As 2025 draws to a close, Nigeria’s business, technology, and marketing ecosystems reflect a year driven not by isolated wins but by deliberate collaboration.

Across sectors, organisations leaned into partnerships to expand reach, unlock efficiency, and respond to evolving consumer and societal demands. Collectively, these alliances reshaped industries and set new benchmarks for cooperation.

Telecoms Redefined Through National Roaming Collaboration

At the forefront of industry-shaping alliances, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and 9mobile rolled out a historic national roaming agreement, following approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Through this three year arrangement, 9mobile subscribers now roam seamlessly on MTN’s expansive network, immediately extending coverage and improving service quality nationwide.

Beyond connectivity, the partnership reflects a broader shift toward infrastructure sharing and operational efficiency. It also lays the groundwork for deeper collaboration, including a proposed spectrum leasing deal that would see 9mobile lease portions of its 900MHz and 1800MHz bands to MTN, further strengthening network capacity and customer experience.

Brand Building Meets Social Impact Across Africa

Meanwhile, the marketing and communications landscape recorded a strategic alignment between Ogilvy Africa Network and Brands on a Mission, a specialist social impact consultancy.

This partnership formalised an already active working relationship and brought together Ogilvy’s consumer insight and brand expertise with Brands on a Mission’s focus on behaviour change and impact design.

Through an open architecture model, both organisations committed to developing frameworks and tools that help brands create measurable social impact while meeting business objectives.

In doing so, the alliance aims to establish new standards for evaluating and quantifying brand driven social change across Sub Saharan Africa.

 

PR Professionals Engage the Future of Work and Technology

Similarly, collaboration took centre stage within the public relations community with the launch of Comms Hangout, hosted in partnership with PR Hub NG.

The maiden edition convened marketing communications professionals for robust conversations around workplace transformation, campaign effectiveness, and emerging industry trends.

As discussions progressed, participants identified Artificial Intelligence as the most significant trend shaping the future of PR. While acknowledging that AI has long existed within technology ecosystems, speakers emphasised that its widespread adoption across industries now marks a turning point, redefining workflows, strategy development, and problem solving.

Fintech and Digital Payments Gain Momentum Through Integration

In the digital commerce space, PalmPay and Jumia entered a strategic partnership that integrated PalmPay’s mobile wallet into Jumia’s checkout experience.

This move immediately enhanced payment flexibility for shoppers, strengthened transaction reliability, and reinforced both companies’ commitment to advancing Nigeria’s cashless economy.

Beyond Nigeria, collaboration continued to expand access to digital payments. Visa launched Visa Pay in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through partnerships with eight financial institutions, including Access Bank, FBN, and UBA.

The mobile solution enables account to account transfers and digital payments, underscoring how alliances accelerate financial inclusion across emerging markets.

 

Public Private Partnerships Drive Sanitation Advocacy

Outside technology, partnerships also addressed critical public health challenges. Harpic, working alongside the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation and the Lagos State Government, amplified its sanitation advocacy during the 2025 World Toilet Day commemoration.

Through the National Sanitation Conference in Abuja, awareness campaigns in Lagos, and the anniversary of the Clean Nigeria Use the Toilet Campaign, stakeholders explored solutions for improving access to safe sanitation.

These initiatives reinforced the role of public private collaboration in driving behavioural change and addressing the economic and health costs of poor sanitation.

Creative, Media and Knowledge Partnerships Take Shape

Across media and creative sectors, collaboration focused on skills development and professional protection. The Guild of Photojournalists signed an MoU with Technology Times to strengthen digital photography practice in Nigeria, particularly around intellectual property rights in the age of artificial intelligence.

The agreement emerged from discussions held at the Guild’s annual conference, which brought together voices from media, technology, and visual storytelling.

Similarly, Dochase partnered with Google to support Francophone African publishers through a high profile webinar focused on increasing advertising revenue using Google Ad Manager and Google Ad Exchange.

The initiative reflected growing interest in knowledge sharing as a tool for sustainable media growth.

Telecom Fintech Collaboration Expands Cross Border Payments

In another fintech focused collaboration, MTN’s MoMo Payment Service Bank partnered with global payments platform Thunes to enable instant international remittances for Nigerian users.

Through this agreement, MoMo PSB customers can receive funds from multiple global markets directly into their mobile wallets in real time, reinforcing convenience and financial connectivity.

Technology and Talent Development Through Strategic Alliances

Meanwhile, technology driven partnerships continued to redefine enterprise productivity. Salesforce and Google expanded their strategic alliance by integrating Google’s Gemini AI models into Salesforce’s Agentforce 360 platform.

This development aligned enterprise AI capabilities with everyday productivity tools, improving workflow efficiency across sales, service, and IT operations.

In the creative economy, 02 Academy Lagos partnered with the Federal Government under the IDEAS TVET programme to train 100 young Nigerians in AI powered filmmaking and digital storytelling.

The initiative aims to equip participants with future ready skills that blend creativity and technology, positioning them for opportunities in the global content industry.

Platforms and Festivals Amplify Collaboration at Scale

Finally, collaboration extended into large scale industry gatherings. Black At partnered with Informa, organisers of the Africa Tech Festival, to spotlight African creativity and artificial intelligence at the 2025 edition in Cape Town.

The partnership created opportunities for dialogue, networking, and global visibility for African innovators and technology leaders.

A Defining Year for Purposeful Collaboration

Taken together, the partnerships of 2025 reveal a consistent pattern. Organisations across sectors embraced collaboration as a strategic tool to expand access, improve efficiency, develop talent, and address societal challenges. Rather than operating in silos, businesses chose convergence.

As the year closes, one conclusion stands clear. The most enduring outcomes of 2025 emerged where expertise, vision, and resources intersected.

In an increasingly interconnected economy, these alliances did more than deliver short term wins. They reshaped industries and set the tone for sustainable growth in the years ahead.