Telecom
Only Technology will Change the Nigeria Story – Ekeh, Zinox Boss

Leo Stan Ekeh, chairman, Zinox Group, has boldly declared that technology will disrupt several spheres of the Nigerian economy in the next 10 years, claiming that no one has the capacity to stop the coming wave of positive technological disruption.
Consequently, he has urged Nigerians and mostly the youths to take advantage of this positive digital disruption and add impetus to the brand Nigeria on the global map.
“It is now between our competence, our commitment and God to lead other nations of the world.
“This is a century of quality wealth driven with knowledge and conscience and powered by technology. We have no reason not to scale with over 200m ambitious people from birth,” he declared.
Ekeh gave this charge in a world-class tech speech delivered at the 2019 Annual Lecture Series of foremost advisory and corporate commercial entity, Alliance Law Firm.
The classy event with the theme – Leveraging Technology to develop and rebrand Nigeria – was held at the prestigious Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos on Tuesday, November 26th 2019.
In attendance was Chairman of MTN Nigeria, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe who chaired the occasion.
Also in attendance was foremost blogger and media entrepreneur, Linda Ikeji; MD/CEO, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwutan; former DG/CEO, NOTAP, Engr. Umar Bindir; GMD, Mojec International Holdings, Chantelle Abdul; Deputy CEO, Payment Tokens, Interswitch, Mike Ogbalu, and many CEOs and Senior Management executives from the financial, shipping, technology, legal, entertainment and educational sector, to mention a few.
Ekeh, arguably Africa’s most renowned technology guru, was the Lead Speaker. He described the event as one of the best ever organised in Nigeria in recent times because of the quality and content of the event.
Continuing Ekeh said,alreadyevery sector of our economy is experiencing the impact of technology, be it the electoral system, health care delivery, agriculture, banking, transport, education, hospitality,governance, entertainment, housing and including the way businesses are run in Nigeria.
“Today, Nigeria is moving closer to e-voting. Also, you will observe that post-election litigations have dropped considerably.
“In fact, we are down by about 41 per cent today. Once we migrate to e-voting fully, anyone who loses an election will have no need to go and contest it in court.
“This is the power of technology. Technology does not lie. This is why I chose to go into it as a profession, he disclosed.
The serial digital entrepreneur, who spoke extempore, drew extensively from his personal experiences in a speech which attracted a standing ovation.
He argued that rebranding Nigeria must begin with critical investments in the nation’s human capital.
Ekeh urged Nigeria to borrow a leaf from a country like India which presently accounts for some of the leading brains driving the world’s major tech conglomerates.
“When I studied for my first degree in India many years ago, I had written a paper titled – India: An economy waiting to happen.
“I have been proved right today. Although the country experienced serious economic hardship, it did not prevent them from investing in education.
“You will find that the average Indian holds a Ph.D. in about three different disciplines and maybe a Master’s degree in four disciplines.
“So, when you employ him, you are getting maybe a Medical Doctor who is sound in Engineering, Agric-Economics, Business Management and more.
“While they were incubating, they kept on upgrading their citizens knowledge base by reducing school fees affordable even to the poorest citizens, waiting for an opportunity.
“When the ICT opportunity emerged, they took it. If the Indian President recalls all Indian nationals today for a two-week break, the entire world will feel the pain. Indians are at the helms of affairs of the world’s most valuable companies including Microsoft, Google, Apple and many others today.”
Ekeh, himself a global advisor to Microsoft, went on to encourage the audience not to lose faith in Nigeria. He affirmed that things are changing for good.
‘Today, we have a Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy,’ he noted.
Further, he counselled the Federal and state governments to take that decision now to invest about $10bn to provide quality digital infrastructure in Nigerian schools at all levels and finance school fees for indigent students nationwide.
“When I encounter people who say things are worse today, I just laugh. You must remain positive.
“Entrepreneurs are known to be positive people. I am an example of the Nigerian miracle but I disciplined myself from day one as someone born in a trust economy.
“When I returned to this country over 30 years ago, I was worth less than $10,000.
“Within three months of returning to Nigeria, I was privileged to have met people like General Theophilus Danjuma, the Awolowo family and others who patronised me and in the first six months, I hit over $4.5m balance sheet size.
“I wouldn’t have achieved this if I had decided to remain in the UK, as I was being advised then by those who saw no future for Nigeria in technology.
“It is important to note that though my customers did not really understand what they were buying, I did not betray them. This century is a century of trust and those that cannot be trusted have no financial capacity to scale.
“Things are even better today. The current generation of kids are knowledge-driven and technology-powered. They will delete many of the so-called billionaires in Nigeria today within the next few years. That is the era we are currently in.
“A very good example of this is Konga which is run by my son and his colleagues. A few months after we acquired Konga, Naspers – the previous owners – which invested $32m in TenCent sold off two per cent of its stake for $9.8bn.
“Today, Naspers’ remaining 28 per cent stake in TenCent is worth $133bn. If the whizkids at Konga choose to put Konga up for sale today, we have an idea how much it will attract. Nigeria with our growing quality population is headed for greatness,’ he submitted.
Ekeh, who disclosed that Nigeria’s wealthy class must re-distribute their wealth or stand the risk of using it to destroy their children, also called for the empowerment of indigent children.
According to him, children of poor parents are imbued with a mindset of disruption and greater discipline and fear of God, even as he affirmed that these are the ones that will place Nigeria on the map of globally recognised nations in the very near future. We can not continue to manipulate them for too long,’ he concluded.
The event also witnessed the launch of the Doing Business in Nigeria manual.
Chief Host of the event and Managing Partner, Alliance Law Firm, Uche Val Obi (SAN) affirmed that the publication drew on the firm’s vast advisory experience and their status as notable contributors in the IMF/World Bank Doing Business publications.
Telecom
MTN Mulls AI Tech to Protect Infrastructure as Cable Cuts Hit 13,000 in 18 Months

MTN Nigeria has said that there are plans to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI) technology to monitor and protect its fibre optic cables across the country.
Yahaya Ibrahim, chief technical officer (CTO), MTN, said the technology will detect vibrations, identify the cause, and alert relevant personnels.
According to Ibrahim who spoke during a session for the ongoing MTN Media Innovation Progamme, the proposed innovation comes amid concerns over the growing spate of telecoms infrastructure vandalism, which have led to multiple cable cuts, and the destruction of towers.
This, he said, would enable the company to promptly deploy agents to the site.
The system is being developed in collaboration with Huawei Technologies.
Providing data on fibre cut incidents in an email correspondence, the CTO said MTN recorded over 9,000 cable cuts in 2024.
He said 4,700 cables were destroyed as at the end of June 2025 alone, bringing the total to about 13,700 incidents in 18 months.
A breakdown of the incidents by zone showed that about 2,500 cuts occurred in northern Nigeria, 2,800 in south-west, while 3,500 were recorded in the south-east and south-south regions combined.
“If we look at the cuts per region, the Southeastern and South South states have more cuts and this is where we have the most hotspots for Fibre and site vandalism,” Ibrahim said.
“Akwa Ibom, Abia and Rivers stand out in states. While in specific locations Omoku and Egbema stand out for fibre vandalization.”
The MTN official said vandalism and road construction account for 69 percent of total cable cuts across the country.
Ibrahim said the incidents often disrupt services, with an average downtime of 15 hours recorded per month.
“Some regions are higher than others,” he said.
“All services will be down, that means no one will be able to use any services.
“We spent N17.6b in 2024 and budget for 2025 based on PO issued for maintenance and relocation is N26.3b.”
In addition to the expenditure, MTN is said to also conduct route patrol, route monitoring, and construction bypass — which involves the creation an alternative route that allows for the temporary or permanent relocation of essential resources around a construction site.
Ibrahim said the telco also invests in having a diverse route for resilience, relocation of fibre, holding stakeholder engagement, and working with communities for policing.
The technical officer confirmed that there are collaborations in place with state and federal authorities to secure fibre routes.
Telecom
NASENI and BPP Forge Nigeria First Alliance to Champion Local Goods and Services

National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on Monday, 28th July 2025, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of “Nigeria First” Policy on Procurement, projects and other related matters.
The Nigeria First Policy is an initiative of the Federal Government, aimed at promoting Nigerian-made goods, services and utilization of Local content, infrastructures and other value chain.
As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda initiative of the Government, the policy seeks to encourage local production and consumption of Nigerian goods or services, also to support Nigerian business and entrepreneurs, foster economic growth and development, reduce dependency on imported goods and to promote Nigerian culture and identity. Also, by prioritizing local content, the policy aimed to create jobs, stimulate economic activity, and increase Nigeria’s global competitiveness.
Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony which took place at the Headquarters of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) office in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said, with the signing of MoU and implementation of the Nigeria First Policy, 80% of challenges faced while trying to convince investors and foreign partners would have been solved, as Nigeria will cease to be dumping ground for foreign goods, while focusing on promotion of Nigerian products, goods and services.
Halilu said that with support now coming from BPP, the over 50 market ready NASENI products will be off the shelves and gain patronage of Nigerians, adding that NASENI has gained for the country over 2 billion dollars from its recent partnership activities with China alone.
“One thing that is clear when I took over the leadership of NASENI was the determination to move the Agency from just producing prototypes to commercialization of its technologies and products, this was complemented by the turn around which we did in rebranding the Agency.
“We have 50 market-ready Nigeria branded products. NASENI is building the biggest renewable energy park in Nasarawa and has entered into partnership with Abuja Technology Village to boost Technology Transfer and innovation, enhance local manufacturing capacity, transform NASENI’s research-focused installation into full production facilities, promote national brands and local production”, he further explained.
Buttressing the partnership between NASENI and BPP, he said that it is expected that the policy would have transformative impacts on Nigeria’s economy and human capital development, aligning with national goals for industrialization, youth employment, and economic diversification. “This also shows that our efforts are not in vain:”
Earlier in his speech, the Director-General of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Dr. Adebowale Adedokun said that the MoU between BPP and NASENI offers a structured bridge between production and procurement and how to take locally made solutions off the shelves and to place them at the center of public service delivery, which aimed at aligning Government policies with national priorities as well as giving practical force to the Nigeria First Policy.
According to him, “NASENI’s innovations, from tractors to tablets, from surveillance drones to solar backup systems, will now be actively prioritized in the procurement plans by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. We are institutionalizing a framework that makes local options not just preferable, but the default option before all others.
Specifically, he said further that with the signing of the MoU, the “BPP will now integrate NASENI’s Product catalogue into the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal, NOCOPO, and therefore encouraging other MDAs to follow suit”
He noted that the “Nigeria First Policy is not an act of protectionism, but an act of patriotism grounded in performance, and it is targeted at fastracking Nigeria’s industrial revolution”. He remarked that “NASENI has invested in quality assurance. Its products are certified by national institutions such as SON and NAFDAC. This means NASENI’s offerings will now be visible, verifiable, and measurable across all MDAs. First, we are integrating NASENI’s catalogue into the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal, NOCOPO. Between January and June this year alone, NOCOPO’s enhanced price intelligence has helped Nigeria save over 173 billion naira, 155 million dollars, and 1.7 million euros.”
While calling on all MDAs to follow NASEN’s footprint in promoting Made in Nigeria products, he said that the BPP’s revised threshold is now five billion naira for goods and ten billion for works, meaning that MDAs can act faster, while they continue to strengthen post-review and audit mechanisms.
He emphasized that the role of BPP is to ensure that these standards are rewarded with access, and that MDAs no longer look outside when the best is being made inside. “For the avoidance of doubt, let me say here that we will be backing this commitment with reform actions”.
Telecom
Treepz Launches in Canada, Secures University of Toronto-Supported Program as First Corporate Travel Client

Treepz, Africa’s fast-growing corporate mobility technology company, has expanded its operations into Canada, marking a significant milestone in its global strategy. The announcement was made at Brampton City Hall, Ontario, with full support from the Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown.
The event, which featured key stakeholders and dignitaries, included the official announcement of Treepz’s partnership with the African Impact Initiative, a University of Toronto-sponsored program. Under the agreement, Treepz will provide comprehensive travel logistics—including flights, accommodation, experiences, and ground transportation—for program participants visiting four African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda.
Speaking at the launch, Mayor Brown described the expansion as “a proud moment for Brampton,” lauding Treepz’s founders for creating a brand that has served over six million customers since its inception in Nigeria in 2019. He added that Treepz’s ability to manage mobility in Lagos, one of Africa’s busiest cities, is a testament to the strength of its operational capacity.
Onyeka Akumah, Treepz Founder and CEO, expressed gratitude to city officials and program partners, noting that the move solidifies Treepz’s role as a globally recognized African brand.
“This launch is a strong statement of intent, not just for Treepz, but for all African startups. We are proud to be serving clients in both Africa and North America,” he said.
Treepz’s entry into Canada was supported by several Canadian organisations, including the World Trade Center’s TAP program, the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance, and the BHive Program.
It follows Treepz’s participation in the Techstars Toronto Accelerator in 2021, which played a pivotal role in its expansion roadmap.
The launch signals a new era for Treepz’s operations and marks a historic moment for African-led innovation in the global travel technology space.
- E-Business2 days ago
Huawei Unveils AI Computing System to Challenge Nvidia’s Flagship Product
- E-Financial2 days ago
Union Bank Rewards Customers with ₦5 Million Each in Save and Win Palli Promo Season 4 Grand Finale
- E-Financial2 days ago
Edun, Finance Minister Inaugurates NDIC New Management
- News2 days ago
Lawyers Drags NLS to Court for Alleged Election Fraud, Data Violation
- Telecom1 day ago
Glo Boosts Network Capacity for Enhanced Customer Experience
- General News2 days ago
New Tax Law Empowers NRS to Fine Offenders up to N10m
- News1 day ago
Transcorp Power Posts Strong Half-Year Profit, Declares ₦11.25Bn Dividend
- Broadcasting2 days ago
Court Upholds AVRS Legal Rights to Licence Audiovisual Works in Hotels