Author: ITPulse

By Habib Mahakian  In the last 12 months technology has been pivotal in connecting people with business sectors, whilst enabling the provision of essential services to local communities. As eCommerce accelerated and manufacturing altered supply chain processes – technology flourished and transformed the way people shopped, worked and received goods. These digital migrations also reached public services, with healthcare and schools going virtual, resulting in an increasing number of people making the shift to digital across many facets of everyday life. We’re now used to ordering groceries online, getting video calls from our doctors, and socialising and engaging on digital…

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced that the 2021 edition of its annual FINTECH Summit is scheduled to hold on Thursday, 7 October 2021 by 10:00 am. The virtual event is opened to everyone, but participants are required to register via the link  https://firstbanknigeria.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NmkYfeckQqu4vjTWy5lr5w The 2021 edition of the summit, which is the fifth in its series is themed; “Open Banking and its Derivative Opportunities for the Financial Ecosystem” and will be discussed by experts, policy influencers, regulatory officials as well as key and leading players in the Nigerian financial, banking and technology climate.…

As Governments all around the globe are substantially investing in the adoption of electronic government in order to enhance services to citizens while lowering costs, Infobip, a global leader in omnichannel communications with a customer engagement platform that powers a broad range of solutions has recommended an omnichannel approach to public sector engagement with citizens as a recipe for a well-executed e-government strategy for Nigeria. According to Infobip, its customer engagement platform can easily integrate with WhatsApp Business API to communicate accurate and trustworthy information with citizens and ultimately, offer them timely updates from several governmental institutions’ services. “Here at…

As it stands, the National Identity Number (NIN) introduced by the Nigerian government has witnessed tremendous growth in enrolment from 40 million in December 2020 to over 63 million as at August 2021 (i.e. 23 million citizens enrolled in the past 9 months). Although NIN penetration currently stands at 29.7% of the population, with the deployment of the Android Enrolment solution by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), it is expected there will be a rapid growth of MNO NIN enrolment centres which will translate to exponential growth in NIN enrolments. This will bodes well for the actualization of a…

Interstellar, an Enterprise Blockchain Infrastructure Services Company has announced a long-term strategic partnership agreement with Interswitch Group to jointly develop blockchain-powered infrastructure services and solutions. Announcing the partnership during the weekend, Ernest Mbenkum, Founder and CEO at Interstellar said, “We are delighted to have established this strategic partnership with Interswitch, one of Africa’s most valuable fintech businesses. This marks the genesis of an innovative and collaborative partnership aimed at delivering impact-focused and enterprise grade blockchain-powered services across the African continent.” Interswitch and Interstellar have been working together over the last two years, carrying out blockchain technology research.  As part of…

By Hyther Nizam With COVID-19 accelerating the digital transformation of businesses, many organisations were forced to adopt a work-from-home strategy, and customers began to increasingly purchase goods and services online. The outbreak highlighted the critical nature of software and its impact on people’s lives, both professionally and personally. At the same time, the function of the IT department has evolved and it has been crucial in supporting organisations in shifting to a new way of working. While numerous departments have seen budget cuts, many businesses have increased their IT spending. This is because the department, now expected to complete more…

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has again reiterated the position of identity in the country’s digital agenda pursuit, stressing that the development of a credible national identity database is crucial to the actualization of a robust digital economy. Prof. Danbatta stated this while speaking on ‘Citizens Identity Management in a Digital Economy; the Role of Telecommunications Service Providers,’ in a webinar organized by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). “While Mobile devices and adequate digital infrastructure (i.e. broadband deployment etc) play an important role in the development of any…

By Emmanuel Otori According to a report published by the World Bank, it was observed that while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) create 7 out of 10 jobs in emerging markets, access to finance has remained a key constraint to SME growth. The Report noted that access to finance is one of the most cited obstacles facing SMEs to grow their businesses in emerging markets and developing countries. While access to funding is a challenge for most SMEs across the world and especially in Nigeria, ability to create jobs to support the ongoing efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria…

LG Electronics is partnering with Nigeria’s popular celebrity chef, Oritsegbugemi Edward Fregene, who is popularly known as Chef Fregz to offer Nigerians unique culinary skills while preparing local dishes at home using LG Home Appliance Products. At a time like this when people still work from home, LG is connecting people to their passions – such as culinary – which is more important than ever, LG Electronics will be leveraging Chef Fregz expertise to create exciting physical events online in a series of cooking. As part of the new line up, culinary enthusiasts can watch the Chef Fregz cook up…

Africa Tech Alliance Forum 2021 (#AfriTECH) has received support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), African ICT Foundation (AfictF) and InnovationBed.Africa. The Forum sponsored by Zoho (Platinum sponsor), Rack Centre, CloudFlex Computing Limited Digital Encode, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Notion Technologies, NewWave Ecosystems Limited (Konn3ct.com) and Zinochrome International Nigeria Limited, also enjoys supports from the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON). The hybride event (both online and physical) which will place on Wednesday, October…