Telecom
Tezza Academy Expands Industry Partnerships to Bridge IT Skill Gaps
Tezza Academy is taking strategic steps to broaden its industry partnerships and enhance its IT training model. The software training academy aims to foster collaborations with key economic players across various sectors such as oil and gas, IT and telecoms, banking and insurance, healthcare and education, manufacturing, and construction.
These partnerships are intended to facilitate discussions on incorporating trained IT skill sets and creating more opportunities for talented Nigerian youths with advanced IT skills.
Under the leadership of its founder, Roland Omoresemi, Tezza Academy commenced operations in November 2020, building upon the foundations of Tezza Boot Camp.
Initially admitting 20 young Nigerians, the academy provides a comprehensive curriculum that encompasses cutting-edge technologies, industry best practices, and soft skills training.
“Our agenda is to equip these young Nigerians with the necessary tools to excel in the global market and transform them into IT consultants while nurturing their roots in their homeland,” stated Omoresemi.
“It is important that we focus on building essential collaborations to attract and retain these highly skilled professionals, whether it is at Dangote Refinery, Zenith Bank, MTN or other prominent organizations within Nigeria and beyond,” emphasized Omoresemi.
He said the sustainability of Tezza Academy relies on the partnerships it forges, and the absorption of trained skill sets across sectors, both locally and globally.
As the academy prepares to welcome a new cohort of trainees, it aims to effectively address the challenges of unemployment and employability by placing graduates at client sites.
Originally established as Tezza Boot Camp in November 2020, Lagos based Tezza Academy has rapidly evolved into a premier institution for transforming young talents into highly skilled IT consultants. Based in Lagos, the academy offers a tuition-free residency training program that guarantees job placements upon the completion of an intensive three-month training course.
Tezza Academy’s focus on imparting IT skills aligns with its broader objective of strengthening Nigeria’s high-end Global Value Chains (GVCs) and positioning the country as a major exporter of human capital, potentially rivalling populous nations like China and India.
“Our immersive program structure enables our trainees to cross-develop and establish firm bonds and alliances to ensure our team of professionals always reflect the best versions of themselves,” said Tezza’s Managing Partner, Jide Modele.
Adding: As part of our core ethos, the principles governing the consulting practice as a trusted advisor are taught, learned, and owned by all our trainees.”
A PWC report titled “Nigerian Brain Exports: The Optimal Path to Growing the Nigerian Economy” emphasizes the importance of exporting brain capital and active participation in GVCs as the country’s pathway to development.
The report paints an encouraging scenario in which Nigeria captures 17% of global programming and software development jobs, generating an estimated $50 billion in earnings for Nigerians.
Tezza Academy’s training approach involves introducing trainees to software testing and subsequently placing them in a Mentoring Program, where they can shadow experts for a period of two to three months. Afterward, they can embark on their own careers as software testers.
“In addition to acquiring technical skills, the core objectives of our curriculum are to develop Thought Leaders and Subject Matter Experts in our areas of specialization for our clients globally,” stated Modele.
Modele proudly shares the success stories of the academy’s first cohort, stating, “Every single one who went through that first class has actually been placed at a client site.
“All of them have been fully engaged, and all of them were engaged even before they graduated from the academy.
“So, by way of success stories, all 20 participants of the first cohort were 100% placed at client sites, and their placements were secured even before they completed their training at the academy.”
Additionally, Modele highlighted the significant benefits of Tezza Academy, including the provision of accommodation and a conducive learning environment.
“One of the significant benefits and value propositions of the academy is to ensure that all trainees can live, breathe, eat, learn, and develop within the same facility under one roof,” he added.
Tezza Academy goes beyond merely addressing the skills gap; its vision encompasses connecting all stakeholders to strengthen the entire value chain of a robust digital economy.
This includes building the capacity of young people and preparing them for local and global opportunities, fostering industry collaborations, and expanding job placement opportunities across sectors such as oil and gas, healthcare, education, fintech, telecommunications and more.
MTN Nigeria’s commitment to digital innovation took center stage at MarkHack 4.0, the annual marketing and technology conference held at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday, May 23, 2025, with the theme ‘Experience Ignited: Fueling the Customer’s Journey’.
L-R: Akinbulejo Onabolu, Head, Enterprise Segment, MTN Nigeria; Eneyi Obi, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Rise; Tobi Olanisimi, Marketing Manager, AB InBev; Martha Kayode, Marketing Head, PZ Cussonz; Sulaiman Shaibu, CEO, BFT Consulting Service and Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor, Condia Business at the MarkHack 4.0 Conference held at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday, May 23, 2025.
In a celebration of innovation, technology, and storytelling, the company also took home the award for Best Use of Data in a Marketing Campaign at the Nigeria MarTech (MarkHack 4.0) Awards Night. This award recognizes brands that have successfully transformed data into compelling narratives and actionable insights to meaningfully engage their audiences.
Akinbulejo Onabolu, Senior Manager, Segment Management, Enterprise Business at MTN, joined a panel to discuss the power of immersive technologies on consumer behaviour. Drawing from MTN’s launch of its 5G Digital Experience Centre in Abuja last year, Onabolu highlighted the rapid evolution of immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) stating “Our 5G centre is a sandbox for our customers to come and see how technology can shape things. At the launch event, we unveiled a smart city to customers, clients and dignitaries in attendance, with gaming and other tech experiences.”
On the intersection of data, AR and VR, he added: “Co-creating with MTN takes our minds to a platform where different partners, companies and creators can bring their buildings, products and businesses for people to see via augmented reality and connectivity, just swiping through and following through that journey.
“As a part of impacting our customer’s lives, a few years ago, we also played around with the Metaverse and we ended up creating some of our back-office processes with some of our customer journeys on augmented reality and virtual reality such that a customer somewhere can engage with a virtual agent to solve real life problems and integrating that back into our operating systems. As an organization, at a lot of our events, you will find a lot of AR and VR experiences.”
Speaking on how MTN is embedding immersive technology into its day-to-day operations, he explained that the company is prioritizing both internal capability development and external engagement. “85% of our organization has undergone extensive training on AI and that already is a great addition to our daily lives. We’re using it to do things differently, developing user journeys and brainstorming different things. In terms of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, we are working with organizations to develop training programs which we use internally.”
He described the bases for this tech as stable connectivity, high bandwidth, high speed and low latency. “Over the past year, we’ve doubled our 5G capacity across the entire country. Wherever you are, you’ll probably start to pick up 5G. With our FibreX service, we’re going way beyond connectivity to create the systems and platforms to support the ecosystem, AR and VR. In addition to this, we’re also engaging regulatory systems to start to tease this out and build the proper governance.”
The session, moderated by Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor at Condia Business, also featured insights from leaders in FMCG, consulting, and global marketing, all underscoring the transformative potential of immersive technologies for Africa’s future.
MTN Nigeria has announced a massive capital expenditure (CAPEX) drive for 2025, nearly doubling its investment to almost 900 billion Naira, as it seeks to significantly enhance network service quality in major cities like Lagos and Abuja and extend improvements to other areas.
Karl Toriola
This financial commitment, up from a combined total of approximately 440 billion Naira spent in 2023 and 2024, was detailed by MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr. Karl Toriola, during a recent interview on Arise TV.
Toriola highlighted that a key focus of the increased CAPEX will be on “putting additional capacity in a city like Lagos, particularly in Abuja, where you have a lot of buildings coming up, you need additional sites because there are coverage issues.”
Beyond these critical urban centres, the investment aims to bolster network resilience and ensure power stability for its infrastructure nationwide. This includes proactively addressing site outages by ensuring timely payment for operational necessities such as diesel for generators, a persistent challenge in the Nigerian operating environment
The CEO outlined the comprehensive nature of the upgrade process, which involves “placing orders formally, opening letters of credit, and then the equipment gets shipped in and installed.” He added that where necessary, MTN will be “acquiring new sites” and “laying fiber to the base station to create better stability.”
While the immediate CAPEX is geared towards improving existing service quality and capacity, this investment aligns with MTN’s broader goals, which include enhancing financial inclusion in underserved rural areas, suggesting a long-term vision for network expansion and service improvement that extends beyond metropolitan areas.
Customers are expected to begin experiencing the positive impact of these investments with a “significant improvement in quality of service” anticipated by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2025, according to Toriola.
Airtel Nigeria, telecom service provider, has announced that its AI-powered Spam Alert Service issued over 9.6 million spam alerts between March 13 and May 20, 2025.
As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications, Airtel designed the AI Spam Alert service to analyze traffic patterns and detect anomalies.
In the period since launch the AI pinpointed a total of 9,667,008 SMS as potential spam messages in the two months after its launch.
Of these, the system identified 528,080 on-net (Airtel-to-Airtel) and 9,138,928 off-net (from other networks) numbers as suspected spam messages, demonstrating the scale of the threat and Airtel’s advanced processing capability.
Airtel Nigeria is a subsidiary of Airtel Africa.
Commenting on this development, Dinesh Balsingh, CEO, Airtel Nigeria, restated Airtel`s commitment to protecting its customers.
“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our AI-driven infrastructure in combating the growing menace of spam and scam calls. At Airtel Nigeria, we are focused on connecting Nigerians and ensuring their safety and confidence while using our network.
“We understand that trust is the cornerstone of digital communication. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in intelligent systems that not only detect potential threats but also learn and evolve with data. As threats become more sophisticated, so will our solutions. As a company, we remain focused on leading the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction, ensuring that every Nigerian can enjoy a safer and smarter digital experience,” Mr. Balsingh said.
The Spam Alert Service is part of Airtel Nigeria’s broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into its core offerings to deliver smarter and safer experiences for its customers across the country.
Recall that the Spam Alert Service was launched on March 13, 2025. A groundbreaking and free solution from Airtel, it notifies users in real-time of suspected spam SMS messages by analyzing over 250 parameters.
The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is available to all Airtel subscribers on smartphones and feature phones.
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