General News
How Tech Companies Can Help Reverse Talent Erosion in Rural Communities

By Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager, Africa, Zoho Corporation
For decades, companies, especially tech providers, have followed a certain operational pattern. They start out in a major city, raise funding from investors, attract talent from nearby towns and villages, and then repeat the model in another major city as they expand. However, the events of the last 12 months have shown us that this workforce model may actually be inefficient and detrimental to the world at large, in that it’s causing talent erosion in rural communities. Youth emigration, encouraged by scarcity of choice and opportunity in remote areas, is rendering these communities unstable and helpless in the long run.
One of the countermeasures to address rural decline is for tech companies to recognise that talent can operate from anywhere and provide employees the option of working from anywhere. By allowing skilled tech workers to work from their rural home towns, we can help previously struggling communities to become self-sufficient economic clusters and reduce many of the inequalities that have caused so much societal unrest over the past few years.
At Zoho, we refer to this approach as ‘transnational localism,’ which is all about the organisation’s growth being rooted in closely working with and serving the local communities around the world, all while staying globally connected through shared knowledge, capabilities, and culture. In line with this vision, when it comes to building human capital with a community-level impact, we believe that it’s important for tech companies to take the jobs right where the majority of the talent is – rural towns and villages.
The problem with concentrated resources in the urban landscape
Today, the majority of the resources and opportunities are concentrated in urban areas across the world. That’s why it’s common for tech graduates and entrepreneurial minds to flock to San Francisco, Tel-Aviv, Cape Town, Nairobi and other urban capitals to get a high-paying job or build their startups. The cities are home to top universities (providing the best tech talent), large reserves of capital (needed for investment), established entrepreneurial communities (having the much-needed support networks), and bustling tech hubs. The same holds true for other industries in other cities as well (finance in London, New York, and Johannesburg, for example).
Reversing the impact with rural tech offices, with the help of cloud connectivity
Over the past year or so, however, the uptick in digital adoption (owing to the pandemic) has shown us that remoteness does not limit exposure any more. Even as other supply chains were shut down or disrupted by COVID-19, businesses were able to carry on operating because connectivity and collaboration were unaffected by the pandemic.
Thanks to digital technologies like the cloud, pervasive broadband and virtual networking services, many employees who moved to their native locales (either to be closer to family or for a more relaxed pace of living owing to uncertain times) were able to continue working remotely without any interruptions.
This was also the time when Zoho decided to open small satellite offices to provide our employees, who had returned to their home towns, with an official working space nearby. The rural offices, which we first established in India, received such positive feedback from our employees that we accelerated our plans and opened many offices over the last year.
As of now, there are more than 30 Zoho offices in rural and non-urban areas around the world (most of them are in India; other regions include the US and Mexico). We will continue to build more of these offices across the world, to enable willing employees to relocate to their home towns and villages.
When skilled professionals return to their home towns, it results in a cross-pollination of ideas. Deep knowledge sharing networks slowly emerge and skill transfers become easier, leading to continual upskilling of the rural youth. This, coupled with new job opportunities created by rural tech offices, can contribute towards a better future for smaller communities and also promote holistic economic growth.
Embracing a better way
Today, we are clearly past the times when the only way for tech companies to maintain their corporate culture and build globally-competitive solutions was through city-centre monolithic office towers with sleeping pods and ping pong tables. There’s a better, more sustainable option now, facilitated by digital connectivity – a remotely distributed workforce strategy underpinned by a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model, with hub offices in secondary cities/towns and smaller ‘hubs’ in neighbouring villages that are instrumental in local community development and wealth creation.
General News
FG Declares Admissions outside CAPS Illegal

Federal government has declared that any admission into tertiary institutions conducted outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), will be deemed illegal.
Dr Tunji Alausa, minister of Education, gave the directive in Abuja on Tuesday at the 2025 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Alausa, therefore, warned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across the country against illegal admission.
He said institutions and individuals involved in such practices would be prosecuted and severely sanctioned.
“Any admission conducted outside CAPS, regardless of its intentions, is illegal.
“Both institutions and the candidates involved in such practices will be held accountable.
“Sanctions may include withdrawal of institutional assets and prosecution of culpable officers or governing council members,” he said.
CAPS, introduced in 2017, automates the admission process to eliminate human interference and administrative bottlenecks.
Alausa, however, reiterated the government’s commitment to strengthen transparency, fairness, and accountability in the nation’s tertiary education system.
He explained that while the responsibility for initiating admissions rests with the academic boards of each institution, JAMB, as a statutory regulatory body is mandated to oversee and regulate the process to ensure fairness and equity.
The Minister urged vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and governing councils to intensify oversight functions to prevent unauthorised practices.
He assured that the Ministry would monitor compliance closely in collaboration with JAMB.
The minister also reaffirmed the policy mandating integration of the National Identification Number (NIN) into the JAMB registration process.
“The NIN requirement has proven vital in safeguarding the integrity of our admission system by curbing identity fraud and multiple registrations.
“Any abuse of the NIN system will be identified and punished,” he said.
He highlighted the need for data-driven policies in the admission processes.
The Minister also presented statistics showing a mismatch between available admission quotas and actual student intake across many programmes, especially in agriculture, education, engineering, and the health sciences.
“We have capacity, but we are not admitting enough students.
“We need to start closing the gap, so that more children can access tertiary education,” he said.
He also criticised the proliferation of underutilised institutions, revealing that over 120 universities in Nigeria received fewer than 50 applications in the current admission cycle.
“The problem is not about access, it’s about alignment and capacity.
“We don’t need to open new tertiary institutions in every ward. Instead, we must expand and strengthen the capacity of existing ones,” he said.
On his part, Sen. Shuaib Salisu, chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, called for stricter sanctions against institutions and administrators who undermine Nigeria’s admission process.
Salisu proposed the criminalisation of fraudulent admission practices.
He also warned institutions that exploit loopholes in the admissions system, allowing students to unknowingly pursue flawed admissions for years to desist from such practices.
He assured that the Senate Committee would explore legislation to criminalise such fraudulent practices, holding admission officers and institutional management accountable.
Salisu also called for an inclusive education system that drives peace and economic growth.
General News
BRICS Leaders Seek Inclusive Access to AI

To support a constructive debate towards a balanced artificial intelligence (AI) approach, the BRICS leaders have agreed on a set of guidelines to foster responsible development, deployment and use of AI technologies for sustainable development and inclusive growth.
The leaders of the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – published a joint statement calling for a global governance framework for AI that is inclusive, representative and rooted in the principles of sovereignty, development and ethical responsibility.
The guidelines, which strictly refer to the use of AI in the non-military domain, should be applied through either domestic or applicable international frameworks, as well as through the development of interoperable standards and protocols, in inclusive, transparent and consensus-based processes, the statement reads.
BRICS is a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries from the Global South. This year’s theme was “Strengthening global south cooperation for more inclusive and sustainable governance”.
The BRICS leaders’ statement positions AI as a transformative force for sustainable development and innovation, while also warning against uncoordinated governance models that could deepen global inequities, marginalise developing nations and fracture multilateralism.
It emphasises that AI governance should be anchored in the United Nations system to ensure inclusivity and legitimacy.
The BRICS countries warn against a fragmented regulatory landscape, advocating for co-ordinated multilateralism that includes the voices of developing countries – particularly from the Global South.
BRICS leaders reaffirmed their support for Digital sovereignty, saying each country must retain the right to shape AI policy and technology in line with its own development goals and legal frameworks. This includes capacity-building, data governance and technological autonomy.
“We firmly support the right of all countries to harness the benefits of the digital economy… to develop capacities in AI research, foster technological autonomy and innovation, ensure data protection, and promote their own digital economy,” the statement reads.
A major theme in the document is the need for fair, equitable and inclusive access to AI technologies. The BRICS leaders stress that all countries – regardless of economic standing – must be able to access and benefit from AI.
The group also called for global co-operation in building data governance frameworks that allow developing countries secure and equitable access to data, with full respect for privacy, intellectual property rights and national laws. This ties into support for open science, open innovation and open-source AI models that can fuel local innovation ecosystems.
On intellectual property, the statement advocates for a balance between proprietary rights and public interest to prevent exploitative data practices and ensure transparency in AI model development and deployment.
The BRICS countries voiced concern over algorithmic bias and the exclusion of underrepresented cultures and languages in AI datasets and models.
They called for ethical, transparent and accountable AI development that reflects cultural, demographic and linguistic diversity.
They also endorsed UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and called for international co-operation to develop inclusive datasets, tools to flag misinformation and mechanisms to mitigate bias – especially against vulnerable groups like women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities.
The BRICS nations stressed the importance of using AI as a tool for sustainable development, citing sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education, energy and environmental conservation as priority areas.
They urged that AI development must be environmentally responsible, minimising carbon emissions and e-waste.
The potential of AI to enhance productivity and job creation was also recognised, as well as the risks of job displacement and exploitation. The statement calls for policies that safeguard worker rights, ensure compatibility between AI and human capabilities, and promote decent work in the digital economy.
“It is imperative to safeguard the rights and wellbeing of all workers, particularly those directly affected by the digital transformation… including generative AI,” the statement says.
The BRICS statement ends with a commitment to intensify co-ordination on AI governance and share the guidelines across international platforms. It extends an open invitation to other developing countries to contribute to and refine the emerging global framework for AI.
“We welcome contributions to further develop these guidelines, particularly from other developing countries, and will remain open to revisiting them.”
General News
Tech-driven Solutions Receive Commendation @ Maiden Insurance Week Hackathon

Mrs Yetunde Ilori, President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), has commended the innovative and technology-driven solutions presented during the institute’s maiden Insurance Week Hackathon competition.
Ilori gave the commendation after the completion of the competition on Thursday in Lagos, held at the College of Insurance and Financial Management in Asese, Ogun, as part of the Insurance Week organised by the CIIN.
She described the solutions as crucial to the industry’s transformation and relevance in the digital age. “This shows that the future is bright for the Nigerian insurance industry.
We are transforming as an industry, and digital innovation is at the heart of that transformation,” Ilori said. She noted that 19 teams initially applied for the competition, but only six were shortlisted.
The competition, which targeted young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 29, engaged six finalist teams over a fourweek intensive innovation process, culminating in a demo day on Wednesday in Lagos.
The hackathon focused on real-world challenges in the sector, such as inclusive insurance, fraud detection, risk management, and improving customer experience.
It was designed to cultivate the next generation of insurance innovators, deepen insurance awareness, and promote financial literacy among Nigerians.
The teams that participated in the final stage of the competition were: Ifokanbale, Insurbridge, Insurvate, Team Aegis, Team Phoenix, and The Assured Team. Team Aegis developed “Hustle Guard,” a microinsurance solution for tricycle drivers covering health, life, and income, in an effort to demystify micro insurance in Nigeria.
The Assured Team presented “Kolo Plus by Card,” an unstructured savings plan with payment and interest features tailored to low-income earners. Team Insurbridge created “Smarter Claims,” a solution aimed at improving the insurance claims process.
Team Phoenix introduced “HerShield,” a solution focused on empowering women and building trust in the insurance sector. The Assured Team also developed additional ideas to drive insurance penetration in underserved and informal communities.
After an engaging pitch session before a panel of judges, Team Insurvate emerged as the overall winner with its solution, “Claim Central”, an end-to-end digital platform designed to streamline the insurance claims process from policyholders to insurers.
Team Aegis secured second place, while Team Phoenix came in third. The panel of judges included financial sector experts such as Norah Igwe, Tunji Andrews, Diana Mulili, Sakeenat Bakare, Ibraheem Babalola, and Prince Adeshina Adeyemi-Doro.
Also speaking, Mr Eddie Efekoha, Chairman of the Insurance Week, said the hackathon demonstrated a conscious effort to explore how technology can help distribute insurance products to all parts of the country.
“We believe this initiative will spark more interest among the youth to engage with insurance, not just as consumers but as creators and innovators,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the winning team, Mr Odunayo Ojeremi, leader of Team Insurvate, described the competition as highly competitive and rewarding. “We are excited and grateful for the opportunity.
“We didn’t expect to win, but we are glad our solution was recognised. We hope to improve ‘Claim Central’ and make it a platform that ensures seamless claims processing,” he said.
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