E-Business
Critical Factors to Fuel the Data-Driven Enterprise
Successful digital businesses depend on data to provide the insights necessary to deliver new innovations, products, and services.
But those insights are only as good as the underlying data. As the number of business decision-makers who depend on real-time data increases, the issue of data governance grows increasingly important.
Data governance is the overall management of the availability, usability, integrity and security of all data used in an enterprise. A good data governance plan will include the existence of a governing body, a defined set of procedures and a plan to execute these procedures.
This is according to Anton Jacobsz, managing director at Networks Unlimited Africa, in a comment on an article written by John Walton from Information Management. The article notes that, “The term ‘data rich, information poor’ refers to organisations that have not established the critical components needed to transform their data into actionable insights.… To become data-driven, organisations must provide decision-makers with timely access to clean, consistent, reliable and actionable information, while avoiding the myriad challenges that lie in the way.”
Commenting on the article, Jacobsz clarified, “In 2011, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who is generally regarded as being the inventor of the World Wide Web, commented that data was the ‘new raw material of the 21st century’, likening it to the significance, in the past, of raw commodities such as iron, aluminium and petroleum products, which are all used to produce various processed manufactured goods.
“This interesting comment from Sir Berners-Lee sums up the true importance of data in today’s world, in which we value data for its ability to present insights that in turn help to guide business decision-makers. The right data at the right time can present critical deciding factors that can leap-frog a business ahead of its rivals. However, as we know, the quality of our output begins with the quality of our input. This is where data governance comes into its own: it is key to delivering consistent and reliable information.”
The author sets out eight critical elements that underpin a successful, long-term information management strategy, as follows:
Governance
Any enterprise information management initiative must blend strong C-Suite sponsorship with representatives from all areas of the business to create a blended team of clinical, IT, and business stakeholders.
Data governance
In order to make accurate business decisions, it’s essential that leadership has access to clean, consistent, and reliable information.
Master data management (MDM)
MDM is closely intertwined with data governance, and is a set of tools and associated methodologies that foster the integration and maintenance of master data. Data stewards must be able to easily maintain the master data domains for which they are responsible.
Metadata management
Metadata management helps companies develop a more holistic understanding of their data by providing easy access to data definitions, formulas, and other essential details. These solutions also facilitate data lineage, which provides a visual depiction of the data’s origin and any changes that occurred prior to it appearing on an executive dashboard or report, which works to create a high degree of data transparency.
Business intelligence (BI)
BI tools enable users to drill down into subsets of information, conduct ad hoc queries, run predictive modelling, and a variety of other functionalities essential to becoming truly data-driven. A key challenge hindering more widespread BI adoption is that many organisations have a poor information management platform, also known as data architecture.
Data architecture
The journey from raw data into actionable analytics is a complicated process. To be successful, companies should adopt a three-tiered data architecture approach in which each layer is designed and modelled to meet specific objectives, namely a “landing area”, a “conformance layer” and finally an “analytic layer,” in which data is transformed into a usable format for BI initiatives.
Data acquisition
In order to populate the data architecture, companies need access to data acquisition tools, also known as Extraction/Transformation/Load, or ETL, tools. Additionally, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive strategy to detect changes in the source system data.
Technical architecture
In order to meet the demand for high performance and reliability, a robust technical architecture composed of dedicated, properly configured servers is required.
As stated in the article, attempts by business owners to become data-driven are often handicapped by ambiguity surrounding the project. Another factor that hampers the move to a data-driven enterprise is a lack of awareness and understanding of the people, processes and technology considerations that are required to make these initiatives successful.
“A data governance strategy makes sure that data is handled in a proper and compliant manner across the business, and is the foundation of effective data management. Data management sets out to ensure that an organisation has different types of data stored in the right place, and that it is being used for the correct reasons. Data management oversees the discarding of unnecessary data, and that data flows through the business cos-effectively and efficiently. In South Africa, the looming implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) reminds us of the importance of data governance,” concluded Jacobsz.
E-Business
Jumia Replatforms its Retail Media Program to Mirakl Ads to Enhance Marketplace Advertising
Jumia, e-Commerce platform in Africa, has partnered with Mirakl to elevate its marketplace advertising capabilities by deploying Mirakl Ads, a retail media solution uniquely designed to optimize performance for both first-party and third-party sellers.
This move strengthens Jumia’s efforts to deliver more value to its sellers, enhance the customer experience, and unlock profitable and sustainable new sources of revenue. Retail media is a rapidly growing sector within the e-commerce industry, expected to reach $204 billion by 2027 with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2%.
Jumia’s adoption of Mirakl Ads positions the company at the forefront of digital advertising innovation in Africa, unlocking significant opportunities to increase revenue generation. With growing usage across its platform, Jumia is well-placed to capitalize on this momentum by delivering improved advertising tools to sellers and more relevant, personalized product recommendations to customers.
“Advertising is a key growth lever in our marketplace strategy, and this partnership with Mirakl allows us to accelerate that journey with speed and scale.
“By integrating Mirakl Ads, we’re empowering our sellers with smarter tools and delivering a better, more personalized experience to our customers. It also positions us to unlock new revenue streams while deepening engagement across our platform. Importantly, this partnership supports our ambition to grow gross profit and accelerate our path to profitability,” said Francis Dufay, CEO of Jumia.
The collaboration is a testament to Mirakl’s ability to rapidly deploy enterprise-grade solutions, with Jumia launching Mirakl Ads in just two months. This showcases the platform’s ease of integration and fast time-to-value. Now live, the solution equips Jumia’s advertising ecosystem with advanced automation, AI-powered optimization, and seamless campaign management.
With Mirakl Ads, all advertisers – from the biggest brands to the smallest marketplace sellers – can now boost their sales by leveraging advertising campaigns in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Ivory Coast.
“Jumia’s decision to replatform to Mirakl Ads is a powerful validation of our platform’s ability to deliver immediate and measurable impact for leading marketplaces. By combining Mirakl’s cutting-edge retail media technology with Jumia’s deep market reach, we are enabling sellers to grow faster and customers to benefit from a more relevant, engaging experience. This partnership is a true milestone, not only for Jumia and Mirakl, but for the future of digital commerce across Africa.” said Adrien Nussenbaum, cofounder and co-CEO of Mirakl.
Through this partnership, Jumia is taking a decisive step in accelerating monetization, improving customer engagement, and advancing its long-term financial performance and profitability.
E-Business
Galaxy Backbone, Rural Electrification Agency Commit to Deepening Digital and Energy Access Across Nigeria
In a major step towards deepening Nigeria’s digital and energy infrastructure, Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a brief but impactful ceremony held in Abuja.
The MoU signals a collaborative effort between both agencies to enhance Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda by integrating reliable energy solutions with cutting-edge ICT infrastructure, especially in higher institutions, Government institutions, underserved and rural communities across the country.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju, described the partnership as “a landmark moment in Nigeria’s journey towards a digitally empowered, sustainably powered, and inclusively connected nation.”
“This partnership exemplifies what is possible when two visionary government institutions come together, united by shared goals and driven by the desire to improve the lives of Nigerians everywhere,” he said.
Professor Adeyanju emphasized that while Galaxy Backbone’s core mandate is to provide secure digital infrastructure that powers government operations, reliable and sustainable energy particularly in rural areas is essential to fully actualize digital transformation.
Major highlights of the MoU include:
- Solar electrification of some of GBB’s Metro Fibre sites in Abuja by the REA.
- Powering Hostels of Higher Institutions across the country through the Fibre to Hostel Project being driven by the Federal Ministry of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE).
- Support for the rollout of the 774 Local Government Digitization Initiative, beginning with six pilot Local Government Areas.
- Provision of LANs, access points, cloud services, colocation infrastructure, and temporary connectivity to enhance REA’s operational facilities nationwide.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency Mr Abba Aliyu, in his remarks, expressed optimism that this collaboration will further bridge the digital and energy divide across Nigeria. He noted that by combining REA’s achievements in expanding energy access with GBB’s robust ICT backbone, both agencies are poised to create lasting impact across governance, education, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.
This partnership is also in direct alignment with the Renewed Hope Digital Transformation Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which envisions an inclusive digital economy powered by innovation and sustainable energy.
The ceremony was attended by top management from both organizations as well as members of the media.
With today’s signing, Galaxy Backbone and the Rural Electrification Agency have set the tone for stronger, smarter, and more inclusive public service delivery powered by strategic inter-agency collaboration.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced the restoration of its National Identification Number (NIN) verification services nationwide.
This, according to the commission, follows the completion of a system maintenance exercise.
In a statement issued on Friday, the NIMC confirmed that all previously disrupted services have resumed.
“NIMC wishes to inform the general public that the recent technical maintenance has been completed and all services have been restored,” the statement read.
The NIMC urged Nigerians seeking to enroll for NIN to visit the its official website to locate the nearest enrollment centers.
The agency also encouraged individuals to make use of its self-service portal for tasks such as data modification, including name changes.
To further ease the verification process, the Commission recommended downloading the NIMC NameAuth app (oath.app) from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store for quick and secure NIN authentication.
NIMC expressed appreciation for the public’s patience during the service disruption, which had impacted banks, telecom providers, and government agencies that rely on NIN verification for their operations.
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