By our reporter

Carville Integrated Ventures Limited, a leading telecoms facility management services provider, has appealed for calm following the recent fire incident at Abaranje Base Station.

The company manages base stations on behalf of Airtel Nigeria.

In a statement, the Management of Carville noted that the incident occurred during maintenance operations on a leaking part of a diesel tank, resulting in injuries to some individuals from the local community who forcefully gained unauthorised access into the facility hosting the base station during the maintenance work.

The company however sympathised with the victims while promising to provide healthcare support to them.

“The management of Carville Integrated Ventures, extends her condolences to the affected individuals and their families, stating, ‘Our hearts go out to those injured in the unfortunate incident. We are committed to providing support and assistance during their recovery process.’

“We stand by our commitment to the communities we serve, and we will continue to prioritize their welfare in all our operations.”

“Furthermore, Carville appeals to community leaders and members to cooperate with the company in implementing safety measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

“Safety is our top priority,” the management affirmed. “We urge everyone to adhere to safety protocols and guidelines to ensure the well-being of all.”

“Carville is working closely with local authorities and regulatory bodies to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and implement necessary measures to prevent recurrence,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, Airtel Nigeria has also in a statement sympathised with the victims of the fire incident.

By our reporter

The Federal Government and Microsoft Founder and Philanthropist, Mr. Bill Gates are in talks to develop a system that will help Nigeria harmonise her identity system database.

The Microsoft Founder made this known when he met with President Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.

According to Gates, “We are working with Mr. Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, on digitisation. Before you came into office, there were a few things attempted in identity management. But they have been very scattered. There have been multiple identification systems.

“Now, there is a plan to take that technology called MOSIP and use it for this identification platform so that people can get digital benefits. We are providing support for that, and we can provide more support.

“With MOSIP ID, there is potential application in all government payment programmes. It helps with payment efficiency and bank accounts, and eventually, when everyone is using that, it makes tax collection easier. That benefit will take a few years. However, there will be more bank accounts, more financial inclusion, and effective government payment programmes,” the Former Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft said.

Mr. Gates said Nigeria has the capacity to manage this system and related-technological systems as the nation brims with talented youths.

“The last time I went to the Microsoft office in Lagos, I saw the amazing work that they were doing and how they were growing their operations. So, you have a lot of Nigerian talents to manage these systems,” he said.

Responding, President Tinubu noted that his administration is investing in technology that is tailored towards ensuring transparency and accountability in government and accelerating public-sector performance and service delivery to the Nigerian people.

Emphasising his unwavering commitment to deliver reliable technology that will support a national consumer credit system and many other critical new government interventions for all Nigerians, the President said resistance is often expected when efforts are made to strengthen systems and forestall malfeasance.

“Technology is the enemy of fraud, corruption, and irregularity. We have been working hard on improving technology.”

“There is always the initial resistance. Corruption, self-interest, and fraudulent activity will always be an enemy, but when you bend that curve, you will receive the benefit. The nation will receive the benefit,” the President said.

The President also stated that he is proud of Nigeria’s youths noting that they encourage him to continue to press his reform efforts forward for their future prosperity.

By our reporter

Leading telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria Plc has blamed the instability of the naira in the foreign exchange market and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directive on NIN-SIM linkage for the losses it recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Karl Toriola, said this in the company’s unaudited financial statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.(NGX) in Lagos.

According to Toriola, the telecommunications company recorded a net loss of N392.69 billion for the quarter under review, indicating 462.2 percent decline, compared to N108.43 billion posted in the same quarter of 2023.

He stated further that the company’s net loss for the quarter resulted in a further increase in its accumulated losses and negative shareholders’ funds to N599.2 billion and N434.7 billion, respectively.

Toriola explained that severe macroeconomic headwinds overshadow the strong operating performance of the firm.

“The operating environment in the first quarter remained very challenging, with rising inflation and continued naira depreciation off an already low base.

“The Naira depreciated to an all-time low of N1,627/per dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) in march, from N907 per dollar at the end of December 2023, before moderating to N1,309 per dollar by the end of the quarter.

“Additionally, the inflation rate maintained an upward trajectory, rising to 33.2 per cent in march, with an average rate of 31.6 per cent in the quarter.

“During the quarter, we also continued to manage the effects on our business of the industry-wide directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for a full barring of subscriber lines not linked to their National Identity Number (NIN) – the NIN-SIM directive,” he explained.

According to him, this impacted the development of the telecommunications service provider’s user base across all of its key business units (voice, data and fintech) in the first quarter.

Toriola said MTN implemented the directive on subscribers who did not submit their NIN and those with more than five lines linked to an unverified NIN.

Meanwhile, the company recorded a growth in its total subscribers which increased by 1.3 percent to 77.7 million, as at March 31, 2024, from 76.7 million recorded in the same period of 2023.

Toriola said that the subscribers, however, dropped by two million, compared to the year ended December 2023, due to the implementation of the NIN-SIM directive, which affected the development of its user base.

He said that the telecommunications service provider’s active data users increased by eight percent to 44.5 million in the quarter under review, compared to 41.2 million posted in the same quarter of 2023.

According to him, active mobile money (MoMo PSB) wallets of the service provider increased by 48.7 per cent to 4.8 million in the first quarter of 2024, from 3.2 million recorded in the first quarter of  2023.

Toriola said that the firm’s total revenue also increased by 32.5 percent to N752.98 billion in the period under review, as against N568.13 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2023.

Toriola added that the Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of the telecommunications company, however, declined by 1.9 percent to N297 billion as at March 31, 2024.

This is compared to N303 billion posted in the same quarter of the previous year.

He noted that despite these challenges, the telecommunications service provider remains committed to serving its customers.