Telecom
Trusted, conversational AI will drive productivity & decision-making – here’s how
By Zuko Mdwaba, Salesforce Area VP / Africa Executive
Businesses are embracing AI and increasing productivity across every industry, with 45% of executive leaders reporting increased investments in AI. Early enterprise adopters are already seeing the benefits, and freeing up more than 30% of time from every employee so they can be more strategic and creative.
Moving forward, every company will undergo an AI transformation to increase productivity and drive efficiency. As the technology continues to advance, it is becoming easier than ever to apply its insights and tailored content to everyday business decisions. By infusing trusted AI across every job, business, and industry, together we can unlock a more productive, innovative business economy.
Nowhere is the potential for transformation more clear than with conversational AI – assisting users within their flow of work, enabling them to ask questions in natural language, and receive relevant and trustworthy answers that are grounded in secure company data.
The capability to offer options for additional actions beyond the user’s query – such as a recommended action plan after a sales call, or creating a new service knowledge article – is fundamentally reshaping how people build and interact with business applications to achieve higher performance and job satisfaction.
At Dreamforce recently, Salesforce introduced the next generation of Einstein, its AI technology, bringing conversational AI to any workflow, user, department and industry. This includes Einstein Copilot – a trusted out-of-the-box conversational AI assistant, built into the user experience of every Salesforce application.
The great advantage of this technology is that it can be customised and built to the unique specifications of any business, allowing employees to easily integrate it into their day-to-day work.
For marketers, for example, it means benefiting from automatically generated email copy for campaigns, creating smarter campaign segmentation, and creating website landing pages based on personalised consumer browsing and buying preferences.
In commerce, it means taking care of complex and time-consuming tasks like managing multi-product catalogue data, creating product descriptions in multiple languages, personalising product promotions, and generating search engine optimisation (SEO) metadata that drive conversions. Embedding AI assistants into websites will enhance customer interactions by powering real-time chat, or integrating with messaging platforms like WhatsApp, or SMS.
In healthcare, an administrator can automatically reduce patient scheduling no-shows and generate appointment summaries. In financial services, an advisor can analyse client spending and savings history to offer personalised coaching and create tailored plans and goals.
The need for secure AI architecture
Any business’ AI strategy is only as good as its data strategy. Yet today’s customer data has never been more fragmented.
On average, organisations are using 1,061 different applications, yet only 29% of them are currently integrated.
What companies really want is one connected platform or one that will connect all of their data. In this era of AI, organisations need a customer data platform that acts as a single source of truth enabling them to drive business resilience, meaningful customer engagement, and future growth.
With a secure AI architecture, teams can benefit from generative AI without compromising their customer data, while at the same time letting companies use their trusted data to improve generative AI responses.
It’s crucial that AI recommendations are reliable, and that users are enabled to train models on their own data and validate these responses. Every effort to mitigate harmful outputs by conducting bias, explainability, and robustness assessments should always be a priority in AI.
By combining an integrated customer data platform with a conversational AI platform that draws on secure, trusted data, business leaders and their employees can be confident in making better, data-driven decisions.
The era of generative AI is just getting started, but the full potential of this technology’s benefits is yet to be realised. There is so much promise and opportunity for businesses to gain real value and growth, ultimately giving employees and customers a better experience.
MTN Nigeria, in collaboration with ONErpm and Ultima Studios, has announced Ayodeji Benson, popularly known as Ayo Benzi, as the winner of the maiden edition of the Next Afrobeats Star reality show.
L-R: Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria; Ayodeji Benson, Winner, Next Afrobeats Star Reality Show (Season 1) and Emamoke Ogoro, General Manager, Brand and Communication, MTN Nigeria, at the grand finale of the Next Afrobeats Star Reality Show (Season 1), held at the Ultima Studios, Lekki, Lagos on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
The grand finale, held on Sunday night at Ultima Studios in Lekki, Lagos, marked the climax of a nationwide talent search that began in September with over 15,000 aspiring musicians.
After weeks of auditions, mentorship, and rigorous training, five finalists – Ayo Benzi, Dave Cash, Kaeko, Somto O’Laker, and Lucky Yay – battled for the top prize in a high-energy showcase of performance and artistry.
At the end of the electrifying contest, Ayo Benzi emerged victorious, securing a ₦150 million music deal. Dave Cash was named first runner-up with ₦100 million, while Kaeko, Somto O’Laker, and Lucky Yay received ₦75 million, ₦50 million, and ₦25 million respectively.
Throughout the season, contestants were mentored by leading Afrobeats producers Sarz, Puffy Tee, P Prime, and Andre Vibez. Benzi, who was part of Puffy Tee’s team, credited the mentorship programme for sharpening his craft and stage presence.
Speaking at the event, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria, said the initiative reflects the company’s commitment to youth empowerment and cultural expression.
“The Next Afrobeats Star platform is about creating real opportunities for young Nigerians and giving their talent the structure, visibility, and support it deserves.
“Afrobeats continues to place Nigeria on the global cultural map, and MTN is proud to be enabling the next generation of artists who will take this sound even further,” she said.
She added that the finale was not just a competition but a celebration of growth and readiness for the global stage.
In his acceptance speech, Ayo Benzi described the victory as a defining moment in his career.
“A big thank you to MTN. From the audition days, the treatment MTN has given us has been amazing. God bless the brand,” he said.
The finale also featured guest performances by Afrobeats stars Iyanya and Bella Shmurda, adding glamour to the night and reinforcing the show’s connection to the wider music ecosystem.
With the successful conclusion of the season, MTN Nigeria and its partners reaffirmed their role in championing youth ambition, supporting creative industries, and shaping the future of Nigerian music through platforms that turn potential into opportunity.
T2, formerly known as 9mobile, is under investigation by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Benue State for an undisclosed incident disrupting USSD, SMS, voice, and data services across nine local government areas.
T2
The affected areas include Ado, Agatu, Gwer East, Gwer West, Konshisha, Obi, Ohimini, Okpokwu, and Otukpo, as detailed in an advisory on the NCC Major Outages Portal, which tracks significant disruptions reported by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Neither T2 nor its public relations firm, Chain Reactions, has responded to inquiries on the outage’s cause or restoration efforts as of this report.
The NCC’s continued reference to the operator as 9mobile, months after its public rebranding to T2 in August 2025, has sparked questions about whether the name change was formally notified to the regulator.
This probe aligns with NCC mandates requiring operators to disclose major outages, their impacts, and timelines for fixes, with compensation obligatory for disruptions exceeding 24 hours under the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
Industry watchers note that such incidents, often linked to fibre cuts, power failures, or infrastructure faults, underscore ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s telecoms sector, particularly amid T2’s subscriber losses post-rebrand. NCC vows transparency via its portal to hold operators accountable and protect consumers.
Telecom
NCC Unveils Draft 5-Year Spectrum Roadmap, 60 GHz License-Exempt Guidelines to Boost Broadband, Innovation
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has unveiled two pivotal regulatory draft documents aimed at reshaping Nigeria’s communications sector over the next five years and fast-tracking deployment of ultra-high-speed wireless technologies.
NCC
In a public notice dated December 19, 2025, and issued pursuant to its mandate under the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, the Commission published the Draft 5-Year Spectrum Roadmap for the Communications Sector (2025–2030) and Draft Guidelines for the Use of the 60 GHz License-Exempt Band for Multi-Gigabit Wireless Systems.
Both documents are accessible on the NCC website for stakeholder review, with the roadmap outlining strategic spectrum planning, allocation, and management to optimise utilisation, support emerging technologies like 5G and IoT, expand broadband access, and align with global best practices.
The Spectrum Roadmap emphasises four core pillars: bridging the digital divide through low-band spectrum and satellite services, attracting investments via flexible licensing models, enhancing service quality with mid-band optimisation, and fostering innovation in areas such as direct-to-device connectivity and secondary spectrum trading.
It sets ambitious targets including universal 4G coverage nationwide, 50 per cent 5G penetration in state capitals, and average broadband speeds of 100 Mbps by 2030, while addressing rising data demand through band refarming and efficient management.
Complementing this, the 60 GHz Guidelines establish a license-exempt framework for the 57–66 GHz band, enabling multi-gigabit speeds up to 10 Gbps for short-range applications like WiGig, fixed wireless access, enterprise connectivity, urban broadband, and backhaul solutions.
The rules mandate NCC type approval for equipment, site registration for outdoor use, and interference mitigation measures, while prohibiting wide-area networks to safeguard primary users.
In line with Section 58 of the NCA 2003, NCC invites comments from industry operators, equipment manufacturers, consumer groups, and the public, with submissions due by Friday, January 16, 2025, via email to [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].
The notice, signed by Mrs Nnenna Ukoha, Head of Public Affairs, stresses that stakeholder inputs will refine the frameworks to drive innovation, investment, competition, and sustainable growth in Nigeria’s telecoms ecosystem.
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