Author: ITPulse

The African Research and Innovation Hub (ARIH), recently launched by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), is poised to unlock up to US$70 billion annually in economic gains for Africa. The hub aims to boost innovation-driven sustainable growth by addressing the continent’s low investment in research and development (R&D) and its underperformance in research output. ARIH is designed to catalyze technological sovereignty, intra-African trade, and structural transformation of African economies. It plans to achieve this by fostering scientific research, promoting innovation, and helping commercialize homegrown technologies. The hub will build partnerships among academia, industry, and policymakers to double Africa’s R&D expenditure and…

The cryptocurrency market has always been known for its extreme volatility, but 2025 has been particularly eventful. This year has brought sharp price swings, fragmented gains, and shifting investor sentiment, but also more structured regulations and increasing interest from major financial institutions. Despite critics who claim crypto is worthless, the total market cap has continued to grow, hitting an all-time high. According to data from BestWallet, the total cryptocurrency market cap reached $4.04 trillion this week. Although this is a slight drop from the all-time high of $4.17 trillion on August 14, this valuation is so significant it would make…

Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and shared services provider, Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB), has announced its successful recertification by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) across four globally recognised categories; ISO 9001 – Quality Management Systems (QMS): Ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality services and continual improvement across operations; ISO 22301 – Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS): Guaranteeing resilience, availability, and recovery of services in the face of disruptions; ISO 20000 – Service Management Systems (SMS): Standardising service delivery to ensure reliability, efficiency, and customer satisfaction and ISO 27001 – Information Security Management Systems (ISMS): Protecting data confidentiality, integrity, and availability against evolving cybersecurity…

By Martin Ekpeke Nigerian experts during a live conversation on X (formerly Twitter) hosted by the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) have debated the future of digital currencies with special focus on the pros and cons of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. During the conversation, moderated by Prosper Ayere, a web3 community builder, the experts weighed in on the opportunities and risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins in Africa, highlighting the potential for digital currencies to transform finance in Africa, but also brought attention to significant challenges, particularly the need for trust…

PalmPay, a leading neobank in Africa, is celebrating its sixth anniversary and a major milestone: reaching 35 million users in Nigeria. Since its launch in 2019, the company has become a go-to platform for daily financial transactions, driven by its mission to provide accessible and reliable banking services. Over the past six years, PalmPay has grown from processing its first transaction to facilitating millions of transactions daily. The platform has helped small and medium-sized businesses expand, supported families in achieving their financial goals, and made managing money simpler and more secure for its users. “PalmPay was founded on the belief…

By Ivy Samuel In modern cloud environments, teams can create infrastructure within minutes, but understanding where that infrastructure came from is becoming a much more difficult problem. Oluwafemi Adeyemi, a systems and infrastructure engineer with experience across enterprise infrastructure, DevOps, automation and cloud technologies, believes organisations need to treat infrastructure with the same discipline they apply to software. “If we care about where our software comes from, we should care about where our infrastructure comes from. Every critical resource should have an owner, a history and a configuration that we can trace.” The issue, Oluwafemi believes, is that cloud environments…

As Apple’s new iPhone pre-orders began, Kaspersky identified a sharp increase in scams designed to exploit the excitement. Cybercriminals are creating fake websites, fraudulent lotteries, and phony “tester” recruitment schemes to steal personal and financial information, putting consumers at risk of data theft and financial loss. Scammers are using several methods to trick consumers. They create counterfeit websites that mimic Apple’s official store, luring people with promises of exclusive pre-orders. When a user tries to check out, the fake site captures their bank card information. Another common tactic is a bogus lottery promising a free iPhone. To “win,” victims are…

Konga, a leading e-commerce platform in Nigeria, is experiencing a positive response to its ongoing Category Month Campaign. The initiative, which started in early September, highlights different product categories each week with special deals and promotions, generating buzz across the country’s online retail landscape. ITPulse The campaign began with Home and Kitchen products, allowing customers to upgrade their essentials at a discount. This was followed by a popular Electronics Week, which drew an overwhelming response from shoppers looking for great prices on quality gadgets. This week, the focus is on Beauty, Health, Personal Care, and Fashion, with more enticing offers…

By Martin Ekpeke The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reports a significant surge in voter pre-registration, with 4.4 million Nigerians completing the online process within four weeks of the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise, which began on August 18, 2025. According to a statement from Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, the total number of online pre-registrations reached 4,445,505 as of Sunday, September 14, 2025. This figure is composed of 2,141,294 males (48.17%) and 2,304,211 females (51.83%), indicating a higher turnout among female registrants. Young people, aged 18-34, constitute the largest group of pre-registrants, with 2,924,643…

When we first set out to build FlashChange V2, the goal wasn’t just to push another app update. It was to reimagine how people interact with money and everyday services in one place. FlashChange began as a trusted platform for digital assets and gift card trading, helping users access global value through a simple and secure marketplace. From the very beginning, our focus was on building trust and efficiency; creating a platform where people could transact quickly, safely, and with confidence. But as our community grew, so did the needs of everyday users. People weren’t just looking for trading opportunities;…