Musk’s Starlink snaps up market share in Nigeria amid African push

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is making significant strides in Nigeria, where it has emerged as the second largest internet service provider (ISP) by customer numbers just two years after its launch.

A recent report by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reveals that Starlink had 65,564 subscribers in September 2024, up nearly threefold from 23,897 users at the end of 2023.

In contrast, market leader Spectranet had 105,441 active subscribers in Q3 2024, experiencing a decline of over 8,000 users since December 2023. FiberOne, the country’s third-largest player, had 33,010 customers in the third quarter of last year.

Sadiq Mohammed, a Lagos-based telecoms data analyst, notes that incumbents in the fixed broadband sector have not been able to adequately meet the needs of Nigerian homes and businesses, creating huge unmet demand for fast and reliable internet.

“Users don’t want to experience internet downtime during critical zoom meetings or when they are streaming their favorite (TV) programs. With Starlink, the experience is consistent in terms of speed and reliability,” he tells African Business.

Nigerians willing to pay more

Accessing Starlink in Nigeria costs significantly more compared to local alternatives. However, Mohammed does not view this as a barrier to adoption, noting that Nigerians are “willing to pay more for what works well and what is accessible to them.”

He notes that a standard Starlink kit in Lagos retails at N590,000 ($387), with delivery adding about N32,000 ($21), bringing the total entry cost to N620,000 ($407). In comparison, entry prices for fixed wireless solutions such as LTE/5G, which consists of a home or office router and customer premises equipment from MTN or Airtel, ranges from N20,000 ($13) to N80,000 ($52).

“Fiber options typically range from N50,000 ($32) to N100,000 ($62). That’s 8% to 16% of Starlink’s entry price,” he points out, adding that fiber remains the best alternative to Starlink in terms of speed, but that its widespread adoption is hampered by infrastructure gaps.

“Fiber to the home and office remains the premium choice in terms of speed, capability, and performance. However, last mile fiber penetration is low, even in bustling urban locations like Lagos,” he says.

Aggressive expansion

Besides Nigeria, other key African markets for Starlink include Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Malawi. The company, which is currently active in 19 African markets, plans to expand to 15 additional markets in 2025.

Starlink has, however, encountered roadblocks in South Africa, the birthplace of its billionaire owner Elon Musk. Despite protracted negotiations, the South African government has been reluctant to grant Starlink a license. Pretoria insists that the firm must cede at least 30% equity in its local unit to ownership by black people, women, youth and people living with disabilities – a requirement for any telecommunications company seeking a license in the country.

Starlink’s aggressive push in Africa has been met with mixed reactions. While some have praised it as a game changer for a continent facing significant gaps in internet coverage, critics charge that Starlink enjoys an unfair advantage over local telcos and ISPs due to its limited investments in local network infrastructure and its owner’s deep pockets.

“I would agree with the critics in this case. Starlink does not actually invest in local infrastructure. Aside from ground stations that act as connection points to local internet exchanges, there’s no other physical presence in the countries where they are licensed to operate,” Mohammed says, noting that this contrasts sharply with local telcos and ISPs, which directly contribute to job creation and economic growth through investments in offices, capital equipment and local operations.

By Lennox Yieke, Africa Business

Moniepoint, AfriGO to introduce 5m contactless cards in Nigeria

AfriGO, national domestic card scheme powered by Afrigopay Financial Services Limited (AFSL), a subsidiary of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, has announced a strategic partnership with Moniepoint Inc.

This collaboration, according to AfriGO, will drive the distribution of 5 million AfriGO cards and introduce contactless, tap-to-pay solutions, boosting Nigeria’s commitment to a thriving, cashless economy.

It went on to say by leveraging Moniepoint’s extensive agent network and robust infrastructure, “this partnership will enable seamless, secure, and instant payments.

“Users will be able to complete transactions by simply tapping or hovering their AfriGO card or Near Field Communication-enabled devices over a payment terminal or compatible mobile phone.”

Ebehijie Momoh, managing director and CEO of AFSL, commented: “Our collaboration with Moniepoint aligns with AfriGO’s mission to deepen financial inclusivity and reduce reliance on foreign exchange for card transactions.

“With AfriGO, businesses and consumers alike benefit from a secure, affordable, and locally-driven payment solution that keeps transaction data within Nigeria, fostering local innovation and empowering small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of Moniepoint, added: “Contactless payments have far-reaching benefits for our ecosystem. By unlocking the potential of digital payments, we can create a better life for all Nigerians and reshape the digital economy to help individuals, businesses, and institutions achieve their goals.”

By Samuel Olomu, ITWeb

MTN Nigeria and Huawei Complete World’s First Commercial FDD Tri-Band Massive MIMO Deployment

This breakthrough has led to a 90% surge in LTE traffic volume and a 252% increase in user-perceived rates during peak hours over the previous 4T4R setup. The deployment has enabled MTN to achieve its goals of improving network capacity and user experience.

Over the past two years, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has undergone a rapid transition from 2G/3G to 4G, accompanied by a surge in new digital services. This transition has doubled traffic demand on MTN Nigeria’s networks, leading to an average PRB usage of 60% and over 90% in hotspot areas. To meet these growing needs, MTN Nigeria and Huawei have collaborated to scale the adoption of single-band FDD Massive MIMO. They successfully introduced the world’s first FDD Massive MIMO six-sector site, which has significantly improved network spectral efficiency and capacity.

This commercial FDD tri-band Massive MIMO solution, the first of its kind worldwide, is a significant milestone in mobile network development. Huawei had only recently announced the global launch of this solution that features a downlink LTE capacity three to four times higher than the previous 4T4R setup. Furthermore, it can amplify capacity by up to 7 times as the networks evolve to NR. The solution uses the industry-leading true wideband and compact dipole technologies to implement integrated deployment of 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz bands while maintaining the same device size as traditional dual-band Massive MIMO. This design adds frequency bands and power without increasing weight or frontal area of devices, ensuring excellent performance and easy deployment.

Through long-term collaboration and innovation, MTN and Huawei have achieved remarkable success in the FDD Massive MIMO field. The world’s first commercial FDD tri-band Massive MIMO significantly enhances network performance, enabling MTN to deliver an exceptional user experience. Both parties will continue to drive technological innovation, tackle key challenges in network development, and provide superior communication services to users.

Mobile World Live

Nigerians are building affordable alternatives to AWS and Google Cloud

Nigerian entrepreneur Fara Ashiru built her fintech platform, Okra, on Amazon Web Services in 2020. She would pay AWS in dollars even as Okra earned in naira because American cloud providers did not accept payments in local currency at the time.

The payments to AWS gradually skyrocketed as the naira depreciated around 70% against the dollar between 2020 and 2024. “The bills were staggering,” Ashiru told Rest of World. “Combine that with Nigeria’s economic challenges — rising inflation and forex volatility — and it became clear that this model was unsustainable.”

Ashiru took things into her own hands, and Okra set up cloud infrastructure with servers in data centers in Nigeria and South Africa in 2024. Later that year, the cloud operations were spun off into a new company called Nebula, which allows anyone in Nigeria to run their website, app, or workflow on its cloud and pay in naira.

Nebula is the latest entrant in the Nigerian cloud services market, where several homegrown companies — such as Nobus, Galaxy, Suburban, and Layer3 — are positioning themselves as an affordable and localized alternative to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Rest of World spoke to five startups who have migrated to local cloud providers in the last two years.

Besides the option to pay in naira, these companies allow Nigerians to store their data within the country — an advantage most of their Western rivals lack. Local servers give businesses the benefits of low latency and data localization at a time when the debate about who has access to a country’s data is heating up.

Global leaders appear to have noticed the threat. In January, AWS started accepting payments in naira. “Local currencies are important in localizing the payment experience for customers,” AWS said at the time.

“I think AWS has realized that they must accept naira because if you don’t accept naira you are wasting your time,” Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, managing partner at pan-African venture building firm Accelerate Africa, told Rest of World. “We regularly advise our portfolio companies to look out for local solutions where possible and manage major costs like [cloud] in naira.”

AWS, Microsoft, and Google did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Nigeria is home to over 19,000 tech startups, including 1,400 venture-funded ones that have collectively raised nearly $28 billion. The country has at least three internet unicorns: e-commerce major Flutterwave and fintech firms OPay and Interswitch.

AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud account for nearly 65% of the world’s cloud services market. They have also been the leaders in the African cloud market — their data centers, however, have so far been concentrated in South Africa.

Microsoft set up a data center in Johannesburg in 2019 and plans to build another one in South Africa and one in Kenya. AWS opened its first African data center in South Africa in 2020, while Google Cloud recently joined its peers by setting up a facility in Johannesburg. None of these companies have a data center in Nigeria, except the small local zone center AWS opened in Lagos in 2023.

In the wake of the U.S.-China tech decoupling, there has been a growing concern about how and where data is stored. Each country is finding ways to store the data of its citizens and businesses locally. Moving to a local cloud vendor allows Nigerian startups data sovereignty, Bruce Ayonote, founder and CEO of Abuja-based cloud service provider Suburban Cloud, told Rest of World.

“How does it sound for Nigerian voters’ data to be stored in Europe?” Ayonote said. “As long as we continue to ask this question, we will always arrive at the point where we build our own cloud infrastructure.”

Digital sovereignty could be the differentiator that helps smaller cloud Nigerian startups thrive even as AWS starts accepting payments in naira. “We are keying into our data sovereignty narrative,” Chidi Okpala, head of media and corporate communications at Galaxy Backbone, told Rest of World. Galaxy Backbone is a privately held company established by the Nigerian government to build interoperability among its ministries. It has now grown into providing core cloud services to both government agencies and private companies. The company runs two data centers, one each in Abuja and Kano.

Ayonote said that storing data on local servers also helps mitigate latency — the delay that happens when a user takes an action and when they get a response. Suburban Cloud’s Abuja data center helps its customers like Netflix and Google reduce latency in Nigeria, he added.

“Latency is a big issue when it comes to cloud business and these global companies know that they have to build some forms of proximity to their users,” Ayonote said.

While setting up a data center can cost millions of dollars, small Nigerian teams have found a workaround to this with “colocation” or placing their servers in data centers that allow multiple firms to share one facility, Olumide Soyombo, co-founder of Nigerian IT services and consulting firm Bluechip Technologies, told Rest of World. Several of the new cloud services startups have rented spaces in large data centers built by telcos, banks, and legacy IT firms.

“We run our cloud services out of third-party data centers in Nigeria,” Oyaje Idoko, founder of Layer3, told Rest of World. “We currently have three availability zones operating out of two data centers in Lagos and one in Abuja.”

Open Access, a leading data center company in Africa, has seen an uptick in demand for “colocation and other services by local cloud providers, driven by the growing digital technology landscape, increasing demand and most importantly, the need for payment in local currency,” Obinna Adumike, the company’s head of converged digital infrastructure for Africa, told Rest of World.

Nigerian cloud providers, however, need to improve their infrastructure and build better interfaces to compete with global giants in the long run, Ugochukwu Okoro, founder and CEO of Lagos-based property technology company Muster, told Rest of World.

Muster migrated from AWS to a small, local cloud provider called GigaLayer last August. While he has been enjoying working with GigaLayer, Okoro said, the company doesn’t offer the kind of automation that AWS does.“Their services are great, but I understand a lot of users might not want to use them because of skill issues,” he said. “I have to manually integrate our system gradually, something most of my engineers can’t do because they are used to the seamless plug-and-play offered by AWS.”

By Damilare Dosunmu, rest of world

Starlink Surges To Become Nigeria’s Second-Largest Internet Service Provider

As of Q3 2024, Starlink Internet Services Nig. Ltd has emerged as Nigeria’s second-largest internet service provider (ISP), amassing 65,564 subscribers. This achievement, evidenced by data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), highlights Starlink’s rising prominence and competitive edge in one of Africa’s most dynamic internet markets.

Since entering the Nigerian market in January 2023, Starlink has seen remarkable growth in its subscriber base, climbing from 11,207 in Q3 2023 to 23,897 by Q4 2023. In the first three quarters of 2024 alone, the company added an impressive 41,667 subscribers, surpassing FiberOne Broadband Ltd, which previously held the second-largest position.

Although Starlink is rapidly gaining ground, Spectranet continues to lead as the top ISP in Nigeria, with 105,441 subscribers as of Q3 2024. However, it has faced a decline, losing 8,428 subscribers since Q4 2023. This shift illustrates the evolving dynamics of Nigeria’s internet market, where satellite connectivity is increasingly competing with traditional fixed wireless and fibre broadband services.

The NCC reports that 124 ISPs operate in Nigeria, serving 307,946 subscribers. This number, while indicative of growth in the sector, pales compared to the four major mobile network operators (MNOs)—MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile—which collectively boast 132.4 million subscribers as of Q3 2024. This discrepancy underscores the ongoing dominance of mobile broadband as the primary connectivity choice for many Nigerians.

Despite this, the swift adoption of Starlink suggests that its high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband is drawing users away from fixed wireless access (FWA) and wireless-to-the-x (WTTx) services, which are often hampered by coverage issues and inconsistent performance, particularly in underserved areas.

Several elements contribute to Starlink’s growing popularity in Nigeria:Superior Performance: 

Starlink provides download speeds of 100–200 Mbps, significantly outpacing the 10–50 Mbps typically seen with FWA/WTTx networks.

Wider Coverage: Starlink’s technology can reach remote and underserved regions where fixed networks are unreliable or nonexistent, avoiding the extensive infrastructure challenges that fibre networks face.

Quick Installation: The DIY installation process of Starlink’s systems makes them an appealing option for consumers frustrated by the complexities often associated with traditional satellite internet services. This plug-and-play setup lowers barriers for mainstream consumers seeking reliable connectivity.

These features make Starlink especially attractive to businesses and high-income households that demand consistent, high-quality internet and are prepared to invest in reliable service.

Starlink is grappling with capacity challenges in Nigeria and other major African markets despite its impressive growth. Since October 2024, its terminals have sold out in key urban areas across five African countries, including Nigeria, limiting new subscriber registrations in major cities such as Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Warri. This ongoing limitation—from regulatory issues rather than a decrease in demand—is anticipated to impact Starlink’s growth in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025.

If these regulatory hurdles are not addressed, Starlink’s momentum in Nigeria may slow, potentially hampering its expansion opportunities. However, given the sustained interest in high-speed satellite connectivity, demand will likely resume if these limitations are lifted.

Users currently experience latency issues ranging from 100ms to 200ms, primarily due to the location of Starlink’s ground infrastructure, called points of presence (PoPs). It’s important to note that merely launching additional satellites will not resolve these latency concerns; instead, enhancing the proximity of PoPs is crucial.

Starlink is actively developing new PoPs to respond to these challenges across Africa. A recently established PoP in Kenya has yielded positive results, reducing global customer latency from 57ms to 44ms. This strategic enhancement reflects Starlink’s commitment to optimizing its service and meeting the needs of its growing subscriber base in Nigeria and beyond.

Broadcast Media Africa

Related story: Starlink Increases Subscription Prices in Nigeria

Nigeria suing Binance for $81.5 billion

Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Binance to pay $79.5bn for economic losses the country’s government says were caused by the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations there and $2bn in back taxes, court documents showed on Wednesday.

Authorities blame Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for Nigeria’s currency woes and detained two of its executives in 2024 after crypto websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local naira currency.

Binance, which is not registered in Nigeria, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it is working with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to resolve potential historic tax liabilities.

The inland revenue service alleges that Binance has a “significant economic presence” in Nigeria and is therefore liable for corporate income tax. It is seeking a court declaration that Binance pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10% annual penalty on unpaid amounts. FIRS is also requesting a 26.75% interest rate on the unpaid taxes, based on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s lending rate.

Binance was already facing four counts of tax evasion in Nigeria after a government crackdown on the industry last year. The charges include non-payment of value-added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in helping customers to evade taxes through its platform.

Binance, which is contesting the charges, announced last March that it was stopping all transactions and trading in the naira. The company is also facing separate anti-graft agency money laundering charges, which it has denied.

Reuters

Related story: Nigeria releases American crypto executive after dropping money laundering case

Video - Nigeria struggling to keep its tech talent

Many tech professionals continue to leave the country in search of better job opportunities. This talent drain has left organizations and institutions grappling with shortages, impacting the industry's growth and innovation.

CGTN

After creating 2 million GPT tokens, this UNILAG student has built an AI text-to-speech model with Nigerian accent

In November 2024, when I asked Saheed Azeez how difficult it was to create Naijaweb — a dataset of 230 million GPT-2 tokens based on Nairaland — he brushed it off as something simple. "It's just web scraping," he said.

However, in my latest conversation with him, his new passion project seems to have pushed him further. He calls it YarnGPT, a text-to-speech AI model that can read text aloud in a Nigerian accent.

In a world where AI can generate lifelike voices in seconds, a text-to-speech model with a Nigerian accent might not seem groundbreaking at first. But when you consider two things, it becomes a big deal.

First, Azeez is a Nigerian university student with limited resources. Second, developing a model that accurately captures the nuances of a Nigerian accent is technically challenging.

From tokenising audio to the many mathematical concepts Azeez referenced while explaining the process, it was clear that this wasn’t a simple task. Even Azeez, in his usual fashion, didn’t downplay the effort involved.

"It was quite tasking, especially gathering the data needed to make this happen."

How YarnGPT was created

Inspired by the success of Naijaweb, Azeez was eager to build something new. "The amount of conversations and interest people had in Naijaweb was a great motivation. Imagine getting featured on Techpoint Africa; it motivated me to do this."

He was also motivated by failure. Before starting YarnGPT, he had applied for a job at a Nigerian AI company but didn’t perform as well in the interview as he had expected.

YarnGPT became the project that would help him improve his skills and increase his chances of securing such roles in the future.

Building an AI model that sounds Nigerian required gathering a vast amount of Nigerian voices.

"I used some movies that were available online. I extracted their audio and subtitles."

Nollywood produces over 2,500 movies a year, and with many filmmakers uploading their work to YouTube, it seemed like Azeez had plenty of data to work with. But in reality, he had almost none.

"The problem with building in Nigeria is data. Replicating what has been built overseas isn’t that hard, but data always gets in the way."

While there are thousands of movies for him to choose from the audio wasn't up to the standard he wanted, and their subtitles were inaccurate. To compensate, Azeez turned to Hugging Face, an open-source platform for machine learning and data science. He combined the audio from Nigerian movies with high-quality datasets from Hugging Face to train his model.

The next step was training the AI model, but without access to his own GPU, he had to rely on cloud computing services like Google Colab. This cost him $50 (₦80,000) — a significant amount for a university student. Unfortunately, it was a waste.

"The model I built wasn’t working well, and the $50 cloud credit was burnt just like that. It was painful for me."

Determined to find another way, he discovered Oute AI, a platform that had developed a text-to-speech model in an autoregressive manner.

"The way the model works is, you give it a piece of text, and it predicts one word at a time. It takes that word, adds it back to the text, then predicts the next one — kind of like how ChatGPT completes sentences. That’s what makes it autoregressive."

While I found the autoregressive framework difficult to understand, Azeez pointed out that it simply gave him better results.

Maths, tokenisation, and the hard part of YarnGPT

Oute AI provided a structure, but Azeez still had to build his own model. He took a language model called SmolLM2-360M from Hugging Face and added speech functionality to it, a process that involved major algorithmic changes.

After this, the final-year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Lagos had to spend another $50 to train the model. The training took three days.

Interestingly, like he pointed out when he created Naijaweb, AI models need data to be tokenised. Large language models (LLMs) understand numbers, not words, so tokenisation converts words into numerical representations.

"If we were to tokenise the word CALCULATED, for example, we could split it into four tokens: CAL-CU-LA-TED. A number is assigned to each token."

Meanwhile, tokenizing audio is different.

"Tokenizing audio is basically breaking down continuous sound waves into smaller, manageable pieces that a model can understand and process. Unlike text, which has clear breaks between words, audio is continuous—there are no natural pauses in a raw waveform.

"So, the model needs to convert the sound into a sequence of discrete values, kind of like turning a long speech into tiny puzzle pieces. These smaller audio tokens can then be used to train the AI, and later, the model can reassemble them to generate speech that sounds natural."

This entire process was made possible by a wave tokenizer. Using resources from Hugging Face, Oute AI, and other Nigerian repositories, Azeez was able to create YarnGPT.

Publicising YarnGPT

Azeez might be a nerd, but he isn’t afraid to put himself in front of a camera to showcase his work. In a two-minute video, he explained YarnGPT and caught the attention of 138,000 people on X (formerly Twitter), including Timi Ajiboye, Co-founder of Hellicarrier (formerly BuyCoins).

Creating YarnGPT was difficult, but making the video was another hurdle.

"I called my friend and logistics manager, Aremu, and told him I wanted to make a video. We reached out to another friend who had a camera he wasn’t even using, and then we went to yet another friend’s house to record.

"We rearranged the whole house and used their TV as the background. His mum wasn’t too pleased when she returned."

The results were worth it. The video got thousands of views across social media, and people began testing YarnGPT. The model could not only pronounce English in a Nigerian accent but could also read Nigerian languages—Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.

It has various applications. Content creators can use it for voice-overs in Nigerian accents, Google Maps could provide directions in Nigerian languages, and it could even enhance accessibility for non-English speakers.

Nigeria and the AI race

While innovators like Azeez and American-born Ijemma Onwuzulike (creator of Igbo Speech) are developing exciting AI models, Nigeria remains far behind in the AI race. The industry has evolved beyond a hobbyist’s playground into a battleground for global superpowers, with the U.S. government committing $500 billion to AI development.

Meanwhile, AI breakthroughs like DeepSeek have shaken up Wall Street, causing giants like Nvidia to lose billions in market value due to new competition.

Even Azeez acknowledges Nigeria’s position.

"Honestly, we’re way off. We’re not even in the race. The big AI models today — like OpenAI’s or the ones from China — are trained on massive datasets with huge computational resources, things we don’t have here."

But he remains optimistic.

"I think there’s a way forward. Instead of trying to build from scratch, we can focus on localising AI for our own needs. We can take what’s already been built and adapt it for Nigerian languages and accents. That’s how we can start catching up."

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has been vocal about positioning the country as a key player in AI development. Perhaps, with talents like Azeez, there is hope.

By Bolu Abiodun, TechPoint Africa

Nigeria's gaming studios weave quests in native culture

 

In a dream, a mysterious voice calls out in the night to King Alantako, warning of "chaos" ahead for the young Nigerian sovereign.

He wakes with a start—and sets out on an adventure that will lead him to his destiny and save the kingdom of Ile Kaaro Oojiire.

So begins The Wild Kingdoms—a Nigerian-made video game for mobile phones, published in 2022 by the Nigerian studio Kucheza.

In a gaming world dominated by US and Asian giants, it is distinguished by its setting: west Africa's Yoruba ethnic culture.

To develop their nascent industry, Nigerian studios are drawing on their native traditions and "natural creativity," said Hugo Obi, the Lagos-based founder of another maker, Maliyo Games.

"That ability to tell stories and to tell unique stories and to build characters and to build worlds is something that Nigeria has done very well."

The sector is still in its infancy, but they see great potential in a country where 70 percent of people are aged under 30 -- and with one of the fastest-growing populations in the world.

"If you look at the diversity of food as an example, the diversity of languages," Obi said, "once you then start to blend those together, you start to create new forms and new styles."


Growing Nigerian game studios

Maliyo has grown from three to 36 employees in five years, providing its own online training programme to assemble a team of developers and designers in five African countries.

An Africa-wide team of 14 people worked for 14 months to bring out its mobile-phone cooking game Iwaju Rising Chef, adapted from an animated series broadcast on Disney last year.

In it, the player cooks up Nigerian specialities such as jollof rice and deep-fried dough balls known as puff puffs.

A survey by Maliyo found that Nigeria was the fastest-growing out of the five leading African countries in the video game sector—the others being Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia.

Nigerian gaming revenues were "surging", the report said, from $11 million in 2019 to over $60 million in 2024.

It said Nigeria was home to nearly a quarter of all the studios on the continent.


'Creative economy'

Besides the challenge of finding trained developers, Nigerian studios also struggle to secure funding, studios complain.

"Nigerians invest in real estate, Nigerians invest in oil and gas, Nigerians invest in anything tangible," said Obi of Maliyo Games.

"This idea of intellectual property is something that is still very new and seen as high-risk."

As well as the funding battle, developers also face patchy power and internet networks, said Ewere Ekpenisi-Igumbor, co-founder of the studio Dimension 11.

His studio is developing a game in partnership with Microsoft for its Xbox console: Legends of Orisha, another title drawing on Yoruba legends.

Yet he believes the country is beginning to take notice, hailing the creation in 2023 of a new ministry for culture and the "creative economy".

"Historically, the government wasn't as involved or even aware of the industry," he said. "But things are changing now."


Low domestic game demand

"Nigeria is arguably the second or third largest country for game development" on the continent, said Vic Bassey, founder of the specialist website Games Industry Africa.

But its share of global production is "less than 0.5 percent", he added—and although it makes a lot of games, relatively few people in the country can afford to buy them.

The Wild Kingdoms has seen its biggest share of downloads in Brazil, said Bukola Akingbade, founder of Kucheza, the studio that developed it.

The Latin American nation is home to a Yoruba spiritual tradition dating back centuries to the time of the slave trade.

David Tomide, a 29-year-old who calls himself "the first gamer influencer in Nigeria", looks to youngsters as a source of hope for the sector, with "Generation Alpha" teenagers "always wanting to be on their phone".

"Most of the games that we play here in Nigeria are not Nigerian-made," he said.

But "if I see a good Nigerian game that tells a good story, I'll play it on stream."

AFP

Related story: Esports in Nigeria

Nigeria hosting event focusing on Africa's potential in the videogame industry

Nigeria approves tariff hikes to protect Telecoms operator margins

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved tariff increases for operators in a bid to balance rising operational costs with service quality in Nigeria’s challenging economic climate.

Operators sought to double prices, the NCC capped the increase at 50%, emphasising the need to protect consumers while enabling sustainable industry growth.

In a statement, the NCC noted that tariffs had “remained static” since 2013 despite mounting operational costs. It said the adjustment aims to address a “significant gap between operational costs and current tariffs” while ensuring service delivery to consumers remains unaffected.

The regulator added that higher tariffs would allow operators to invest in infrastructure and fund innovation projects, ultimately benefiting consumers through improved services.

Operators have been mandated to clearly communicate price changes to customers and demonstrate “measurable improvements in service delivery” alongside the increases.

Consumer advocacy group, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), has vowed to contest the decision. NATCOMS president Deolu Ogunbanjo criticised the NCC for failing to involve subscribers in discussions, despite the regulator’s assertion that it held “extensive consultations with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.” NATCOMS had previously advocated for a more modest increase of 5–10%.

By Manny Pham, Developing Telecoms

Nigeria to expand fibre optic network by 90,000 km with $2 million US grant

Nigeria is set to witness a significant boost in its digital infrastructure as the U.S. and Nigerian governments inked a $2 million grant agreement to expand the country’s fibre optic network by 90,000 kilometers.

Funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), the initiative underscores growing economic and technological collaboration between the two nations and aligns with Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan for 2020-2025.

The project is designed to improve Internet access, generate jobs, and strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy.

With Internet penetration in Nigeria remaining uneven, especially in rural areas, the new fibre optic infrastructure is expected to bridge the digital divide by bringing reliable Internet access to underserved regions. Additionally, the initiative aligns with Nigeria’s broader digital transformation goals, which include creating a sustainable and inclusive economy.

In June 2024, the Nigerian government announced plans to extend the fibre-optic network by 90,000 km to boost digital accessibility and create more jobs.

Additionally, in April 2024, the government revealed plans to criminalize the destruction of broadband fibre cables after MTN and Airtel reported losses of ₦27 billion, indicating a commitment to protecting critical telecom infrastructure.

Private sector contributions have also been significant. In February 2024, IHS Nigeria, through its subsidiary Global Independent Connect Limited (GICL), completed the rollout of over 10,000 km of fibre optic cables across Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, enhancing connectivity nationwide.

Furthermore, in December 2024, Huawei Cloud launched a hyperscale public cloud service in Nigeria, aiming to accelerate digitisation in West Africa with industry AI. This initiative is expected to empower local customers and partners to innovate and expand internationally.

This partnership with the U.S. builds on Nigeria’s track record of prioritising connectivity as a cornerstone for economic development. Expanding the fibre network by such a significant margin is anticipated to unlock opportunities across industries, enabling businesses to thrive in a more connected environment and fostering innovation in critical sectors like education, healthcare, and finance.

As the U.S. and Nigeria strengthen their ties through this project, it also signals a shared vision for leveraging technology to drive sustainable development. By investing in digital infrastructure, Nigeria is positioning itself as a regional leader in Africa’s technology landscape. The collaboration could inspire similar initiatives across the continent, contributing to Africa’s collective digital evolution.

TechPoint Africa

Google bans gambling ads in Nigeria

Google has implemented new comprehensive restrictions on gambling advertising in Nigeria, following a recent court ruling.

On Wednesday, 8 January, Google updated its ‘country-specific policies‘ related to the advertising of gambling and games for Nigerian audiences.

Effective immediately, Google will prohibit the advertising of online gambling products and offers in Nigeria. The ban on “gambling-related products” extends to promotional items such as vouchers and bonus codes, educational materials like books and eBooks, as well as gambling-related information, including tips, odds, and handicapping.

Although specific circumstances were not detailed by Google, last November Nigeria’s gambling sector was disrupted by the Supreme Court’s decision to void the National Lottery Act 2005.

The judgment transferred the authority to regulate lotteries and games of chance from the Federal Government to the House Assemblies of the States within the Federation.

The governance of Nigeria’s gambling licences has been a contentious issue since the introduction of the Lottery Act in 2005, as states have frequently contested the rule of federal authorities.

Long-standing conflicts saw the Assembly of Lagos argue that “lottery” falls under residual matters and is not part of the exclusive legislative list reserved for the federal government, which includes domains such as defence and banking. Lagos state sought judicial clarification on which level of government has the authority to regulate lotteries.

Following the ruling, the National Lottery Act is now limited in scope, applying exclusively to Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as State assemblies, including Lagos, will assume responsibility for regulating lotteries within their respective jurisdictions.

By Ted Menmuir, SBCNEWS

Data Blackout in Nigeria, Weeks After Statistics Website Hacked - Bloomberg

Key data on the Nigerian economy remains inaccessible, nearly three weeks after the nation’s statistics agency shut down its website after it had been hacked.

The National Bureau of Statistics website provides a convenient online portal to key economic gauges for Africa’s top oil producer. The agency closed the site on Dec. 18, while warning against using any information posted on it until it was fully restored.

The lack of access to the website is raising concern ahead of the scheduled publication of December inflation data, due in mid January. The release is an important input for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s first policy meeting for 2025 on Jan. 27-28.

The statistics agency has already failed to publish its report online on capital flows into the Nigerian economy in the third quarter of 2024, as well as an update on outstanding local and foreign debt for the same period.

The NBS website also houses decades of economic data, all of which are currently unavailable, and its X account that also served as an additional information channel, has not posted since it announced the hack.


A day before the website was taken down, the statistics agency published its 2024 Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey, which showed that Nigerians paid an estimated 2.3 trillion ($1.5 billion) as ransom in 12 months, and that 65% of households had been affected by kidnapping incidents.

A spokesman for the agency did not respond to requests for comment.

While details of the attack were not revealed, and there has been no halt in the agency’s operations, economists warn that the website blackout risks derailing access to critical data.

“The delay is giving us a lot of concern, a lot of researchers rely on data from the agency as that one source that is authentic and considered genuine,” said Uchenna Uwaleke, professor of capital markets at Nasarawa State University, Keffi. “There’s a limit to data you can disseminate via press releases.”

Bloomberg

Starlink Increases Subscription Prices in Nigeria

Starlink will implement its revised pricing structure in Nigeria, following regulatory approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This move follows an earlier attempt by the provider to adjust tariffs on October 1, 2024, which was halted due to regulatory concerns by the NCC.

The NCC had expressed concerns over Starlink’s unilateral decision to increase subscription fees without prior regulatory approval. The NCC noted that the October 2024 adjustment violated established protocols. Following this Starlink had suspended the changes temporarily.

In an email to subscribers, the company once again announced the revised pricing model effective immediately. Residential subscriptions have been increased from NGN 38,000 ($24.6) to NGN 75,000 ($48.6). Mobile regional plan (Roam Unlimited) will now cost NGN 167,000 ($108.3) per month, instead of NGN 49,000 ($31.8). Mobile global roaming service isnow priced at NGN 717,000 ($464.8) monthly.

The revised tariffs mirror those proposed in the October 2024 announcement and follow proper regulatory channels, addressing concerns raised by NCC. The structured implementation allows immediate application for new subscribers while giving existing customers a transition period until their next billing cycle.

Broadcast Pro

Related story: Starlink suspends new orders across Nigeria

Temu most downloaded app in Nigeria

Chinese online retailer Temu has become the most downloaded app in Nigeria on both the Android and Apple app stores in just a few weeks since ads started promoting its availability in the country.

The ranking by app tracking platform Similarweb comes after consumers were hit with an advertising blitz on social media that signaled the company’s entry into the country. Goods on Temu are now available in the local currency, naira, and available for delivery to Nigerian addresses.

Temu’s parent is the company behind Chinese online marketplace Pinduoduo. It first launched in the US in 2022 and has developed a reputation for being a retailer with cheap consumer wares that are quickly delivered, often drawing comparisons with Chinese fast fashion rival Shein.

After launching in South Africa earlier in the year, Nigeria becomes Temu’s second bet in Africa.

Temu was the top advertiser on Meta last year by reportedly spending nearly $2 billion on ads. In the US, the blitz has put it in contention for shoppers’ dollars as it drives up advertising costs and takes attention away from long-time players like Etsy.

Competition in Nigerian e-commerce is between smaller stores selling specific products and Africa-wide providers like Jumia. A leaner operations model focused on achieving profitability has seen Jumia reduce its advertising spend in the last two years.

The tenor of reactions to Temu’s Nigeria entry from industry analysts and consumers is a mix of admiration and anxiety. The retailer’s ascent to the top of the download charts indicates a successful launch strategy but there are fears that its operations will deplete local markets.

Beyond advertising, what could make Temu a seismic actor for Nigerian e-commerce is the control it has over its value chain, analysts say. Unlike many online retailers who act as middlemen between manufacturers and consumers, Temu is able to ship directly from factories in China. It gives the company a wide latitude to fulfil a vast variety of products at potentially cheaper prices.

And in emerging markets where price sensitivity means consumers have little loyalty to brands, Temu will effectively be preferred to other retailers.

Combined with gamified shopping that makes for an alluring user experience, the company’s presence could be “very, very dangerous, not only for Africa’s homegrown ecommerce platforms, but also for its fledgling fashion and design sector,” said Marie Lora-Mungai, an analyst who covers African creative industries.

Indeed, there have been some shifts in African e-commerce since Temu’s arrival on the continent.

Nigeria and South Africa could calm their local markets’ anxieties over the activities of global offshore online retailers by demanding concessions, Lora-Mugai said. “More specifically, I would force the platform to build factories and train workers locally.”

But some observers say only extreme measures like a ban will preserve local capacity. The takeover of e-commerce by foreign companies would be akin to Netflix and YouTube becoming preferred to local platforms for film distribution, said Oris Aigbokhaevbolo, a Nigerian film journalist and online publisher.

“Across fields, we have a new anthem: If it comes from Nigeria and a rival shows up from overseas, they’ll win. But you can’t really build a country’s economy like this,” he said.

Takealot, the Naspers-owned company that is South Africa’s largest online store, sold its fashion retail unit Superbalist in September. In October, Jumia closed Zando, a fashion retail unit that a few months earlier specifically named Temu and Shein among the companies it hoped to counter as a “trustworthy alternative” for African consumers looking to shop internationally.

When Takealot reported its financial results earlier this year, it accused Temu and Shein of exploiting loopholes “by using shipping methods that allow them to offer products at exceptionally low prices while avoiding duties, taxes and other government fees imposed on conventional retailers.”

It warned South African policymakers to update regulations to avoid widening disparities that could hurt local businesses. Its concern was echoed by the Institute for Chartered Entrepreneurs, a trade group that claimed both Chinese companies’ presence in South Africa could have “deleterious effects” and set back efforts to grow local industries.

By Alexander Onukwue, SEMAFOR

Starlink suspends new orders across Nigeria

Elon Musk’s Starlink says it has suspended orders for its residential kits across Nigeria with a note that the suspension will be lifted after securing approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for its recently announced price increment.

The company, however, allows orders for its high-end Business Plan, in which it is allowed to charge N159,000 for a monthly subscription compared with the Residential Plan which costs N38,000 per month.

“We’re committed to providing high-speed internet in Nigeria and are working closely with regulators to make adjustments that will improve the customer experience.

“Until these changes are approved, we are placing new Residential orders on hold,” the company stated in response to an attempt to order its kits.

Starlink sold out in some cities

Earlier, Starlink had stopped new orders in five major cities including Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Benin City and Warri because it was at capacity in those areas.

However, the current suspension cuts across Nigeria and it is hinged on the need to increase prices; a move that the regulator had frowned at.

Demand for Starlink services in Nigeria has soared since the Space X-linked company officially launched in the country in January last year.

Starlink had on the last day of September announced a 97% price increase for its monthly subscription from N38,000 to N75,000.

For new users, the company also increased the Starlink kits (hardware) by 34% from N440,000 to N590,000.

The company in a message to its customers in Nigeria cited “excessive inflation” as the reason for the increment.

The announcement had sparked controversy in the Nigerian telecom sector as local operators accused the NCC of double standard for allowing Starlink to increase price, which they are not allowed to do despite years of appeal to the regulator.

The NCC, however, responded saying it did not approve Starlink’s price increment.

The telecom regulator pointed out that Starlink’s action contravened sections 108 and 111 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, and its license conditions regarding tariffs.

NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Reuben Muoka, later announced that the commission had commenced pre-enforcement actions against Starlink for implementing price increments without the approval of the regulator.

With the rebuttal from the telecoms regulator, Starlink suspended the announced increment with a warning that “without these approvals, our ability to continue delivering service is at risk.”

The company noted that while it is committed to providing high-speed internet in Nigeria, it would need regulatory support to make the improvements necessary for a better customer experience.

By Philip Shimnom Clement, Daily Trust

Nigeria ranks fifth globally in daily social media usage

Nigeria has been named among the world’s top social media engagements in 2024.

Figures from Cable.co.uk and We Are Social in 2024, shared on Sunday by World of Statistics on X, ranked Nigeria fifth for average daily use of social media in the world.

The data disclosed that Nigerians spend an average of 3 hrs and 23 minutes on social media daily.

While Kenya led the list with an average of 3 hrs and 43 minutes daily, South Africa followed with 3 hrs and 37 minutes.

Full list:

Kenya – 03:43

South Africa – 03:37

Brazil – 03:34

Philippines – 03:33

Nigeria – 03:23

Colombia – 03:22

Chile – 03:11

Indonesia – 03:11

Saudi Arabia – 03:10

Argentina – 03:08

Mexico – 03:04

Malaysia – 02:48

Ghana – 02:43

Egypt – 02:41

Thailand – 02:30

Bulgaria – 02:26

Vietnam – 02:23

Portugal – 02:23

Romania – 02:20

Italy – 02:17

By Racheal Ayodele, Daily Post

Google among investors putting $110 million into Nigeria's Moniepoint

Nigeria based fintech Moniepoint has raised $110 million in new funding from investors including Google to scale up digital payments and banking solutions across Africa, the company said on Tuesday.

Moniepoint started operations in 2015 providing infrastructure and payment solutions for banks and financial institutions but has grown to also offer personal banking services.

The latest funding round was supported by existing investors London-based Development Partners International and private equity firm Lightrock. Google's Africa Investment Fund and Verod Capital came in as new investors.

Sources close to the transaction said the new funding valued Moniepoint above $1 billion, giving it "unicorn" status - a term for tech firms with a valuation of a billion dollars or more.

The new capital would be used to speed up Moniepoint's growth across Africa and build an integrated platform for businesses.

"This platform will include services such as digital payments, banking, foreign exchange (FX), credit, and business management tools, making it a one-stop shop for business solutions," Moniepoint said.

Nigeria is the fastest growing fintech market in Africa, driven by its more than 200 million people, many who still lack access to financial services like banking.

Moniepoint started offering personal banking services in August last year.

The fintech says it processes over 800 million transactions, with a monthly value of more than $17 billion.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters

Starlink reverses price hike in Nigeria three weeks after NCC directive

SpaceX-owned Starlink has reversed its decision to double base subscription prices in Nigeria, following a block by the country’s communications regulator three weeks prior.

The company raised the standard residential plan with a 1 TB fair usage policy to ₦75,000 ($48) from ₦38,000 ($24). Roaming customers saw the steepest hikes, with local roaming, allowing Starlink use beyond home or work in Nigeria, rising to ₦167,000 per month from ₦49,000.

International roaming costs were raised to ₦717,000 per month.

The new rates were scheduled to take effect on October 31st.

While Elon Musk posted on X that Starlink’s subscription prices are adjusted for inflation, Nigerian regulators have set pricing guidelines for ISPs and have previously blocked other providers’ requests to raise data prices.

In a statement to TechCabal, the regulator stated that Starlink did not “receive the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).”

The NCC instructed Starlink to reverse the price increase or face sanctions.

The commission added that Starlink’s action contravened “Sections 108 and 111 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, and Starlink’s Licence Conditions regarding tariffs.”

Tech in Africa

Related story: Nigeria To Sanction Elon Musk’s Starlink For Illegal Price Hike

Nigeria releases American crypto executive after dropping money laundering case

An American cryptocurrency executive held in Nigeria for the past eight months has been released after authorities there announced they were ending his money laundering trial on health and diplomatic grounds.

Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, was freed on a humanitarian basis and was returning to the United States to receive medical attention, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Thursday announcing the release.

“I am grateful to my Nigerian colleagues and partners for the productive discussions that have resulted in this step and look forward to working closely with them on the many areas of cooperation and collaboration critical to the bilateral partnership between our two countries,” Sullivan said. He said he had spoken with Gambaryan's wife “to share the good news.”

Gambaryan was arrested in February during a business trip to Nigeria alongside Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s regional manager in Africa, who fled custody and remains at large.

Nigerian authorities had accused Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Gambaryan of using the platform to launder up to $35 million and to manipulate the local naira currency, which they deny.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest crypto economy in terms of trade volume, with many citizens using crypto to hedge their finances against surging inflation and the declining local currency.

But as its users grew and the government struggled to stabilize the currency, officials alleged without providing evidence publicly that the platform was being used to launder money and finance terrorism, forcing it to stop all trading with the local currency on its platform.

On Wednesday, R.U. Adaba, a prosecuting lawyer with Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, told the Federal High Court in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, that the government was ending the case after “taking into consideration some critical international and diplomatic reasons."

Binance still faces charges on suspicion of tax evasion and operating without the required license.

Gambaryan’s trial has been shrouded in controversy, including over allegations that he and his colleague were illegally detained and their passports seized. Binance also alleged that Nigerian officials demanded bribes to release him and Anjarwalla.

The Nigerian government denied the bribery allegation and defended the prosecution as following the rule of law.

Gambaryan’s health deteriorated as his court case dragged on. The court in Abuja denied him bail twice after a judge ruled he was a flight risk and that he should remain at the Kuje prison in the capital city.

By Chinedu Asadu, AP

Related story: Nigeria drops money laundering charges against Binance executive