📺 MultiChoice to Retire Showmax

Plus:🤖 Intron Launches Sahara v2 African Speech Platform

Innovation Village
March 06, 2026

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TGIF👋

MultiChoice has announced plans to retire Showmax, its streaming platform, signaling a major shift in the company’s digital entertainment strategy. The move comes as competition in the African streaming market intensifies, with global players and local platforms vying for viewer attention and subscription revenue.

By phasing out Showmax, MultiChoice appears to be refocusing resources on its core pay-TV business and other digital offerings, while also reassessing how it engages audiences in an increasingly on-demand, multi-platform media landscape. The decision raises questions about the future of streaming in Africa and how subscribers will transition to alternative content services.

Let’s dive in👇

Today’s Menu ☕️

📺 MultiChoice Plans to Retire Showmax
🏢Teerus MFB Secures CBN License
🤖Nigerian AI Startup Intron Unveils Sahara v2 for African Language Speech Recognition.
🌺 AgroEknor secures investment from Acumen to boost smallholder hibiscus farming in Nigeria
📶NCC Mandates 4-Hour Cyber Threat Reporting for Telecoms
✈️ Tinubu Suspends FAAN Cashless Airport Policy

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📺MEDIA

MultiChoice Plans to Retire Showmax

MultiChoice has announced plans to discontinue its streaming platform Showmax after a strategic review revealed the service had been recording significant annual losses. The decision, approved by the Showmax board, reflects the company’s effort to streamline operations and focus resources in an increasingly competitive global streaming market.

Despite retiring the platform, MultiChoice—backed by Canal+—says it will shift its strategy toward building a new in-house streaming platform designed to better integrate content production, distribution, and technology. The company also confirmed that employees working on Showmax will be supported through internal transitions rather than layoffs....….continue reading

🏢FINTECH

Teerus MFB Secures CBN License

Teerus Microfinance Bank has received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to begin operations, marking its entry into Nigeria’s financial services sector with a focus on supporting SMEs, low-income earners, and underserved communities.

Led by CEO Chukwuemeka Onwuedo, the bank aims to expand financial inclusion by offering savings accounts, micro-loans, SME financing, working capital support, and financial advisory services. Teerus also plans to use digital tools to simplify banking processes and reach customers who lack access to traditional financial services........….continue reading

🤖ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Nigerian AI Startup Intron Unveils Sahara v2 for African Language Speech Recognition

Intron has launched Sahara v2, an upgraded speech recognition platform designed for African languages and accents. The new model supports 57 languages, including 23 African languages such as Hausa, Swahili, and Yoruba, and can recognize over 500 African accents.

The platform introduces several new capabilities, including the first Swahili–English bilingual speech model, developed with Penda Health, allowing accurate transcription of conversations where speakers switch between languages. It also features a Hausa text-to-speech model and improved performance in noisy environments.

Trained on more than 50,000 hours of audio from 40,000 speakers across 30 African countries, Sahara v2 aims to address the limitations global voice systems face when interpreting African speech patterns. The platform targets enterprise sectors such as healthcare, finance, telecom, and legal services, with offline deployment enabled through a partnership with Nvidia.....….continue reading

🌺 AGRICULTURE

AgroEknor secures investment from Acumen to boost smallholder hibiscus farming in Nigeria

Acumen has announced an investment in AgroEknor, a Nigerian agribusiness company that operates end‑to‑end across the hibiscus value chain, from smallholder farmer engagement to processing and international export. The partnership is positioned to strengthen AgroEknor’s growth trajectory while advancing inclusive agricultural development in Nigeria.

AgroEknor works directly with smallholder farmers to cultivate hibiscus, which it processes and exports to major international markets including Mexico, the United States, and China. Through its integrated model, the company ensures quality control, traceability, and improved income opportunities for rural farming communities.

In addition to its export operations, AgroEknor processes hibiscus into Madala, a locally distributed hibiscus‑based cordial drink. This downstream value‑addition enables the company to expand its domestic product footprint while unlocking new revenue streams that benefit both the business and the farmers within its supply chain.......….continue reading

📶TELECOMS

NCC Mandates 4-Hour Cyber Threat Reporting for Telecoms

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive requiring telecom operators, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom, and T2 Mobile, to report any cyberattack within four hours of detection under the Cyber Resilience Framework for Nigeria’s Communications Sector (CRF-NCS), effective February 2027. Operators must also provide updates every four hours and submit a detailed report within 24 hours outlining the nature of the attack, mitigation steps, and current system status.

The framework mandates that telecoms establish Cyber Security Operations Centres (SOCs) and appoint dedicated cybersecurity officers to coordinate with the NCC’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT). These measures aim to enhance situational awareness, improve response times, and strengthen data protection across the sector.................….continue reading

✈️TRAVEL

Tinubu Suspends FAAN Cashless Airport Policy

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the suspension of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s (FAAN) cashless payment policy at airport gates, just three days after its March 1 launch caused severe traffic congestion and flight delays. The directive, announced by Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo, allows airports to temporarily accept cash while authorities work on a more efficient system.

FAAN’s mandatory cashless entry, implemented via prepaid cards in partnership with Paystack, led to long queues as many motorists had not obtained the cards in advance. Efforts to ease congestion through additional staff and registration points proved insufficient. Under the new hybrid model, travelers can pay with either cash or existing Go Cashless cards.......….continue reading