Category: English

Source: APO

• Lagos opened its doors to West Africa’s largest tech, AI and startup event following a high-level Government Leadership & AI Summit in Abuja on Monday
• The nation’s commercial & innovation capital hosts the GITEX NIGERIA Tech Expo & Future Economy Conference & GITEX NIGERIA Startup Festival from 3-4 September

Following a momentous Monday in Abuja where an acclaimed Government Leadership & AI Summit launched GITEX NIGERIA (https://GITEXNIGERIA.ng/), Lagos has officially opened its doors to West Africa’s largest tech, AI, and startup show.

As local and international guests descended on the nation’s commercial and innovation capital for a potentially future-defining two days, anticipation was high for the conversations shaping Africa’s digital trajectory. From H.E. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, the message on Wednesday was emphatic: Lagos is ‘a launchpad for Africa’s tomorrow’ – ready to propel Nigeria’s quest for a data-driven government and digitally empowered population.

Held under the patronage of H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, GITEX NIGERIA takes place across Abuja and Lagos from 1-4 September. Supported by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the event is endorsed by Lagos State Government and organised by KAOUN International, global producer of GITEX events.

Elaborating on Lagos’s digital economy leadership credentials and quest to harness technological capabilities for the betterment of regional society, H.E. Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated: “Lagos is not just a city for today – it is Africa’s innovation nerve centre and a launchpad for Africa’s tomorrow. At the heart of our efforts to unlock digital transformation possibilities is an unshakeable belief that governance in the 21st century must be digital, inclusive, and data-driven. As Peter Drucker once said, ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it’. Here in Lagos, we are creating that future, building a data-driven government where policy decisions respond to real-time insights and inclusive connectivity empowers every citizen in one of the world’s most vibrant tech ecosystems.”

Over two action-packed days, Nigeria’s commercial capital and innovation hub hosts dual showcases across the city: the GITEX NIGERIA Tech Expo & Future Economy Conference at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre, and the GITEX NIGERIA Startup Festival at the Landmark Centre.

Together, these platforms spotlight the immense digital potential of Lagos and the nation – enabling non-tech sectors to accelerate digitalisation roadmaps through enterprise-grade solutions while highlighting a burgeoning startup ecosystem, strong investor confidence, and valuable public-private partnership opportunities.

Addressing GITEX NIGERIA attendees, Hon. Minister Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, emphasised the essential nature of sustained digital economy development, insisting: “The digital economy is not just about mobile apps or platforms; it is about technical efficiency and delivering productivity gains that transform entire sectors. This is why His Excellency President Bola Tinubu GCFR has placed the digital economy at the heart of the Renewed Hope agenda. His vision is very clear – that technology must not only grow GDP but also expand opportunities, reduce inequality, and create shared prosperity for all Nigerians. Under the President’s leadership, Nigeria has embraced the digital economy as a key driver of inclusive growth. We are not building just for elites; we are building for every Nigerian.”

Between 2019 and 2024, Lagos attracted over US$6 billion in foreign tech investment, cementing its position as the epicentre of Africa’s digital growth. The state today hosts hyperscale data centres and extensive fibre connectivity, accounting for more than 70% of Nigeria’s total tech inflows. Already Nigeria’s undisputed innovation hub, Lagos is also home to 23 of the country’s 28 fastest-growing companies, according to the Financial Times.

Reflecting on the significance of GITEX NIGERIA making its way to Lagos, Kashifu Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO of NITDA, said: “The energy is palpable, and the potential is boundless. Nigeria and Lagos in particular are a crucible of innovation, where raw talent meets the unshakeable will to succeed, a factory of unicorns. Lagos is the place where people use talent and come up with solutions without infrastructure. In other places, they use capital infrastructure to fuel innovation, while here, we use our resilience. Because we have no options, and we need to create the solutions. We are ready for it. As a nation, our vision is clear.”

GITEX NIGERIA is West Africa’s largest gathering of technology visionaries, industry leaders, and decision-makers overseeing digital transformation of non-tech sectors. The event also presents Nigeria’s largest and most globally diverse investor programme, facilitating concierge meetings between startups, investors, corporates, industry leaders, and prospective partners.

Discussing the unique value proposition that Lagos presents businesses, Trixie LohMirmand, EVP of Dubai World Trade Centre and CEO of KAOUN International, organisers of GITEX NIGERIA, said: “Lagos is a mega high-speed technology testbed that is dense, diverse, and demanding, where SMEs, startups, and entrepreneurs succeed not by conventional rules but by distinctiveness and necessity-driven innovation. Rising above power outages, currency fluctuations, and maturing infrastructure, they scale faster and endure longer. Survive and thrive in Lagos, and your products and solutions can compete and flourish anywhere around the world.”

The event runs with support from partners AWS, Cisco, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Kaspersky, Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy; Federal Ministry of Youth Development, and Space42.

For more information, news and updates on GITEX NIGERIA, please visit https://GITEXNIGERIA.ng/.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of GITEX NIGERIA.

Notes to editors:
It is GITEX NIGERIA not Gitex Nigeria

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Source: APO

While employees now work from coffee shops in Sandton and kitchen tables in George, their payroll systems are still stuck in cubicles. Meanwhile, organisations collect stacks of payroll data but remain blind to patterns that can enhance their employment dynamics. And as hybrid workforces become more common, payroll systems are becoming the unexpected bottleneck in employee satisfaction and operational excellence.

Download infographic: https://apo-opa.co/41Y9emr

“Legacy payroll software constrains a company’s options to modernise their technology, processes, and employee relationships. This constraint isn’t always apparent. But once you look at what a modern payroll platform provides, it becomes very obvious,” says Sandra Crous, managing director of payroll fintech Deel Local Payroll.

Organisations are using modern payroll platforms to solve these challenges. Modern payroll platforms have huge advantages for payroll departments, employees and wider business operations.

More access and flexibility for employees

Payroll issues, mistakes, and their negative effects on job satisfaction are common issues. Payroll platforms address these concerns, helping companies find and retain talent or ensure consistent performance.

Cloud-native payroll platforms offer self-help portals on web pages and mobile devices. These help employees submit requests, access relevant data such as payslips, and manage their details without waiting on payroll staff (and consequently also reduce pressure on payroll departments).

Modern payroll systems are also giving employees more flexibility, such as Earned Wage Access or on-demand pay to access portions of wages sooner than scheduled paydays. Looking ahead, leading payroll platforms will soon include conversational AI so that employees can get answers to questions about payroll jargon and salary calculations.

Data-Driven Decisions through analytics and reports

Legacy payroll systems limit payroll insights, which is why reporting is considered the biggest struggle for most payroll professionals (PwC Payroll Study 2024: https://apo-opa.co/3JMkziY). Modern payroll platforms resolve these problems with powerful new capabilities.

Analytics dashboards give managers in payroll and other departments instant and granular views of payroll and workforce data, such as process performance, rendered as graphs and collapsable information stacks.

Integrated reporting extends that data to other parts of the business. Department heads and managers can securely generate scheduled and ad-hoc reports without involving payroll staff. Digitally mature businesses go further by integrating payroll data with other business software, such as accounting suites.

Convenient management and automation

Older payroll software is particularly deficient when it comes to better management and automation features. A notable sign of this is when payroll departments have heavy workloads and feel that they are understaffed, a view shared by 26% of payroll staff (2025 Deel Australia Payroll Report: https://apo-opa.co/4mPJf94).

Cloud-native payroll platforms simplify and enhance payroll management in several ways. Remote administration is one of the most exciting: authorised personnel can handle payroll matters wherever they are. A department head can be travelling and still interact with the platform via web or app interfaces on their mobile device.

Tracking and applying changes to payroll, tax, and employee legislation can often take months on legacy payroll systems. Modern payroll platforms provide automated legislative updates, monitoring and pushing changes immediately and proactively to reflect on customer systems.

Other examples of automating payroll processes include automatically calculating deductibles, bonuses, and tax through predefined processes. These features modernise the entire payroll value chain. For example, integration with business and tax systems enable features such as continuous payroll and real-time tax that reduce staff busywork and tax penalty risks

The future is in cloud-native payroll

All these features are part of cloud-native payroll platforms. They are single-instance and multi-tenant, maintained and enhanced by the payroll vendor while each client enjoys access to ring-fenced versions at better costs than purchasing payroll software. Payroll platforms are the future of payroll, says Crous.

“Cloud-native payroll platforms deliver all the above features and more—traditional payroll software cannot compete.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Deel Local Payroll, powered by PaySpace.

For media queries, please contact:
Victoria Lindsay
victoria@innocomm.co.za.

About Deel Local Payroll:
Deel Local Payroll, powered by PaySpace, revolutionises payroll management. It offers online, multi-country payroll and HR management for businesses from start-ups through to enterprise in over 40 African countries, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Brazil.

Cloud-native, Deel Local Payroll, is scalable, configurable, highly secure, and easy-to-use—delivering anytime, anywhere access. It features payroll automation, self-service features, automatic legislation and feature updates, customised reporting, and more.

Since 2024, Deel Local Payroll has been part of Deel, operating as an independent subsidiary, serving its customers through the PaySpace platform. 

Source: APO

With a global community of over 450 million active users, Truecaller (www.Truecaller.com) has become more than just a caller ID service; it’s a trusted guide in helping people understand not only who is reaching out, but the intent behind every call.

Truecaller has now started providing deeper contextual insights using AI on incoming calls received by its users, going way beyond showing just the caller’s name. This includes AI summaries of user comments as well. From flagging potential fraud and identifying likely spam to suggesting relevant business categories, this information is delivered instantly, powered by advanced AI classification models and continuously enriched by millions of daily reports from its highly engaged user community.

This real-time intelligence not only enhances user trust and safety but also reinforces Truecaller’s leadership in the next generation of caller identification technology. While the company also offers a Verified Business badge for official brand identities, the majority of contextual insights shown to users are generated dynamically by AI — requiring no manual labeling or business registration.

While basic caller ID services provided by telecom operators have traditionally offered little more than a name (when available) and sometimes a simple spam tag, Truecaller, on the other hand, leverages AI and real-time insights, making it a far more intelligent layer of protection.

“People hesitate to answer unknown calls because they lack context and in today’s world, context is everything,” said Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Global CEO of Truecaller. “Truecaller was built to solve this: not just to identify who’s calling, but to help you understand why. Is it someone from your network, a delivery, a business or a scam? Our AI uses real-time data and contextual signals to give you clarity the moment your phone rings, turning uncertainty into informed choice. Knowing ‘who’ is calling is only part of the story.”

AI That Adds Context to Every Call
Truecaller’s Caller ID is powered by a dynamic, AI-driven engine that interprets billions of signals from calls, messages, and user feedback across the globe — every single day. Unlike traditional systems that depend on static databases or delayed telecom updates, Truecaller delivers real-time intelligence that evolves with user behavior, communication patterns, and emerging global spam and fraud threats. This continuous learning loop ensures that users are always equipped with the most relevant, up-to-date context transforming the way we understand and respond to incoming calls.

This means Truecaller can do much more than just identify a number:

• It can indicate whether the caller is a known fraudster or part of a scam network
• It can tell you if the number is “likely a business” or “likely important”, even if there is not enough community feedback
• It can classify the type of business — for example, Delivery, Customer Support, or Insurance
• It can alert you about suspicious behavior, even before that number has been widely reported by the community
• It can provide a single line AI summary of hundreds of user comments, while the phone is still ringing 

Built for a World Where Threats Evolve by the Minute
The scale and sophistication of phone scams are growing rapidly with Truecaller identifying more than 56 billion spam and fraud calls in 2024. According to the Global Anti‑Scam Alliance and Feedzai, worldwide losses from scams topped an estimated $1.03 trillion in 2024. With phone calls and messaging among the most common fraud methods, this highlights the growing urgency of real-time caller intelligence and protection.

Truecaller’s edge lies in its adaptive AI, which detects emerging fraud patterns in real time and learns from them across regions, languages, and formats. A number flagged for impersonation in one country can be proactively labeled elsewhere, thanks to shared intelligence and behavioral modeling. Built on global data but tuned for local context, Truecaller ensures nuanced, accurate protection and sustained user trust.

A Global Safety Net Built by the Community
Truecaller’s global scale is its greatest strength. With hundreds of millions of users across 190+ countries, the platform benefits from an immense stream of real-time, community-driven feedback enabling its AI to detect threats like fraud, spoofing, and robocalls faster and more accurately than traditional systems. In a time of rising digital deception, Truecaller acts as a frontline defense: AI-powered, human-informed, and built around trust. As it continues to evolve, its mission remains clear: to make communication smarter, safer, and seamlessly contextual.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Truecaller.

About Truecaller:
Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for over 450 million active users, with more than a billion downloads since launch and close to 56 billion unwanted calls identified and blocked in 2024 alone. The company has been headquartered in Stockholm since 2009 and has been publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since October 2021. Visit www.Truecaller.com for more information

Source: APO – Report:

Angolan President João Lourenço opened the 2025 edition of the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference in Luanda today, offering a clear vision for the next era of the country’s hydrocarbon-led development. Underscoring the role oil and gas development has played in the country’s transformation, President Lourenço emphasized that these resources will continue to strengthen the Angolan economy for years to come.

“The oil sector has been instrumental for the growth of our country. Exploration and production of natural resources has contributed to the improvement of the living conditions of the people of Angola. Angola provides investment conditions that ensure contract, stability, legal certainty and investment durability. Cooperation between private and public sector, between international companies and local partners, will be key for achieving our aspirations,” stated President Lourenço.

Taking place on the eve of Angola’s 50 years of independence celebration, AOG 2025 recognizes the catalyzing role oil and gas have played in the country’s development, offering a strategic dealmaking platform that will lay the foundation for the next 50 years of growth.

“Five decades ago, the Angolan people fought for their right to sovereignty. Along the years, the oil sector has been fundamental for the economy and the development of our country. This a moment for us to celebrate but also reflect, looking at how we can use our resource more effectively and striking the balance between economic growth, social justice and environmental protection,” President Lourenço said.

AOG comes as Angola celebrates a series of industry milestones in 2025, as companies take concrete steps towards enhancing crude production, driving non-associated gas development and opening new frontiers across the oil and gas value chain. Upstream, the country started production at the Agogo FPSO, the Begonia oilfield and the CLOV Phase 3 Developments. A gas discovery was made at Block 1/14 in the Lower Congo basin while exploration campaigns kicked off across almost all of the country’s onshore and offshore basins.

“Our current actions are directed towards mitigating production decline and keeping output above one million bpd. Since the last conference, we have concluded several activities. We started activities at the Agogo project as well as developments in Block 17 and 17/06. Complementing these activities is exploration in new basins. Another important project is the Kaminho development,” stated Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Angola.

On the downstream side, Angola started production at the Cabinda Refinery on September 1, 2025. The facility adds 30,000 barrels per day in its first phase, doubling output in the second phase. The project is Angola’s second operational oil refinery and will play a major part in reducing refined imports and enhancing fuel security.

“We continue with the development of the Lobito refinery while we assess the feasibility of the Soyo project. These position Angola as a new regional center for oil. We have also improved the legislation for local participation in the industry. The commitment is to widen partnerships and create value for the people of Angola,” Minister Azevedo added. 

– on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.