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📺 Paramount $108B Bid for Warner Bros

📺 Paramount $108B Bid for Warner Bros

Plus: 📶 MTN, Huawei Launch RuralCow

Innovation Village
December 09, 2025

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Good Morning Valued Subscribers👋

Yesterday it was Netflix making waves with its ambitious $72 billion play, today Paramount enters the arena with an eye-popping $108 billion bid for Warner Bros. The streaming wars have clearly shifted into overdrive, and this isn’t just about who owns the content anymore, it’s about who will control the very future of entertainment, from what we watch to how we access it.

For decades, Warner Bros. has been a powerhouse of storytelling, shaping film and TV culture across the globe. Now, with these massive bids on the table, the battleground has moved to corporate strategy, distribution dominance, and the fight for subscriber loyalty. Every move these giants make, whether it’s exclusive content deals, streaming rights, or platform expansion, will ripple across the industry, forcing competitors to rethink their strategies and viewers to reconsider their subscriptions.

This isn’t just a story of money; it’s a story of influence. Whoever comes out on top won’t just hold a media empire, they’ll set the tone for what entertainment looks like in the next decade. For us on the sidelines, it’s a front-row seat to one of the boldest, most expensive battles in Hollywood history.

Let’s dive in.👇

Today’s Menu ☕️

📺Paramount vs. Netflix: The $108B Battle for Warner Bros
📶MTN, Huawei Launch RuralCow for Rural Connectivity
🤖 NITDA Issues Urgent Alert: Nigerians Warned of Critical ChatGPT Vulnerabilities Exposing Users to Data Leakage
💰Capitec buys Walletdoc
💵Appian Funds Atlantic’s Tongon Gold Buy
🔐Truecaller Faces Privacy Probe in South Africa

📺MEDIA

Paramount vs. Netflix: The $108B Battle for Warner Bros

Hollywood is in its biggest takeover fight in a decade as Paramount Skydance launches a hostile $108.4 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, directly challenging Netflix’s earlier $82.7 billion deal. Paramount’s offer is richer, all-cash-heavy, and targets the entire company—not just the studio and streaming units Netflix wants.

Paramount is accusing WBD of favouring Netflix from the start, calling the process biased. Backed by major financiers and aggressive debt commitments, Paramount aims to build a media giant strong enough to rival today’s tech-dominated streaming landscape.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s signed agreement faces regulatory and political pushback, with concerns about consolidation, creative job losses, and market dominance. WBD is now caught between a lucrative hostile offer, an existing Netflix deal with billion-dollar breakup fees, and intense scrutiny from Washington and Hollywood’s unions.......….continue reading

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📶TELECOMS

MTN, Huawei Launch RuralCow for Rural Connectivity

MTN Nigeria and Huawei have commercially deployed RuralCow, a compact, low-power mobile base station engineered to extend connectivity to Nigeria’s most remote communities. RuralCow consolidates radio, baseband, and transmission equipment into a single unit, cutting power consumption by 85% and reducing installation complexity—making rural rollouts faster and significantly more cost-efficient.

With nearly 105 million Nigerians still living in rural areas with limited or no connectivity, the solution lowers deployment costs and shortens ROI timelines, enabling operators to serve low-ARPU regions sustainably. MTN and Huawei say the initiative aligns with their joint goal of expanding digital access and closing Nigeria’s connectivity gap.....….continue reading

🤖 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

NITDA Issues Urgent Alert: Nigerians Warned of Critical ChatGPT Vulnerabilities Exposing Users to Data Leakage

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has today issued a critical advisory warning Nigerian individuals and businesses against potential security risks associated with the popular AI platform, ChatGPT. The agency raised alarms over newly discovered vulnerabilities that could allow malicious actors to hijack user conversations, steal sensitive data, and manipulate chat histories without the user’s knowledge.

The advisory appears to reference a series of security flaws recently identified by global cybersecurity researchers, often categorized under the moniker "HackedGPT." These vulnerabilities effectively turn the AI chatbot into a "confused deputy," forcing it to perform actions against the user's will......….continue reading

💰ACQUISITIONS

Capitec buys Walletdoc

South African retail bank Capitec is acquiring fintech Walletdoc Holdings for R400 million, including a R100 million earn-out. Walletdoc provides digital payment solutions like online payments, digital wallets, and real-time payouts. The acquisition strengthens Capitec’s digital payments and business banking strategy, particularly for SMMEs, and positions the bank to compete more effectively with fintech rivals in South Africa’s enterprise payments market....….continue reading

💵 FUNDING

Appian Funds Atlantic’s Tongon Gold Buy

Appian Capital Advisory has provided $150 million to Atlantic Group for its acquisition of the Tongon gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire from Barrick Gold. Valued at up to $305 million, Tongon is expected to produce 140,000 ounces of gold in 2025. The financing includes senior debt and a gold stream agreement, with downside price protection to manage risk, supporting Atlantic Group’s growth strategy in West Africa..........…continue reading

🔐DATA PROTECTION

Truecaller Faces Privacy Probe in South Africa

Truecaller is under investigation in South Africa for allegedly mislabeling legitimate business numbers as “Spam” and charging for a “Verified Business” package, effectively extorting companies. The probe also raises serious privacy concerns under POPIA, as the app uploads non-users’ contacts without their consent. Truecaller defends its practices via “Enhanced Search,” but legal experts argue the company is ultimately responsible. Similar issues have arisen in Nigeria and India. A ruling against Truecaller could force it to delete millions of non-user numbers, impacting its Caller ID service and setting a major privacy precedent for the continent..........…continue reading