TECHNOLOGY
Elon Musk’s X bans European Commission from making ads after €120m fine
Laura CressTechnology reporter
Getty Images
X has blocked the European Commission from making adverts on its platform – a move which comes a few days after it fined Elon Musk’s site €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges.
Nikita Bier, who has a senior role at the social media site, accused the European Union (EU) regulator of trying to “take advantage” of “an exploit” in its advertising system to promote its post about the fine on Friday.
“It seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account,” he said. “Your ad account has been terminated.”
A European Commission spokesperson told BBC News the Commission “always uses all social media platforms in good faith”.
X’s fine, issued on Friday, was the first under the EU’s Digital Services Act.
The EU regulator said the platform’s blue tick system was “deceptive” because the firm was not “meaningfully verifying users”.
“This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” it said.
It claimed X was also failing to provide transparency around its adverts, and was not giving researchers access to public data.
The social media platform has been given 60 days to respond to the Commission about concerns surrounding its blue checkmarks, or face extra penalties.
Following the fine, Elon Musk posted on his platform to say the EU “should be abolished”, and retweeted a response from another X user comparing it to fascism.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused the EU regulator of attacking and censoring US firms, adding, “the days of censoring Americans online are over”.
‘Never been abused like this’
The dispute originated with Mr Bier, who accused the Commission of activating a rarely-used account “to take advantage of an exploit”.
He claimed it had posted a link which itself deceived users – tricking them into thinking it was a video “to artificially increase its reach”.
He said the “exploit”, which had “never been abused like this”, had now been removed.
Ad accounts on X are used by businesses to create and analyse paid advertising campaigns and run “promoted” posts on the site, separate from the users’ X profile.
In response, a European Commission spokesperson told BBC News that it was “simply using the tools that platforms themselves are making available to our corporate accounts”.
“We expect these tools to be fully in line with the platforms’ own terms and conditions, as well as with our legislative framework,” it said.
And it is not the first time there has been disagreement between X and global regulators.
In 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court lifted a ban on X after it agreed to pay 28 million reais ($5.1m; £3.8m), and blocked accounts accused of spreading misinformation.
The previous year, Australia’s internet safety watchdog fined it A$610,000 ($386,000; £317,360) for failing to cooperate with a probe into anti-child abuse practices.
On Saturday, December 6th, 2025, top Nigerian creators asserted their dominance at the 2025 TikTok Awards in Sub-Saharan Africa by securing six awards out of ten categories.
The annual Award night themed “New Era, New Icons” took place in Johannesburg, South Africa.
According to TikTok, this year’s event celebrated the most impactful and inspiring creators across Sub-Saharan Africa. It also highlighted the extraordinary ways creators have engaged, inspired, and connected communities on and off TikTok.
Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok’s Head of Content Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa
“With Nigerian creators securing six of the ten awards, we are honoured to celebrate their impact, especially as these victories were voted for by the TikTok community, who continue to champion the stories shaping culture”, Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok’s Head of Content Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa, said.
She added that the annual ceremony was a gathering of the trailblazers who have redefined what it means to be a creator in Africa.
“This year, we are honoured to see West African creators who turned short video clips into cultural movements be recognised,” she said.
Read also: Full list: Nigerian creators dominate 2025 TikTok SSA nominations
Here is the full list of Nigerian winners from TikTok’s 2025 Sub-Saharan Awards
Creator of the Year (Sponsored by NIVEA)
Winner: Raja’atu Muhammed Ibrahim @diaryofanortherncook (Nigeria)
Raja’atu is a food content creator based in Sokoto, Nigeria. She was recognised for her mastery of visual storytelling through food with the rich sounds of northern music and Nigerian cuisines.
Storyteller of the Year (Sponsored by inDrive)
Winner: Brian Nwana @briannwana (Nigeria)
On the second of the list is Brian Nwana, an Abuja-based food content creator who claimed the Storyteller of the Year award through his food content. From street interviews to compelling personal narratives woven into his food adventures, Brian has a rare gift for capturing the human experience bite by bite.
Education Creator of the Year
Winner: Izzi Boye @izziboye (Nigeria)
Making tech accessible to the masses, Izzi Boye is the go-to guy for gadget reviews, hacks, and digital tips. He won the education creator award, which proves that TikTok is a powerful classroom for the digital age.
His runner-up was Michelle (@michelle_expert) from South Africa. She empowers her audience with expert advice and actionable insights from career development and financial literacy to personal growth and everyday decision-making.
Belove Olocha, Entertainment Creator of the Year
Entertainment Creator of the Year (Sponsored by PEP)
Winner: Belove Olocha @beloveolocha (Nigeria)
Fourth on the list is Belove Olocha, a Lagos-based content creator who was awarded for her consistent ability to entertain and engage audiences with relatable movie content. She also stands out for incorporating her love for movies, sharing film moments and recommendations that resonate with her community.
Her runner-up was Jabulani Macdonald @jabu_macdonald from South Africa. He is a staple of South Africa’s entertainment scene, known for his quick wit and engaging presence.
Social Impact Creator of the Year (Sponsored by Dis-chem)
Winner: Dejoke Ogunbiyi @noositiwantiwa_ (Nigeria)
The Social Impact Creator of the Year was awarded to Dejoke Ogunbiyi, also known as Noosi Tiwantiwa. Using the platform for good, she is driving conversations that matter. From Ibadan, she tackles social issues with grace and impact, mobilising her community for positive change.
Her runner-up was Sinethemba Masinga (@ufarm_julia) from South Africa – A champion for agriculture and sustainability, proving that farming is the future.
Crown Uzama, Artist of the year
Artist of the Year
Winner: Crown Uzama @theycallmeshallipopipp (Nigeria)
The biggest moment came when the artist Shallipopi, nicknamed “Pluto Presido,” won the Artist of the Year Award. This superstar, who is from Benin City, has been extremely popular throughout 2025.
His huge hit song, “Laho,” was a massive success. It went to the top of the music charts and became a viral trend that everyone saw on their TikTok feeds. The song mixes his unique street language from the Edo area with a catchy Afrobeats rhythm.
The track became hugely popular everywhere, showing that when Nigerian artists make something new, it influences the world.
Read also: Why TikTok banned late-night live streams for Nigerian creators
Increased use of social media by children damages their concentration levels and may be contributing to an increase in cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a study.
The peer-reviewed report monitored the development of more than 8,300 US-based children from the age of 10 to 14 and linked social media use to “increased inattention symptoms”.
Reseachers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Oregon Health & Science University in the US found that children spent an average of 2.3 hours a day watching television or online videos, 1.4 hours on social media and 1.5 hours playing video games.
No link was found between ADHD-related symptoms – such as being easily distracted – and playing video games or watching TV and YouTube. However, the study found that social media use over a period of time was associated with an increase in inattention symptoms in children. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms including impulsiveness, forgetting everyday tasks and difficulty focusing.
“We identified an association between social media use and increased inattention symptoms, interpreted here as a likely causal effect,” said the study. “Although the effect size is small at individual level, it could have significant consequences if behaviour changes across population level. These findings suggest that social media use may contribute to rising incidence of ADHD diagnoses.”
Torkel Klingberg, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute, said: “Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate.
“Social media entails constant distractions in the form of messages and notifications, and the mere thought of whether a message has arrived can act as a mental distraction. This affects the ability to stay focused and could explain the association.”
The study found the ADHD link was not affected by socioeconomic background or a genetic predisposition towards the condition. Klingberg added that increased use of social media may explain part of the increase in ADHD diagnoses. Its prevalence among children has risen from 9.5% in 2003-07 to 11.3% in 2020-22, according to the US national survey of children’s health.
The researchers stressed the results did not imply all children who used social media developed concentration problems. But they pointed to increased use of social media by children as they got older and to children using social media well before they turned 13, the minimum age for apps such as TikTok and Instagram.
The report said: “This early and increasing social media use underscores the need for stricter age verification and clearer guidelines for tech companies.”
The study found a steady increase in social media use from about 30 minutes a day at age nine to two and a half hours a day by age 13. The children were enrolled for the study at the ages of nine and 10 between 2016 and 2018. The study will be published in the Pediatrics Open Science journal.
“We hope that our findings will help parents and policymakers make well-informed decisions on healthy digital consumption that support children’s cognitive development,” said Samson Nivins, one of the study’s authors and a postdoctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institute.
A new strain of mpox has been discovered by scientists in England.
The new strain was found in a person who had recently travelled to Asia, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
Officials said they had identified a “new recombinant mpox virus” – meaning it has genetic material from different viral strains.
The UKHSA said genomic sequencing showed the mpox genome contained elements of clade Ib and IIb mpox.
Dr Katy Sinka, head of sexually transmitted infections at UKHSA, said: “It’s normal for viruses to evolve, and further analysis will help us understand more about how mpox is changing.
“Although mpox infection is mild for many, it can be severe.
“Getting vaccinated is a proven effective way to protect yourself against severe disease, so please make sure to get the jab if you are eligible.”
The NHS offers the mpox vaccine to those considered at higher risk of catching the virus, such as men who have sex with other men and have multiple partners.
The UKHSA said it will “continue to assess the significance of the strain”.
Read more:
Vaccine reminder as mpox strain spreads in Europe
Dr Boghuma Titanji, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University in Georgia in the US, said the identification of the new recombinant strain “is precisely what experts in the field feared would happen if the virus continued to spread globally without a decisive response to stop it”.
She added: “The key concern now is whether events like this will alter the virus’s transmissibility or virulence.”
What are the symptoms of mpox and how can it spread?
Symptoms include a skin rash with blisters, spots, or ulcers that can appear anywhere on the body, as well as fever, headache, backache, and muscle aches.
A rash usually appears one to five days after a fever, headache and other symptoms.
The virus spreads between people through direct contact with rashes, skin lesions or scabs caused by the virus, including during sexual contact, kissing, cuddling or other skin-to-skin contact.
There is also a risk from contact with bodily fluids such as saliva or snot, as well as contact with bedding, towels or clothing. There is a possibility of spread through close and prolonged face-to-face contact, such as talking, breathing, coughing or sneezing.
Since joining Crypto Valley VC (CV VC), a Swiss-based venture capital firm that backs blockchain-based startups, as Head of Investment for Africa in November 2024, Jarryd Kennedy has been at the centre of the firm’s push to spot businesses using blockchain technology to solve everyday problems across fintech, payments, and data infrastructure on the continent.
Kennedy’s career before CV VC began in investment banking, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and private equity across London, New York, and South Africa. His experience gives him a dealmaker’s discipline and a technology-first lens, helping him identify use cases where blockchain reduces friction, improves trust and builds real economic infrastructure rather than hype.
In 2022, CV VC launched a $20 million Africa Blockchain Fund, which has invested in 13 early-stage Web3 startups across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Ghana, including Nigerian podcast-hosting platform Jamit, South African crypto investment startup Altify, Kenyan Web3 agritech Shamba Records, and South African neobank Kasi.
The firm’s investment strategy writes direct cheques and backs early-stage startups from its accelerator. Through CV Labs, CV VC selects 7–9 startups to participate in a cohort each year, providing them with mentorship and growth strategy consultations. It backs nearly all the selected startups with $135,000 in funding in return for a 7% convertible note. It also writes $500,000 follow-on cheques for its portfolio startups.
After witnessing African startups’ struggles to access additional capital and infrastructure for growth, the VC firm adjusted its take rate to a 6% equity through debt, increasing its ticket size to $150,000. As of October 2025, the firm claimed more than half of the startups in its portfolio have raised follow-on funding.
Circle Ventures, the investment arm of the US-based issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is among the external backers of CV VC’s Africa Blockchain fund, signalling global interest in the firm’s thesis.
I spoke with Kennedy for this week’s Ask an Investor to understand his career, what it takes to lead CV VC’s African team, and global investor appetite for African blockchain products.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
What brought you into Web3 venture capital, and which past roles mattered most?
My entry into the Web3 venture capital ecosystem has been shaped by a decade of experience across investment banking, M&A, and private equity, with roles spanning London, New York, and South Africa. The bulk of my career has been at Deutsche Bank, gaining exposure to Telco, Media and Technology (TMT) across capital markets and M&A.
Over time, I moved into private equity with Convergence Partners, a pan-African private equity firm focused on digital infrastructure. There, I led and supported investments into technology and telecom businesses across markets like Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, and Malawi. That experience was pivotal because it gave me a deep appreciation for how technology can drive inclusion and development in emerging markets.
Importantly, throughout my career, there has been an enduring focus on technology: I have always viewed it as a tool to revolutionise monolithic, legacy systems, enabling the creation of more efficient outcomes. That is what ultimately drew me to Web3: I saw blockchain as an evolution in the global technology stack that could enable new structures for decentralised ownership, efficient value exchange, transparent governance, and the removal of intermediaries, thereby lowering barriers to entry and creating entirely new economic models.
At CV VC, I lead our venture investments across Africa, applying that same technology-oriented lens to early-stage startups that are building transformative real-world solutions by utilising blockchain technology.
What does being CV VC’s Head of Investment for Africa mean from an operational lens?
At CV VC, no two days are the same. We are a Swiss-headquartered venture capital (VC) firm with a global footprint, and although we operate in a decentralised way, we stay tightly connected through daily team calls, cross-functional projects, and in-person engagements.
On a typical day, I split my time across three areas: pipeline, portfolio, and investors. On the pipeline, it is all about travel, conferences, and networking, to enable relationship-building with the best startups and founders. Thereafter, we evaluate investment pitches and assess new opportunities through a data-driven lens to benchmark their performance.
On the portfolio side, I work closely with founders across our African investment portfolio, with a mix of relationship-building, hands-on support, and facilitating connections to other ecosystem participants. Finally, on the investor front, we are consistently engaged with investors to report on progress with the goal of leveraging investor expertise to bolster that progress, creating a flywheel of value creation across the ecosystem.
Across all three areas, staying sharp on market trends and emerging utility is important. This encompasses diving into data, strategic analysis, or contributing to knowledge-building efforts, which helps shape global understanding of blockchain’s real-world impact on the continent.
African Web3 startups raised $122.5 million in 2024, a decline in deal value from the previous year, despite high user adoption on the continent. Why is there a gap between usage and investor appetite?
It is important to distinguish between crypto and blockchain: Crypto is one of the first applications of blockchain technology. Investors are not necessarily focused on crypto itself, but on the broader capability of blockchain technology to improve upon legacy technology stacks and to create new structures for ownership, value exchange, governance, and the removal of intermediaries.
The investment case for blockchain has never been stronger. What the internet has done for the exchange of data is equivalent to what blockchain is doing for the exchange of value. Nobody talks about a “cross-border email” because of the ubiquity with which data flows around the world! Blockchain is creating this ubiquity for the exchange of value on the internet, enabling an economic value layer which is democratised and globally accessible.
Encouragingly, we see blockchain adoption rates which are reminiscent of early internet adoption, and the blockchain economy has never been stronger. Top academics, visionary founders and over 26,000 blockchain developers are converging within the blockchain ecosystem, resulting in significant capital invested in blockchain companies and over 500 million global crypto users.
Has Africa’s funding winter of 2023–2024 changed the quality or number of African Web3 startups raising capital?
Investor capital remains cautious, not just in Africa, but also across the rest of the world, which is mostly a reflection of heightened global uncertainty driven predominantly by geopolitical factors. Despite the slow start to the year, the remainder of 2024 was actually positive for Web3 venture funding, with blockchain startups taking an outsized share of venture investment in Africa.
Regardless of funding levels, blockchain builders on the continent have not been deterred in any way, with no shortage in quality or quantity of strong blockchain startups in Africa. Our pipeline is full of highly compelling investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors and geographies.
CV VC has kept writing cheques into African Web3 teams while others pull back. What explains that commitment?
Our commitment is rooted in a long-term investment philosophy and a belief in the transformative power of blockchain technology, especially in markets where it can solve real, structural problems. We focus solely on utility and ignore speculation. We’re not just investing in trends; we’re backing determined founders who are building infrastructure, improving access, and bringing trust to systems that need it most. That’s exactly what we see happening across Africa.
Despite global funding fluctuations, innovation hasn’t stopped; founders are still building, and the use cases for blockchain in multiple sectors are more relevant than ever.
How do accelerator programmes like CV Labs and ecosystem grants fit into your Africa strategy?
The proprietary CV VC accelerator program is designed to bring founders together, not just to gain investment but to share expertise, cross-pollinate ideas, and build resilience through community. Ultimately, it’s about catalysing innovation that can flourish long after the initial investment.
In Africa, where markets are often fragmented and infrastructure is still evolving, accelerators play a crucial role in strengthening local capabilities and expanding access to global networks. They allow us to identify promising talent early, provide tailored support, and help founders scale solutions that are contextually relevant and often globally competitive.
Besides being highly beneficial for founders and the ecosystem at large, the accelerator is ultimately an additional mechanism used to deploy equity cheques alongside our traditional direct venture strategy. Investors benefit through an extended due diligence exercise and favourable risk-reward profiles given the early entry point.
Which African sectors best match CV VC’s thesis on trust and decentralisation?
Our investment theme revolves around three key areas and applies to startups from any continent: first, applications built directly on blockchains. Second, we prioritise startups using blockchain to drive broader tech and social megatrends. Third, we also strongly consider service providers and infrastructure players that support the broader blockchain ecosystem.
From a sector point of view, we see a mature dispersion of activity across multiple sectors. Fintech leads the charge, which is in line with the broader African venture landscape and funding allocation. Beyond that, we see unique applications across the technology-enabled subset of agriculture, media, climate, property, mobility, healthcare, education, identity, gaming, and HR. Additionally, we see a focus on blockchain infrastructure development, including developer tooling and business-to-business (B2B) applications.
Given the global risk-off mood, are investors still cautious about Web3 in Africa? If so, why?
There is still some caution among investors when it comes to Web3 in Africa. This caution can be attributed to investors allocating capital based on a spectrum of risk, where blockchain, as an emerging technology and Africa, as an emerging market, are perceived as higher risk and therefore draw increased caution. This is influenced by the current risk-off sentiment globally, driven predominantly by geopolitical factors, and this is not, in our view, a critique of the technology or the market.
Having said this, many investors are intrigued by the potential of blockchain technology and its specific applications for the African continent, and appetite is growing. Investors are watching closely as African founders demonstrate real utility using blockchain to solve core issues like financial inclusion, identity, remittances, and land ownership provenance.
We believe that as more success stories emerge from the continent, confidence will follow. Our role at CV VC is to be early in that cycle to back the builders today who will shape the narrative of tomorrow.
Do regulatory developments in key African markets matter? Which countries are leading?
Absolutely. Regulatory clarity is essential for economic competitiveness in the Web3 space. Well-defined policies attract risk-tolerant venture capital, as we’ve seen in Africa’s leading all-sector VC hubs of Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. In contrast, regulatory ambiguity drives talent and capital offshore, undermining trust and stalling innovation.
Investors are also encouraged by the global shifts happening, notably the US moving toward a more friendly stance in 2025. Many African lawmakers are pushing to replace fragmented oversight with clearer frameworks.
Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a hostile, $108.4 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), days after Warner agreed to be acquired by Netflix for $82.7 billion.
Paramount is going straight to WBD’s shareholders with an all-cash offer of $30 per share, and it noted that its offer provides shareholders $18 billion more cash than the Netflix deal, which offered $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix shares for a total of $27.75 per share.
Paramount is bidding for all of WBD, while Netflix’s deal with the company only includes its Hollywood studios and streaming business.
CNBC reported on Monday that these were the very terms from Paramount that WBD’s board rejected a week ago.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement.
Paramount’s offer is backstopped with equity financing from the Ellison family and the private-equity firm RedBird Capital, in addition to $54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo.
Netflix came out on top on Friday after winning a bidding war against Paramount and Comcast, but Paramount’s hostile bid is sure to drag on the battle for one of Hollywood’s most iconic studios, a fight which has already stretched out for months.
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Netflix’s proposed deal has already raised antitrust questions, as it would combine two of the most popular streaming platforms into one. Additionally, President Donald Trump has said the deal “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined companies’ market share.
A deal between WBD and Paramount would also likely raise similar concerns.
Netflix agreed to pay WBD $5.8 billion if the deal doesn’t go through. WBD would have to pay Netflix $2.8 billion if the deal collapses.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been recognised as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies in the Transparency and Efficiency category for 2025. This honour was awarded by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) during its Awards and Gala Night, held at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja.
The Commission received recognition alongside the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, which secured the top position. Other organisations included in the ranking are the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Nigeria Customs Service, and the Nigerian Ports Authority. This award honours operational excellence, transparency, and accountability within Nigeria’s public service.
Dr Aminu Maida, NCC Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, received the award on behalf of the Commission, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to promoting a fair and competitive telecom environment.
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani and Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida at an event
NCC is setting a standard for telecom and governance
Dr Maida described the award as both a validation and a responsibility: “This recognition reassures us that we are on the right path and challenges us to deepen our commitment to the Nigerian people. Nigerians can rest assured that we will not rest on our oars.”
He emphasised that the NCC’s mandate is to create an environment where operators thrive, investors are encouraged, and consumers enjoy high-quality services.
PEBEC Director-General Zahrah Mustapha-Audu stated that the awards celebrate champions of reform and progress in enhancing Nigeria’s business environment. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who chairs the council, emphasized that the awards demonstrate the government’s commitment to an efficient and competitive public service.
“Tonight, we salute the men and women driving these institutions. When we commit to working together across MDAs, across states and across sectors, Nigeria wins,” he said.
Read also: Nigeria now has 175 million telecom subscribers, NCC data says
The recognition highlights how efficient governance in the telecom sector can improve Nigeria’s overall business environment. Effective regulation attracts investment, fosters competition, and promotes innovation, benefiting both companies and consumers.
This award also underscores the importance of collaboration among telecom operators, industry stakeholders, and government agencies to improve service quality and foster a conducive environment for investment.
As the NCC strengthens its systems and implements reforms, this accolade highlights the importance of consistency, accountability, and a collective commitment to progress in Nigeria’s public and economic sectors.
In 2022, Caroline Idiens was on holiday halfway up an Italian mountain when her brother called to tell her to check her Instagram account. “I said, ‘I haven’t got any wifi. And he said: ‘Every time you refresh, it’s adding 500 followers.’ So I had to try to get to the top of the hill with the phone to check for myself.”
A personal trainer from Berkshire who began posting her fitness classes online at the start of lockdown in 2020, Idiens, 53, had already built a respectable following.
But after one video offering guidance on getting toned summer arms was picked up by a US fitness account, that number rocketed to 50,000 – and beyond. “I post it every year now as a bit of a tribute,” she jokes. “It was that reel that launched me into a whole new market.”
Today, as @carolinescircuits, she has 2.3 million followers on Instagram, more than 70,000 on Tiktok and 50,000 on YouTube, and a book, Fit at 50, that was a recent Sunday Times bestseller – making her a key influencer in an increasingly important demographic for social media platforms: those in midlife and older.
If you want to grow your reach on social media, figures suggested this week, you could do worse than target the over-55s.
Research from media analysts Ampere found it was people in the 55 to 64 age bracket who were delivering the highest growth in YouTube traffic, up 20% since 2020 in the US and 14% in the UK. Tiktok, too, has had a 16% rise in British users in this age bracket in the past year.
Valerie Mackay has gained 312,000 followers on Tiktok and almost 1 million on Instagram as @embracingfifty.
“We’ve been seeing this trend over the last few years where older audiences who have traditionally [focused on] linear and broadcast TV have been digitising,” says Minal Modha, the head of Ampere’s consumer research division.
“And by getting access to things like smartphones and smart TVs in particular, it’s opening up a whole new world for them.” More than half of US adults in the age bracket now watch influencer videos weekly.
Some of them will be tuning in to Valerie Mackay from Inverness, who as @embracingfifty has gained 312,000 followers on Tiktok and almost 1 million on Instagram since she started her warmly chatty account eight years ago.
“In hindsight, I wouldn’t have picked that name ’cause I’m now 62 and stuck with it. But the point of the name was I was embracing life over 50. I had two children, they had both left home and I was enjoying life with myself and my husband, it was like freedom.”
She founded her account after overhearing a woman asking what was the point of makeup and style after a certain age. “I just thought, well, what’s the point in life? Just dress and be who you want to be.”
Mackay says she tries not to think about the huge numbers watching her from around the world – many of whom share an interest in the Scottish weather.
“I get asked a lot: ‘I’m coming to Scotland, what do I wear?’ Which it’s difficult for me to answer because I might be flitting about in a trench coat and they might need big coats.”
Mark Lidster is a 62-year-old from north London who posts videos as FitnessGeezer on YouTube and Instagram, attracting up to 1m views. “There are a lot of guys out there getting to 40, through to 70, 80 – who relate and take inspiration from what I’m doing,” he says.
Mark Lidster, AKA FitnessGeezer, says he tries to create a community feel. Photograph: Mark Lidster
Like Mackay, Lidster says actively engaging with his audience is crucial. As well as becoming more savvy with tech, he says, “people of that age are feeling more disconnected from society, and getting lonelier. Social media is another way of feeling part of something – I try to create that community feel.”
The crucial thing with 50-somethings and older is “to keep it genuine”, says Idiens, who is 53.
“The biggest thing about social media in this age bracket is trust,” she says.
“It has to be genuine – we are a little bit older and wiser, and what the audience are really looking for are people that they can trust with advice. For the midlife demographic, they also really love that sense of community.
“Even with an audience of 2 million, I still think, when I’m putting up a post, that it’s going to my friends and family group. And the feedback I get is that [my followers] still feel like I’m a PT [personal trainer] in their sitting room – which, for me, is everything. That’s what I want.”
For decades, Nigeria’s logistics system has struggled under the weight of chronic underinvestment, fragmented customs procedures, and deeply entrenched bottlenecks. The result is a high-cost, high-friction environment where clearing goods at the port can take anywhere from 17 to 21 days—one of the slowest timelines in West Africa. These inefficiencies cost Nigerian businesses an estimated ₦2.5 trillion every year, according to the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and have steadily pushed cargo volumes toward faster, more predictable neighbouring ports in Ghana, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire.
But a new project on the edge of the Lekki peninsula is betting that it can fix Nigeria’s broken logistics system. TY Logistics Park FZE, a 29,000-square-metre facility located within Alaro City, a fully integrated logistics hub developed by General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma’s TY Holdings Group, launched on Monday, December 8, as West Africa’s first Free Zone–based contract logistics platform. Located within the Lekki Free Zone and 20 minutes from the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the facility promises speed, predictability, and seamless automation.
Its CEO, Arno van der Merwe, claims the logistics park will cut container clearance time from an average of 19 days to just 5.
“We are situated right on the orbital cusp of the Lekki Port,” he told TechCabal. “With the infrastructure and relationships we’ve built, the average turnaround time for containers coming through Lekki into our facility is now five days. That compares to the traditional 17 to 19 days at Apapa.”
Solving a deep, systemic problem
Nigeria’s port inefficiencies are longstanding and deeply structural. Chronic congestion, manual inspection processes, weak access roads, overlapping regulatory agencies, corruption, and poor coordination have combined to make the country one of the most expensive and slowest trade corridors in the world. While efficient global ports clear containers within three to five days, Nigeria routinely requires close to three weeks. Even Ghana—despite its own operational challenges— clears goods within seven to ten days.
The cost burden is just as severe. Clearing a 40-foot container in Nigeria now ranges between ₦18 million and ₦26 million ($12,000–$18,000) in 2025—up to 179% higher than in neighbouring ports such as Ghana, Togo, or Benin, where charges average between $3,500 and $7,000. These inflated costs are driven by a combination of complex and overlapping port fees, multiple regulatory checkpoints, infrastructure decay, unofficial payments, and slow, manual customs protocols.
The result has been a steady diversion of cargo away from Nigerian ports. Importers increasingly route goods through Cotonou or Tema, opting to pay higher trucking fees but benefiting from faster, more predictable clearance and lower overall costs. This shift erodes Nigeria’s competitiveness, squeezes local manufacturers, and underscores the urgency of comprehensive reforms, particularly full digitalisation, agency harmonisation, and infrastructure upgrades.
“The logistics challenges in Nigeria and West Africa are systemic,” Van der Merwe said. “Years of underinvestment in infrastructure and fragmented customs processes have created huge inefficiencies. But within those challenges, there is also an opportunity.”
For him, that opportunity lies in integrating clearing and forwarding, warehousing, free zone operations, and digital logistics into a single, seamless system.
“We realised the demand for quality supply chain solutions is far greater than the supply,” he explained. “TY Logistics Park brings all the key components under one system-driven ecosystem to simplify trade in West Africa.”
A smart hub built for speed and scale
At the core of TY Logistics Park’s offering is a highly automated smart hub designed to deliver speed, precision, and reliability at scale. The facility integrates advanced Enterprise Resource Planning systems, including SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, Manhattan, Sage, and Microsoft. It houses more than 44,000 pallet positions, giving manufacturers, distributors, and retailers ample capacity to store and manage inventory efficiently.
“Beyond our advanced technology capabilities, our true focus is on partnership that allows our clients to focus on what’s important while we address their problems,” said Theo Danjuma Jr, chairman of TY Logistics Park FZE.
A tour of the hub showed a facility powered by electric forklifts, very-narrow-aisle equipment, and low-level auto-pickers, enabling operators to maximise space while improving safety and accuracy in high-density storage. The centre’s 28 automated dock levellers speed up loading and offloading, cutting truck turnaround time and easing congestion during peak hours.
All operations are coordinated through a centralised, digitised Warehouse Management System (WMS) that tracks inventory in real time. Crucially, customs clearance does not take place at the port, unlike in Apapa. Containers are moved directly from Lekki Port to the logistics hub, which is less than 20 minutes away, where clearance is handled on-site.
“Customs doesn’t do container checks at the port. Clearance is done at our facility,” Van der Merwe said. “This makes the process significantly faster.”
The cash-flow benefit is particularly attractive: businesses can store imported materials in the free zone without paying duties upfront.
If the items are entering the Nigerian market, they pay the same duties they would have paid if they were cleared at the port.
“It allows companies to keep inventory in-country but only pay duties on a consignment basis,” he added. “This alone is a game-changer for many sectors.”
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Capacity and regional ambition
The facility is already operational and already has clients in fast-moving and consumer goods (FMCGs), healthcare, automotive and spare parts, electronics and electrical, construction, and oil and gas. About 20% of the available space is currently occupied, a strong sign of demand from Nigerian and multinational companies.
“This project will sit in the economic history of Lagos State,” Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, said at the launch event. “This hub is what happens when serious-minded individuals place a bet on the future of this country. This kind of partnership moves the nation forward.”
With the first two buildings completed and 40,000 square metres still available for expansion, the park is targeting 500,000 to 1 million metric tonnes annually in the coming years.
“We want to bring trade back to Nigeria,” Van der Merwe said. “Nigeria is at a pivotal moment. With the right infrastructure and technology, we can transform West Africa from a high-cost trade corridor into a globally competitive logistics hub.”
Beyond profitability
TY Logistics Park says success extends far beyond strong financial performance or faster operational cycles. The company is framing its impact through a broader lens. A major part of this vision involves attracting and retaining a diverse mix of clients, from regional manufacturers to Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies and multinationals seeking a more efficient entry point into West Africa.
Another key measure of success for TY Logistics Park is its ability to strengthen cross-border trade within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and help Nigeria reclaim a larger share of regional cargo volumes. Historically, Nigeria has handled a significant portion of West and Central Africa’s containerised trade—estimates suggest as much as 70% of the region’s cargo once moved through ports such as Apapa and Tin Can Island in Lagos.
However, this dominance has been steadily eroding. More efficient ports in neighbouring countries have become attractive alternatives for importers seeking lower costs and faster clearance. Nigeria’s container traffic fell by nearly 7% in 2023, dropping to 1.57 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), a decline driven in part by high charges, operational delays, and unpredictable port processes.
TY Logistics Park aims to reverse this trend. By delivering the speed, reliability, and modern infrastructure that businesses have long sought outside Nigeria, the hub is positioning itself as a catalyst for restoring regional confidence and reducing cargo diversion to competing West African ports.
Sustainability is also central to the park’s ambitions. TY Logistics Park is working to reduce its carbon footprint by using electric handling equipment and planning large-scale solar integration.
Ultimately, the project carries a deeper national significance. “This is a Nigerian story,” Van der Merwe said. “It’s a Nigerian-founded business built to global standards. We want to leave the industry better than we found it.”
Many daters on Hinge are getting annoyed with matches who just like their profiles but never bother to start a conversation. It often leads to this awkward silence, putting all the pressure on one person to make the first move. Instead of coming up with something interesting to say, some just fall back on the same old lines or stick to boring small talk, like asking, “How are you?”
To address this issue, Hinge unveiled “Convo Starters,” a feature powered by AI that provides personalized tips for initiating conversations.
The feature aims to inspire daters and boost their confidence when sending initial messages. When users like a profile, they’ll now see three tailored tips beneath each photo and prompt. The AI evaluates a user’s profile and generates recommendations based on the individual photos or prompts. For example, if a potential match is pictured playing chess, Hinge might suggest beginning the conversation around board games.
Image Credits:Hinge
Convo Starters was developed in response to user feedback, Hinge says. The company’s research indicated that 72% of Hinge daters are more inclined to consider someone when a like is accompanied by a message. Data from Hinge reveals that those who include a comment with their likes are twice as likely to arrange a date.
This new feature follows the launch of its AI-driven Prompt Feedback feature, which assesses user prompts and offers tailored advice aimed at improving them by urging users to elaborate and share engaging details about their lives.
However, as Hinge incorporates AI features into its app, many users, especially Gen Z, are uncomfortable with the thought of using AI in their online dating experiences. A Bloomberg Intelligence survey found that Gen Z feels more uneasy about using AI for tasks such as drafting profile prompts and responding to messages than older generations do.
Hinge’s parent company, Match Group, is dedicating around $20 million to $30 million towards AI efforts.
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Mapping software used to be something only trained specialists touched. The tools were expensive, the learning curves were steep, and most business owners never bothered. That changed. Now, companies of all sizes rely on geographic data to make decisions about sales territories, customer locations, delivery routes, and market analysis. The question most people ask is simple: which platform should I use?
The answer depends on what you need. A real estate company plotting property locations has different requirements than a city planning department analyzing traffic patterns. A logistics firm optimizing delivery routes needs different features than a data scientist building custom applications. Each platform in this ranking serves a purpose, and some serve multiple purposes better than others.
The GIS mapping software market reached roughly $8.5 billion in 2023. Projections suggest it will hit $17.5 billion by 2032, growing at about 8.3% annually. That growth tells you something about demand. Businesses want to see their data on maps. They want to identify patterns, plan routes, and visualize information in ways that spreadsheets cannot provide.
This ranking evaluates five platforms based on their power, usability, and practical application for business users. Each tool has strengths. Some require technical expertise. Others prioritize accessibility. Here is how they stack up.
1. Maptive: Built for Business Users Who Need Results Fast
Maptive takes the top spot for a reason that matters to most readers: it works without requiring you to become a GIS specialist first. The platform runs entirely in your browser. You upload your data, and within minutes, you see it plotted on a map. No installation. No configuration files. No command-line interfaces.
The drag-and-drop interface handles territory creation, route optimization, heat mapping, and demographic analysis. Business teams use Maptive to build sales territories using multiple methodologies. You can draw boundaries manually, assign them based on postal codes, or let the system suggest divisions based on customer density. The heat mapping feature shows concentrations of activity, helping you identify where customers cluster and where gaps exist.
Route planning works the way you would expect. Drop your stops into the system, and Maptive generates an optimized path. For field sales teams and delivery operations, this translates directly to saved time and fuel costs. The multi-stop optimization handles complex routing that would take hours to plan manually.
Demographic mapping pulls in data layers that help you understand the areas you serve. Population density, income levels, and other factors appear as overlays on your existing data. This helps with market analysis and expansion planning without requiring separate data purchases or complex integrations.
The platform does have limitations worth noting. Some users report that the tools, while effective, leave room for additional features. Smaller organizations may find the pricing steep relative to their needs. For enterprise users and mid-sized businesses, however, Maptive delivers a combination of power and accessibility that other platforms struggle to match. If you need mapping that works immediately without a steep learning curve, Maptive is the recommendation.
2. ArcGIS by Esri: The Enterprise Standard
Esri has dominated professional GIS for decades. ArcGIS holds roughly 26.83% market share in the mapping and GIS category. The platform serves 70% of the largest global companies, 95% of the largest national governments, and 80% of the largest cities. More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies use Esri’s core GIS tools. These numbers reflect something important: when organizations need comprehensive geographic analysis, they often turn here.
ArcGIS provides capabilities that cover nearly every GIS use case. Spatial analysis, data management, 3D visualization, and advanced modeling all live within the platform. Government agencies use it for urban planning, environmental monitoring, and infrastructure management. Large corporations deploy it for logistics, asset tracking, and market analysis.
The depth of functionality comes with complexity. ArcGIS requires training. New users face a learning period before they can work productively. The interface assumes familiarity with GIS concepts. Organizations typically employ dedicated staff or hire consultants to implement and maintain their ArcGIS deployments.
Pricing reflects the enterprise focus. Licenses, extensions, and support contracts add up. Small businesses rarely choose ArcGIS because the investment exceeds their requirements. For organizations with the budget and technical staff, the platform offers analytical power that few competitors approach.
3. Mapbox: The Developer’s Choice
Mapbox serves a different audience than the platforms above. It provides tools for developers building applications that incorporate maps. With 25.23% market share in the mapping and GIS category, Mapbox has become the preferred platform for over 4 million developers.
The strength here is customization. Mapbox allows developers to create map styles that match their application’s design. Colors, fonts, labels, and terrain rendering can all be adjusted. This flexibility makes Mapbox popular for consumer-facing applications where standard Google Maps or Apple Maps styling would feel generic.
The APIs and SDKs integrate with web and mobile applications. Navigation, geocoding, and search functionality connect through well-documented interfaces. Developers can build ride-sharing apps, real estate platforms, delivery tracking systems, and location-based games using Mapbox as the foundation.
For business users without development resources, Mapbox presents challenges. The platform assumes you have engineers who can write code and manage integrations. There is no simple upload-and-visualize workflow. If your team includes developers and you need custom mapping functionality in your products, Mapbox deserves consideration. If you need to analyze your own business data on maps without coding, look elsewhere.
4. CARTO: Cloud-Native Spatial Analytics
CARTO focuses on organizations that already work with cloud data warehouses. The platform connects to Google BigQuery, Snowflake, Databricks, AWS Redshift, and PostgreSQL. If your company stores data in these systems and needs spatial analysis, CARTO provides a path to get there.
The 2024 developments included AI agents and continued improvements to performance and scalability. CARTO positions itself at the intersection of location intelligence and modern data infrastructure. Users can run spatial queries against massive datasets without extracting data to separate systems.
Technical capability defines the CARTO user base. The platform rewards users who understand SQL, data modeling, and cloud architecture. Entry barriers exist for organizations without these skills. A new QGIS plugin allows users to access, visualize, and edit spatial data from cloud warehouses within the QGIS environment, bridging two ecosystems.
For businesses with sophisticated data operations and technical teams, CARTO enables analytics that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. For smaller organizations or those without cloud data-warehouse infrastructure, the platform may exceed their requirements.
5. QGIS: Professional Power at Zero Cost
QGIS operates on a fundamentally different model than the commercial platforms above. Released under the GNU Public License, the software is free. Forever. No subscription fees. No seat licenses. No enterprise pricing tiers.
The 2024 updates brought improved symbology tools, automated line smoothing, and expanded plugin functionality. Version 3.44 represents the final release of the 3.x series, with version 4.0 scheduled for October 2025. The open-source community continues developing and refining the platform.
Free does not mean limited. QGIS handles tasks that professionals associate with expensive commercial software. Vector and raster analysis, map production, spatial database integration, and Python scripting all work within QGIS. The plugin ecosystem extends functionality into specialized domains.
The trade-off involves support and polish. Commercial vendors provide documentation, training, and customer service. QGIS relies on community forums, volunteer-written documentation, and self-directed learning. Organizations comfortable with this model gain professional-grade GIS capabilities without software costs. Organizations requiring guaranteed support and streamlined workflows may prefer paid alternatives.
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Needs
Each platform serves a purpose. The decision depends on your situation.
Business users who need to visualize data, create territories, and plan routes without technical complexity should choose Maptive. The browser-based interface and business-focused features make it the most practical choice for teams that want results without becoming GIS experts.
Large organizations with dedicated GIS staff and enterprise requirements often standardize on ArcGIS. The comprehensive feature set handles complex analysis across multiple departments and use cases.
Development teams building applications with embedded maps typically work with Mapbox. The customization options and developer tools support product creation at scale.
Data teams working with cloud warehouses and needing spatial analytics should evaluate CARTO. The native integrations with modern data infrastructure enable analysis that other platforms cannot easily replicate.
Budget-conscious organizations and GIS professionals comfortable with open-source tools can accomplish substantial work with QGIS. Zero licensing costs and professional capabilities make it viable for many use cases.
The mapping software market continues growing because geographic data helps organizations make better decisions. The platform you choose shapes what decisions become possible. For most business users reading this, Maptive provides the fastest path from data to insight.