Enugu State has joined the exclusive club of Nigerian states running their own commercial airlines, following the official launch of Enugu Air on Monday. The new carrier becomes another state-backed aviation venture in the country, after similar initiatives in Imo, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states.

The airline’s inaugural flight — a symbolic journey from Lagos — landed at the newly upgraded international wing of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, marking what Governor Peter Mbah described as a historic moment.

Piloted by Enugu-born Captain Kelechi Ossai, the aircraft is one of three Embraer jets that make up the airline’s initial fleet.

Governor Mbah emphasized that the project is fully owned by the Enugu State government and is meant to serve students, traders, investors, and everyday travelers. He described it as a key part of his administration’s broader economic transformation agenda, aimed at turning Enugu into a premier destination for investment, tourism, and quality living.

“Enugu Air is a triumph of vision, a testament to Nigeria’s immense aviation potential and economic renaissance. It was established to create jobs and career paths for our young people; faster and more reliable access to markets, clients, and capital for businesspeople; simpler and more dignified access to home for the diaspora; and a ready gateway to collaboration and opportunity for investors interested in Enugu,” the governor said.

The launch ceremony drew top dignitaries, including Nigeria’s Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo, who pledged federal support for the initiative. He revealed that approvals for regional routes were underway and defended the federal government’s controversial decision to concession the Akanu Ibiam Airport, calling it a necessary reform.

Governor Mbah said Enugu Air would initially operate a triangular route linking Enugu, Abuja, and Lagos, with plans to extend to other major cities including Port Harcourt, Owerri, Benin, and Kano, before eventually branching into international destinations.

“This airline is a gift to the people of Enugu,” Mbah declared. “It is built to drive commerce, mobility, and investment. It reflects our administration’s vision of a thriving, connected, and globally competitive state.”

The airline is launching at a time when Nigeria’s aviation industry is seeing increased demand but also faces recurring challenges around safety, regulation, and operational sustainability.

FIJ Investigation Reveals Operational Gap

Despite the high-profile unveiling, a report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) uncovered that Enugu Air currently lacks independent infrastructure for bookings or operational autonomy. When potential customers attempt to book a flight, they are redirected to the website of XEJet, a Lagos-based premium-class airline. A prompt on the site reads: “This flight is operated by XEJet and you would be redirected to the XEJet website to complete your booking.”

This has raised concerns that Enugu Air may, for now, be a rebranded partnership, rather than an operational airline with its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC) — a regulatory requirement for full-fledged flight operations.

Echoes of Nigeria Air

The situation has drawn unfavorable comparisons to the now-infamous Nigeria Air, a national carrier that was dramatically unveiled by the federal government in 2023. Then Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika paraded an aircraft in national colours and held a lavish unveiling ceremony—only for it to be revealed later that the plane was borrowed from Ethiopian Airlines for the event.

The airline lacked an operational license and had no real structure to begin flights. After public outrage and a barrage of legal and regulatory issues, Nigeria Air never took off, becoming one of the most ridiculed aviation projects in the country’s history.

A Familiar Playbook: Imo and Cross River’s Precedents

Enugu Air’s current arrangement draws parallels to previous state-run airline experiments that failed to take off sustainably.

In 2017, Imo State’s former governor Rochas Okorocha launched Imo Air, claiming the state had acquired five aircraft and was partnering with Dana Air to run them for 10 years, since the state lacked a license. The airline’s operations quietly faded within a year, with no significant follow-up from the government.

Similarly, in July 2021, former Cross River governor Ben Ayade launched Cally Air, operating through Aero Contractors. While Ayade said the airline was fully owned by the state with no loans taken, there were never clear operational guidelines or financial disclosures. Cally Air quickly faded from the aviation radar, its planes reportedly absorbed into Aero’s broader operations.

Enthusiasm Meets Skepticism

Although Governor Mbah insists Enugu Air is built for long-term value, Nigerians are skeptical. Some note that reliance on existing operators, and a lack of independent booking systems are red flags that have plagued similar ventures in the past.

“In 2025, a state govt. in Nigeria launches a 3rd party airline where the state acts as an affiliate marketer, then goes around to throw a ceremony and party at the airport for the same affiliate marketing project …  indeed “Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” Chris Ani, a social media user, posted.

Others also question whether the state has provided enough transparency around the financial and legal arrangements with XEJet — including how much public funds have been committed, whether the aircraft are leased or state-owned, and the duration and terms of the partnership.

Nevertheless, Enugu’s move underscores a growing interest by subnational governments in air transportation as a tool for economic development — particularly in regions underserved by Nigeria’s limited airline options. This is as experts call on the federal and state governments to focus on rail transport, providing an affordable alternative to road transportation.

Replit, one of the most prominent rising stars in AI-assisted software development, has struck a strategic partnership with Microsoft that could significantly expand its reach while positioning Azure as a key player in the growing low-code/no-code development space.

Under the deal, Replit will become available through Microsoft’s enterprise cloud app marketplace, Azure Marketplace, enabling enterprise customers to purchase Replit subscriptions directly through Microsoft’s cloud platform. Additionally, Replit is integrating its platform with key Microsoft cloud services — including containers, virtual machines, and Microsoft’s flavor of Postgres, Neon Serverless Postgres, which is already supported by Replit’s backend.

The partnership means that Azure will capture revenue from Replit-built apps running in production, marking a mutually beneficial arrangement. While Microsoft already owns GitHub Copilot — one of the most widely used AI coding tools — Replit is not a direct competitor in the traditional sense. GitHub Copilot is geared toward professional developers using code editors like VS Code, and it competes more directly with tools like Cursor by Anysphere.

By contrast, Replit is aimed at a wider audience, including novice users, business managers, and professionals with little or no programming experience. Its browser-based interface allows users to describe the kind of application they want, and the platform handles everything from database setup to storage and authentication. Experienced users can dig deeper, using Replit’s support for various programming languages to customize or extend functionality.

Competing With Figma for Prototyping — Not Copilot

This partnership is being framed as a design and prototyping solution for non-technical users, with the companies positioning the tool as something akin to Figma, rather than a traditional developer IDE. In this use case, a non-programmer — like a sales manager—could use Replit to create internal apps, such as a dashboard that tracks the correlation between contract renewals and customer support tickets.

“We are enabling all employees across all functions to develop apps, regardless of coding experience, so we are complementary to Copilot from that perspective,” a Replit spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Replit’s Explosive Growth

The deal follows a period of staggering growth for Replit. In June, CEO Amjad Masad revealed that the company grew from $10 million to $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in just six months, a tenfold leap that puts it in elite company among venture-backed software startups.

Replit raised $97.4 million in its last funding round at a $1.1 billion post-money valuation, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and supported by notable investors like Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Coatue, Bloomberg Beta, Naval Ravikant, Y Combinator, and ARK Ventures. Masad said in June that the company has yet to touch most of its capital: “We still have over half our funding in the bank.”

Replit now claims over 500,000 business users on its platform, underlining its traction beyond just the hobbyist or solo developer crowd.

A Blow to Google Cloud?

The Microsoft deal could come as a blow to Google Cloud, which currently hosts many of Replit’s apps. Google had proudly featured Replit as a customer success story, but with Replit now integrating deeply into Microsoft Azure’s ecosystem, the partnership suggests a broader multicloud strategy that gives Replit flexibility and scalability — and gives Microsoft an edge in enterprise adoption.

However, Replit confirmed to TechCrunch that the deal with Microsoft is non-exclusive, meaning Google Cloud will continue to support Replit-hosted apps, but Azure will now serve as another major partner. This approach also leaves room for other vibe coders to strike similar integration deals with cloud platforms, signaling how rapidly the AI coding landscape is evolving.

Rising Competition in the “Vibe Coding” Arena

Replit’s rise comes amid stiff competition from other startups riding the same trend. Lovable, a European rival, has reportedly hit $50 million ARR and is said to be raising funds at a $2 billion valuation. Another startup, Bolt, hit $40 million ARR in just five months. These companies are defining what’s being dubbed the “vibe coding” space — a blend of AI, low-code, and user-friendly design-first programming experiences.

The Replit–Microsoft tie-up signals a broader shift in software development: more enterprise teams building internal tools without waiting for IT, and more non-engineers prototyping applications that once required full-stack developer support.

It also highlights Microsoft’s evolving strategy in AI and developer tooling. By supporting Replit — even while owning GitHub Copilot — Microsoft shows a growing interest in fostering diverse entry points into AI-powered software creation, from hardcore coders to curious first-timers.

With AI transforming the software stack at every level, this deal between Replit and Microsoft could mark a pivotal moment — not just for the two companies, but for the way software gets made across industries.

Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. (Nasdaq, NYSE Texas: DJT) — the parent company of Truth Social — has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to give retail and institutional investors exposure to five major cryptocurrencies.

The proposed Truth Social Crypto Blue Chip ETF, which will trade under the ticker B.T., will hold Bitcoin, Ether, Solana (SOL), Cronos (CRO), and Ripple (XRP) directly, marking the company’s boldest foray yet into the digital asset space.

According to the S-1 filing, the ETF will allocate 70% of its assets to Bitcoin, followed by 15% to Ether, 8% to SOL, 5% to CRO, and 2% to XRP, making it a rare multi-asset crypto fund in a U.S. market where the majority of approved ETFs are Bitcoin-only. The proposed fund aims to track the price performance of the underlying crypto assets and provide regulated, exchange-traded access to top-tier digital currencies.

Crypto.com will serve as the ETF’s exclusive digital asset custodian, prime execution agent, staking provider, and liquidity facilitator, suggesting an infrastructure geared toward institutional-grade asset handling.

The ETF’s launch will be contingent upon both the SEC’s approval of the Form S-1 registration and a separate 19b-4 filing with the Commission. If approved, the ETF shares will be listed on NYSE Arca, and Yorkville America Digital will act as the sponsor.

A Strategic Crypto Bet in Line With Trump’s Broader Vision

The move by Trump Media reflects Donald Trump’s increasingly bullish stance on cryptocurrency, an evolution from his once-critical view of digital assets. In recent months, Trump has openly embraced Bitcoin after vowing to support crypto-friendly policies if re-elected, making digital assets a key talking point in his economic and political messaging.

Launching a crypto ETF under his media empire’s brand aligns with this positioning. The ETF is not only a financial product — it also serves as a symbolic statement about Trump’s commitment to countering what he frequently calls the “weaponization of Big Tech and Big Government.”

The company said the ETF and its broader FinTech arm, Truth.Fi, are being developed to challenge legacy financial institutions and offer “America First investment vehicles.” This includes plans to hold Bitcoin on the company’s balance sheet — a move reminiscent of MicroStrategy and other pro-Bitcoin corporate strategies.

Analysts See a Market Catalyst in Trump’s Crypto Embrace

Market analysts say the entry of a Trump-backed ETF into the crypto investment landscape could boost investor sentiment and retail participation, especially among conservative-leaning or politically engaged segments of the U.S. electorate. The ETF’s design — holding multiple coins beyond just Bitcoin — also sets it apart from existing single-asset funds currently dominating U.S. exchanges.

Some also believe that Trump’s full-throated endorsement of crypto could pressure the SEC to accelerate approvals for pending spot ETFs for coins like Solana and XRP, which remain in limbo despite growing demand.

A Decentralized Finance Push Wrapped in Politics

The ETF is just one part of a wider financial services expansion by Trump Media. The company’s Truth+ streaming platform and Truth Social app are already positioned as alternatives to mainstream platforms, marketed as havens for free speech. Now, with the addition of Truth.Fi and the planned ETF, Trump Media is expanding its portfolio into DeFi territory — aiming to establish a new digital ecosystem for politically aligned investors.

While critics view the move as a politicization of financial products, supporters argue that it is a timely entry into a sector where decentralization and censorship resistance are core values.

However, the ETF’s fate depends on SEC approval. While the agency has recently softened its stance toward crypto ETFs — allowing the first wave of spot Bitcoin funds earlier this year — it remains cautious, particularly with funds holding altcoins like XRP and Solana. However, insiders suggest that a framework for multi-asset listings may be on the horizon, especially as pressure builds from Wall Street and political circles.

If approved, the Truth Social Crypto Blue Chip ETF would enter a rapidly growing market already dominated by financial heavyweights like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale, who are also pursuing similar listings. Trump Media, however, is betting on brand power, political momentum, and multi-asset diversity to carve out its niche.

The company’s registration statement includes the usual cautionary notes about forward-looking risks, underscoring that the offering will proceed only once the SEC deems the filing effective. Until then, the company says, no shares will be offered or sold.

But beyond regulatory hurdles, the significance of the filing lies in what it represents: Donald Trump’s transformation into the most crypto-forward political figure in U.S. history — and the possibility that his support could become a defining force in the next chapter of America’s digital asset policy and market structure.