General News
iCyrus is Furniture & Joinery Revolutionary Online Market- Imo

Mrs. Alero Imo is the Managing Director of iCyrus Online Merchants Limited. She is also the Managing Director of Cyrus Kingdom Development Company (‘Cyrus’ for short, a furniture and joinery company).
She is an architect by profession, and worked briefly at the elite architectural practice of JamesCubitt (Architects) before taking up the role of MD at Cyrus, a role she has held on to for over 20 years.
She is a regular speaker at programmes geared towards youth empowerment and mentors an average of 15/20 young boys and girls on a yearly basis. She spoke to peter oluka on the launch of iCyrus.com.ng
The Concept: iCyrus.com.ng
iCyrus is an online store, especially for ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) enthusiasts, project managers, contractors and supplied/produced materials for other businesses.
We are a rapidly growing business with the primary aim of supplying our customers with products and services for home improvement. We are committed to Creating a platform for DIY supplies where everything you need to improve your home or complete your building project will be found.
We stock an extensive variety of products which include tools and safety equipment, furniture and joinery products, bathroom and laundry, adhesives and sealants as well as other affiliated products servicing the construction industry in Nigeria.
With our increasing range, you’ll find anything you need to complete your home or building project at a competitive price!
Online Market Mission
Our mission in the online market space is simply to be the foremost home improvement supply store in Nigeria; selling tools and safety equipment, furniture and joinery products, bathroom and laundry, adhesives and sealants as well as other affiliated products servicing the construction industry in Nigeria whilst providing our clients with the best quality at a fair price. This is summed up in our slogan: ‘One Stop Shop for Home Improvement’.
What Informed iCyrus Online Market Presence
We have been in the manufacturing sector producing furniture and joinery products. But, I have always wanted to have vendor platform which is not going to be our products alone, rather any company/body in the distribution chain. iCyrus is that platform.
iCyrus to business model entails that you do have to be a ‘great’ contractor to come and put your goods on iCyrus.
We serve small manufacturing, but you must get the procedure right such as having NAFDAC, SONCAP or SON registration.
Then, leave the product to us to vendor for you. There are a lot of suppliers that do not have the capacity to enlarge their business because they can’t go online and capture the wider market. iCyrus to customer model also depicts you need not send somebody to, probably, Mushin, whereas you reside in Surulere, to get such material.
Overseas, they have stores for DIY products. It is a luxury to pay somebody to change your electric bulb; you should be able to do that! You should be able to screw something that has gone off; assemble your table. You can decide to do your kitchen yourself; all you need is to go on iCyrus.com.ng and buy a completely knocked down material with the manual, you can do it. Everybody can have beautiful home. It is not just when you travel abroad that you seem ‘wowed’ by the furniture or joinery. You do not even need to spend so much on it.
Expansion Plans
Eventually, as we expand, we are looking at a fully automated platform which will incorporate franchises like warehousing in different States.
That is one good thing about online; you know exactly where the market is coming and create warehouses in different States to serve that niche for easier accessibility by the mass market.
Assessment Nigeria’s e-Commerce Space
I don’t think we have enough. They are not like physical stores; though it is still a new area at its rudimental stage. However, we need more because that is the place to be in the nearest future. As people are returning from work, tired, the next and closest place for them to shop is online.
As a country we need to catch on to the internet community and position ourselves as part of the growth.
iCyrus Launched in Period of Economic Recession:
There are two business models to iCyrus: Business to Business (B2B) and the Business to Customers (B2C). The B2B of iCyrus is going to create jobs for suppliers/manufacturers because what happens is that most of people do not have platforms to sell their goods.
Therefore, iCyrus is an open store to anybody/company who can manufacture quality products and less expensive, thereby, reaching the mass market.
For instance, there is a manufacturer in Surulere who is producing paint; a quality one for that matter, but this manufacturer is limited in sells.
The company would search for buyers, but online you have a catchment area of minimum of 93 million (according to Nigeria Communications Commission statistics). All you need to occupy yourself with is manufacturing and allow iCyrus to do the sales for you.
Quality Assurance
We have been in furniture and joinery business for about two decades. We manufacture and have access to the market, knowing the paths to quality products and raw materials areas.
Sometimes, we have to import the material; we know where they are, different producers. So, we hope that will help us as benchmark to good quality control.
We have people on ground in our team who are able to verify. As members of associations such as MANCAP, we can also check the quality of products before they are listed on the site.
How Furniture & Joinery Market Will Benefit
iCyrus is such a market place for the Furniture & Joinery market in Nigeria and beyond. Like I said earlier, whatever you bring to sell, we will charge only 10 per cent of the sales. The charge is just for administration and to enable site be up and running.
Plans for Delivery & Timing
It depends on the purchases. iCyrus has things like doors; you can order. But there are doors that are custom-made for you. In other words, it cannot be immediate.
We have a minimum of 14 days for certain products be produced; because it is being done to your taste. For others that are readily available, immediately the payment is made we inform you about the delivery plans.
Merchants Registration/Accreditation
To become a merchant, we have a form you have to fill; though not an online, but we can mail it to you.
The form serves as a contract agreement which we issue to vendors, because we have to be sure you have certain amount of raw material or you can be able to execute a job/an order.
There is no point listing that you have 10 units of a certain door and when about 100 people place orders you fail to deliver.
Meanwhile, on our part, we are checking the specifications for standards. The specifications are not our thinking, but as specified by Nigeria. If SONCAP decides this is how something should be, we are going to follow that format to the last.
General News
EFCC Says Corrupt Politicians are Using Crypto Wallets to Launder Money

Ola Olukoyede, chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has raised the alarm that some corrupt Nigerian politicians are now hiding their illicit wealth in cryptocurrencies to evade scrutiny and detection by anti-graft agencies.

Ola Olukoyede, chairman, EFCC
The EFCC boss said the agency had uncovered a growing trend where fraudulent public officials now used cryptocurrency wallets to stash stolen public funds and conduct illicit transactions.
Olukoyede made the revelation at an event commemorating Africa Anti-Corruption Day.
The event was held simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan, Oyo State.
Other speakers at the event lamented that Nigerians usually fell victim to crypto fraud, including the recent CBEX scam, where Nigerians lost over N1.3tn.
Olukoyede said, “Virtual asset fraud is on the rise. Our findings show that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative blackness of anti-corruption agencies.
“Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets and payment for services are being done through this window,” he said.
Olukoyede warned that while the rise of virtual assets had transformed financial transactions globally, it had also created new avenues for money laundering and financial crimes.
He said, “Technology is moving at a supersonic speed around the world.
“The advent of virtual assets is a response to one of the qualities of money as a store of value like it is known in our elementary economies.”
“However, as with every progressive innovation, fraud starts to usually evolve, evolve ways of perverting their genuine purposes,” he said.
He added that the EFCC was not helpless in the face of the sophisticated schemes, noting that proactive training and intelligence sharing had enabled the commission to identify and investigate such cases.
General News
Airtel Nigeria Drives BFSI and Utility Sector Innovation with Industry-wide Workshop

Airtel Nigeria, telecommunications and digital solutions provider, has reemphasised its commitment to national development with a two-day workshop for companies in Nigeria’s Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) and utility sectors.
Held from July 8 to 9, 2025 at the Lagos Continental, the exclusive event brought together C-suite executives and industry thought leaders to co-create transformative and tech-driven solutions for these critical industries.
Themed “Banking on Innovation: Powering Financial Services with Connectivity” on 1 and “Accelerating Nigeria’s Digital Leap: Smarter Networks, Smarter Business” on Day 2, the sessions were designed to identify critical pain points, unlock business potential, and drive smarter, more connected operations across two of the nation’s most essential sectors.
Delivering the keynote address, Dinesh Balsingh, Managing Director/CEO of Airtel Nigeria, reaffirmed Airtel’s dedication to enabling and driving Nigeria’s digital transformation across the finance and energy sectors.
Speaking on the timeliness of the workshop, Airtel Nigeria’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh said, “From power and water to finance, transportation, and logistics, this is a defining moment for every sector. The real question isn’t whether to adopt digital solutions, but how quickly and intelligently we can do so. At Airtel Nigeria, we’re moving beyond basic connectivity and becoming a true digital partner to the industries we serve.”
He highlighted Airtel’s categories of enterprise solutions that has been created to improve quality of life. These groupings include Internet of Things (IoT) for such services as smart metering, leak detection, energy optimisation, and real-time asset tracking; Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), which enables secure, multi-channel customer engagement via SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, and USSD; as well asl Network as a Service (NaaS), which delivers flexible, secure connectivity with cloud-ready agility.
Mr. Balsingh added that, “Nigeria’s power and energy industries are under growing pressure to modernise. Legacy infrastructure, fragmented systems, and lack of real-time visibility are major obstacles. Airtel is stepping in with the right tools, not just to connect, but to transform. With IoT, CPaaS, and NaaS, we’re laying the groundwork for smarter operations, improved service delivery, and better outcomes for businesses and consumers alike.”
Abhishek Biswal, Chief Business Officer, Digital Services at Airtel India, brought substantial insight to the discourse with a demonstration of Airtel’s IoT Hub and its transformative impact on energy distribution.
Biswal said, “The future of finance and energy is digital, and that future must be secure, scalable, and seamless. When financial players and utility providers partner with telcos like Airtel, we’re not just connecting systems; we’re building a smarter digital ecosystem for everyone.”
Reinforcing the CEO’s position, Ogo Ofomata, Director, Airtel Business, called for collaboration among the participating sector and their stakeholders.
“We don’t take lightly the trust you have put in us. Airtel operates in what we call the enabler industry. Sometimes we don’t even know there’s a problem until we come together like this. This workshop is about understanding your needs and working side by side to design solutions that truly fit,” she said.
In his remarks, Luc Serviant, Group Enterprise Business Director at Airtel Africa, highlighted the company’s role in driving digital transformation through sustained investments in 5G and LEO satellite connectivity, aimed at boosting remote operations and expanding access in underserved regions across the finance and energy sectors.
He said, “At Airtel, we understand that the future of is going digital, and reliable connectivity is the backbone of that future. From 5G to LEO satellite integration, we are investing in intelligent infrastructure that empowers service providers to operate more efficiently, respond in real-time, and deliver uninterrupted services to millions of Nigerians. This isn’t just about innovation; it’s about building the digital foundation that will power the nation’s next chapter.”
This workshop, which continues the series of sectoral engagements within Nigeria’s growing economy, concluded with feedback from stakeholders who called for the inclusion of regulatory bodies such as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in future editions.
General News
AfCFTA Credit Fund Makes First Investment With $10m Loan

The Credit Fund of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund has successfully closed its first investment, committing $10 million to Telecel Global Services Ltd, through a senior secured amortising loan.
The transaction marks a significant milestone in the operationalisation of the Fund. The Credit Fund is one of three Funds under the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, established by the AfCFTA Secretariat and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to provide targeted transitional support to AfCFTA State Parties and private sector entities as they adjust to the requirements and opportunities presented by the AfCFTA Agreement.
Telecel Global Services, a subsidiary of the Mauritius based Telecel Group, provides wholesale voice and SMS services and enterprise connectivity solutions to more than 250 telecoms operators across Africa and globally.
With digital connectivity being at the heart of the trade and economic integration and success of the AfCFTA, this facility will support Telecel’s expansion in Ghana and Liberia, strengthen its infrastructure, and contribute to bridging Africa’s digital divide through enhanced connectivity and digital inclusion.
By investing in digital infrastructure in underserved markets, the Fund is helping reduce trade barriers, foster cross-boarder productivity and accelerate inclusive industrialization. Mr. Jean-Louis Ekra, Chairman of the Board of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Corporation, stated: “
The closing of our first deal marks a historic milestone for the Credit Fund and the broader vision of the AfCFTA.
This US$10 million investment in Telecel Global Services is a clear demonstration of how targeted capital can drive meaningful impact—accelerating digital connectivity, enabling intraAfrican trade, and supporting private sector-led development in priority sectors.
It is our commitment to ensure that such investments continue to bridge critical gaps, stimulate economic resilience, and unlock Africa’s vast potential.”
H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, noted: “This transaction demonstrates how the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund is beginning to serve its intended purpose – supporting State Parties and the private sector as we work to make this Agreement commercially meaningful.
By investing in digital infrastructure, we are addressing some of the most critical enablers of trade facilitation, industrialisation, and regional value chain development.”
Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, added: “Today, we make another bold statement of our unwavering intent to ensure that Africans reap the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
We are proud to have commenced the operationalisation of the Credit Fund. With this Fund, we will provide vital support to African corporates, helping them retool and expand their operations necessary to capitalise on the AfCFTA opportunities.
The investment strengthens a critical enabler, the digital economy and regional connectivity, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to transforming the structure of the African economy.”
Marlene Ngoyi, CEO, FEDA, the Fund Manager of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, said: “This investment exemplifies the strategic intent of the Credit Fund – to catalyse growth and resilience in sectors that are vital for Africa’s structural transformation.
We are proud to partner with Telecel, whose operations directly advance intra-African connectivity and digital trade.”
The Credit Fund will continue to prioritise commercially viable investments that enable trade, support diversification, and promote inclusive growth in line with the broader AfCFTA implementation agenda.
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