaking at a Critical Conversation Forum on FTTH organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Lagos, Maida said Nigeria’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) penetration remains low despite rapid growth in overall internet use, with roughly 265,000 active FTTH subscriptions nationwide as of the forum date.

That puts Nigeria below the African average FTTH penetration rate of 2.5%, and far behind the 47% average seen in more mature broadband markets globally, Maida said.

Nigeria had 154.72 million active internet subscriptions as of April 2026, up from 141.99 million a year earlier, while broadband penetration rose to 55.67% from 48.81% over the same period, according to NCC data cited by Maida.

As of March 2026, 4G accounted for 53.76% of mobile generation market share and 5G for 4.20%, with older network technologies continuing to decline.

Nigerians consumed an average of about 1.4 million terabytes of data monthly over the preceding six months, Maida said.

Right-of-way costs, backbone expansion

The NCC is conducting a Wholesale Fixed Broadband Market Assessment aimed at improving infrastructure sharing and affordability in the wholesale fixed broadband market, Maida said.

Thirteen of Nigeria’s 36 states have fully waived right-of-way charges for telecoms operators, while 16 others have adopted a recommended rate of 145 naira per linear metre set by the National Economic Council, he said.

Maida also pointed to Project BRIDGE, a federal initiative to extend Nigeria’s national fibre backbone by about 90,000 kilometres to reach all 774 local government areas. Design work has begun on 40,000 kilometres of that network, he said.

Tony Emoekpere, president of ATCON, drew attention to the rapid growth of investment in fibre-to-the-home infrastructure in Nigeria and commended ipNX Nigeria Limited for international recognition as an early pioneer of FTTH deployment in the country.

He identified infrastructure sharing as one of the most pressing unresolved issues facing the industry, questioning whether adequate standards or frameworks currently exist to govern the volume of infrastructure deployed on shared rights-of-way and utility poles, and cited poor cable management practices on poles as a visible and urgent industry challenge requiring coordinated action.

He stated that mobile networks are not designed to deliver full broadband, positioning FTTH and other last-mile fibre technologies as the only sustainable route to achieving national broadband penetration targets, and called on the industry to move toward greater self-regulation on infrastructure sharing standards rather than waiting for regulatory intervention.

Speaking during a panel session, examining the alignment of policy and regulatory frameworks across federal and state government in support of FTTH deployment, Mr. Biodun Omoniyi, MD/CEO of VDT Communications Limited, welcomed the growing number of states waiving right-of-way charges but cautioned that RoW represents only a fraction of the total cost of service delivery, and urged state governments to go further by legislating protective frameworks for licensed infrastructure, particularly to guard against damage arising from uncoordinated public works.

Responding to a question on ATCON’s role in driving alignment, Mr Segun Okuneye, chairman CleanUp Committee at ATCON, stated that the association is actively engaging government to reposition right-of-way away from being treated purely as a source of internally generated revenue, and toward being recognised as an enabler of digital economic activity, noting that thriving businesses ultimately generate more sustainable tax revenue for government.

On his part, Mr Egerton Idehen, chief broadband officer, MTN Nigeria, called for durable, long-term policy support to sustain network investment, citing FTTH penetration of approximately 1.5 per cent against Nigeria’s housing stock as critically low.

He identified right-of-way charges from state governments, alongside informal levies from community development associations (CDAs) and land-owning interests (Omo-onile meaning ‘land grabbers’), as compounding cost burdens requiring government intervention, and called additionally for sustained infrastructure quality standards and stronger customer education to support investment confidence.

Mr John Nwachukwu, chief strategy and executive officer, Zora Communications Limited, addressing the transition from policy to implementation, particularly regarding Dig-Once policy, observed that regulation frequently lags behind deployment in practice, and called for stronger collective commitment among stakeholders, framing infrastructure protection not as a revenue question but as a matter of socio-economic impact requiring urgent, coordinated action.

In response to a question from Engineer Kazeem on uncoordinated pole-mounting by FTTH operators, panellists indicated that monitoring and alignment to required deployment standards is ongoing.

Mr Adetola Akinmade, chief technology officer, FiberOne, addressing the framework needed to protect telecommunications infrastructure now that it has been designated Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII), stated that telecoms infrastructure must be recognised as a national asset, and called for the establishment of a Digital Utility Corridor standard, alongside stronger public awareness and enforcement.

Responding to a question on the concentration of FTTH deployment in urban areas, panellists noted that fibre deployment remains highly capital-intensive, with project economics varying significantly between locations, such that a uniform national policy is unlikely to suit all markets.

It was further noted that even in states that have waived right-of-way charges, multiple agencies continue to impose other levies, and panellists called for nationally coordinated policy with the buy-in of sub-national government to close this gap.

The session as moderated Mr Adeyemi Adepetun, deputy business editor, Guardian Newspapers.

Continue reading content on ATCON FTTH Forum, click here.

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