E-Business
African Software Developers Require Persistence, Perseverance- Seni Sulyman

The idea of Andela started in Lagos, but has evolved into a global brand with presence in Nigeria and Kenya. It is a global Engineering company, supplying African Developers to international companies.
In 2016, Andela raised $24 million from the Chan/Zuckerberg initiative, set up by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, to train African Engineers. I was with Seni Sulyman, Country Director, Andela recently and we had a very interesting discussion on the impact of empowering African Software Developers.
Seni Sulyman, stated that Andela is really focused on finding some of the best talents in Nigeria, convert them into amazing Software Developers and model them to go ahead and build the future of Nigeria.
He also stated that, it looks for and finds companies in the world that have a lot of problems they are trying to solve, using technology and cannot find people to solve it for them around them.
Andela, then, brings these companies in contact with these trained Software Developers to solve their problems for them.
“We have an application system online, so, right now, every Month, we focus on running an application cycle”, he stressed, when asked on the mode of getting these young men and women, who are trained in Software Development.
Seni, however stated that, some of these enthusiastic young young men and women find Andela by themselves. He stated that the application system online is rigorous and challenging, to the extent that, people who applied, but did not eventually get into the Andela prgram, always said they have learned a lot from the application process alone.
“So, we do a personality test and we also do, essentially, a psycho-metric test, where people are being asked to solve problems, solve challenges, so ee see how quickly they can learn and a big part of the application is that, we give you a study kit, you take it away with you, you spend a few Months working on it and then, you take a test”, he emphasised.
He stated that the entire application process takes about a Month or a Month and a half to complete, but it could take up to six Months, depending on your experience on Software Development, prior to your applying to Andela.
Seni stated that there is no age limit or barrier for anyone that wants to apply to Andela. “We truly belief that anyone can do this. It takes certain personality traits, such as persistence, perseverance and a huge desire to actually learn in corporate feedback”, he stated.
“So far, over 60,000 people have applied to Andela”, he stated, stressing that in Lagos alone, there are about 200 trained Developers and each of them have one or two people they have mentored or mentoring. “Each individual that gets into Andela to work already has a network of people that they have built that is getting value from them”, he opined.
Seni stated that he is ot worried that a lot of younger students are not going for STEM courses currently, which is thought might pose a problem of feeding the tech pipe need in future. “The main ingredient are not necessarily a degree.
The main ingredients for us, are, again, people that can think critically, people that can solve problems, people that can go through challenging circumstances and succeed and overcome”, he emphasised.
He stated that there are people who never had a degree as well as people that never studied any STEM courses at Andela.
He, however, stated that he is worried for Nigeria. “I think that, at a higher level, you do need a large population that has studied STEM because, actually, they can go ahead and build other sectors that are related”, he posited.
Seni is of the view that, with the right leadership that has a focus of adding value and having the thought of making the next generation better than the last, the issue of getting more young students to embrace STEM courses will ultimately be solved.
On the notion that that Andela is taking our best minds out of the stores of Nigeria, Seni stated that, “if you want to be the best at anything, find the people in the world that are the best at that thing and go and learn from them”, he noted.
He also stated that apprenticeship is the oldest way of learning and that is exactly what Andela is doing. The Andela idea, he emphasised, is to get these Nigerian guys to study and work along side the best tech guys in the word and eventually have some of them come back to Nigeria to start their own companies.
Seni stated that he is excited with progress made, so far, in the Nigerian Startups ecosystem. On a final note, Seni went on to advice young Startups to come into the space with the right reasons, which is adding value and not look for short cuts.
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.
E-Business
NIMC Says NIN Services Back Online

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.
E-Business
Report Reveals African Organizations Dangerously Overestimating Cyber defences

Many businesses are overestimating their defence against cyber attacks, which creates a significant human risk blind spot. A new KnowBe4 report exposes a worrying disconnect between what leaders think about their cyber security readiness and what employees experience.
According to the KnowBe4 Africa Human Risk Management Report 2025, based on insights from cyber security decision-makers across 30 African countries, despite high awareness, a critical gap exists in turning that awareness into actual readiness and resilient behaviour.
Key findings from the KnowBe4 Africa Human Risk Management Report 2025:
Confidence vs awareness: While cyber security awareness is high, leaders express uncertainty about their workforce’s ability to act on that awareness. Many feel employees may overestimate their capabilities in recognising, reporting and mitigating threats.
The need for adaptive and personalised security awareness training: Many companies fail to personalise security awareness training to specific roles or risk exposures.
Widespread BYOD usage: A large percentage of employees (between 41% and 80%) use their personal devices for work.
AI policy development is lagging: Many companies (46%) are still in the process of developing policies for using AI tools in the workplace.
Regional variation: Southern Africa trains more, East Africa governs AI better and West/Central Africa sees the most human-related security incidents.
This gap is significant because Africa has become an attractive target to cyber criminals, especially those that launch AI-powered attacks. A LexisNexis Risk Solutions study found 60% of South African organisations have seen an increase in AI-facilitated financial crime – above the 56% global average.
Kehinde Popoola, regional manager and key representative for West and East Africa at Rubrik, said digital transformation is gaining momentum in Africa and companies are more exposed to cyber risk. The Rubrik executive adds that amid an increase in threats, it is crucial that organisations adopt an assumed breach mindset.
The KnowBe4 research shows that cyber security preparedness and the actual structures required to support secure behaviour seem misaligned.
The report highlights that just 10% of cyber security leaders are fully confident that staff would report a phishing attack or other cyber threat, despite rating employee security awareness of cyber threats at four out of five or higher.
There is also a significant perception gap between decision-makers and general employees in Africa regarding security awareness training, with 68% of leaders believing that training is tailored to roles, compared to only a third of employees feeling adequately trained.
KnowBe4 asserts that many organisations only conduct annual or biannual training that is too generic to effectively change behaviour, contributing to uncertainty about its effectiveness.
According to another report, the KnowBe4 African Cybersecurity and Awareness Report 2025, which focuses on end-user based responses, only 43% of African respondents felt confident in their ability to recognise a cyber threat, and just one in three believed their security awareness training was adequately tailored to their role. This comparison suggests the development of a dangerous perception gap in many organisations.
“There’s a disconnect here – between what leaders think is happening and what employees are actually experiencing,” says Anna Collard, SVP content strategy and evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. “The data shows that without procedural and cultural follow-through, awareness simply doesn’t translate into readiness.”
“The continent’s cyber security posture may be more confident than it is truly resilient,” Collard adds.
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