Featured

Opera Mini storms Google Play Store becoming №1 downloaded app in Nigeria

Published

4 years ago

December 21, 2022

Opera Mini – the data-saving browser that already boasts over 100 million users across Africa – became the number one downloaded app over the weekend in Nigeria thanks to the tremendous success of Opera’s “Shake and Win” campaign on the continent.

Dedicated to football’s greatest celebration, the World Cup, “Shake and Win” offered Opera fans the chance to win over $300,000 in prizes. Users needed only to shake their phone to potentially win airtime from popular providers, cash prizes, or brand-new phones.

Africans responded enthusiastically to the excitement of this year’s unforgettable tournament: Over 13 million people participated across the continent, shaking their phones over 1,000,000 times a day. More than 200,000 prizes have been won, with many grateful users taking to social media to comment on how much fun they’ve had with “Shake and Win.”

Nigerians were especially caught up in the spirit of the fun, with daily shakes peaking at over 900,000 shakes in the app, and over 140,000 prizes given away. New Nigerians users downloaded Opera Mini so much that it has reached number one in the Google Play Store there.

Opera Mini is a unique, data-saving browser built with the needs of Africans in mind. In recognition of the extremely high data costs on the continent, it allows users to save up to 90% of their data. Moreover, Opera always adds new features to the browser to craft the best online experience possible: there’s an integrated messenger, regular campaigns offering free data, and now live scores of football games and news about the latest matches, to name just a few.

“The ‘Shake and Win’ campaign was a huge success, and we’ve been honored to share the overwhelming emotions of the World Cup with our users. Football fans in Nigeria should continue to keep their eyes on Opera Mini, since we plan to continue bringing amazing user experiences to football fans there, especially with the return of the Premier League just around the corner,” said Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera.

But that’s not all: Opay – Opera’s one-stop mobile-based platform for payments, transfers, loans, savings and other essential services – shot up the rankings in the Play Store as well, becoming the second-most downloaded app. Opay is already the largest mobile payment platform in Nigeria, clocking over $3B in monthly transactions. With over 18 million registered users, Opay continues to help ever more Nigerians send and receive money, pay bills, and manage their finances online.

Both products are important components of Opera’s Africa First strategy. Announced in December 2017, the company has pledged to develop mobile products and services tailored first and foremost to the needs of the African consumer. We’ll keep the ball rolling in 2023 as we continue to bring Nigerians updates and products that are fast, efficient, and focused on our users.

Download Opera Mini and join millions of Nigerians using the browser built with local needs in mind!

Share on Facebook

Featured

Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.

Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.

According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”

The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.

Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.

Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.

Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.

He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.

Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.

He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.

In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization

Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.

Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee

is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.

The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Share on Facebook