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Stakeholders Seek Digitization as National Strategy

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Stakeholders from diverse backgrounds have unanimously called for digitalisation to form part of our national strategy in Nigeria.

They made this call at the Business Journal’ 2nd Annual Lecture and Awards held at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.

The event had as its theme”Digital Nigeria: The Path To Sustainable Economic Growth.”

Tope Smart, group managing director, NEM Insurance Plc and chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association said that the country needs a very robust Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Infrastructure to be able to move forward.

He noted that the unfortunate thing was that the country was yet to attain that level of digital advancement.

According to him,“Because digitalisation encompasses transparency Nigeria needs this level of advancement to solve the issue of corruption.

“The Federal Government should ensure that digitalisation forms part of our national discuss so that we can use it to boost our economy.

“Digitalisation is something that citizens and the government of any country should embrace to solve issues of employment among others”.

Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission stated that digitization has emerged as a key driver and enabler of socio-economic benefits for any countries.
He noted that we must define and understand certain concepts that will transit us to Digital nation.

Prof Danbatta explained that digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; that is the process of moving to a digital business.

He said that digitalization will accelerate economic growth and facilitates job creation in the country.

On what the commission is doing to ensure digitalization and economic diversification of the Nigerian economy, he stated that they are committed to the implementation of the National Broadband Plan and so many other Initiatives.

Danbatta said, “The Nigerian Communications Commission will continue to promote and facilitate, through appropriate regulatory interventions, the expansion of pervasive broadband infrastructure that will stimulate the provision of e-products and e-services across Nigeria.

“The NCC will encourage the digitalization of information to be transformed into business and economic activities that drive national growth and development.

“The economic diversification of the Nigerian economy will give impetus for increase mobilization of all resources and increase revenues accruable to government.

“This will cause an exponential increase in productive activities in industry, manufacturing, infrastructure development, health, and agriculture to stimulate growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

“The NCC shall continue to provide the conducive regulatory environment for increased private sector investment and expansion of economic activities.

“The interventions of the NCC play a vital role in supporting the evolution of digital processes and appreciation in various sectors of the economy.

“From Setting up Public Access Points and ICT Training Centres, the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), the Advanced Digital Awareness programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), the School Knowledge Centre (SKC), all of which have benefitted over 500 schools across the country, the educational sector in Nigeria has definitely felt the digital wand of the NCC.

“The NCC continues to promote and facilitate universal access to ICT to ensure implementation of e-taxation, ecommerce and e-government financial sector areas, which were identified as the economic enhancement needed for sustainability of the Nigerian economy.

“Improving user (traveler) experience such as online ticketing, boarding, and check in processes; and Vehicle tracking and navigations through mobile and Internet services, are also some key examples of how Telecommunications is enhancing Nigeria’s digital profile.

The deployment of Optic Fibre transmission network has been adopted in the “Open Access Model” to bridge the current digital gap and deliver fast and reliable broadband services to households and businesses and the success of this model is evident in the tremendous growth witnessed in the provision of broadband services by all major players in the industry through one technology or the other.

“Presently, Nigeria has achieved 33.72% Broadband penetration, thus over 64 million Nigerians are presently connected to broadband internet services. This is an encouraging leap from the 8.5% penetration in 2015″.

Mr Prince Cookey, publisher, Business Journal, said that the event was a rare opportunity for stakeholders to critically evaluate the opportunities and challenges of digital disruption on the various segments of the Nigerian economy.

Cookey said that the main focus was to offer a roadmap on how Nigeria could reap bountifully from the digital transformation era to achieve sustainable economic growth.

The Business journal Annual Lecture Series is a platform to examine and discuss emerging issues in the Nigerian economy and generate workable solutions going forward.

It brings stakeholders across sectors together to review the state-of-affairs in the economy through robust conversation.


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

E-Business

Transcorp Hotels Delivers Stellar H1 Results, Declares Over ₦1Bn Dividend

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Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.

The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.

In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.

Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.


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E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

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Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


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NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


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