ICT: How AI Integration, Others Will Boost Productivity in 2026

As the year 2026 unfolds with new strategies for business growth, Information and Communications Technology experts have predicted how the integration of Artificial Intelligence, network expansion, Fintech collaboration and growth of data centres, including stablecoins, will further boost productivity in 2026, writes Emma Okonji

From the first week in 2026, there have been several predictions about factors that will shape the ICT sector, but the most outstanding predictions were the ones backed by strong data analytics, such as AI integration, with emphasis on agentic and contextual AI, network expansion, Fintech collaboration, growth of data centres, growth of stablecoins and  their impact in cross-border payment, including digital transformation growth and the Google search report that prioritised Nigerians’ search for self-improvement and entrepreneurial growth, among other predictions.

Network Expansion

Following last year’s 50 per cent hike in tariff that was approved for telecoms operators by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the operators have said such approval significantly improved revenue generation for the telecoms sector in 2025, and has metamorphosed into general network expansion that will impact service quality in 2026.

Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), who doubles as the spokesperson for telecoms operators in Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, gave the assurance during a telephone interview with THISDAY Newspapers.

Adebayo, who highlighted some factors that would shape the telecoms sector in 2026, insisted that telecoms subscribers would experience improved service quality across all networks in 2026, based on the level of investments in network expansion, carried out by the telecoms operators.

“We are doing a lot of expansion this year to enhance service quality in the telecoms sector. Telecoms operators have invested in network optimization, network expansion, capacity upgrade, and all of that in order to improve on user experience this year, through improvements in quality of services, and improvements in customer service. So we believe that this is a year that telecoms subscribers will actually get benefits for all of the challenges they experienced in the industry in the past year and the year before. So 2026 is a year of consolidation and a year of benefits for telecoms subscribers.“It’s also a year where we are interested in exploring areas where we haven’t been commercially attractive, because of the ongoing network expansion. Again, there has been an improvement on legislation, which has helped in addressing willful destruction of telecoms facilities in some parts of the country, as well as addressing the closure of telecoms sites by different government agencies. So access to certain areas that where hitherto restricted has improved upon, leading to easy access to those areas for maintenance work,” Adebayo said.

Critical National Infrastructure

According to Adebayo, there has been an improvement in the area of national critical infrastructure, since telecoms infrastructure was gazetted by the federal government for the full protection of all telecoms facilities across the country.

“We are also working very closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on issues of national vandalization, and resolutions reached will soon be implemented. So in terms of minimizing damage to infrastructure, ONSA is working with our industry committee and they are doing a good job. So we have seen a lot of improvement in that regard, and we think that the level of vandalization is becoming minimal, compared to past years. So in general, what we have seen is that our efforts in years past are now translating to tangible results, and that’s why we are confident that the outlook for customer experience will be better this year,” Adebayo said.

Digital Transformation

The Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI) recently released its annual report identifying factors that will shape this year’s economic landscape in Nigeria. The MEI anticipates that digital transformation, particularly deeper AI integration, will boost productivity and growth.

With the growing adoption of digital payment tools globally, the MEI report sees an opportunity for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to continue to gain share in tech-driven services, insisting that to succeed, SMEs require strategic agility and digital readiness.  According to the report, those that are the most flexible and tech forward are likely to be best positioned to accelerate growth.

“Consumers worldwide will remain savvy, focusing on international, tech-enabled and value-conscious spending. They will continue to prioritise meaningful moments, such as travel and live events, while remaining price-sensitive for many necessary goods,” the report said.

Country manager, West Africa at Mastercard, Folasade Femi-Lawal, said: “Nigeria’s reform momentum and improving business sentiment are unlocking new avenues for growth, from everyday consumer spending to the rise of technology-driven enterprises. With one of the continent’s most dynamic consumer markets, the outlook for 2026 highlights Nigeria’s powerful role in shaping Africa’s economic future.”

Google Search

As 2026 kicks off, Google Search data reveals how Nigerians are moving beyond simple resolutions to actively mapping out a year of self-improvement, entrepreneurial growth, and deeper personal connections.

Data from the first two weeks of January shows a 40 per cent spike in searches related to self-improvement and ‘becoming better’. From the boardroom to the classroom, Nigerians are using Search to find the tools they need to succeed in every area of life.

According to Google Search, the entrepreneurial spirit remains the heartbeat of the nation. ‘How to start a business’ emerged as the top-searched. Other top searches for new beginnings include: Starting a blog, Launching a podcast, and Opening a YouTube channel

Personal growth is a top priority for Nigerians this year, with searches for “how to be a good/better person” increasing by 20 per cent. This desire for improvement extends into the heart of the home and community, with people searching for ways to be better partners, husbands, wives, and listeners, according to Google Search.

Growth of Stablecoins

Drivers of stablecoins are of the view that digital currency will largely shape digital transformation in the financial sector in 2026, as they continue to provide access to millions of users.

General Manager in charge of Africa for Blockchain.com, Owenize Odia, shared views with THISDAY about 2026 outlook for stablecoins in Nigeria. According to Odia, “Stablecoins are giving millions of Nigerians access to secure tangible financial tools and people are using it to simplify their everyday financial needs. Through this technology, people can save, move money faster while preserving the value of the asset. At Blockchain.com, our offering of Real-World Assets (RWAs) enables Nigerians to have direct access to regulated, tokenized US stocks and ETFs. We see this as an important shift for the region as it’s providing new financial tools that will help provide economic freedom for everyone in 2026 and beyond.”

What began as a necessity-forced use case of stablecoin, digital currencies are now mainstream infrastructure for fintechs. This month, for example, pan-African fintech NALA, partnered with UK-based Noah to launch a cross-border settlement network for Africa and Asia, thus allowing merchants in emerging markets to receive stablecoin payments and convert instantly to local currencies. On the other hand, African payment infrastructure giant Flutterwave announced that it islaunching stablecoin balances for its merchants and users across all its offerings through collaboration with Nuvion and Turnkey to provide a secure, flexible, and verifiable stablecoin balance infrastructure.

It is a major step in Flutterwave’s vision to make stablecoins a key pillar of Africa’s financial ecosystem in 2026, forming a core backbone for the next wave of financial transformation and global connectivity.

Lead, GEPP ROW, Remittances & Stablecoin Partnerships at Flutterwave, Nkem Abuah, said: “To accelerate business growth in Africa, we must make it safe, easy, and affordable for businesses to accept all forms of regulated payment methods, including stablecoin, from a global customer base. By enabling stablecoin balances powered by Turnkey, we are ensuring that multinationals, African enterprises, and individuals using Flutterwave will have access to low-cost, faster, and always-on cross-border payments with stablecoins.”

Through the integration, Flutterwave provides a comprehensive embedded wallet experience that facilitates seamless transactions using stablecoin payments. This is supported by Turnkey, a blockchain infrastructure provider, along with Nuvion’s AI-powered global banking and payment platform, which is built on both fiat and stablecoin infrastructure.

According to Fluttrwave, the solution is currently being tested with a select group of merchants to ensure optimal performance. Following this phase, USDC and USDT balances will be made available alongside existing USD, NGN, and other currency balances to all Flutterwave customers who have completed the necessary KYC and onboarding processes.

Powering the next generation of secure, verifiable infrastructure

Flutterwave joins a growing number of leading payments, DeFi, and trading companies, including Polymarket, Axiom, Alchemy, World, Moonshot, and more, using Turnkey’s verifiable blockchain infrastructure for embedded wallets, transaction automation, and provable security.

NALA, a pan-African payments startup operating in 18 countries also partnered with UK-based payments infrastructure provider, Noah, to launch a cross-border settlement network for Africa and Asia. It will allow merchants in emerging markets to receive stablecoin payments and convert instantly to local currencies.

Building on the March 2024 debut of its B2B payments platform, Rafiki, NALA is deepening its stablecoin payment rails, aiming to speed up dollar flows into emerging markets where SMEs face delays and high costs moving money. The new network, integrated into Rafiki, will allow global firms operating in Africa and Asia to collect funds in US dollars and pay out local currencies within minutes, using stablecoins as a settlement layer.

Data Centre Growth

As Nigeria continues to experience the growth of new data centres, experts believe that increased data centres will further drive development and boost Nigeria’s national sovereignty in 2026.

Founder and CEO, Kasi Cloud Data Centres, Johnson Agogbua, speaks about the near-completion stage of another Tier III data centres located in Lekki, Lagos, which promises to deliver world-class data centre services to Nigeria and to other West African countries, when completed.

Kasi is building massive cloud data centres in Nigeria, and it is currently at the completion stage, with plans to launch before the second half of 2026.

According to Agogbua, the data centre is seated on 4.2 hectares of land, with minimum 32 megawatts critical IT load of power that goes to computers, routers, and storage systems.

“Our ultimate goal is to replicate would-class cloud data centres in that if you go to the UK and Singapore, here in Nigeria. We know that cloud is where the action is but we also know that AI is the biggest future application period for data centres. So we designed our data centre to accommodate any scale cloud and any scale AI. We designed it to be able to accommodate two orders of magnitude power density at any point. And that is an unheard of design target,” Agogbua said.