Just about one hour ago, VEDA Technology launched their homepage which features the 4 products they’ll be launching tomorrow at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos.

My guess is that the website is yet to be fully developed, as there are currently no pages or other links except for the latest news button, which takes you to media stories about VEDA. (Startups Nigeria’s article about VEDA was featured also).

According to VEDA’s website,

VEDA Technology Limited was born in Lagos, Nigeria. The founders understood the demand for premium personal computers by a new breed of consumers who need a platform tailor-made for their needs and interests. VEDA sees this growth and strives to enhance the quality of computing with its platforms.

Every VEDA product has one year warranty (labor and parts) inclusive that seems to last like a life time because even after it expires, we offer you unbelievable after sales service that helps us help you pamper your product keeping it in top notch condition always.

The featured products are:

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Today, it was announced that Etisalat Nigeria is looking for a new Chief Technical Officer (CTO) to replace Damoye Oyesiku, who is quitting the Nigeria’s fifth GSM network operator, for reasons we are not sure about. No, this is not another April Fool joke.

Update: Etisalat Nigeria CEO, Steven Evans is dissapointed that Damoye Oyesiku has decided to leave Etisalat. His words:

We recognise and appreciate the contribution of Mr. Oyesiku to the success of our business in Nigeria and this dinner is in recognition of the significant contribution he has made towards the rollout of our services across Nigeria. I would like to say how much I have enjoyed working with Damoye in my short time here, and also to say how disappointed I am that he has decided to leave.

According to Technology Times,

Technology Times checks reveals exclusively today that the Etisalat Nigeria CTO has tendered his resignation to the management of the mobile phone company.

An official spokesperson of Etisalat confirmed to Technology Times anonymously today that Oyesiku is quitting the mobile phone company but said that both parties are parting, “on a cordial note.” He did not give further details.

We think that this is very strange because, Damoye recently left MTN Nigeria three days after he was named to replace an ex-CTO of the South African mobile operator who also left under controversial circumstances. Before joining Etisalat Nigeria as Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Oyesiku headed MTS First Wireless.

We wonder what’s chasing this guy.

Image via: Etisalat Nigeria

Zinox Technologies, Nigeria’s first computer manufacturing company has just launched a laptop computer called BijimiPRO which can store power for a minimum of 13 hours. According to Zinox, the laptop is a product of 18 months of extensive research with its technical partners.

The Zinox BijimiPRO has been described as ‘the digital bull’, robust but very stylish and built especially “for professionals that wish to survive the global financial crisis”, according to Zinox’s Head, Corporate Communications, Mr Echika Ezuka.

The Notebook which has been certified by Intel Corporation and Microsoft runs on latest Intel Power Processors T3400 and P8600, with 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and has features like 15.4 inch display screen, Webcam, Bluetooth, Microsoft Vista Business/XP PRO and comes standard with additional battery that gives users a minimum of 13 hours uninterruptible usage.

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It is no longer news that Nigeria is the largest mobile market in Africa. In a recent report from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria’s total wireless subscriber base increased by 55.9% in 2008, reaching 62.99 million at the end of the year.

According to TeleGeography, NCC has released individual figures for the Nigeria’s mobile operators for the first time. In the report, MTN Nigeria ended 2008 with 23.08 million customers, Zain Nigeria (formerly Celtel) recorded 17.2 million, overtaking Glo Mobile in Q3 due to Globacom’s loss of 610,000 subscribers during the period, finishing 2008 with just over 16 million customers.

Nigeria’s dominance in Zain’s operations

It’s interesting to note that Nigeria’s mobile market has emerged Zain’s main driver of customer growth throughout its 22 operations in Africa and the Middle East. Just last week, Zain released its consolidated financial results for the year ended 31 December 2008, which shows that Nigeria is one of the top viable markets for Zain.

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Yomi Adegboye, who runs a mobile news blog at MobilityNigeria.com

With all the news of the staggering growth of the mobile web worldwide, and especially the statistics of its growth here in Nigeria, one should be surprised that very few entrepreneurs are taking advantage of this phenomenal opportunity.

The latest State of the Mobile Web report from Opera says that Nigeria was the second fastest growing user of the mobile web in the world in 2008. The country’s growth rate for that year was 1854%! That is staggering.

But note that Opera’s report gives figures only for mobile users accessing the web via the Opera Mini browser alone. There are many more users using just the built-in browsers on their mobiles, or another of the various mobile browsers like TeaShark, UCWeb, NetFront, Iris, and new entrant Bolt, among others.

Why are Nigerian startups turning blind eyes to the mobile web? I see great looking and great functioning websites coming out from different corners of the country, but most have paid very little attention to mobile users. Here are a few tips:

1. It doesn’t take much more than a little knowledge of CSS to make your business website mobile-friendly
2. Remember that mobile users often are on a Pay-as-you-use plan or limited in some other way

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