Telecom
Buhari Launches National Policy on 5G, Urges Security to Tap in
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja directed all the security institutions to immediately leverage Fifth Generation (5G) technology, when deployed, to enhance security in the country.
Launching the National Policy on 5G for Nigeria’s Digital Economy, the President said the Federal Government will take full advantage of the opportunities that 5G provides for the economy, security and well-being of the nation.
President Buhari also allayed fears over health safety of 5G, affirming that such issues have been ”effectively addressed” in developing a policy that suits the country.
On the benefits of 5G technologies, the President noted it can support virtually every sector of the economy, including enhanced connectivity, improved healthcare, support for education while fostering smart cities, and boosting agriculture, among other advantages.
”It will also support security institutions with real time communication.
”5G technology is significantly faster than earlier digital technologies and it provides near real-time communication. This can play a key role in boosting our efforts towards enhancing security across the nation.
”It will enable our security institutions to effectively deploy robotics, autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality to address any security challenges that we face,” he said at the launch of the policy, which was presented and approved at the Federal Executive Council meeting on the 8th of September 2021, following a robust debate.
The President explained that the National 5G Policy includes a deployment plan to ensure that major cities across the country benefit from the technologies.
He added that the policy, which is in line with the commitment of this administration to supporting the digital economy as an enabler for the diversification of our national economy, also seeks to make 5G a major driver of the economy, a catalyst for smart cities in the country and a platform for the creation of jobs that support digital economy.
He, therefore, assured investors that the Federal Government would continue to provide an enabling environment for their businesses to be very successful as Nigeria begins the roll-out of the technology.
President Buhari directed Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, minister of Communications and Digital Economy, to supervise the implementation of the Policy, being done by the Nigerian Communications Commission with the support of other government institutions.
The President also used the occasion to provide a rundown of how his administration has created an enabling environment for investments to thrive in Nigeria’s digital economy.
He recounted that the journey to the launch of the 5G National policy started with the launch of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy in November 2019 as well as the launch of a number of policies to strengthen the digital economy, including the Nigerian National Broadband Plan and the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector.
He noted that under his watch the agreement of the National Economic Council to peg the cost of the Right of Way at N145 per linear metre which was made in 2013, was only implemented in late 2019, after the intervention of the Federal Government.
According to the President, the Information and Communications Technology sector played a prime role in enabling Nigeria’s economy to swiftly exit the recession that was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
”The GDP Report of the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the ICT sector was the fastest growing sector in the fourth quarter of 2020 and entire year 2020, recording double-digit growth rates of 14.70 per cent and 12.90 per cent respectively.
”The sector also recorded a 17.92 per cent contribution to our GDP in the second quarter of last year- this was its highest ever contribution. All these impressive and significant achievements have justified our efforts to support the growth of our digital economy. ”
Describing the process of developing the National 5G Policy as ”painstaking, inclusive and focused,” President Buhari recalled that 5G trials commenced in some selected locations in November 2019.
”Multi-sectoral stakeholders then deliberated on the report of the trials to ensure that health, security and other concerns were effectively addressed in developing a policy that suits our country.
”The National 5G Policy will position Nigeria to harness the potentials of 5G technologies to further develop the economy and improve the indices of well-being in the nation,” he said.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy affirmed the sector has recorded unprecedented achievements with increased remittances to the Federation Account, resolution of lingering issues in the industry and successful auctioning of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum for the deployment of 5G technology.
He thanked the President for the consistent support to the sector, announcing that within two years the Federal Government completed 1,667 ICT related projects.
”As at August 2021, the sector remitted over N1 trillion to the Federation Account and this is unprecedented because the usual remittances is around 200 billion annually and this has been increased substantially,” he said.
On the spectrum auction for the 5G, Prof Pantami explained that from the reserve price of N75 billion per spectrum, each spectrum was assigned to the winners at the price of over N250 billion per spectrum.
The Minister expressed confidence that given the experiences from other countries and available research, Nigeria would derive maximum benefits from the deployment of 5G technology.
Airtel Money Africa, Airtel Africa’s mobile money arm, announced an extended partnership with Africa’s largest mobile money payment service provider (PSP) pawaPay to enable seamless cross-border payments for licensed International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) across seven key Airtel Africa markets.
This collaboration officially launches pawaPay’s service for inbound remittances into Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, and Tanzania. The partnership allows IMTOs to efficiently deliver funds globally directly to recipients’ more than 161 million Airtel Money customers wallets, leveraging pawaPay’s renowned reliability, scalability, and 99.9% platform uptime.
Building on five years of trusted collaboration in domestic mobile money, this expansion strengthens and simplifies Airtel Money Africa’s backend processes, using pawaPay’s robust payment service provider infrastructure, which processes over four million transactions daily.
Airtel Money Africa CEO, Ian Ferrao, said: “We’re pleased to expand our partnership with pawaPay to advance international remittances across Africa. Their proven reliability and commitment to African consumers make them an ideal partner. This integration empowers International Money Transfer Operators to securely connect with Airtel Money’s growing footprint, delivering real-time payments that support financial inclusion and economic growth.”
pawaPay CEO, Nikolai Barnwell, said: “Our mission is to simplify payments for businesses in Africa, and remittances are pivotal. Deepening our relationship with Airtel Money allows International Money Transfer Operators to leverage our world-class infrastructure for seamless cross-border payments.”
Remittances remain critical for millions of Africans, enabling family support, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion. This partnership ensures secure, instant mobile wallet transactions, key to advancing Africa’s digital economy. pawaPay will extend this capability to additional Airtel Money Africa markets in coming months.
Rubrik, the cybersecurity company, and Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, have announced a strategic partnership to provide Sophos M365 Backup and Recovery Powered by Rubrik.
This marks the first Managed Detection and Response (MDR)-optimized Microsoft 365 backup and recovery solution fully integrated into Sophos Central, Sophos’ security operations platform.
Designed to support IT and cybersecurity teams, the new offering will provide a unified global platform to enhance cyber resilience against ransomware, account compromise, insider threats, and data loss in SharePoint, Exchange, OneDrive, and Teams.
“We are reshaping what it means to stay operational in a world shaped by constant digital disruption,” said Joe Levy, CEO, Sophos. “This is the future of cyber resilience: an intelligent, adaptive partnership that ensures organizations remain secure, responsive, and uninterrupted. By combining Sophos’ prevention-first approach with Rubrik’s unwavering recovery capabilities, we empower businesses to withstand attacks and maintain continuity, even under pressure.”
Sophos will offer a powerful new add-on solution for its more than 75,000 MDR and XDR customers, enabling fast, secure recovery of critical Microsoft 365 data in the event of accidental deletion or malicious compromise.
This solution integrates Rubrik’s industry-leading SaaS-based protection directly into the trusted Sophos Central platform, giving organizations the flexibility to enhance their existing security operations with robust data recovery capabilities.
The Sophos Central platform integrates over 350 different telemetry sources across endpoint, cloud, network, identity, email and business applications. The platform leverages deep learning, custom LLMs, and frontier models to detect and respond to threats across the entire attack surface, enhancing defense effectiveness.
“The reality of today’s threat landscape demands a holistic approach to cyber resilience,” said Bipul Sinha, CEO, Chairman, and Co-founder of Rubrik. “With AI-enabled attacks and sophisticated breaches on the rise, organizations need more than just prevention; they need the ability to recover rapidly and reliably. Our partnership with Sophos delivers this critical capability directly within a platform security teams already use and trust, raising the bar for Microsoft 365 resilience.”
The Evolving Threat Landscape
According to The State of Ransomware report by Sophos, nearly half of organizations impacted by ransomware chose to pay the ransom to recover their data. Despite this, only 54% of affected companies relied on backups for data restoration, highlighting a continued gap in effective cyber resilience practices.
Recent research highlights the urgent need for robust Microsoft 365 data protection: 60% of Microsoft 365 tenants have experienced account takeovers, a frequent launchpad for lateral movement within an organization, and 81% have encountered email compromise.
When global admin credentials are compromised, attackers can manipulate retention settings and permanently delete critical business data.
Existing tools were not designed for comprehensive, large-scale recovery, which requires speed, granularity, and reliability for rapid restoration.
Sophos MDR and XDR customers will benefit from:
- Secure, immutable backups: Rubrik will isolate Microsoft 365 backups with air-gapped storage, WORM locks, and customer-held encryption keys. Multifactor authentication and data lock prevent tampering, even with compromised credentials.
- Fast, flexible recovery: Customers will be able to restore Microsoft 365 emails, OneDrives, SharePoint sites, Teams channels, and more to original or alternate users, including inactive accounts.
- Automated protection: Rubrik will automatically discover Microsoft 365 users, sites, and mailboxes, applies Entra ID-based policies, and supports delegated admin – all integrated with Sophos Central to reduce manual effort.
- Unified experience: Microsoft 365 protection and security operations will be managed via Sophos Central with no extra tools.
Rubrik and Sophos’ shared commitment to helping organizations operate with confidence in the face of risk, will provide Sophos customers and partners with a powerful solution to recover with speed and precision when threats inevitably break through.
This offering will be available through Sophos’ channel partner network in the coming months.
MTN Nigeria is deepening its role as an industry enabler with the launch of its Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform and the signing of its first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement, Chief Financial Officer Modupe Kadri revealed on Monday.
Speaking in an exclusive Channels TV interview, Kadri confirmed that MTN has opened its network to T2 (formerly 9Mobile) under the NaaS framework approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This allows T2 subscribers to roam seamlessly on MTN’s infrastructure while retaining their own customer relationships and branding.
“Network-as-a-Service is a platform where MNOs can roam within the NCC framework on MTN’s network,” Kadri explained. “It makes the industry more efficient in the utilisation of scarce resources.”
Kadri also announced MTN’s first MVNO partnership, with the virtual operator set to go live soon. MVNOs lease network capacity from established mobile operators, enabling them to offer services without investing in costly infrastructure.
These initiatives align with NCC’s push for infrastructure sharing to boost sector efficiency and coverage. By providing network access to smaller players, MTN is positioning itself as a critical enabler of market expansion.
The Nigerian telecom industry, valued at $10.8 billion, now reaches 169 million active phone lines and over 142 million internet subscribers. While competition remains intense, the trend toward infrastructure sharing is expected to lower barriers to entry for new service providers, increase service quality, and expand access in underserved areas.
“As MTN, we are here to help the industry survive,” Kadri said. “It makes it much easier when you see other operators willing to come on and provide quality services to Nigerians, which we all deserve.”
Industry analysts view the move as a strategic diversification for MTN. With voice revenues plateauing and data driving growth, shared network models offer new revenue streams and a hedge against market saturation.
MTN’s investments in NaaS and MVNO partnerships are part of its broader transformation strategy, which also includes cost optimisation, forex risk reduction, and targeted capital expenditure to strengthen network quality.
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