E-Business
FG Inaugurates Committee to Coordinate Statistical Data in Agencies

The Federal Government has inaugurated a Finance Sectoral Consultative Committee for the effective coordination of statistical data in the ministry of finance and its agencies.
Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, Permanent Secretary in Ministry of finance, inaugurated the committee at the headquarters of the finance ministry in Abuja.
The membership of the committee is drawn from departments/unit of finance ministry , the representatives of the National Bureau of Statistics and Central Bank of Nigeria.
Others are the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Debt Management Office, the Nigeria Export-Import Bank, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.
He said the committee is given the task of coordinating stakeholders responsible for production of finance statistics.
Dutse who was represented by Mrs. Olubunmi Osinyanbola, Director of Home finance in the ministry, said the inauguration was in line with the recommendations of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics recently launched by the National Bureau of Statistics.
He said, “The committee is being established to improve and harmonize the statistical programmes of the ministry and our agencies periodically, strengthen capacity to manage and disseminate government finance statistics and promote the use of best practice and international standard in statistical production and management.”
Also speaking, Dr Yemi Kale, Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, urged the Federal Ministries, Department and Agencies to cooperate with the committee to ensure efficiency in data collection.
He said, “These data will assist the government in economic analysis and planning. It will also assist the government in the economic restructuring of the nation.”
Similarly, the Head of Economic Cooperation and Energy of the European Union, Mrs. Nadia Cannata, pledged the union’s continued support to the committee’s work.
She said that the EU had provided N20m to Nigeria to provide technical support and build the capacity of major stakeholders to ensure improvement of statistics collection.
E-Business
Visa to Establish Data Centre in Nigeria to ‘Boost Digital Economy’

Visa, global payment services giant, has announced plans to establish a data centre infrastructure in Nigeria.

Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe and Vice-President Kashim Shettima
According to a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the president on media and communications (office of the vice-president) on Friday, Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, spoke during a courtesy visit to Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the presidential villa in Abuja.
“This is in addition to its investments of over $1 billion in the country, including a substantial technological partnership with @moniepoint to foster digital payment solutions, a $200 million investment in Interswitch, and a partnership with @thriveagric to empower smallholder farmers and enhance food security in Nigeria,” the statement reads.
During the meeting, Torre said the plan to establish the data centre infrastructure aims to bring new technologies into the Nigerian market that would bolster the nation’s growing digital economy.
“Visa has been making investments and will continue to make these investments in Nigeria,” he said.
Responding, Shettima welcomed Visa’s expansion efforts, assuring the delegation that the partnership between Visa and the Nigerian government would continue to flourish.
The vice-president commended the company for investing in ThriveAgric, noting that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is deeply committed to repositioning the agriculture sector, which remains a top priority in its 8-point agenda.
“Nigeria is where the action is. Of the 10 fintechs in Africa, about eight are in Nigeria, with moniepoint as the newest addition,” Shettima said.
“Agriculture is key to the 8-point agenda of the present administration. President @officialABAT is really keen on repositioning the agriculture industry here, and we have to invest in technology, we have to invest in modernisation.”
On January 23, Moniepoint, a Nigerian fintech company, announced it secured investment from Visa to support the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe and Vice-President Kashim Shettima
E-Business
FCTA Approves N242.8m for Microsoft 365 Licence to Digitise FCT-IRS

Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has approved N242.8m for the procurement of a Microsoft 365 licence for its Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) as part of efforts to digitise the service’s operations.
Mr Michael Ango, acting executive chairman of FCT-IRS, disclosed this after the FCT Executive Committee meeting chaired by Mr Nyesom Wike, the minister of FCTA, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ango said that the FCTA was making significant investments in technology to enhance revenue generation and collection.
“So, this is also one of those investments in technology that the FCT is undertaking.
“The licence, if procured, will enhance our ability to move most of our manual processes into automated processes.
“It will enhance our ability to communicate within our offices,” he said.
The executive chairman added that the move would also reduce the use of paper and ensure better record-keeping through the storage of information and documents in the cloud.
According to him, “The licence will essentially enhance our operations and assist us in generating revenue for the development of the FCT under Wike’s leadership.”
E-Business
Rack Centre Hosts Olla Systems’ Private Cloud Infrastructure

Rack Centre, West Africa’s Tier III Carrier and Cloud neutral data centre, has welcomed Olla Cloud Service, a new private cloud service by Olla Systems Limited, a leading provider of innovative technology solutions, to its facility.
Hosting at Rack Centre, Olla Cloud Service runs on a state-of-the-art, cloud-enabled infrastructure for enterprise applications across diverse platforms, including mission critical application, web applications as well as containerised applications using Kubernetes.
Lars Johannisson, CEO, Rack Centre, welcoming Olla Systems, noted that the partnership with Olla Systems Limited would reflect the company’s commitment to providing African businesses with high- quality cloud computing services.
He noted that Olla Systems would enjoy Rack Centre’s 13.5MW data centre campus facility, designed to meet the highest international standards and offering scalable solutions to Hyperscalers, Enterprises, and Cloud service providers.
As part of its commitment to sustainability, the facility is equipped with energy-efficient systems, advanced cooling technologies to mitigate environmental impact and an optimally-designed feature to handle high-density workloads with precision.
According to Johannisson, “With Olla Cloud Service hosting at Rack Centre, clients will experience fast performance and low latency, enabling businesses in Africa to access world-class cloud computing services within a secure and compliant local infrastructure.”
Also speaking, Olusola Adenuga, chief executive officer, Olla Systems Limited, expressed enthusiasm about hosting at Rack Centre, noting that Olla Cloud remains a groundbreaking private cloud solution for businesses.
While highlighting the benefits of the partnership between Rack Centre and Olla Systems, Adenuga disclosed that “subscribing to Olla Cloud Service is cost-effective to customers because of its local currency payment advantage.”
She also noted that the partnership between the duo, provides businesses the opportunity to meet regulatory requirements of data residency, while enjoying world-class infrastructure as a service (IaaS) locally.
“Other benefits of hosting with Olla Cloud include: 24/7 support, unparalleled performance, scalability and agility.” she added.
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