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Tag: Microsoft

  • Economic challenges: Netflix, Microsoft, other top ‘Multinationals’ that exited Nigeria in 2024

    Economic challenges: Netflix, Microsoft, other top ‘Multinationals’ that exited Nigeria in 2024

    Internationally renowned streaming platform, Netflix whom in 2016 established a significant partnership with Nollywood to enhance its presence in Nigeria when it began to collaborate on distribution rights of popular films and production of original content, such as Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart, the first Nigerian Netflix original had reportedly made known its intentions to leave the Nigerian movie market.

    Although the  Group Account Director, Edafe Onoriode, from Netflix’s public relations agency, Hill and Knowlton Strategies, had responded to the claims reiterating its commitment to Nigeria’s burgeoning creative industry, prominent filmmaker Kunle Afolayan during the recently held 2024 Zuma International Film Festival in Abuja confirmed that  Netflix has stopped commissioning Nigerian original content.

    According to the renowned filmmaker,  Netflix’s management informed filmmakers during a recent party that they would no longer fund Nigerian movies.

    Netflix, like other multi-national businesses, is closing or relocating due to many factors, including persistent economic issues, currency instability, and high operational expenses.

    This year undoubtedly proved to be one of the most challenging periods for businesses in Nigeria, and this is true, with the dynamics that so far trailed the removal of fuel subsidy, other economic policies from the Bola Tinubu-led administration such as the floating of naira which have somewhat exacerbated living costs, impact naira devaluation, and invariably constrained consumer spending power throughout this year.

    This, coupled with other macroeconomic malaise plaguing the nation in the past years, has resulted in many businesses exiting Nigeria since 2023.

    In this post, we’ll share the number of companies that left Nigeria in 2024 and the reasons for their exit.

    Pick n Pay

    South African retail giant Pick n Pay, which recently announced it will exit Nigeria, selling its 51% stake in a joint venture.

    In October, South African retail giant Pick n Pay, announced it will exit Nigeria, selling its 51% stake in a joint venture.

    The CEO, Sean Summers, explained that this aligns with the company’s restructuring efforts outside South Africa.

    Initially partnering with A.G. Leventis (Nigeria) in 2016, Pick n Pay opened its first Nigerian store in 2021, eventually operating two locations.

    Microsoft Nigeria

    In May, Microsoft, confirmed its plans to shut the Africa Development Centre, in Lagos Nigeria, explaining that it was part of its normal organizational workforce adjustments.

    Giving reason for its action, a top official at the company disclosed to newsmen that: “Microsoft has decided to close the Africa Development Centre in Nigeria. And as a result, some of our employees based in Nigeria will be impacted.

    “We will continue to operate in Nigeria, and we remain committed to Nigeria’s transformation objectives. As such we will continue to invest in our business and key growth areas in the region.

    “Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.“

    PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

    British consumer goods group PZ Cussons Plc,in September, announced its plans to sell its African subsidiaries, where Nigeria and Kenya are the main manufacturing hubs to any interested buyer.

    “‘Our FY24 reported results fell short of our initial expectations, primarily due to the macroeconomic developments in Nigeria which, as we indicated last year, would significantly affect our results,” the group disclosed in its earnings report.

    “The 70% currency devaluation over the course of the financial year has, therefore, caused a significant impact not only on our local business but also on the profitability and financial position of the Group.”

    Kimberly-Clark Nigeria

    In may, international multinational manufacturer of diapers and sanitary products, Kimberly-Clark, announced its plan to stop production of Huggies diapers and the sanitary pad brand Kotex in Nigeria.

    Kimberly-Clark confirmed that it is leaving Nigeria after almost 15 years in the country and less than three years after it opened a new US$100–million manufacturing facility in Ikorodu, Lagos.

    The company in a short press release, said that it is a “difficult decision” made due to “refocused company strategic priorities globally as well as economic developments in the country”.

    “Kimberly-Clark will close its manufacturing facility and commercial office in Lagos and will no longer manufacture, market, or sell its Huggies and Kotex products in the country,” the statement reads.

    “Consistent with Kimberly-Clark’s value of care, the company’s top priority will be to fulfil its obligations and ensure that employees and partners are treated with fairness and respect.” 

    Diageo PLC

    In June, Diageo, owners of Guinness announced it will exit the Nigerian market and sell off its controlling shares to Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram Group after operating in Nigeria since 1950 

    The brewery brand in a statement disclosed that its recorded a staggering N61.9 billion loss after tax between July 2023 and March 2024, just a few months after President Tinubu floated the naira in an effort to unify the currency’s value on the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.

    “Under the terms of an agreement signed today, 11 June 2024, Tolaram will acquire Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria royalty agreements for the continued production of the Guinness brand and its locally manufactured Diageo ready-to-drink and mainstream spirits brands,” the company said

    Total Energies Nigeria

    In Feburary, French oil major TotalEnergies announced plans to sell its minority stake, adding that  it wants to divest its share of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and is looking to reshape its portfolio since producing oil in the Niger Delta is not in line with its health, security and environmental policies.

    “We want to divest our share of SPDC, and we are looking to reshape the portfolio.

    “Fundamentally it’s because producing this oil in the Niger Delta is not in line with our (Health, Security and Environmental) policies, it’s a real difficulty,” Patrick Pouyanne, TotalEnergies chief executive officer was quoted by Reuters

  • UPDATE: Cyberattack ruled out as IT outage wreaks havoc worldwide

    UPDATE: Cyberattack ruled out as IT outage wreaks havoc worldwide

    Computer issues were causing major disruption worldwide on Friday, affecting airlines and airports, media outlets, banks and telecommunication companies.

    Airports from Berlin and Zurich to New Delhi and Sydney were among those that reported various degrees of service disruptions, caused by an update from IT security company — CrowdStrike.

    CrowdStrike boss, George Kurtz, posted on social media platform X that “this is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

    A spokesperson for software giant, Microsoft, said that the company was “aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform.

    “We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming.”

    Airports also reported major disruption, as passengers across the world have been asked to check the status of their flights, with many airlines reporting difficulties with check-in.

    In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration has stopped flights by major airlines such as United, American and Delta.

    The European budget airlines, Ryanair and Eurowings, also had their operations disrupted, although German carrier, Lufthansa, said it was only “slightly” impacted.

    Also, Dutch airline, KLM, said “the outage made flight handling impossible” and was largely suspending its operations.

    Zurich Airport said it would restrict landings, although arriving flights that have already taken off were still able to land.

    Turkey’s national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, said it was currently experiencing problems with ticketing, check-in and reservation processes in a post on social media platform — X.

    At Sydney Airport, passengers were told that they could not check in luggage, with domestic and international flights affected.

    In India, boarding passes were being filled out manually as check-in was disrupted at New Delhi’s main airport.

    Contingency plans were also in place at Heathrow Airport in London, the airport said, with Gatwick Airport also warning against delays.

    Broadcasters and healthcare sectors were also affected

    The global IT outage has caused difficulties across a wide range of sectors on Friday.

    In the UK, broadcaster Sky News was knocked off the air for hours, while several television channels in France were also affected.

    Australian radio stations were reportedly broadcasting music via CDs and USB sticks after computer systems went down.

    Emergency services were hit in Denmark, with the Copenhagen fire department reporting problems with receiving automatic fire alarm warnings.

    The healthcare sector in Denmark has also been affected.

    In northern Germany, the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein said it was cancelling all planned operations at its facilities in the cities of Kiel and Lübeck were affected.

    Australian banks were also said to be struggling to deal with the IT outage. In response, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened an emergency meeting.

    Global Technology Glitch: Delta suspend flights

    Delta Air Lines, one of the major airlines of the United States, says it has paused all flights following a vendor technology issue experienced across all markets that occured in the early hours of Friday.

    The information is in a statement from Delta’s Corporate Communications Department on Friday in Lagos.

    The statement noted that customers whose flights were impacted would be notified by Delta via the Fly Delta app and text messages.

    It urged customers to use the Fly Delta app for updates, adding that “we apologise for the inconvenience, as our teams work through this issue.

    “Reports indicated that other airlines may also be impacted.”

    In the early hours of July 18, a technical issue with a vendor impacted many carries in the United States, causing flight delays and total pause in flight operations.

    Amerian Air on its verified X account, while apologising to its customers, assured that the issues had been resolved.

    United Airlines, on its verified X account also said that it would be issuing waivers to make it easier for passengers to change travel plans on its website and at Waiver: uafly.co/alerts.

    The airline said in the post that a third-party outage is impacting computer systems, affecting
    many organisations worldwide.

    It added that “as we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers travelling today may experience delays.”

    However, Qatar Airways disclosed that the technology issues was not affecting its international flight operations as of yet.

    KLM Airlines also gave its customers a heads up as it stated that there might be flight delays and cancellations due to the glitch.

    The disruption has been linked to a downtime experienced with Microsoft internet services and issues with Cloudstrike.

    Microsoft had in a statement, said a configuration change in a portion of ‘our Azure backend workloads, caused interruption between storage and compute resources’ resulted in connectivity failures that affected downstream Microsoft 365 services dependent on these connections.

    Microsoft also said that the issue may impact any user attempting to use various Microsoft 365 apps and services.

    It added that “services affected include — PowerBI, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 admin center, and Microsoft Purview.

    “We will continue to progress on our mitigation efforts for the affected Microsoft 365 apps and services. We still expect users to see remediation as we address residual impact,” Microsoft said.

    The organisation noted that Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Intune, OneDrive for business, and SharePoint Online, are some of its services that have been restored.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on its verified X page said it was closely monitoring the issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines as several airlines have requested FAA assistance with ground stops until the issue is resolved.

  • BREAKING: Major airlines, TV stations grounded over global IT glitch

    BREAKING: Major airlines, TV stations grounded over global IT glitch

    Dutch airline, KLM said that a global computer outage has made “flight handling impossible” and is largely suspending its operations.

    Airlines and airports around the globe have been affected by IT problems.

    “KLM and other airlines and airports have been affected by a global computer outage, making flight handling impossible,” the airline said in a statement.

    “We realize that this is very inconvenient for our customers and staff, particularly in the midst of the summer holiday season.

    “We’re working hard to resolve the problem. Until then, we will have to suspend operations largely.”

    In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration has stopped flights by major airlines United, American and Delta.

    German airports in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Cologne-Bonn and Nuremberg reported various degrees of service disruptions.

    Outage halts traffic at Berlin airport, Hamburg hit by disruptions

    No planes were taking off or landing at Berlin’s airport, while some departures were affected in Hamburg on Friday morning, due to IT outages.

    Similar failures were being reported across the world, affecting airlines and airports, media outlets, banks and telecommunication companies in countries including Spain, Australia, India and Britain.

    In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration has reportedly stopped flights by major airlines United, American and Delta.

    The European budget airlines Ryanair said it has also had its operations disrupted.

    A spokeswoman for Berlin Brandenburg Airport said there “are delays in handling due to a technical fault’’ and that flight operations would be suspended until 10 a.m. (0800 GMT).

    Local broadcaster RBB reported there was a server failure, but the spokeswoman would not confirm this.

    At Hamburg Airport, four airlines were suffering from tech failures at

    A spokeswoman said the airlines were Eurowings, Ryanair, Vueling and Turkish airlines.

    She said the airlines were issuing tickets manually.

    French TV channels affected by worldwide tech outages

    Several television channels in France have also been affected by a major computer outage wreaking technical havoc worldwide.

    Canal+, a French TV station has informed its subscribers that it is suffering from the effects of an IT breakdown that is preventing the broadcast of its regular programmes.

    The television channel TF1 has also been hit. A French presenter said during the programme that the channel could not broadcast everything as usual.

    For instance, no maps for the weather report could be shown.

    Development traced to Microsoft

    Meanwhile, the development has been traced to Virtual Machines running on Microsoft Windows that are running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent.

    Microsoft said it is aware of the issue and that though it is an external dependency, it is currently being investigated.

    “We experienced a Storage incident  in Central US which had downstream impact to a number of Azure services.

    “This is currently mitigated, however we are still in the process of validating recovery to a small percentage of those downstream services.

    “This was communicated to affected customers via the Service Health dashboard in the Azure portal.

    “We are also aware of an issue impacting Virtual Machines running Windows, running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent, which may encounter a bug check (BSOD) and get stuck in a restarting state.

    “While this is an external dependency, we are currently investigating potential options for Azure customers to mitigate and will be providing updates via the status page here: azure.status.microsoft/en-gb/status/ as well as our Azure portal, where possible,” Microsoft stated.

    Meanwhile, according to George Kurtz, President & CEO of CrowdStrike, the issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.

    “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted.

    “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.

    “We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.

    “We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.

    “Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” Kurtz stated.

  • Microsoft to pay $20m to settle child privacy violations

    Microsoft to pay $20m to settle child privacy violations

    U.S. tech giant Microsoft agreed to pay a 20 million U.S. dollars penalty to settle allegations it collected personal information from children without their parents’ consent.

    The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged Microsoft collected personal information from children who signed up to its Xbox gaming system without notifying their parents or obtaining their parents’ consent.

    It said that the Microsoft illegally retained the children’s personal information.

    The FTC said Microsoft’s actions violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

    As well as the fine, Microsoft will be required to bolster privacy protections for younger users of its Xbox system.

    The FTC said it would also extend COPPA protections to third-party gaming publishers with whom Microsoft shares children’s data.

    “Our proposed order makes it easier for parents to protect their children’s privacy on Xbox, and limits what information Microsoft can collect and retain about kids,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said.

    “This action should also make it abundantly clear that kids’ avatars, biometric data, and health information are not exempt from COPPA.”

    The order must be approved by a federal court before it can go into effect.

  • NCC-CSIRT proffers countermeasures against website scams on Microsoft Edge Browser

    NCC-CSIRT proffers countermeasures against website scams on Microsoft Edge Browser

    The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has issued an advisory for users to install trusted, up-to-date anti-virus software with an Internet security component and to customize News Feed in Microsoft Edge Browser.

    This is part of the countermeasures to lessen the chances of falling for a malicious attack that has been discovered in the browser.

    The NCC-CSIRT further advised users of the browser to practise safe Internet browsing habits and to refrain from clicking on links they are unsure of in the face of the malicious attack that has been rated as high in probability and potential damage to systems.

    The advisory stated that the malicious advertising campaign, unearthed on the Microsoft Edge Browser News Feed, redirects victims to fraudulent tech support websites and that cybercriminals have resorted to posting bizarre, attention-grabbing stories or advertisements on the Edge news feed to entice users to click on them. The malicious advertisements appear legitimate but contain malware and/or other threats.

    According to the advisory, “The Microsoft Edge News Feed is the default page that appears when a new tab is opened, and it displays information such as news, advertisements, weather, and traffic updates. Also, the following are the steps that result in being redirected to a bogus tech support page: The user clicks on a story or advertisement, the Edge browser setting is analysed for various metrics.”

    Based on the aforementioned metrics and prior results, the advisory said “if the user is adjudged to be a bot or in a location that is not of interest, the user is redirected to a harmless dummy page that is relevant to the story or advertisement initially clicked on; However, if the user is adjudged a potential victim, then the user is redirected to a tech support scam website for further exploitation.”

    Victims of the tech support website scam could have their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and other data harvested or they could be with malware.

    The NCC, therefore, urges telecom consumers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to install up-to-date AntiVirus software and be alert to the wiles of cybercriminals in order not to fall victim to cyber scams.

    The CSIRT is the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector and as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large.

    The CSIRT also works collaboratively with the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT), established by the Federal Government to reduce the volume of future computer risk incidents by preparing, protecting, and securing Nigerian cyberspace to forestall attacks, and problems or related events.

  • Nigeria engaging Microsoft to preserve local languages – Presidency

    Nigeria engaging Microsoft to preserve local languages – Presidency

    The presidency says Nigeria is engaging with tech giant, Microsoft Corporation, in order to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to preserve local languages.

    Mr Ife Adebayo, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Innovations, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said that democratising access to digital tools and digital skills was a core agenda of the Federal Government.

    Adebayo said that he recently had interactions with Nigerians on what the present administration was doing to further encourage ICT startup innovations and other aspects of innovations and technology.

    “So, what you find is that since 2016, the vice president has engaged with various technology leaders within the country and outside the country.

    “Microsoft is one of them; and in January, he met with Microsoft again and spoke on the need to invest in Nigerians because Nigeria’s biggest resource is human capital.

    “So, after various conversations with Microsoft, there were investments that were announced by the vice president and the Microsoft President and the goal is to train five million Nigerians across the country.

    “This is going to be democratised and there would be a lot of focus on under-served areas. However everybody will have their opportunity.

    “There is also the engagement with Microsoft to be able to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to preserve Nigeria languages starting with of course, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. So we are working with the Institute of Cultural Orientation.’’

    He said that Nigerian languages would be localised in Microsoft products.

    According to him, the way one can use Microsoft word and choose German, Spanish and English, one will also be able to choose Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo.

    “Software developers who are building using Microsoft platforms would be able to build in their languages.

    “We also have engagements with the EFCC; for example looking at the loopholes for corruption and how can we use technology to block those loopholes.

    “And finally, when you look at connectivity within rural areas, within places that are difficult to reach, how can we use Microsoft to be able to provide broadband services in these areas?

    “How can we use these services to be able to provide education and access to health care services?

    “Because when you look at people who spoke about science and technology being theoretical, this is where this comes in, where we are able to provide reach and access to people who in difficulty to reach places.

    “It is important to note also that constitutionally, the responsibility for primary and secondary schools lies with the local government or state government but the Federal Government of course steps in to support them.’’

    He said that there were a lot of ICT centres by the Ministry of Labour, by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and by the Ministry of Communications and Digital economy.

    Adebayo said that the administration in collaboration with Microsoft was trying to collate all the centres existing in various places and look at how to maximise their uses.

    He said this is “So that people within those communities know that they exist and they are able to claim digital skills from them.

    “This is where we hope to get the five million people that Microsoft will be helping us to train.’’

  • Melinda Gates earns billionaire status after ‘divorce alert’ from Bill Gates

    Melinda Gates earns billionaire status after ‘divorce alert’ from Bill Gates

    Melinda Gates has earned herself billionaire status after receiving her ‘divorce alert’ from Bill Gates.

    Earlier this week, Melinda and Bill announced their divorce and on that same day, Melinda became a billionaire.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Cascade Investment, Bill’s investment vehicle has transferred nearly $2.4 billion in securities to Melinda.

    The next day, however, Bill’s net worth dropped slightly, from $130.4 billion to $128.1 billion, according to Forbes.

    Nevertheless, Bill maintained his status as the fourth richest person in the world.

    He falls behind Jeff Bezos ($177 billion), Elon Musk ($157 billion) and Bernard Arnault and family ($150 billion).

    Meanwhile, Melinda received 2.94 million shares of AutoNation and 14.1 million shares of Canadian National Railway Co., according to Forbes.

    AutoNation is worth $309 million and Canadian National Railway Co. is worth an estimated $1.5 billion.

    She also received 25.8 million shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa — worth $120 million — and 155.4 million shares of Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa SA — worth $386 million.

    Up until 2000, Bill was Microsoft’s CEO, and he later moved out of a daily role with the company in 2008.

    Until 2014, he served as chairman of the board and announced just last year he was stepping down to focus on philanthropy.

    In 2000, the couple founded The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has spent more than $53 billion since its formation to target poverty and inequity worldwide, according to the foundation’s website.

    Melinda, who was a product manager at Microsoft, met Bill at a business dinner in New York City. They got married in Hawaii in 1994.

    The couple’s divorce filings show they asked a judge in Washington state to divide their assets based on the terms of a separation contract, usually issued when spouses are living apart but have not yet divorced, according to Forbes.

    The terms of the contract weren’t disclosed.

  • Divorce: What Nigerians said about Melinda, Bill Gates’ separation

    Divorce: What Nigerians said about Melinda, Bill Gates’ separation

    Reactions have continue to trail the divorce announcement by Microsoft founder, Bill Gate and his wife Melinda by Nigerians on Twitter.

    Some Nigerians attributed the cause of the duo’s divorce on lack of love and trust, adding that money could not buy true love.

    An Ex Ultimate Love Guest, Onyekachi Ucheagwu tweeted that “the attraction is external appearance of something; it is not a reliable indication of its true nature.

    “27 years of what appeared to be unending happiness just crashed; moral lesson, all that glitters is not gold and money cannot buy true love.

    A former Big Brother African and Media Personality, Uti Nwachukwu questions the essence of marriage if couple can separate after being together for many years.

    He wrote, “What is the point of getting divorced in your 60s/70s… I just don’t get it!!

    “At that age what could possibly be the problem that cannot be resolved?

    “This marriage thing no be scam so? How many are truly happily married.

    “Some just smile to us but tolerate in unhappiness till death do them part.

    “l have come to believe that the average human being is selfish and just wants their needs met regardless of their vows or how it makes their partners feel,” he tweeted.

    Another Twitter fan, Abidemi Iromini reacted by saying that human beings are intrinsically selfish.

    It could be recalled that Bill and Melinda Gates on Monday announced they are to divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying they “no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.

    “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the pair said in a joint statement posted on Twitter.

    The couple, who jointly run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a huge funder of global health and disease prevention initiatives, including the fight against coronavirus, said they would continue to run the foundation together.

  • Microsoft initiatives will start in few months – VP Osinbajo

    Microsoft initiatives will start in few months – VP Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the initiatives that the Nigerian government will be embarking on with Microsoft Corporation will start in the next few months.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Microsoft had on Monday made a big announcement for Nigeria, saying it has earmarked the six regions of the country for the development of cheaper high-speed internet infrastructure.

    Vice President Osinbajo explained that the initiatives, which cover areas of intersection between technology and governance will deliver value to Nigerians.

    He stated that the big announcement was the outcome of the discussions he had in January 2021 with Mr. Brad Smith, president of the American multinational technology firm.

    “I am very pleased to see that within a very short time, we have moved from ideas to implementation. Our government is committed to leveraging innovation and technology to bring better outcomes across a wide area of governance concerns.

    *Indeed, it is with this in mind that we have sought constructive partnerships that bridge the knowledge, skills and technology gap that exist in most of our communities.

    “Microsoft’s extensive experience in the utilization of technology as an enabler for the delivery of public and social good makes them an ideal partner,” Osinbajo stated.

    Meanwhile, in a joint announcement with the government of Nigeria, Microsoft has detailed several projects aimed at intensifying the nation’s move to become a more digital economy.

  • BREAKING: Microsoft makes big announcement for Nigeria

    BREAKING: Microsoft makes big announcement for Nigeria

    American multinational technology company, Microsoft on Monday made a big announcement for Nigeria, saying it has earmarked the six regions of the country for the development of cheaper high-speed internet infrastructure.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Brad Smith, Microsoft President, who made this known in a statement, revealed that the efforts were in support of the government of Nigeria.

    Smith stated that Microsoft would be deploying it’s Airband team to work closely with local partners for the project.

    “Following discussions with the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy and local partners, six regions in the country have been earmarked for the development of high-speed internet infrastructure.

    “Microsoft’s Airband team will work closely with local partners to improve broadband connectivity in these communities while also assisting with the design and implementation of hyper-scale cloud services,” he stated.

    Meanwhile, in a joint announcement with the government of Nigeria, Microsoft has detailed several projects aimed at intensifying the nation’s move to become a more digital economy.

    After extensive consultations with the government, Microsoft identified three key pillars that will help to build strong foundations for a digital economy in Nigeria: connectivity, skilling and digital transformation.

    “We believe in the future of Nigeria, and we are excited as a company to add to our investments.

    “Together, we have an enormous opportunity to put technology to work, create jobs, to foster the technology ecosystem across Nigeria, and to use technology to preserve the best of the past and take us into the future,” the Microsoft boss said.

    TNG reports Microsoft’s Airband Initiative has succeeded in bringing high-speed internet connectivity to underserved communities around the world, tapping into the unused broadcasting frequencies of television white spaces.

    The technology is cheaper and faster to deploy than fibre and has the added benefit of being able to travel long distances and through forested terrain.

    Also, Microsoft owned up that technological infrastructure alone is not enough to ensure sustainable digital transformation, so it is committing to upskilling five million people in Nigeria over the next three years.

    “To help reach this goal, 1,700 trainers will provide blended online and in-person training courses to the country’s youth as well as government workers.

    “Government will also be given the tools to digitally transform skilling, education, and employment methods to match job seekers with the right employers. In doing so, we hope to create over 27,000 new digital jobs in the next three years.

    “We are setting ourselves a big goal, to bring access to digital skills to five million people in Nigeria over the next three years.

    “But this is not something we can do by ourselves. We will equip master trainers and, along with them, are committed to creating thousands of new jobs.

    “The final pillar, digital transformation, will initially be made up of two initiatives. The first will address corruption, a major global challenge with economic losses totalling $3.6 trillion each year.

    “By collaborating with local partners, Microsoft will support the design and implementation of cloud-based tools to further enable government’s fight against corruption.

    “Microsoft will be partnering with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to apply technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to help identify potential risk, highlight them, and reduce corruption.

    “The second initiative will help protect Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage, as Microsoft will look to deploy artificial intelligence tools to safeguard these treasures for future generations.

    “Through a newly formed partnership with the National Institute of Cultural Orientation, Microsoft will support the organisation’s efforts to preserve and revive Nigeria’s three major indigenous languages: Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo.

    “This is one of my favourite projects that we pursue around the world. It uses the most advanced technology of the 21st century to nurture and keep alive the culture that has been so important for humanity from the centuries past.

    “A joint working committee will guide these investments, and will provide updates on the programmes announced, and new programmes that may follow,” a statement by Microsoft reads.