Bosun Tijani appears on TIME

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has been named among TIME’s 100 most influential people in AI for 2025. The recognition comes as Nigeria pursues ambitious AI goals, despite still grappling with basic digital infrastructure challenges. 

How come? Tijani was recognised for driving the 3MTT program, which has trained about 300,000 people toward its target of three million tech talents, and for convening over 120 Nigerian experts to co-create a National AI Strategy. The strategy targets critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and education—sectors where Nigeria still struggles with service delivery.

State of play: Nigeria may have strategy documents and high-level partnerships, but it still lags in AI readiness.It ranks 94 in the global AI readiness index, 29 places behind Egypt and 22 behind South Africa. Progress will require more than vision: data infrastructure, local research support, and sustained execution remain missing pieces.

Zoom out: This global recognition validates Nigeria's AI ambitions and feeds into President Tinubu's trillion-dollar economy vision. But being on a list is easier than delivering AI-powered improvements. Nigeria’s real test is whether its AI ambitions translate from international accolades to tangible benefits for citizens still waiting for reliable digital services.

Here’s why: The rampant cases of vandalism on telecom infrastructure. Operators say these acts undermine billions of naira in investments and slow down connectivity.

The fibre is protected: Yes, it is. In June 2024, Nigeria signed the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure Order (CNII), making the protection of telecom infrastructure a matter of national security. Under this law, wilful damage to telecom infrastructure is punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment.

However, despite the numerous headlines of arrests made, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) still reports that Nigeria records an average of 1,100 fibre cuts weekly.

Telecom operators argue that weak enforcement is emboldening vandals, who hold cables hostage until they are paid a ransom. They urge the government to strengthen both penalties and accountability mechanisms to discourage future vandals. 

Why should you care? Fibre vandalism drives up the cost of data. Each repair adds to operators’ expenses, which they pass on to consumers. It also slows down network expansion and causes frequent connectivity issues, resulting in higher costs for unreliable service.

The bottom line: Staying online is vital for Nigeria’s economy, but if vandalism persists, the country’s digital future could be defined by higher costs, weaker coverage, and constant disruptions.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) got some good news today: regulators have unconditionally approved its proposed acquisition of BankservAfrica, a critical payment clearing house in the country. 

Catch up: BankservAfrica is an important player in South Africa’s financial system: it makes interbank switching, clearing and settlement possible. The SARB, the country’s central bank, announced its acquisition plan in November 2024 as part of a strategy to create a national payments utility. The payment clearing house was owned by South Africa’s major commercial banks, including Absa, Nedbank, FirstRand, and Standard Bank. 

State of play: The Competition Commission found no competition concerns or public interest issues with the deal. BankservAfrica manages critical infrastructure through systems enabling interbank switching, clearing and settlement. With the acquisition, SARB can transition the company to a national payments utility focused on serving the entire South African economy. SARB will rely on Payshap, a key digital offering of BankservAfrica that enables over 1 million daily real-time, low-value interbank payments. 

Zoom out: SARB’s acquisition aligns with its Vision 2025 to make South Africa's payment system safer, more efficient and accessible by promoting competition, financial inclusion, and cost effectiveness. SARB wants to eliminate cash in South Africa and move to more secure digital payment methods. However, much like its peer Nigeria, cash is still king: 90% of transactions in South Africa are still cash-based, especially in the informal sectors. The challenge ahead for South Africa’s apex bank will be to execute an ambitious cashless policy that actually works for everyone.

This week, Egyptian quick-commerce grocery app Breadfast raised $10 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part of its Series B2 financing, led by Novastar Ventures. (Aug 26)

Here’s the other deal for the week:

• South African fintech startup StraTech secured undisclosed funding from VEA Capital Partners. (Aug 26)

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. Before you go, how were African startups able to raise $1.42 billion in H1 2025, a 78% surge from last year? Read here.