Author: ITPulse

By Ivy Samuel The Central Bank of Nigeria has officially reopened Open Market Operations (OMO) securities to individual and corporate investors, expanding the range of high-yielding fixed-income options available to domestic market participants. Under a policy circular issued on August 12, 2026, individuals, companies, and non-bank financial institutions are now permitted to participate in both primary and secondary OMO markets through Deposit Money Banks. The policy decision reverses a major restriction first implemented in 2019 and arrives during a period of heightened investor appetite for high-yielding, short-term debt instruments. Open Market Operations serve as a core monetary tool used by…

Digital Encode has announced the launch of DEPAS AI (Digital Encode Penetration Autonomous System), an enterprise penetration testing platform designed to counter the growing threat of AI-driven cybercrime. The launch comes as artificial intelligence accelerates the scale and sophistication of global cyberthreats. According to IBM’s 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, AI-enabled breaches now account for 25% of all malicious incidents, a 56% year-over-year increase with average costs reaching US6.04millioncomparedtotheglobalaverageofUS4.99 million. Regionally, attack activity is led by North America (29%), Asia-Pacific (27%), Europe (25%), Middle East & Africa (10%), and Latin America (9%). “AI is now being weaponized by…

By Kehinde Ogundare If you were to step away from your business for 30 days, what would happen? Would it continue to grow, remain stable, or begin to decline? For many founders, answering this question honestly reveals an uncomfortable truth: something would inevitably slow down. This is often because the business depends too heavily on the founder’s memory, personal relationships, and a flurry of WhatsApp messages. This is a structure problem. Nigeria has produced some of the world’s most resilient entrepreneurs. They have built customer bases amid infrastructure constraints, navigated economic uncertainty, and generated revenue in highly competitive markets. However,…

There is a strange thing about regulation: everybody wants clarity until clarity comes with a bill. Given that is probably why the conversation around Nigeria’s proposed 1.5% stamp duty on virtual asset transactions has quickly become a debate about the number. Is 1.5% too much? Will it make crypto more expensive? Will users simply move elsewhere? Those are legitimate questions, but after spending years building in this market, I think there is a more important one: what behaviour are we about to create? That question matters because markets rarely obey policy in the neat way policy papers imagine. Put a…

Meta, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy (FMCIDE), has announced the launch of AI Academy Nigeria, a national capacity-building initiative designed to strengthen the country’s artificial intelligence talent pool and digital innovation ecosystem. The initiative is being executed through the Ministry’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), and Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Nigeria (RAIN). AI Academy Nigeria aims to provide Nigerian developers, startups, students, and early-career professionals with practical learning, hands-on technical training, and startup funding—creating direct pathways from foundational AI concepts to market-ready products.…

Linda Ochugbua, Digital Marketing Executive, has been honoured with an Award of Recognition by the University of Benin’s Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences. The recognition came after she delivered the keynote address at the institution’s Annual Lecture and Award Ceremony, where she told an audience of academics, students and business leaders that Nigeria’s next generation of executives must build their success on integrity as deliberately as they build it on innovation. The event, held Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at Professor Iyayi Hall, was themed “Excellence in Business Leadership: Driving Innovation, Ethics, and Sustainable Development,” bringing together the…

By Martin Ekpeke The Digital Assets Coalition (DAC), a unified body representing digital asset operators and participants across Nigeria, has issued a landmark position paper urging the Federal Government and the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to step down and recalibrate the recently introduced Guidelines on the Taxation of Virtual Assets. While the coalition firmly supports bringing virtual assets into the formal tax net, advocating for platform registration, anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, and a standard Capital Gains Tax on actual profits, it warns that the current framework contains fatal structural flaws. “By taxing the gross movement of money rather than actual…

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed strategic Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with two Canadian tech companies, Goose FL and Fireflies AI to accelerate the execution of Nigeria’s digital economy roadmap. The MoUs were signed in Toronto, Canada, during the Nigeria–Canada Investment Forum and the Nigeria Investment Economic Conference. The ceremony was witnessed by the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi. The collaboration centers on three core pillars aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. First, it focuses on expanding financial inclusion by developing innovative technology solutions to broaden access to digital financial services and create sustainable economic opportunities…

Despite a challenging economic environment, Nigerian startups secured approximately $410 million in funding in 2024, underscoring the resilience and growth potential of the nation’s tech ecosystem. The figure was disclosed by Ms. Elma Andah, Acting Lead, Strategy, Research and Analytics at the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), during a context-setting presentation titled “Operationalising the Incentive Provisions of the Nigerian Startup Act.” Speaking on the landscape of local innovation, Andah noted that Nigeria’s startup ecosystem continues to demonstrate significant potential, currently boasting over 3,000 startups alongside several globally recognized technology companies. Detailing the structural mechanisms designed to sustain this momentum,…

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has emphasized that Nigeria must rapidly transition from policy design to operational delivery if the country is to remain competitive in the global innovation race. NITDA made the call during the NSA Incentives Activation Co-Creation Session held in Abuja, which was organized by NITDA’s subsidiary, the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), as part of a broader drive to foster cross-sector collaboration and translate the framework of the Nigerian Startup Act (NSA) into practical benefits for local entrepreneurs and investors. Delivering the opening remarks on behalf of NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa, the National…