مرحبا
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- MTN dragged deeper into Iran crisis
- How a Nokia 3310 started a tech legacy
- Meta sued over WhatsApp encryption
MTN dragged deeper into Iran crisis
Remember this? MTN under fire as Iran unrest escalates
Well, it appears that MTN’s Iran troubles have deepened. MTN Group has found itself uncomfortably close to Iran’s latest crackdown on protests after authorities there shut down mobile and Internet services and quietly removed the boss of MTN Irancell, the company’s Iranian unit. The move happened without prior notice to MTN’s South African headquarters, drawing the African telecoms giant into an already tense political situation.
Iranian officials replaced Irancell CEO Alireza Rafiei earlier this month, accusing him of dragging his feet on an order to block communications as protests spread nationwide. According to sources, Rafiei took about two hours to shut down voice calls after receiving the directive on January 8, a delay that reportedly angered state-backed shareholders with close links to Iran’s security agencies.
He was replaced by Mohammad Hossein Soleimanian, a former military officer, a decision MTN says it was not consulted on despite owning 49% of the business. MTN has since written to the Irancell board to formally challenge the move, although it has not spoken directly with Rafiei since his removal.
The communications blackout has made it harder to get information out of Iran during some of the biggest protests since the 1979 revolution. Demonstrations have been driven by rising prices, economic pressure and allegations of corruption, with a UN expert warning that thousands of civilians may have been killed. The Internet shutdown, now stretching into its third week, has affected more than 90 million people.
For MTN, the episode highlights the long-running headache that is its Iran investment. While the group posted strong growth elsewhere, especially in Nigeria and Ghana, its Iranian stake remains a “frozen asset” due to sanctions. MTN has been trying to exit the market since 2020, but has been unable to move money out of the country, leaving the business profitable on paper but politically and reputationally risky.
How a Nokia 3310 started a tech legacy
For Ugi Augustine Ugi, technology wasn’t a childhood dream; it was something he stumbled into, stuck with, and eventually turned into a decade-long legacy in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem, all while living with sickle cell. From winning a surprise “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” SMS game to founding Nugi Technologies, his story is one of curiosity, grit, and timing.
Growing up, medicine was the plan, the kind Nigerian parents like. But everything shifted in SS2 when Ugi became his school’s laboratory prefect and gained access to an MTN-equipped computer lab. That room of networked desktops changed everything. He spent more time there than in science labs, reading widely, researching beyond the curriculum, and quietly falling in love with computers. A brief interaction with an MTN technician fixing systems — who casually showed him how to build a computer with carton — sealed the deal.
His early tech life was scrappy. His first phone, a Nokia 3310 in 2007, felt like a luxury. Laptops were out of reach, and when he finally got one, it was stolen. Most of his work took place in school systems or cybercafés. His most prized possession wasn’t a gadget but a flash drive he wore like jewellery, packed with websites, ebooks, and source files, everything he was building toward.
After secondary school, delays with JAMB results and health setbacks disrupted his path to medical school. Then came a turning point: a SoftNet Calabar web development programme in 2006. He needed ₦150,000, which he didn’t have, so he sent a single ₦100 SMS to MTN’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” A week later, he won ₦20,000. That ₦15,000 he invested became the seed of his tech career. Soon, he was building websites, landing gigs, and earning more than many adults around him.
By 2008, Ugi was deep in cybercafés, building, learning, and earning consistently. Tech had quietly become his livelihood long before formal training at NIIT. Today, his journey stands as proof that access, curiosity, and resilience can rewrite destiny, even under the weight of health challenges. For more on how Ugi balances business, life, and health through technology, check out Delight’s latest on After Hours.
Meta sued over WhatsApp encryption
A new global legal storm is brewing around WhatsApp’s privacy promises. An international group of plaintiffs has sued Meta Platforms in a U.S. federal court, accusing the company of lying about how private WhatsApp messages really are, and saying people’s supposedly secure chats might not be as safe as Meta claims.
WhatsApp has long touted “end-to-end encryption” as a cornerstone of its service, meaning only the sender and the recipient can read messages, and not even Meta can access them. In chats, the app even displays a message saying, “Only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share” messages. But the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, says those claims are false, alleging Meta “stores, analyses, and can access virtually all” user chats and accusing the company and its leaders of defrauding billions of users worldwide.
Meta’s response has been blunt: the company calls the lawsuit “frivolous” and says it will seek sanctions against the lawyers behind it. A Meta spokesperson said any claim that WhatsApp messages aren’t encrypted is “categorically false and absurd,” noting the app has used industry-standard encryption for more than a decade.
Why should you care? WhatsApp is one of the world’s most widely used messaging apps, especially in regions like South Africa and India, which are included among the plaintiffs. People worldwide rely on it for personal chats, business communication, and secure information sharing, so any cracks in the trust around its encryption could shake confidence in the platform.
There’s also local context. Nigeria has already taken Meta to task over data and privacy issues before: the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal upheld a $220 million fine against Meta for illegally handling user data under Nigerian laws, and regulators later settled a separate $32.8 million privacy dispute with Meta out of court.
Together, these cases show that users and governments aren’t afraid to challenge big tech on privacy, and that Meta’s privacy promises are now being tested on multiple fronts, both abroad and at home.
In case you missed it
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What I’m watching
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Opportunities
- Lagos Business School is recruiting a Programme Officer (Delivery and Coordination). Submit a cover letter and your CV here.
- Kuda Technologies is looking for a Head of Product (Credit). Apply here.
- MTN Nigeria is hiring a Specialist – International Remittance (Product Manager). Apply here.
- Moniepoint is hiring for several roles. Apply here.
- Bamboo is hiring a quality assurance manager. Apply here.
- Paystack MFB is hiring for a few roles. Apply here.
- Attend your first tech event in January! Tech Revolution Conference, a two-day event to discuss everything tech, takes place at Landmark Event Centre, Lagos on January 30 and 31, 2026. Get your tickets here.
- Don’t miss the Cavista Technologies Hackathon happening between February 21 and 22. Register your team and go home with cash prizes here.
- Kuda is recruiting a Head of Product (Credit). Apply here.
- Jumia is looking for a Senior Key Account Manager. Apply here.
- MTN is hiring a Specialist, International Remittance (Product Manager). Apply here.
- Don’t Miss the Africa Business Convention (ABC) 2026. It’s Africa’s #1 Business Conference & Investment Expo. It’s between February 3 and 4. Book your seat today here.
- Moniepoint is hiring for over 100 roles. Apply here.
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Have a productive week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
