Author: Michael O Oke

The Angolan government has announced plans to pilot the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in selected primary schools as part of efforts to modernize the country’s education system and strengthen digital skills at an early age. The initiative, led by the Ministry of Education, will begin with 10 public primary schools drawn from 10 provinces. The pilot phase will introduce AI-supported learning tools and digital resources into classrooms, alongside basic infrastructure to support their use. Minister of Education Luísa Grilo said the programme is intended to support teaching and learning, stressing that AI will not replace teachers but rather assist…

The domain name AI.com has been acquired for approximately $70 million, marking what is widely regarded as the largest publicly disclosed website name deal in history. The buyer is Kris Marszalek, co-founder and chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, in a move that underscores the soaring strategic value of artificial intelligence in the global technology economy. The purchase places AI.com among the most valuable digital assets ever sold and reflects intensifying competition among technology and financial firms seeking prime positioning in the fast-expanding AI ecosystem. A landmark deal in internet history At an estimated $70mn, the AI.com transaction eclipses previous high-profile domain sales such as…

As Nigeria strengthens enforcement of its data protection framework, global fintech firm Optasia has called for the adoption of privacy-by-design principles in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems across the country’s financial services sector. The call comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny of how financial technology companies collect, process and store consumer data, particularly as AI-driven credit scoring, lending and payment solutions become more widespread. Nigeria’s data protection regime, anchored by the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), places stricter obligations on organisations handling personal data and introduces tougher compliance and accountability requirements. Speaking at a recent industry forum…

NVIDIA is not just a technology company. It is the invisible infrastructure behind modern artificial intelligence, powering everything from ChatGPT and self-driving cars to medical research, cloud data centres, and the future of robotics. What began as a small graphics chip startup in the 1990s has become one of the most influential companies shaping how machines learn, think, and interact with the world. For Nigeria and Africa, where AI adoption, digital transformation, fintech innovation, and cloud infrastructure are accelerating, understanding NVIDIA is essential. This is the definitive guide to what NVIDIA is, how it works, why it dominates AI, and…

Alphabet’s Google has announced that its generative AI platform Gemini has reached a major global milestone, crossing 750 million monthly active users, a remarkable surge that underscores the intensifying competition in the artificial intelligence sector. The user count, revealed in Alphabet’s fourth‑quarter 2025 earnings results, marks a roughly 15 % jump from 650 million monthly active users just a quarter earlier, propelled in large part by the rollout of the latest Gemini 3 model. Analysts say the figure highlights how quickly Gemini has scaled from a niche AI tool to a mainstream product integrated deep into Google’s ecosystem. A Milestone in the AI…

Elections in Nigeria have long been moments of national tension and aspiration. From the turbulent transitions of the late twentieth century to the consolidation of civilian rule since 1999, the credibility of the ballot has remained central to public trust. Every electoral cycle raises familiar concerns: voter intimidation, logistical failures, misinformation, vote-buying and disputes over results. Institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), civil society organisations, and the courts have worked to strengthen electoral processes, yet confidence in electoral outcomes remains variable across regions and political divides. Now, a new variable has entered the equation: artificial intelligence. AI…

The Federal Government of Nigeria has called on policymakers, technology stakeholders, and private-sector actors to prioritise the ethical deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and strengthen the nation’s data privacy regime, noting that responsible innovation is essential to safeguarding citizens’ rights and maintaining public trust in the digital economy. The appeal was made during a policy forum in Abuja, where government officials emphasised that unchecked technological innovation could undermine fundamental rights and erode confidence in digital systems if ethical considerations and data protection safeguards are not embedded into the development and use of emerging technologies such as AI. Ethics at the Centre of AI Deployment…

Google, in collaboration with leading African universities and research organisations, has officially launched WAXAL — a large‑scale, open‑access speech dataset designed to expand the reach of artificial intelligence technologies across Africa by enabling AI systems to understand and generate African languages. The initiative targets one of the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence today: the lack of high‑quality speech data for African languages, which has historically limited the development of voice recognition, text‑to‑speech and other voice‑enabled AI tools for local users. What Is WAXAL and Why Does It Matter WAXAL is a comprehensive dataset covering 21 Sub‑Saharan African languages, including Hausa,…

A new analysis by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) finds that fraud detection is the dominant artificial intelligence (AI) use case in Nigeria’s rapidly expanding fintech ecosystem, underscoring how risk management is shaping technology deployment across the industry. The findings are contained in the CBN Fintech Report 2025 — a comprehensive survey‑ and stakeholder‑based assessment of Nigeria’s fintech landscape published under the bank’s Policy Insight Series. According to the report, approximately 87.5 % of Nigerian fintech firms surveyed now deploy AI tools primarily to detect and prevent fraudulent activities. This figure places fraud detection well ahead of other high‑profile AI applications such as…

Mozilla’s plan to allow users to block all generative AI features in the Firefox browser may appear to be a minor software update. In reality, it represents a growing global reconsideration of how artificial intelligence should be introduced into everyday digital tools. For Nigeria, Africa’s largest internet market, the implications are far-reaching. A Different Approach to Artificial Intelligence Over the past two years, generative AI has rapidly moved from experimental technology to mainstream digital infrastructure. Browsers, search engines, office software, and smartphones are increasingly being redesigned around AI-powered assistants and automated content tools. Mozilla’s decision breaks from this trend. Rather…