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Last week, I wrote about the need to move from more aid to more strategic systems. This week, the conversation inevitably shifts toward a new frontier reshaping every sector, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and, more importantly, the trust and equity questions sitting quietly beneath the hype.

At the recent AI for Development (AI4D) conference in Barcelona, something powerful happened. For once, the story wasn’t about shiny algorithms or billion-parameter models. It was about people and the reminder that technology, no matter how advanced, still depends on the fairness of the systems and data that shape it.

As Emmanuel Lubanzadio, OpenAI’s Africa Lead, put it, ‘To get AI right, it should be a right.’ That statement lingers. Because in many parts of the world, including Africa, technology access, literacy, and trust still depend on who gets invited to the table.

Who gets to shape the future

When global institutions talk about AI, there’s often a quiet assumption that innovation trickles down from the top. Yet, as the World Food Programme’s AI lead noted, 95 percent of organisations have failed to scale AI effectively. Why? Because the data, design, and deployment rarely start with the end user in mind.

In health systems, this failure is especially costly. Algorithms trained on non-representative data can misdiagnose African patients or exclude critical environmental variables that drive health outcomes in our context. The result is not only inefficiency; it’s inequity coded at scale.

As someone who leads partnerships across Africa’s health ecosystem, I see this tension daily. The technology exists. The actual challenge is translation, taking innovation from lab to life in ways that reflect local realities, languages, and lived experiences.

The trust deficit

The AI4D discussions echoed a truth that development actors often overlook: trust, not technology, is the real infrastructure gap. It’s the trust between governments and innovators, between communities and the data systems that serve them, and between donors and the people implementing solutions on the ground. Without it, even the most advanced tools will fail to deliver meaningful or lasting change.

Without that trust, even the best-funded pilots remain stuck at ‘proof of concept’.

This is why I believe Africa’s next big advantage won’t come from importing AI models; it will come from building trust architectures, the governance frameworks, data standards, and ethical norms that let technology serve people, not replace them.

AI is only as fair as its builders

Lindsey Moore of DevelopMetrics made a sharp observation: ‘If male-dominated AI is giving the answers, we’re going to lose incredible diversity of perspective.’ That applies far beyond gender. It’s about who gets to imagine solutions.

We often celebrate innovation hubs and hackathons, but the actual innovation happens when a rural nurse in Kano or a field officer in Garissa uses technology to solve an old problem in a new way. If AI doesn’t learn from them, it will keep missing the mark.

That’s why initiatives like Tech to the Rescue, which runs AI literacy bootcamps before NGOs adopt new tools, matter. They remind us that inclusion is not a checkbox; it’s a process.

From smart tools to smart systems

At eHealth Africa, we’ve learnt that embedding AI or digital tools into real government systems takes humility, not just funding. We’re currently exploring AI-enabled voice-to-text triage systems that work in Hausa and English, not because it sounds futuristic, but because it helps actual people access care faster.

When I sat in sessions this month on digital health architecture and primary health systems, one pattern stood out: Africa doesn’t need more pilots; it needs interoperable platforms that speak to each other. That principle applies equally to AI.

To move from promise to progress, AI in development must integrate into existing workflows, national data systems, public-private partnerships, and local capacity, not operate in silos.

Leadership in the Age of Systems

As we progress further into the last quarter of 2025, I’m convinced that the most transformative global leaders won’t be those who merely use technology but those who can govern its purpose.

My next level of leadership, and that of many African professionals rising now, is what I call Global Systems Leadership, i.e., the ability to connect technology, trust, and transformation across sectors and borders.

Global systems leaders don’t chase trends; they build coherence. They understand that a health system is not only hospitals and data but also the politics of financing, the culture of delivery, and the power of partnerships. They recognise that digital doesn’t replace human systems; it strengthens them when designed with empathy.

Reclaiming the narrative

There’s a growing danger that Africa will again be positioned as a passive consumer of technology, a place where innovation is ‘tested’, not owned. But this continent has already proven it can lead, from mobile money to drone logistics. The next frontier is ethical AI and locally relevant digital governance.

Achieving this requires three critical shifts. First, Africa must move from importing tools to defining its own standards, shaping data ethics, interoperability rules, and AI governance frameworks that reflect local realities. Second, from pilots to platforms, because scale only happens when we evolve beyond donor-funded tests toward country-led systems, with partners like ours helping bridge that transition. And lastly, from excitement to evidence, every AI initiative must answer this simple question: Does it make systems stronger and people’s lives better?

A closing reflection

At its best, technology reminds us of what connects us: our shared desire for dignity, efficiency, and trust. But at its worst, it can mirror the inequities we’ve failed to fix.

If the future of global development depends on AI, then Africa’s contribution must be more than data points; it must be leadership, insight, and ownership.

The world doesn’t just need smarter systems. It needs fairer ones. And building those will take what technology alone can’t provide: human intelligence, integrity, and the courage to slow down just enough to do it right.

The Federal Government will scale up its direct cash transfer programme to include more poor and vulnerable Nigerians, according to Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy.

Speaking at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference and Book Launch in Abuja on Tuesday, Edun said the initiative currently benefits over 15 million households across the country, but that government’s current plan is to extend it beyond that number.

He noted that while progress had been made in stabilising inflation and the exchange rate, more needed to be done to lift Nigerians out of poverty and ensure citizens feel the positive effects of ongoing economic reforms.

‘There is an attempt to ensure that the pains of reform are immediately alleviated. That’s why there is a transparent, accountable, and robust system of providing direct payments to 15 million households,’ Edun stated.

He emphasised that the programme is being implemented with transparency and accountability, supported by a digital verification system.

‘In some places, people say they haven’t heard of anyone receiving the payments. We immediately call for the data to verify this because each individual is identified by name, national identity number, and paid digitally-either to a bank account or mobile wallet. There is accountability, transparency, and a record,’ he explained.

Edun revealed that the federal government plans to expand the programme to reach even more beneficiaries at the grassroots level, as part of broader efforts to cushion the impact of economic reforms.

He also announced a new ward-based development initiative aimed at channelling resources directly to Nigeria’s 8,809 wards across 774 local government areas. ‘This will empower economically active people at the ward level-small businesses and cottage industries-by providing support and financing. It’s a key element in ensuring that the benefits of current reforms and improvements reach right down to the local level,’ he said. Arunma Oteh, founder of the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership, who also spoke at the event, called for increased investment in infrastructure and human capital to drive sustainable growth. She stressed that Nigeria needs ‘patient capital’ to bridge its infrastructure gap and spur economic transformation.

She cited China which over the years, invested 24 per cent of its GDP in infrastructure.

‘At best, we do 4 to 5 per cent. If we want to bridge the infrastructure gap, we must raise this to at least 12 per cent,’ Oteh suggested.

She further urged policymakers to equip young Nigerians for leadership, noting that long-term development would depend on consistent investments in people and infrastructure.

In recent years, Nigeria has witnessed a powerful wave of ‘Japa’ – skilled workers, young professionals and entrepreneurs leaving in search of greener pastures abroad. At the same time, the rise of hybrid and remote work means many Nigerians remain globally connected, working for foreign firms, earning in dollars, or living partly abroad while attached to Nigerian employers. These diasporans represent a huge potential for foreign investment back into the country that remains largely untapped.

Thankfully, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) recently issued a landmark guideline on foreign currency contributions under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), allowing Nigerians abroad and foreign professionals in Nigeria to contribute in U.S. dollars. This is a major step – not only aligning Nigeria’s pension system with global realities but also offering a new vehicle for preserving value and boosting the naira by attracting fresh dollar inflows.

Under the new regulation, eligible participants – Nigerians living or working abroad and expatriates in Nigeria paid in foreign currency – may remit their pension contributions only in U.S. dollars, channelled into dedicated foreign-currency Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs). For diaspora Nigerians, the remittance path runs through Non-Resident Nigerian Ordinary Accounts (NRNOAs), while those in Nigeria earning in foreign currency must use domiciliary accounts linked with their Pension Fund Administrator’s (PFA) custodian bank. PFAs will invest such contributions in a distinct ‘Dollar Fund’, focusing on dollar-denominated assets such as Eurobonds, supranational bonds, and U.S.-backed instruments. Contributors may withdraw benefits in dollars or optionally convert to Naira at prevailing rates at retirement or earlier, subject to the withdrawal rules provided. The rationale is to stabilise pension value for globally mobile workers, hedge currency risk, and open the Nigerian pension system to wider global labour pools.

One of the most compelling benefits of this reform is its potential positive effect on the naira. Remitted dollars into these RSAs mean fresh foreign currency flows into the Nigerian banking and pension ecosystem. As more Nigerians abroad choose to channel part of their income home via pension contributions, the cumulative effect may ease foreign-exchange scarcity, reduce pressure on the Naira, and promote outward investment in local productive assets. In other words, while the CPS traditionally operated in Naira and was exposed to devaluation risk, the new dollar-denomination offers a natural hedge. For contributors, this means greater value preservation; for Nigeria, it means stronger external-currency inflows and enhanced credibility of the pension industry.

The reform solves a long-standing gap. For many years, Nigerians earning abroad were effectively excluded from automatic participation in the CPS because contributions in Naira meant currency loss, conversion hassle and remittance drag. Meanwhile, foreign professionals in Nigeria had to navigate multiple pension options. By opening a clear pathway for dollar-based contributions, PenCom makes the CPS truly inclusive. The broader workforce – diaspora Nigerians and international talent – now have a simple, regulated vehicle to secure retirement savings in a globally transferable currency. This helps expand coverage, deepen capital markets and give Nigeria a competitive pension proposition.

However, despite its good intentions, it all comes down to implementation – the existing local scheme is still struggling to gain acceptance, and its full potential continues to be undermined by misinformation and under-education. The PFAs, PFCs and PenCom will have to ramp up their education and advocacy locally because the people abroad will be heavily dependent on the opinions of their family and friends in Nigeria in making these decisions. In addition, the operators need to find creative ways to capture the hearts and pockets of the diaspora market that is out there.

To all Nigerians abroad, the message is clear: this is your moment. Tap into your earning power, secure your retirement in a currency aligned with your global income, and remain connected to your homeland’s pension system. Register with a licensed PFA or continue with the one you had before you left, open your foreign-currency RSA, and start contributing in U.S. dollars today. For foreign professionals working in Nigeria, engage with your preferred PFA and participate with confidence – you get access to a regulated pension regime denominated in a globally accepted currency. In both cases, you’re not just saving for retirement; you’re participating in a reform that strengthens the entire Nigerian pension landscape.

For Nigeria as a whole, this reform is a signal that the pension industry is evolving to match the modern world of remote work, global mobility and integrated savings. By embracing dollar contributions, PenCom is sending a message: Nigeria’s CPS is no longer just a domestic scheme – it is open, globally competitive and investor-friendly. If stakeholders collaborate thoughtfully – PFAs educating participants, banks facilitating smooth remittances, and regulators ensuring transparency – the reform has the potential to become one of the most transformative in the industry’s two-decade history.

In short, whether you are in Lagos or London, Abuja or Atlanta, you now have a pension option that speaks your currency. Let’s make it count-for your future and for Nigeria’s financial resilience.

Akwa Ibom is fast emerging as the preferred tourism destination in the country. It is becoming the cynosure of tourism enthusiasts and is attracting people both for business and leisure. They are trooping in to savour its rich cultural and superlative hospitality endeavours.

From the recently concluded FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, where the FIFA certified Godswill Akpabio international Stadium in Uyo, the state capital served as the only venue, being the host of the celebrated singer and entertainer, Davido’s, first leg 5live concert tour and to the popular Uyo fashion week in its fifth year, its reputation and fame as the tourism destination are growing steadily.

Many of the enthusiasts point to the relative peace in the state which is often seen as one of the most peaceful states in the country, the good network of roads, a conscious effort by the previous and succeeding administrations, easy connectivity, thanks to Ibom Air, a wholly owned airline of the state government which has assumed a leadership role in the industry.

The airline recently signed a partnership agreement with Akwa United Football Club, a significant milestone for sports and private sector collaboration, an indication of the airline’s glowing influence and commitment to ‘supporting’ impactful community-focused initiatives.

The sponsorship deal, valued at N200m for an initial period of two years includes both cash and in-kind contributions, with 50 percent of the total value provided in kind.’

According to Aniefiok Macaulay, a media personality and tourism enthusiast, Akwa Ibom is able to attract tourists because of its excellent facilities which he said include the Ibom shopping city, the international hotel and an international conference centre, the Arise park with children playground plus an artificial lake created to boost tourism development. For him, Akwa Ibom is well positioned to host mega events and ready to showcase its exceptional hospitality and cuisines adding that the ‘Uyo Fashion Week demonstrates a deliberate commitment to giving visibility to the up and coming fashion designers who may have been limited in one way or the other.

‘It has encouraged the young creative talents to arise beyond the local scene to the international runways and create their identity and brands.’

Mae Edmond, the convener of the Uyo Fashion Week believes that it has become the platform to reach designers on how to commercialise their enterprise in the creative industry. ‘For us to be able to showcase Akwa Ibom at its best, we needed to create Uyo Fashion Weeks, it is about us as a people and as a state, to be able to showcase that which we have and then be able to upscale the creativity within the state,’ adding that it would ‘contribute to the amazing work being done by Governor Umo Eno in the tourism sector.’

According to her, the creative industry is one sector that is powerful, because everybody is affected by the creative sector, and it is attracting tourists to the state and is set to be one of the events in the tourism calendar of the state in addition to the yearly Christmas festival lasting one month.

Since its debut in 2022, the Uyo Fashion Week has transcended the runway to become a cultural awakening, an enduring celebration and scale. It has embodied the rhythm of the rising Akwa Ibom, an emerging tourism destination where innovation meets enterprise, Edmong said.

According to the organisers, the Uyo Fashion Week has been supported by the state government, ‘showing the state’s commitment to youth empowerment, creativity and sustainable enterprise while the latest season celebrated rebirth, resilience and refinement. It featured Emmanuel Umoh, a former Big Brother Naija housemate, the runaway transformed into a living mosaic of heritage and innovation, honouring the timeless interplay between culture and contemporary design, drawing enthusiasts around the country.’

Perhaps, one of the most profound testimonies about the growing influence of Akwa Ibom as a tourist destination came from from the celebrated signer and entertainer, Davido who was in Uyo, the state capital for his five-city concert, a massive turn out that saw fans asking for more after a performance never witnessed in the state.

‘When we were looking around Africa, five places came and Akwa Ibom was top on the list. A lot of people are flying from other states that don’t have this type of facility.

‘I am excited, it is the best of its kind. We toured America already and it was a great success and we were looking for a good facility around Africa and Akwa Ibom is one of the places that we found. You have a standard facility, that is why we are starting here. As time goes, we will keep doing the other states and I am just excited the stadium is already filled up, so let’s get ready and shut it down,’

Davido, who literally shut down the facility with his superb performance, gave the fans what they were looking for, a night to remember, a performance never seen before and the atmosphere became electrifying immediately after his appearance was announced.

Indeed, Akwa Ibom is a fast growing tourism destination, it has achieved this through a deliberate effort by stakeholders to leverage on the facilities at its disposal, a lush green environment and known for its neatness to emerge as the preferred destination for tourists in the country.

APM Terminals Apapa announced donations of critical medical equipment to the Simpson Primary Healthcare Centre in Ebute Metta, Lagos, to improve maternal and child health outcomes in the community.

Frederik Klinke, ceo APM Terminals, speaking at the handover ceremony, said it s part of the company’s efforts to uplift the living standards of its host communities.

‘We are proud of the work done here to increase the survival rate of children, and I hope the community will maintain the equipment and put it to good use,’ Klinke said, noting that APM Terminals has also installed power systems and renovated medical facilities across Lagos.

Steen Knudsen, the Apapa terminal manager, explained that the donation aligns with the United Nations Population Fund’s 10 Million Safer Births Initiative, launched by Queen Mary of Denmark during her visit to Nigeria in June 2025, to tackle high maternal mortality rates and promote safer deliveries.

Abimbola Bowale, the permanent secretary of Lagos Health District IV, described the donation as a fruit of public-private partnerships. Giwa Rasheed, representing the Senator for Lagos Central Senatorial District, said the centre will make quality maternal care more accessible and affordable.

Layi Ogunjobi, PM Terminals Nigeria’s Medical Advisor, disclosed that a consultant has been engaged to monitor the use and maintenance of the donated equipment over the next few years to ensure accountability and long-term impact.

A second phase is planned to upgrade the facility’s laboratories.

Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy is being reshaped by a shift where Chinese technology increasingly outweighs the United States(US) influence, particularly in infrastructure, devices, and the physical backbone of the nation’s tech ecosystem.

While American firms remain the dominant force in startup financing and software innovation, Chinese companies are building and supplying the infrastructure that powers Nigeria’s digital future.

Nigeria’s data-centre market, which is the foundation of cloud services, telecoms, and digital platforms, is projected to grow from $278 million in 2024 to $671 million by 2030, according to industry data. The Nigerian government has invited Chinese tech firms to participate directly in this growth, further deepening Beijing’s involvement in critical digital infrastructure.

China holds a larger and more embedded presence in key segments of Nigeria’s tech and digital infrastructure compared to the United States and other countries.

While the US is heavily involved in Nigeria’s vibrant startup/fintech ecosystem via VC funding, China has a strong foothold through major players as Opay, a Chinese-backed fintech company, which was valued at over $1 billion and is a significant player in the mobile money and payment space. Opera, a browser company with Chinese ownership, is highly active in the Nigerian consumer tech space. Chinese vendors such as Huawei have become integral to Nigeria’s telecom backbone, supplying network equipment and deploying high-capacity optical systems for operators like MTN Nigeria.

From 400G fibre rollouts to 5G infrastructure, much of the nation’s mobile and internet connectivity rests on Chinese hardware. This infrastructure dominance builds on decades of cooperation.

By 2018, Chinese companies had already invested over $16 billion in Nigeria’s telecom sector, according to the Ministry of Communications. Transsion Holdings, the Chinese parent company of Tecno, Infinix, and itel, commands the Nigerian smartphone market as its affordable, multi-SIM phones with long battery life have become found everywhere across Africa, capturing more than 60 percent of Nigeria’s smartphone market.

For deployment at scale, Huawei created CloudMatrix 384, a rack-scale AI system comprised of 384 Ascend 910C processors. This system spans 16 racks and delivers approximately 300 petaFLOPs in BF16 precision, significantly surpassing Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72 system (180 petaFLOPs).

Though less energy-efficient than its Western counterparts, which consume about 559 kilowatts compared to 145 kilowatts for Nvidia’s competing setup, the system leverages China’s relatively low electricity costs to remain economically viable.

Huawei has secured enough wafers to produce over a million Ascend 910C chips between 2023 and 2025, establishing a robust supply chain despite international sanctions. The company expects yield rates to improve from 40 per cent in late 2024 to 60 per cent by 2025, approaching industry-standard levels.

The AI+ Initiative, launched in 2024, represents China’s comprehensive approach to integrating artificial intelligence across its economy. This program promotes the in-depth integration of AI and the real economy by deepening the research and application of AI technology

This initiative follows the model of China’s earlier ‘Internet Plus’ program but focuses specifically on embedding AI capabilities into traditional industries and public services. Early implementation has targeted manufacturing, agriculture, and service sectors to improve production efficiency and product quality while advancing industrial processes toward intelligent development.

In response to US export controls on advanced AI chips, Huawei has developed the Ascend 910C, a graphics processing unit (GPU) that represents China’s most significant domestic chip breakthrough.

The Ascend 910C achieves its performance through clever engineering rather than technological leapfrogging. It combines two 910B processors into a single package through advanced integration techniques, effectively doubling computing power and memory capacity while adding incremental improvements for diverse AI workload support.

Despite manufacturing constraints, the chip delivers performance comparable to Nvidia’s H100 in specific workloads, a significant achievement considering the NVIDIA H100 price and its dominance in the global AI chip market.

China also dominates Nigeria’s solar market, accounting for over 70 per cent of all solar panel shipments into the country, enabling off-grid power solutions that support telecom towers and small businesses; a dominance due to competitive pricing and strong supply chains. Chinese apps are also shaping digital culture and commerce as TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, now reaches roughly 37.4 million Nigerian adults, making it one of the country’s top social platforms and a key driver of Nigeria’s fast-rising creator economy.

U.S. influence is the power behind startups because while China builds Nigeria’s digital foundations, the United States remains central to the country’s startup and fintech ecosystem.

According to U.S. Consulate data, U.S. venture capital provides over 60 percent of total startup funding in Nigeria, and roughly 80 percent of Nigerian tech startups are legally incorporated in the United States.

American accelerators such as Y Combinator and Techstars continue to nurture Nigerian founders, while U.S.-backed fintechs like Flutterwave and Paystack (now owned by Stripe) dominate payments innovation.

The U.S. strategy focuses on digital content such as software, platforms, and global scaling, while China dominates the digital pipes that carry the data.

China’s global ambitions in artificial intelligence (AI) amplify its influence across emerging markets like Nigeria.

Beijing aims to become the world leader in AI by 2030, with the sector projected to generate $100 billion in direct revenue and $1 trillion in value across other industries.

Recent breakthroughs such as DeepSeek-R1, an efficient large reasoning model, and Huawei’s Ascend 910C AI chip showcase China’s ability to innovate under sanctions and build domestic AI ecosystems. Zhu Min, former PBOC deputy governor, predicts this sectoral integration will unleash over 100 DeepSeek-like breakthroughs in the coming 18 months that will fundamentally change the nature and the tech nature of the whole Chinese economy. Hence, the AI+ initiative represents not just a technological program but a comprehensive economic transformation strategy.

China’s strategy is its focus on physical infrastructure such as telecom networks, data centres, and hardware, which is often backed by state financing and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). They provide the fundamental digital pipes for the economy.

Since 2006, the government of the People’s Republic of China has steadily developed a national agenda for artificial intelligence development and has emerged as one of the leading nations in AI research and development.

By 2030, Chinese AI is projected to become a $100 billion industry while creating more than $1 trillion of additional value across other sectors. State-led AI investment funds are actively pouring capital into the development of cutting-edge AI models and applications, including an $8.2 billion AI fund specifically targeting promising startups.

China’s AI industry enjoys significant advantages in energy infrastructure for data centres, driven by aggressive state-backed power expansion that added 429 GW of net new power generation capacity in 2024 alone, more than 15 times the capacity added in the United States during the same period. How China’s AI journey began

China’s path to artificial intelligence dominance began decades before its current leadership position, as the earliest roots of Chinese AI research trace back to the 1980s, when the country first established academic programs in computer science.

Initially modest and primarily academic in nature, these early efforts gained momentum as China’s economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping created a foundation for technological advancement.

The seeds of China’s AI revolution were planted during the economic reforms of the late 1970s. As China opened to the outside world, it gradually built the educational and industrial infrastructure necessary for technological development.

Throughout the 1990s, Chinese universities expanded their computer science programs, establishing specialised AI research labs that would eventually produce world-class talent.

The early 2000s marked a significant turning point when Chinese tech companies began forming their own AI research divisions. Baidu established its Institute of Deep Learning in 2013, followed by similar initiatives at Alibaba and Tencent. These corporate investments coincided with growing government interest in AI as a strategic technology.

A decisive moment came in 2016 when AlphaGo, developed by Google’s DeepMind, defeated world champion Go player Ke Jie. This event served as a Sputnik moment for Chinese AI, prompting both government and industry to accelerate investments. Shortly afterward, in 2017, China unveiled its ambitious New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, officially declaring AI a national priority.

Between 2018 and 2022, Chinese AI capabilities advanced rapidly across multiple domains, including computer vision, natural language processing, and autonomous systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this development as AI solutions were deployed for contact tracing, diagnostic assistance, and public health management.

By 2023, Chinese companies had begun releasing large language models (LLMs) that rivaled those from Western competitors. This trend continued into 2024-2025, with models from companies like Baidu, Zhipu AI, and DeepSeek achieving performance benchmarks comparable to or exceeding those of OpenAI and Anthropic.

2025 represented a breakthrough period when Chinese AI models began demonstrating distinctive advantages in efficiency, multilingual capabilities, and integration with hardware systems. This was particularly evident in DeepSeek’s smaller yet highly efficient models and Huawei’s advancements in AI chips designed specifically for Chinese model architectures.

First among China’s recent AI breakthroughs is DeepSeek-R1, a model that has stunned global observers with its remarkable efficiency-to-performance ratio. Released in January 2025, this large reasoning model (LRM) achieved performance comparable to leading Western models while requiring dramatically fewer resources for training and inference.

The secret behind DeepSeek-R1’s efficiency lies in its Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture. Despite containing 671 billion total parameters, the model activates only 37 billion parameters per query.

This approach enables sophisticated reasoning capabilities without proportional increases in computational costs. According to the company’s claims, DeepSeek trained R1 in just 55 days using approximately 2,000 Nvidia H800 GPUs at a cost of merely $5.60 million.

DeepSeek-R1 demonstrated exceptional capabilities in reasoning and complex problem-solving. The model achieved 97.3 percent accuracy on the MATH-500 benchmark and 79.8 percent on AIME 2024, outperforming many competitors in structured reasoning tasks. Its fully open-source nature under the MIT license has enabled global adoption, with the model soaring to the top of download charts on Hugging Face hours after its release.

Recognising that AI development requires massive computational resources, China launched the ‘Eastern Data, Western Computing’ initiative in 2022. This national project strategically redistributes digital infrastructure by building data centers in energy-rich western regions to process information collected in data-rich eastern provinces.

The initiative designates ten data center clusters within eight national hub nodes, including locations in Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, and Chengdu-Chongqing. By June 2024, China had achieved 246 EFLOP/s of total compute capacity and aims to reach 300 EFLOP/s by 2025.

Government investment has been substantial, with approximately $6 billion in direct funding leveraging over $27 billion in total investment by the end of 2024. These resources support not just traditional computing but specialised AI infrastructure, including custom chip deployments from companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and Huawei.

As global cyberespionage campaigns intensify, ESET Nigeria has warned that the defence, technology, and critical infrastructure sectors in West Africa are becoming increasingly attractive targets for sophisticated threat actors.

This is even as Olufemi Ake, the company’s managing director, has urged organisations to prioritise cybersecurity awareness training, as a core part of employee onboarding and operational processes.

His warning follows new research findings by ESET, a global cybersecurity firm, which uncovered a fresh wave of cyberattacks linked to the notorious North Korea-aligned Lazarus Group. The campaign, dubbed Operation DreamJob, reportedly targeted several European defence contractors, particularly those involved in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development and manufacturing.

According to ESET researchers, the Lazarus Group used a mix of social engineering, trojanized GitHub projects, and a remote access tool (RAT) known as ScoringMathTea to gain access to sensitive systems. Their suspected goal was the theft of intellectual property, design blueprints, and advanced drone technology that could feed into North Korea’s rapidly expanding UAV program.

While the attacks were concentrated in Europe, Ake said the developments underscore a global pattern that African nations cannot ignore. He emphasised that the growing digital interconnectivity, defence collaborations, and emerging tech hubs in West Africa make the region an attractive destination for cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors seeking indirect access to global supply chains.

‘It is an attractive region for cyberattacks. With increasing digital connectivity, expansion of defence partnerships, and the rise of numerous innovation hubs, individuals have become potential entry points for both direct cyber threats and indirect access to critical systems,’ Ake warned.

Ake noted that the risk extends beyond defence industries. He identified government agencies, engineering and technology firms, power and telecommunications operators, and financial institutions as sectors at heightened risk due to their access to large data pools, strategic infrastructure, or proprietary technologies.

To mitigate these risks, the ESET Nigeria boss called for a strategic shift in how organisations approach cybersecurity, one that focuses not only on technology but also on human awareness.

‘Cybersecurity awareness training should no longer be treated as an optional corporate exercise. It must be an integral part of employee onboarding and continuous learning programs. Humans remain the weakest link in the security chain, and cybercriminals exploit this through increasingly convincing social engineering techniques,’ he said

Ake stressed the need for multi-layered protection, including robust endpoint security, advanced threat detection systems, and regular system updates. But beyond technical defences, he said, educating staff about phishing schemes, fraudulent job offers, and data handling best practices could significantly reduce exposure to threats like Operation DreamJob.

‘Our defence systems are only as strong as the people operating them. Organisations that invest in their people, through awareness and preparedness, stand a better chance of detecting and stopping attacks before they cause damage,’ he added.

In a broader policy recommendation, Ake urged West African governments to treat cybersecurity as a national security priority, integrated into the region’s economic and digital transformation agendas.

‘As countries across the region continue their digital transformation journeys, cyber resilience must be made a top priority. Achieving this will require regional collaboration, sustained awareness campaigns, and long-term investment in cybersecurity capacity-building to safeguard national interests, economic growth, and public trust in digital systems,’ he said.

The latest ESET findings reinforce a trend that has worried security experts for years: ‘the globalisation of cyber conflict’, where attacks in one continent can expose vulnerabilities in another. With defence, energy, and financial networks increasingly interlinked, Ake’s message to African stakeholders is clear: cybersecurity readiness is not just a technical necessity but a strategic imperative.

Enugu State has emerged as Nigeria’s most fiscally viable subnational government. According to BudgIT’s 2025 State of States ranking, Enugu State ranks as the state most likely to fund its operating expenses exclusively from internally generated revenue (IGR).

According to the report, Enugu, Lagos, Abia, Anambra, and Kwara are the five states most capable of surviving independently of allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). Conversely, Yobe, Benue, Jigawa, Kogi, and Imo were ranked as the least viable states.

The findings are based on Index A, which measures states’ ability to meet recurrent expenditure obligations using only IGR. The research methodology for Index A was the ratio of operating expenses to the state’s IGR. According to BudgIT, states that rank higher on this index exhibit greater financial autonomy and long-term viability.

‘States that perform strongly on Index A have comparatively limited dependence on FAAC allocations and thus possess greater viability if they were to theoretically exist as independent entities,’ the report stated.

According to the rankings, Enugu State had a score of 0.68, implying that 68 percent of its IGR would have catered to its operating expenses. Lagos State had a score of 0.83, with Abia garnering 1.56, and Anambra generating 1.66. Kwara had a score of 1.73 to wrap up the top five.

2025’s ranking is in contrast to 2024, when Rivers, Lagos, Ogun, Anambra, and Cross River led the rankings. Enugu’s performance marks a notable leap, underscoring improved revenue collection and expenditure management within the state.

IGR performance: Enugu and Lagos lead, fewer states meet 50% threshold

In terms of IGR performance, the report shows that the number of states generating enough revenue to cover their operating expenses has shrunk.

Unlike in 2024, when Rivers (121.26 percent) and Lagos (118.39 percent) were the only two states that generated more than enough IGR to cover their recurrent expenditure, Rivers was excluded from this year’s analysis. In 2025, this coveted group now includes Lagos (120.87 percent) and Enugu (146.68 percent), with Enugu taking the top spot.

BudgIT noted that, unlike the previous year’s report, where six states generated enough IGR to cover at least 50 percent of their operating expenses, only five states achieved that feat in 2025, namely Abia, Anambra, Kwara, Ogun, and Edo. This means that 28 states still depend significantly on federal transfers and other external inflows to fund their operations.

IGR growth improves, but gaps persist

On Index A1, which measures IGR growth, Enugu again leads the ranking, followed by Bayelsa, Abia, Osun, and Kano. These states recorded the strongest momentum in boosting internally generated revenues during the 2024 fiscal year.

At the bottom, Kebbi and Yobe recorded negative IGR growth, while Ebonyi, Bauchi, and Benue also posted weak performances. This represents a notable improvement from 2023, when seven states recorded negative growth.

‘While it may be too early to celebrate, as the uptick could partly reflect increased inflows from federation transfers. It is a much better performance than the previous year,’ BudgIT observed.

In 2024, Zamfara, Ekiti, Niger, Katsina, and Plateau had topped the IGR growth chart, indicating that fiscal leadership among Nigerian states remains fluid and highly responsive to political and policy shifts.

The 2025 report indicates that fiscal sustainability among Nigerian states remains uneven but is gradually improving. More states are investing in IGR reforms, but structural weaknesses, such as overdependence on FAAC and high administrative costs, continue to hinder progress.

Ola Olukoyede, executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has urged Nigerian youths to reject internet fraud and embrace honesty, hard work, and ethical standards as they prepare to take up leadership roles in the future.

Olukoyede made the call on Monday, during an orientation and sensitisation programme organised for new students of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Nigerian Air Force, Mando, Kaduna, for the 2025/2026 academic session.

Represented by Nana Abubakar, chief superintendent of the EFCC of the Public Affairs Department, Kaduna Zonal Directorate, Olukoyede delivered a lecture titled ‘The Dangers of Cybercrime’, where he highlighted the risks and long-term consequences of internet fraud.

According to him, there is no shortcut to genuine success.

He stressed that hard work, perseverance, and integrity remain the surest routes to sustainable prosperity, while the pursuit of quick wealth through fraudulent means often leads to imprisonment, loss of reputation, depression, or even death.

‘The desire to get rich quickly has destroyed many promising lives. True wealth is built over time through honesty and commitment’, Olukoyede warned.

The EFCC boss expressed concern that Nigerian youths constitute the majority of perpetrators of cybercrime, even though the internet offers legitimate opportunities to earn a living and make meaningful contributions to society.

He identified peer pressure, greed, laziness, and lack of patriotism as major drivers of youth involvement in online fraud.

Olukoyede also noted that drug abuse and fetish practices have increasingly become intertwined with cybercrime activities, posing additional social and moral dangers.

He urged the students to resist such vices and instead use their talents to create innovative and legal means of earning income.

He further encouraged them to join the anti-corruption crusade by reporting any suspicious financial or economic crimes to the EFCC through the Commission’s Eagle Eye App, a platform designed to protect the anonymity of whistleblowers.

‘The future of this country rests on the shoulders of the youth. By choosing integrity and rejecting corruption, you secure not just your future, but that of our nation’, he added.

According to a statement by Dele Oyewale, head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, the sensitization programme is part of the EFCC’s ongoing effort to educate young Nigerians about the dangers of cybercrime and promote a culture of integrity across schools and tertiary institutions nationwide.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank), the premier bank in West Africa and a leading financial inclusion service provider, is pleased to announce that it has redeemed its $350 million Eurobond upon maturity on 27 October 2025.

The Eurobond was issued as Senior Notes in October 2020 at 8.625% with semi-annual coupon payments, which was 70% oversubscribed at the time, evidencing FirstBank’s deep market access and investor confidence.

The proceeds of the Senior Notes were used to, among others, finance various customer projects and activities, some of which were of vital national and economic importance.

This redemption reflects FirstBank’s effective liability management strategy and further demonstrates the Bank’s robust foreign currency liquidity and unrivalled franchise strength, while cementing the Bank as a preferred issuer in the international investment community. With this redemption, FirstBank has now successfully redeemed $1.275 billion over 4 maturities, since it 2007 vintage issue.

Commenting on the milestone, CEO, FirstBank Group, Olusegun Alebiosu, stated, ‘This redemption is entirely from the Bank’s balance sheet, reflecting FirstBank’s superior assets and liabilities management, the unrivalled franchise strength and reinforces the confidence that the investment community reposes in FirstBank.’

Mr. Alebiosu reaffirmed FirstBank’s 131-year legacy as a leader in corporate banking in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa. He also assured customers of the Bank’s commitment to meeting their transaction banking, treasury and cash management needs, through differentiated product offerings, powered by recent cutting-edge technological investments aimed at further streamlining its processes and improving customer experience.

Recently, Fitch affirmed FirstBank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘B’ and upgraded the bank’s National Long-Term Ratings to ‘A+(nga)’ from ‘A(nga)’, both with ‘Stable’ outlooks, further reinforcing the Bank’s credit capacity and excellent balance sheet quality.

In recognition of FirstBank’s leadership in corporate and transaction banking in Nigeria, the Bank was awarded the Best Bank for Corporates in 2024 by Euromoney, Global Finance and World Economic Magazine.

About FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited ‘FirstBank’, established in 1894, is the premier bank in West Africa, a leading financial inclusion services provider in Africa, and a digital banking giant.

FirstBank’s international footprints cut across three continents – Africa, Europe and Asia, with FirstBank UK Limited in London and Paris; FirstBank in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone; FBNBank in Senegal; and a FirstBank Representative Office in Beijing, China. All the subsidiary banks are fully registered by their respective Central Banks to provide full banking services.

Besides providing domestic banking services, the subsidiaries also engage in international cross-border transactions with FirstBank’s non-Nigerian subsidiaries, and the representative offices in Paris and China facilitate trade flows from Asia and Europe into Nigeria and other African countries.

For over 13 decades, FirstBank has built an outstanding reputation for solid relationships, good corporate governance, and a strong liquidity position, and has been at the forefront of promoting digital payment in the country with over 13 million cards issued to customers (the first bank to achieve such a milestone in Nigeria). FirstBank has continued to make significant investments in technology, innovation and transformation, and its cashless transaction drive has been steadily accentuated with virtually over 25 million active FirstBank customers signed up on digital channels including the USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code.

With over 43 million customer accounts (including digital wallets) spread across Nigeria, UK and sub-Saharan Africa, the Bank provides a comprehensive range of retail and wholesale financial services through more than 820 business offices and over 300,000 agent locations spread across 772 out of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.

In addition to banking solutions and services, FirstBank provides pension fund custody services in Nigeria through First Pension Custodian Nigeria Limited and nominee and associated services through First Nominees Nigeria Limited.

FirstBank’s commitment to Diversity is shown in its policies, partnerships and initiatives such as its employees’ ratio of female to male (about 41%:59%; and 37% women in management roles) as well as the FirstBank Women Network, an initiative that seeks to address the gender gap and increase the participation of women at all levels within the organisation. In addition, the Bank’s membership of the UN Women is an affirmation of a deliberate policy that is consistent with UN Women’s Women Empowerment’s Principles (WEPs) – Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, and Nondiscrimination.

For six consecutive years (2011 – 2016), FirstBank was named ‘Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria’ by the globally renowned The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group and ‘Best Retail Bank in Nigeria’ eight times in a row, 2011 – 2018, by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards.

Significantly, FirstBank’s Global Credit Rating was A+, while ratings by Fitch and Standard and Poor’s were A+(nga) and ngBBB+ respectively both with Stable outlooks as at September 2025. FirstBank maintained the same level of international credit ratings as the sovereign; a milestone that was achieved in 2022 for the first time since 2015.

In 2024, FirstBank received notable international awards and accolades. Some of these include Nigeria’s Best Bank for ESG 2024 and Nigeria’s Best Bank for Corporates 2024 both awarded by Euromoney Awards for Excellence; Best SME Bank in Africa and in Nigeria by The Asian Banker Global Awards; Best Private Bank in Nigeria and Best Private Bank for Sustainable Investing in Africa by Global Finance Awards; Best Corporate Bank in Nigeria 2024, Best CSR Bank in Nigeria 2024, Best Retail Bank in Nigeria 2024, Best SME Bank in Nigeria 2024 and Best Private Bank in Nigeria 2024 all awarded by the Global Banking and Finance Awards.

FirstBank has continued to gain wide acclaim on the global stage with several international awards and recognitions received so far in 2025 which includes Best SME Bank in Nigeria 2025 and Best SME Bank in Africa 2025 by The Asian Banker; Best Private Bank in Nigeria 2025 and Best Private Bank for Sustainable Investing in Africa 2025 by Global Finance Awards; SME Financier of the Year in Nigeria 2025 by The Digital Banker Global SME Banking Innovation Awards; Best Retail Bank in Nigeria 2025 and Best Bank for Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria 2025 all by The Annual Global Economics Awards.

Our vision is ‘To be Africa’s Bank of first choice’ and our mission is ‘To remain true to our name by providing the best financial services possible’. This commitment is anchored on our core values of EPIC – Entrepreneurship, Professionalism, Innovation and Customer-Centricity. Our strategic ambition is ‘To deliver accelerated growth in profitability through customer-led innovation and disciplined execution.’