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Abia Airport Project: Otti Insists Landowners Fully Compensated as Criticism Continues to Trail Project

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State says his administration has paid full compensation to landowners affected by the Abia Airport project in Nsulu, Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area, reaffirming his government’s commitment to transparency in infrastructure development.

Otti spoke at Okpuala-Ngwa on Saturday during a grand civic reception organized by stakeholders from Isiala Ngwa North and South. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the governor said the compensation process was concluded before any construction began and assured that unresolved issues were mainly due to disputed ownership or inaccurate bank details.

“Before any construction began, we ensured that 100% compensation was paid to all landowners. If there is anyone yet to receive payment, it is likely due to issues like incorrect account details or disputes over ownership, not government negligence,” the governor was quoted as saying.

The Abia Airport is designed to be more than just a landing strip. Otti says the government is transforming the site into a full-fledged “airport city,” complete with hotels, shopping plazas, a market, and a Nigerian Air Force base. The state government chose Nsulu based on expert assessments that identified the area’s central location and proximity to Umuahia and Aba as key advantages.

A Tale of Two Airports: The Ebonyi Example

However, the decision to embark on the project — which commenced in December 2024 — has faced sustained criticism from analysts, economists, and civil society actors. Many argue that what Abia urgently needs is investment in human development, basic infrastructure like roads and public schools, and a functional rail network to support trade and mobility across the Southeast.

“Governor Otti’s decision to prioritize an airport seems to contradict all the global developmental indices. Basic needs such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure should take precedence over such high capital ventures,” said Chiechefulam Ikebuiro, a social commentator.

Among the most frequently cited concerns is the cautionary tale of Ebonyi State, where an airport built by the David Umahi administration in Onueke, near Abakaliki, has struggled to attract regular commercial operations. Although commissioned in 2023, the airport has remained largely inactive. Observers say the sparse flight activity stems from the economic reality in Ebonyi — one of Nigeria’s poorest states — where the vast majority of residents cannot afford air travel.

Critics say Abia risks repeating the same mistake.

“The majority of Abia’s population comprises civil servants whose wages barely cover basic needs, let alone the luxury of air travel,” he added.

Abia State, before now, was the only South-East state without an airport. Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Imo all host airports — yet none have emerged as aviation powerhouses. The Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, the oldest in the region, still records low passenger traffic compared to airports in the South-West and North-Central zones. The airport in Imo State survives mainly on traffic from neighboring states, while Anambra International Cargo Airport, completed under Governor Willie Obiano, is yet to realize its commercial vision fully.

Otti, however, argues that Abia’s position as the commercial heartbeat of the region — with Aba as a key trading hub — gives the state a better chance at making the airport viable. He insists the facility will catalyze trade, tourism, and investment.

But What About Rail?

Many have noted that the South-East needs rail connectivity far more urgently than more airports. The region lacks a modern intra-regional rail system, making the movement of goods and people slow and expensive. Traders in Aba and Onitsha have long demanded freight rail access to Lagos ports, but those demands remain unmet.

“Before considering an airport, shouldn’t the government priorities essential infrastructure like good roads, healthcare facilities, schools, and maybe rail systems? These are projects that directly impact the daily lives of the hoi polloi,” Ikebuiro added.

Community Grievances Still Simmer

While the government insists on compliance with compensation procedures, tensions remain in parts of the host communities. In May 2025, leaders of the Umuezeukwu community in Isiala Ngwa North renewed calls for a 500-meter buffer zone between their homes and the airport site. They argued that previous pleas were ignored and that their ancestral lands were taken without proper relief or environmental safeguards.

According to community records, the original land acquisition for the airport was 1,850 hectares, later reduced to about 1,000 hectares following community pushback. However, Umuezeukwu claims it was excluded from the land concessions granted to other communities like Ikputu, Umule, and Umuode.

The governor’s Special Adviser on Land Matters, Okor Aji, dismissed the complaints, saying the land size was already scaled down after consultations. He emphasized that the project is legally grounded in the Land Use Act and that community interests were taken into account.

Access Bank has expressed interest in supporting the project, but no detailed breakdown of funding arrangements has been made public. Construction officially began in late 2024, with the government targeting December 2025 for completion of major access roads.

Webus International Announced $300M Non Equity Financing to Establish XRP Reserve

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

Webus International, a China-based AI mobility and chauffeur services company, announced plans to raise up to $300 million through non-equity financing to establish an XRP reserve. This strategic move aims to support instant, low-cost cross-border payments for its global chauffeur network, leveraging the XRP Ledger to streamline transactions and reduce currency conversion friction.

The financing, which includes cash reserves, bank loans, shareholder guarantees, and institutional credit, will also fund blockchain infrastructure development (e.g., wallets, Web3 tokens, and on-chain booking records) and global expansion. The plan is non-binding, pending final agreements and due diligence, with no timeline specified for XRP purchases. This follows a similar move by VivoPower, which raised $121 million for an XRP treasury, reflecting growing corporate interest in XRP as a settlement layer.

Despite the announcement, XRP’s price remained subdued, trading at around $2.20 with a slight decline. Webus also renewed its partnership with Tongcheng Travel, leveraging its 240 million annual users to enhance domestic and international travel services. The announcement by Webus International to establish a $300 million XRP reserve through non-equity financing has several implications, particularly in the context of corporate adoption of cryptocurrencies and the broader divide between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem.

Webus aims to leverage the XRP Ledger’s fast and low-cost transaction capabilities to facilitate seamless payments for its global chauffeur network. This could set a precedent for other companies in the mobility and travel sectors to adopt XRP for international transactions, reducing reliance on traditional banking systems like SWIFT, which are slower and more expensive. The move reinforces XRP’s value proposition as a bridge currency for cross-border settlements, potentially boosting confidence among other corporations considering cryptocurrency treasuries.

Following VivoPower’s $121 million XRP treasury announcement, Webus’s plan signals growing corporate interest in XRP, which could drive further adoption. By opting for non-equity financing (e.g., loans, shareholder guarantees, and institutional credit), Webus avoids diluting shareholder value, which could appeal to investors. However, the non-binding nature of the plan introduces uncertainty, as it depends on final agreements and due diligence.

Blockchain Integration in Business Operations

Webus’s plan to develop blockchain infrastructure (wallets, Web3 tokens, and on-chain booking records) indicates a broader strategy to integrate decentralized technologies into its operations. This could enhance transparency, security, and efficiency in its global chauffeur and travel services, potentially attracting tech-savvy customers and partners. The renewed partnership with Tongcheng Travel, with its 240 million annual users, positions Webus to scale its blockchain-based services, leveraging a large user base to drive adoption of its XRP-based payment system.

The XRP reserve and blockchain infrastructure could give Webus a competitive advantage in the AI mobility and travel sector by reducing transaction costs and improving payment efficiency. This is particularly relevant for cross-border operations, where currency conversion and banking fees are significant pain points. The move aligns with Webus’s global expansion goals, potentially positioning it as a leader in integrating cryptocurrency into mainstream travel and mobility services.

The crypto community, particularly XRP supporters, may view Webus’s move as a bullish signal for XRP’s utility and long-term value. It aligns with Ripple’s vision of XRP as a global payment solution, potentially driving optimism about further corporate adoption. Banks, financial institutions, and regulators may remain cautious or skeptical due to XRP’s association with Ripple’s ongoing legal battles (e.g., the SEC lawsuit) and the volatility of cryptocurrencies. The non-binding nature of Webus’s plan may further fuel skepticism among traditional investors who prioritize stability and regulatory clarity.

Webus’s integration of blockchain infrastructure (wallets, tokens, and on-chain records) embraces the decentralized ethos of the crypto space, aiming for transparency and efficiency. This could inspire other companies to explore similar integrations. Many corporations still rely on legacy financial systems for cross-border payments, which are entrenched in banking infrastructure. Webus’s shift to XRP challenges this status quo, highlighting the divide between innovative, crypto-based solutions and slower, centralized systems.

The lack of clear global regulations for cryptocurrencies, including XRP, creates a divide between forward-thinking companies like Webus and risk-averse firms hesitant to adopt crypto due to potential legal or compliance issues. The subdued XRP price response reflects a divide between the crypto market’s short-term volatility and the long-term potential of corporate adoption. While Webus’s announcement signals strategic confidence in XRP, broader market dynamics (e.g., macroeconomic factors, regulatory news) may dampen immediate price impacts.

By adopting XRP, Webus could make cross-border payments more accessible and cost-effective for its global chauffeur network, potentially benefiting underserved regions with limited banking infrastructure. The reliance on traditional finance often excludes smaller players due to high fees and complex processes. Webus’s move bridges this divide, but its success depends on navigating regulatory and operational challenges.

Webus International’s $300 million XRP reserve plan is a significant step toward mainstream cryptocurrency adoption, particularly in the mobility and travel sectors. It highlights XRP’s utility for cross-border payments and blockchain’s potential to transform business operations. However, the divide between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem remains evident, with differing levels of enthusiasm, regulatory hurdles, and market responses shaping the narrative. If executed successfully, Webus’s strategy could narrow this divide, encouraging more companies to explore crypto-based solutions, but its non-binding nature and market uncertainties underscore the challenges ahead.

Tekedia Capital Welcomes Curo, The World’s Largest Private Charging Network

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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0

Curo enables electric vehicle fleets to lease EV chargers. It does this by providing a standardized process so that any EV charger owner can host a fleet, such as an office building overnight when their employees go home.  Growing 100% MoM for the past 6 months across America, Curo saves companies with many EV vehicles money, as it helps them optimize fixed costs.

Curo is backed by investors like Blue Bear, Not Boring, Slow and Eniac, YC and Tekedia Capital. It promises to offer a top-grade infrastructure through aggregation that will enable fleet owners to optimize cash, help investors in EV charging systems make more money, and advance the environment by facilitating optimal EV charging asset utilization. 

Its clients include telecom companies, logistics firms, and bigtech companies which have clusters of EVs, and need optimized ways to charge them. Tekedia Capital is excited to welcome Curo to our community. To learn more about Curo, visit https://www.curocharging.com/ . For Tekedia Capital, go to capital.tekedia.com 

10/12 People who may shed light on who is really Satoshi Nakamoto

By
John Mc Keown
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0

With the comparative value of Bitcoin against the US Dollar on the rise, different scenarios are being sensationalized about what will happen if large institutional or sovereign holders liquidate their BTC.

We see mention of Coinbase, Blackrock and Microstrategy. We see mention of the US and China.

But at a 1.1 Million Bitcoin holding, few speak about the elephant in the room – Satoshi Nakamoto, who still, nobody knows much about.

Here is a list of people who are candidates for the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’:

David Chaum

David Chaum is a Cryptographer who first proposed a blockchain-like protocol in his dissertation “Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups” His system involved blockchain-like cryptography. It enforced trustlessness, and introduced a means whereby individuals could stay unknown to each other and transact safely, irrespective of if one or more of them had ill-intent. This earned him a Doctorate from California Berkeley in 1982.

He founded  International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) and launched ‘DigiCash’ in 1990. He has a plethora of academic honours. He’s considered the ‘father of ZKP’ (Zero Knowledge Proof), some say Blockchain.

Gavin Andresen

Gavin Andresen was born Gavin Bell in Melbourne, Australia. He moved to the US, studied Computer Engineering in Princeton and worked on 3D Graphics Hardware with Silicon Graphics Computer Systems (SGI). He also developed the loan management platform Prosper.

Andresen built up a relationship with Nakamoto and soon became the dominant contributor of code over ‘Bitcoin Talk’ surpassing that of other contributors such as Hal Finney and the now discredited Craig Wright.

Andresen also launched ClearCoin, a bitcoin exchange based on an escrow system.

In December 2010, Nakamoto left his last publicly known message, naming Andresen as his successor.

Beyond Nakamoto, he took the reins of the project and shaped it into what we know today. This earned him the nickname “the man who built Bitcoin.”

 

Stuart Haber, Scott Stornetta  and Dave Bayer

Stornetta was a Theoretical Physicist who became obsessed with the ‘problem of immutability of digital records’ while at Bell Labs. There he met Haber who is a cryptographer and they began to work together. Their initial solution was based on hash functions and digital certificates.

At the end of 1991 they met Bayer.

Bayer had earned his Ph.D. at Harvard in 1982 under the direction of Heisuke Hironaka with a dissertation entitled The Division Algorithm and the Hilbert Scheme He’s a Professor of Mathematics at Columbia.

By 1992 with Bayers’ lead, the three incorporated Merkle trees into the design.  This improved efficiency by allowing several document certificates to be collected into one block.

All three were cited in the white paper published by Nakamoto describing the technological underpinnings of Bitcoin. Some suspect ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ was invented as a label to anonymously present their work collectively.

Stornetta is known to speak fluent Japanese.

 

Joseph Poon

Joseph Poon was a lead core dev on Bitcoin. He went on to lead on The Lightning Network, and was Lead Founding Creator on the Handshake Blockchain. He also co-built Plasma with Vitalik Buterin.

Handshake is a fork/copy of Bitcoin sharing its’ DNA to the point BIPs (Bitcoin Improvement Protocols) can (and are) implemented on it.

While Andresen won the ‘contribution war’ on ‘Bitcoin Talk’, securing the ‘Nakamoto Mantle’ over Hal Finney and Craig Wright, Poon wasn’t on there at all. He didn’t have to be. If he isn’t/wasn’t Nakamoto then he had a direct line to him and should know who he is/was. Was Poon just a ‘backend resource’ of Nakamoto or is he actually Satoshi Nakamoto himself?

Handshake came to decentralize Internet (Domain) Names along an exact parallel to Bitcoins’ aims in decentralizing money. Code for a Handshake Name is buried in a block on the blockchain and the process of authoring the names is integrated through the Urkel (Merkel) Tree.  There are no smart contracts.

Decentralization Advocate and ‘Handshake Director’ ‘Godfather’ aka rahulsutariya who intermittently appears on X, Telegram, BlueSky and Discord, frequently makes the simple post:

‘…First he (SM) decentralized money. Next, he started decentralizing the internet – starting with DNS (Domain Name Service). Satoshi moved to Handshake $HNS’

Some may take this to mean Poon is Nakamoto

Wei Dai

Wei Dai was an active member of the Cypherpunk movement, as was Satoshi Nakamoto. The Cypherpunk movement advocates for the use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies to promote individual rights and resist government surveillance.

Dai graduated with a computer focused BSc. From Washington and went to work for Microsoft.

He became heavily involved in cryptography, first identifying critical Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) vulnerabilities affecting SSH2 and the browser exploit against SSL/TLS known as BEAST (Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS)

He moved on to release ‘Crypto++’ and ‘VMAC’ but his singular offering which moved the needle was b-money in 1998.

The goal was “money which is impossible to regulate” , and the solution required a specified amount of computational work (since known formally as ‘Proof of Work’ [PoW]).

Wai described it as ‘…a scheme for a group of untraceable digital pseudonyms to pay each other with money and to enforce contracts amongst themselves without outside help‘

Sound familiar?

Wei Dai and Adam Back were the first two people contacted by Satoshi Nakamoto as he was developing Bitcoin. Nakamoto referenced b-money in the subsequent Bitcoin whitepaper.

Nevertheless, it’s already novel that Nakamoto as a pseudonym could carry out online conversations with himself. It sounds even less likely the two people had a shared alter ego, and the perceived dynamic between both of them doesn’t make it believable Satoshi could be just one of them.

 

Ross Ulbright

Ross William Ulbricht (US) developed a ‘darknet market’ known as ‘Silk Road’ under the pseudonym ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’. It began in 2011 and halted in 2013 due to his arrest. Silk Road was an unregulated online marketplace making anonymous trustless trade possible using Bitcoin. It became a honeypot for trade in goods and services which couldn’t happen lawfully.

Ulbricht’s sentencing brought more outcry than the actual arrest. Researchers  Tim Bingham and Monica Barratt published that Silk Road created a stigma-free, supportive community that enabled drug users to learn from each other rather than rely on pushers. They were able to secure drugs without the logistical challenges, legal hazards, and personal safety risks associated with buying drugs on the street.

Many agreed ‘Silk Road’ made scaling criminal trade easier and made its owner morally ‘wrong’, but most rebelled when Manhattan US attorney Preet Bharara led a prosecution ending with life imprisonment without parole. This was in line with the sentencing of drug kingpins.

Ulbright pioneered early Bitcoin use but there is a big difference between the wherewithal for the first blockchain and the first DAO Market, so his Nakamoto candidacy is an outsider.

Ulbricht was pardoned by Donald Trump and his prison clothes were put on display at Bitcoin 2025

Dorian Nakamoto

Dorian Nakamoto as a choice is somewhere between a distraction and a spoof. It is included for the sole purpose of being dispelled.  Dorian graduated in physics from California Polytechnic and worked on classified defence projects.

Hungry for readership eyes, in 2014, Newsweek carried an article claiming him to be Satoshi. Dorian quickly countered the claim, saying that his involvement with bitcoin was never more than curiosity and a small retail investment.

He fully refuted things Newsweek claimed he said about being involved in Bitcoin. Newsweeks’ basis seemed only a vague similarity with Satoshi’s liberal life views, and of course the last name and Japanese background.

The online chatter found traction with the meme brigade and floods of memes arose irreversibly cementing his image in online content and social media forever.

Novice researchers and Bitcoin enthusiasts, rushing their searches, frequently discover his photo online and wrongly perpetuate the myth.

Nick Szabo

Nick Szabo has a number of strange similarities with Wei Dai. He also attended Washington, and in 1998 he released ‘Bitgold’, the same year Dai released ‘b-money’. He also lived suspiciously close to the home of Dorian Nakamoto, but there is no evidence that at any point they knew each other.

He also got accused of being Satoshi Nakamoto the very same year, though not by Newsweek. In response to British journalist Dominic Frisbee, he replied: “I’m afraid you got it wrong doxing me as Satoshi, but I’m used to it.”

Szabo was also a ‘cypherpunk’ and technically, ‘Bitgold’ seems much further down the road to Bitcoin, than ‘b-money’ is.

Nakamoto’s writings contain some linguistic mannerisms that have appeared in the writings of Szabo. Are they reflective of Szabos’ Hungarian heritage, or is it simply an organic adoption of an influencers’ traits?

Of Szabo, Musk said: ‘Obviously I don’t know who created Bitcoin … it seems as though Nick Szabo is probably more than anyone else responsible for the evolution of those ideas. He claims not to be Nakamoto … but he seems to be the one more responsible for the ideas behind it than anyone else.’

YouTuber Ben Armstrong, highlighted a point at which Szabo said ‘When I made Bitcoin’, when he meant to say something about working on Bitcoin BIPs, and claimed it was a Freudian slip.

Contrarily, Szabo formed the notion of a Smart Contract in 1994. Later, Szabo began to get involved with Ethereum to the point, Buterin made efforts to limit his influence.  Ethereum denominations are even called (G) Wei, Szabo and Finney.  This seems against the cryptographic ideologies and culture of Satoshi Nakamoto. Although Szabo later moved position saying: ‘Sadly, yes, Ethereum, which once sounded so promising, has become a shitcoin as a result of devolving into a centralized cult.’

 

Adam Back

Like many of those with ideological values that match that of Satoshi Nakamoto, Adam Back is a Cypherpunk. With Wei Dai, Back was one of  the first two people contacted by Satoshi Nakamoto as he was developing Bitcoin.

Back has a PhD in distributed systems from Exeter.

In 1997, Back invented Hashcash, which is used in the Bitcoin mining process.

In 2016, the Financial Times cited Back as a potential Nakamoto candidate. The YouTube channel Barely Sociable repeated the claim in 2020.

In 2024, a UK court ruled that Wright was in contempt for persistent, false claims to be Satoshi. During those proceedings, Back released a series of emails he had with Satoshi Nakamoto during 2008 and 2009. Back and Satoshi discuss the Bitcoin whitepaper, and Back refers Satoshi to the work of Wei Dei. The series ends in January 2009 with Nakamoto announcing Bitcoin is launched.

Adam Back is the founder/CEO of Blockstream, – blockchain solutions based on the Bitcoin infrastructure. The companys’ lead product  is the Liquid Network, which is a Layer 2 Bitcoin sidechain.

The exposed emails make it extremely difficult to consider either Back or Dai as Satoshi candidates.

Peter Todd

Peter Todd was named as the real-world identity of Satoshi Nakamoto by Cullen Hoback, HBO.

In 2008, Todd was just finishing a fine arts degree He wasn’t even in the cryptography world yet.  There’s no reason he would have needed a pseudonym – he wasn’t a known figure, and didn’t become involved with Bitcoin until 2012.

In April 2012, Todd submitted ‘OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY (BIP 65)’

OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY allows ‘post-dating’, so Bitcoin sent, can’t be used by the recipient until the future date specified by the transaction.

“For the record, I am not Satoshi,” he responded. “I think Cullen made the Satoshi accusation for marketing. He needed a way to get attention for his film.”

The Aston University Centre for Forensic Linguistics analysed the writing style of 13 Nakamoto candidates. It found Nick Szabo the closest match.

Todd is a born Canadian and uses British English. Some of his writings use indigenous spelling, common with Nakamoto; such as colour and cheque. But that’s not enough proof to establish him as the inventor of Bitcoin.

In an interview after the HBO Documentary was released, Todd told Kevin T. Dugan, staff writer at Intelligencer: Seems like Hoback avoided easily sourced information that could discount me being Nakamoto. It’s not hard to do a bit of research on my life, including talking with my friends and family about me circa 2008, the time when Nakamoto was known to be developing the bitcoin idea.

A check of bips.xyz – a mirror of the official BIPs repository shows BIPs from 2011 to todays date. There is only one BIP with Todd as owner, as compared to Gavin Andresen, mentioned earlier, who has 11.

It appears unlikely Todd is Nakamoto.

I’ve discounted Hal Finney and Craig Wright who are common in similar articles. They, along with Gavin Andresen, were individually engaging with Nakamoto on Bitcoin Talk. As Satoshi named Andresen his successor, it devalues the likelihood of the other two. Separately, early collaborators were floated as the real Satoshi by Financial Times. Adam Back publicly responded that none were, a list which included both himself and Wright. None of the group had a problem with the response except Wright, who sued Back, but dropped it later.  Separately a London High Court Judge sentenced Wright to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. The court was satisfied claiming to be Nakamoto was lying, and ordered him to cease in a previous case, an order he continued to disobey. Wright’s actions were described in court as “legal terrorism” that “put people through personal hell” in his campaign to be recognised as Bitcoin’s inventor.

Who do you think Nakamoto could be? Is it none of the above? Did he pass away from some terminal condition in 2010? And what is to become of that 1.1 Million Bitcoin holding, big enough to topple empires?

Sources:  Bitcoin Wiki, Bitstamp.net  BBC.com  , Ben Armstrong Podcast.  Curiousmatrix  Forbes,  Investor Place   Wired, ‘Falling in and Falling out: A Brief Study of the Shifts in Nick Szabo’s Attitude towards Ethereum’ – Chester.  Wikipedia,

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Ghana Signs $1bn UAE Deal to Build Africa’s Largest Innovation Hub in Ningo-Prampram

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

Ghana has sealed a landmark $1 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates to establish a cutting-edge technology and innovation hub in Ningo-Prampram, Accra, setting the stage for what is poised to become Africa’s largest digital transformation base.

The deal was signed by Ghana’s Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) of Dubai. The UAE is expected to fully fund the hub, while Ghana will provide the land—25 square kilometers in Ningo-Prampram—for the first phase of development.

Minister Samuel George described the deal as the culmination of three months of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a major step in Ghana’s ambition to lead Africa’s digital future.

“This partnership speaks to the vision of H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, and the potential the One Million Coders Programme holds for Ghanaians,” George said.

He described the initiative as a launchpad for tech giants like Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, IBM, and Alphabet to set up African headquarters in Ghana, along with over 11,000 companies under the PCFC umbrella.

The hub will serve as a base for AI engineering, business process outsourcing (BPO), knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), and machine learning data generation tailored to African needs. George noted that it will reinforce the government’s One Million Coders Programme, which aims to train young Ghanaians in fields such as AI, cybersecurity, data protection, and digital governance.

“To Ghana’s vibrant community of tech entrepreneurs, innovators, and digital talents, this is your platform,” George said. “We are creating the conditions for a digital renaissance, led by Ghanaians for Ghanaians. Our goal is not to catch up with the digital age, but to help shape it.”

UAE’s Long-Term Bet on Digital Africa

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem emphasized that in today’s world, wealth is increasingly defined by intellectual capacity rather than natural resources.

“National wealth is defined not by gold or oil but by the ability to generate, implement, and scale ideas,” he said, citing Apple’s transformation of a simple idea into a trillion-dollar enterprise.

Drawing from DP World’s automated port in Rotterdam, Sulayem argued that digital transformation is not eliminating jobs but redefining them.

“Jobs are being transformed. Workers are now managing smarter processes and customer relationships,” he said.

He also noted that as global supply chains shift, Ghana is well-positioned to become a leading production and distribution hub in West Africa.

A New Front in the Africa Tech Race

The Ghana-UAE deal places Ghana in direct competition with Nigeria, which has been advancing its own artificial intelligence (AI) and tech ambitions. Nigeria launched its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in April, focusing on infrastructure, ethical adoption, and economic development. It also established the Nigerian Artificial Intelligence Collective (NAIC) to coordinate strategy implementation.

Major players have responded. Google pledged N2.8 billion to develop AI talent across Nigeria and earlier committed N100 million to Nigeria’s National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). Microsoft, for its part, announced a $1 million investment to equip one million Nigerians with AI skills.

Despite these initiatives, experts warn that much of Africa remains unprepared to fully harness the AI revolution. Critical infrastructure challenges—such as erratic electricity supply, poor broadband access, and weak digital policy frameworks—continue to slow adoption and investment.

However, Africa’s scramble for digital dominance is intensifying. While Nigeria’s push is centered on AI and capacity building, Ghana’s $1 billion project in partnership with Dubai sets a broader tone: establishing not just local talent pipelines but creating a continental base for global tech giants.

Ghana’s strategy, rooted in infrastructure and public-private collaboration, is expected to offer a more holistic blueprint, blending foreign investment, innovation ecosystems, and skills development. The UAE’s involvement adds credibility and muscle, potentially transforming Ghana into a critical node in global digital supply chains.

In the words of Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, “This is no longer about building tech parks; it’s about reshaping nations through technology.”

However, experts note that as Africa’s two tech powerhouses chart parallel paths, the success of these ambitious plans will depend not only on the billions pledged but also on the ability to overcome local structural challenges, attract long-term investment, and create inclusive digital economies that serve their populations.

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