🇳🇬NigeriaWest Africa
Dala Studio partners with Miva Open University to equip 25,000 Nigerian students with AI entrepreneurship tools
via Punch Nigeria2 min read
Gebeya Inc., through its Dala Studio platform, has partnered with Miva Open University in Nigeria to provide 25,000 students with artificial intelligence tools for building digital businesses. This collaboration aims to bridge the gap between academic instruction and the practical skills needed for employment and entrepreneurship in Africa. All Miva students will gain access to Dala Studio’s AI-powered creation platform, enabling them to develop applications, websites, games, and automated agents without coding. Gebeya Chief Executive Officer, Amadou Daffe, stated that the partnership will empower Nigerian students to launch businesses from an idea to a working model using a single platform, without requiring technical expertise or external funding. The initiative also includes an ambassador program where selected students will lead workshops and promote the platform across campuses. Graham Ekoh, Senior Manager for Projects and Partnerships at Miva Open University, highlighted that the collaboration will shift students from theoretical learning to hands-on creation, allowing them to move from idea to product and income within one platform. Dala Studio, described as an “all-in-one creator engine,” supports local languages and integrates with African payment systems to lower barriers for first-time entrepreneurs. This partnership represents a strategic expansion for Gebeya into the education sector and reflects Miva Open University's focus on skills-oriented learning to prepare
Free daily or weekly digest of the most important stories from across 10 countries. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Punch Nigeria.
Chinese startup DeepSeek has launched a new artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek-V4, featuring an ultra-long context of one million words. The company, which gained recognition last year for its cost-effective reasoning model, announced the release on WeChat and X, highlighting its "cost-effective" nature. DeepSeek-V4 is available in two versions, DeepSeek-V4-Pro and DeepSeek-V4-Flash, with the Pro version having 1.6 trillion parameters and the Flash version 284 billion parameters. The model is optimized for popular AI Agent products and, according to DeepSeek, achieves leadership in both domestic and open-source fields across agent capabilities, world knowledge, and reasoning performance. A "preview version" of the open-source model is now accessible. DeepSeek-V4-Pro is noted to significantly outperform other open-source models in world knowledge benchmarks and is only slightly behind Google's Gemini-Pro-3.1. The release comes as Meta plans staff reductions and Microsoft considers similar measures, while both invest heavily in AI. DeepSeek's previous generative AI chatbot, powered by its R1 reasoning model, challenged US dominance in the AI sector, leading to what was termed "DeepSeek shock." The company's open-source approach has led to widespread adoption of its AI tools by Chinese municipalities, healthcare institutions, and the financial sector. Chinese Premier Li Qiang recently stated that "China-made large AI models spearheaded the development of the global open-sou
The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, also known as Abu Alaa al-Walai, the leader of the Tehran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada KSS. Washington designates KSS as a terrorist organization, stating the group has killed Iraqi civilians and attacked US diplomatic facilities, military bases, and personnel in Iraq and Syria. The US officials indicated that individuals providing information could be eligible for relocation and a reward. Al-Saraji is a member of the Coordination Framework, the ruling Shiite alliance with a parliamentary majority. Iran-backed groups have previously targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, its diplomatic and logistics facility at Baghdad’s airport, and oil fields operated by foreign companies. This reward follows a similar offer earlier this month for the leader of Kataeb Hezbollah, another Iraqi armed group. US media reports indicate Washington has been pressuring Baghdad to counter pro-Tehran groups by suspending cash shipments and freezing funding for security programs in Iraq.
Must ReadUS health officials have approved Otarmeni, a gene therapy developed by American biotechnology company Regeneron, to treat a rare form of hereditary hearing loss. This treatment targets severe-to-profound hearing loss caused by specific mutations in the OTOF gene, which affects approximately 50 newborns annually in the US. The OTOF gene encodes a protein essential for transmitting auditory signals from the inner ear to the brain. Regeneron plans to offer this treatment free of charge to eligible American patients, despite gene therapies typically being very expensive. Administered as a single injection into the ear, the therapy has been praised by parents of children who received it. A clinical trial involving 20 pediatric patients aged 10 months to 16 years showed that at least 80 percent experienced significant hearing improvement within a few months. Dr. Eliot Shearer, an ear, nose, and throat doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital involved in the trial, stated that the FDA's accelerated approval signifies a new era in treating genetic forms of hearing loss, making 24/7 natural hearing possible.
Must ReadKing Charles III is scheduled to visit the United States for four days, a trip requested by the UK government and President Donald Trump, and will be accompanied by Queen Camilla. The visit aims to honor the historic relationship between the two countries as the US celebrates 250 years of independence. However, the visit faces controversy due to transatlantic tensions over the Iran war, with President Trump criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's opposition to the war and other policies. Trump has also commented on the state of Britain's armed forces. Prime Minister Starmer has defended the state visit, emphasizing the breadth of UK-US ties, despite a YouGov poll indicating 48 percent of Britons support its cancellation. Trump, however, believes the visit could help repair relations. The UK's new ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, stated the visit is important for the countries' ties and highlighted the personal relationship between the King and the President. Monarchy expert Craig Prescott noted that the King is skilled at navigating such occasions and the independence anniversary provides a context for the trip beyond current political figures. The King is expected to address the US Congress, marking the first time a British monarch has done so since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Anti-monarchy group Republic's Graham Smith, however, views the trip as pointless. Additionally, the visit is overshadowed by the scandal surrounding late US sex offender