Satellite company SES has agreed to buy Intelsat Holdings for $3.1 billion in a deal that would create a major European player but raised investor concerns around debt, sending the buyer’s shares to a record low.

European satellite companies have been looking to consolidate to better compete with the likes of Elon Musk’s Space X-owned Starlink, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. While a move to gain scale was welcomed by analysts, concerns it might not do much to close the gap with U.S. rivals, while saddling SES with debt, sent its Paris-listed shares down as much as 12% to 4.36 euros, its lowest price ever.

The new company would have a fleet of more than 100 geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and 26 medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, the two companies said in a statement. The deal, unanimously approved by the two companies’ boards, should close in the second half of 2025 and will be financed by cash and new debt, including hybrid bonds, the companies said.

Researchers from Elliptic, IBM Watson and MIT have used AI to detect money laundering on the Bitcoin blockchain. Back in 2019, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic published research with the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab showing how a machine learning model could be trained to identify Bitcoin transactions made by illicit actors, such as ransomware groups or darknet marketplaces.

Now the partners have put out new research applying new techniques to a much larger dataset, containing nearly 200 million transactions. Rather than identifying transactions made by illicit actors, a machine learning model was trained to identify “subgraphs”, chains of transactions that represent bitcoin being laundered.

Identifying these subgraphs rather than illicit wallets let the researchers focus on the “multi-hop” laundering process more generally rather than the on-chain behaviour of specific illicit actors.

Working with a crypto exchange, the researchers tested their technique: of 52 money laundering subgraphs predicted and which ended with deposits to the exchange, 14 were received by users who had already been flagged as being linked to money laundering. On average, less than one in 10,000 accounts are flagged in this way “suggesting that the model performs very well,” say the team. The researchers are now making their underlying data publicly available.

Says Elliptic: “This novel work demonstrates that AI methods can be applied to blockchain data to identify illicit wallets and money laundering patterns, which were previously hidden from view. “This is made possible by the inherent transparency of blockchains and demonstrates that cryptoassets, far from being a haven for criminals, are far more amenable to AI-based financial crime detection than traditional financial assets.”

Today April 29^th is a special day. It is the birthday anniversary of Otunba Dr. Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom and Conoil PLC, amongst other flourishing companies who turn 71 years old.  A special gift to Nigeria, Dr. Adenuga is a colossus. He is renowned for his business acumen.

When it is comes to business, he’s got the vision. He can see good fortune light years ahead while others are still pandering whether it is feasible. Dr. Adenuga is unafraid to venture where others fear to tread.  Fondly called ‘The Bull’ for his fearless and zeal to take “No” for an answer, he’s got this Midas touch that is unparalleled.

Oil, Gas Transformations

 He transformed the face of Nigerian oil, banking, and telecommunications industries. In 1991, when oil mining and production was controlled by foreign multinational oil companies, Dr. Adenuga’s indigenous oil company was the first to start drilling crude oil. Today, Conoil has metamorphosed into one of the largest African-owned oil conglomerates on the continent with footprints in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the oil and gas sector. 

His forays into the bank industry are well documented where he brought a fresh energy and bespoke financial services with Devcom Merchant Bank and Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB) which later merged into Sterling Bank.

Changing Telecom Services Narrative

If there is anyone who has single-handed transformed Nigerian telecommunications industry, that person is no other than Dr. Adenuga. His tenacity to recover his Digital Mobile Licence (DML) which his company won in 2001 mobile auction but was illegally taken away from him, paid off in 2003 when his company Globacom won the Second National Operator (SNO) licence.

In September 2003, Globacom transformed the Nigerian telecoms market in particular and Africa in general being the first Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) operator to launch operations with Per Second Billing, Multimedia Service (MMS), Mobile Internet, in additional to plethora of communications suites.

Glo crashed the price of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card, leaving other foreign mobile networks scratching their heads in the GSM wars that changed the face of telecom, bringing down the price of SIM Card from N50,000 down to N100 and later to One Naira (N1) only.

Millions of Nigerians became overnight owners of mobile phones lines courtesy of the competition engendered by Glo. Every major step Glo took from the day it commenced operation, other mobile competitors were jittery, helpless and followed the initiative in other to remain in the market.

After establishing the footprints of Glo in Nigeria, Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr.), also took the telecom giant to Ghana and Benin Republic with mobile operating licences in those countries. Unsatisfied with the routing of calls from Africa countries to Europe then to Africa, he built Glo-1, the first submarine cable system that was solely financed by an individual. Today, Glo-1 links global telecom networks, data centres, banks and Interconnect houses.

Globacom unfazed has going a notch higher with Glo-2 ensuring that Nigerian cities, towns and villages and oil companies are connected to terrestrial fibres through its landing stations in Lagos and Niger Delta.

Digital Financial Services

Dr Adenuga, a man who can see opportunities from afar, has took the lead in procuring Super-Agent licence for Agency Banking and Mobile Money licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the establishment of Glo Mobile Money and Money Master Payment Service Bank Limited, a Digital Bank delivering financial inclusion services to Nigerians especially in rural, semi-rural and urban areas thus connecting them to the formal sector.

Man flowing with Milk of Human Kindness

The humanitarian side of this famous Nigerian billionaire is incomparable. Although, coming from a middle-class family, Dr. Mike Adenuga’s (Jr.) academic sojourn in the United States of America and the everyday life lessons internalized from his parents, Chief Michael Agbolade Adenuga (Snr) and Madam Oyindamola Adenuga, shaped his worldview and brought out his humane side in the way he deals with people and businesses.

He has been a major supporter of sports, especially football (Nigerian national teams). He has massively sponsored the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards for many years. He was honoured the title of Pillar of Football in Africa for his strong support for African Football at both national and continental. He has quietly rendered support to many without seeking media attention.
Through him, Glo sponsors the annual Ojude Oba festival in Ijebuland and also the Ofala festival in Onitsha, Anambra amongst others, promoting Nigeria’s rich culture.

 Humble Beginnings

A man of outstanding wisdom, Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr.) was born Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga on April 29, 1953 at Ibadan, Oyo State. His father was a school teacher while his mother was an outstanding businesswoman.

Dr. Adenuga (Jr) is an alumnus of the famous Ibadan Grammar School, North Western State University, Alva Oklahoma; and Pace University, New York, both in the United States of America where he majored in business administration with emphasis in marketing. As a student in the USA, he supported himself with jobs as a taxi driver and security guard.

Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr) is a visionary leader, an outstanding entrepreneur and and manager of people and resources. He is a man of uncommon intellect and wisdom have helped him overcome difficult times. Today, he sits atop a vast telecom, oil and gas (Conoil), banking and real estate investments.

As Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr) clocks 71 years on Monday April 29th, 2024, SiliconNigeria.ng wishes him a marvelous birthday and many happy returns in good health in the service of the fatherland.