An unofficial report claims that telecommunications firm, MTN, has paid for the Fifth-Generation (5G) network license, ahead of the February 24 deadline given to winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
MTN and Mafab Communications emerged winners of the two lots of 100MHz of the 3.5GHz spectrum to be deployed for 5G network in Nigeria at the auction process organised on December 13, 2021, by the NCC in conjunction with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, in Abuja.
The two firms were expected to pay $273.6 million before the deadline. MTN as the highest bidder paid an additional $15,900,000 to pick the first lot in the 3500MHz-3600MHz to emerge as the first preferred bid winner.
Though NCC is yet to announce officially, an industry source, close to the commission, who is monitoring the situation of things told The Guardian that MTN made the payment two weeks ago. This was later confirmed by an official of the telco.
Speaking anonymously, she said, “MTN has cleared the 5G bill, the regulator should announce when it deems it ready.”
Also on the NCC website, MTN was listed among those who had paid their licence fees in full and had collected licence documents for the respective telecommunications undertaking before the era of reclassification of Licences into Class and Individual licences.
As stated on the NCC website, the licence secured by MTN is in the individual category. An Individual Licence is a type of authorisation in which the terms, conditions and obligations, scope and limitations are specific to the service being provided.
Process of licensing can take the form of Auction, “First Come First Served”, “Beauty Contest” or a standard administrative procedure, among others.
Nexford University, the Washington D.C.-based next generation university platform, has announced the Nigerian launch of its global mentorship program – the “Global Grid”, aimed at developing talent and promoting the personal, professional, and social success of its learners in the country.
The Global Grid is a global mentorship program launched by Nexford University to enable talent across the world to prepare for remote jobs. The program aims to increase awareness around the millions of jobs that are moving online, and the skills learners need to have to qualify for these jobs.
The Global Grid program stems from Nexford’s belief that when equipped with the right education talent should be able to access jobs regardless of location, gender, race or social status.
The program will deep dive into the specific skills employers are looking for and how talent across the world can join this virtual, global grid.
The initiative comprises a diverse pool of thought leaders and industry experts from the healthcare, finance, education, human resources, and insurance sectors – involving publicly available webinars and personal mentoring of select learners who successfully apply to participate.
Nexford has carefully chosen well-known thought leaders in their fields to provide guidance and share business skills via a structured online mentorship program.
In Nigeria, mentors include:
Dr. Ola Brown, founder of Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company – Africa’s leading healthcare and wellness sector investment firm– with previous leadership roles at the British National Health Service;
Dr. Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, Managing Director of The Education Partnership Centre – Nigeria’s pioneer education partnership organization specializing in research, design, implementation, support and evaluation of education programs and initiatives across various sectors of the economy. Dr Modupe is also an Asia Global Fellow at the University of Hong Kong, and Executive Board Member for Human Capital Africa;
Yemi Faseun, Chief Talent Officer of YF Talent Partners – HR consulting, leadership, and culture transformation firm. Yemi’s previous experience includes HR leadership positions at multinational telecoms services provider Etisalat, and at Globacom, the fastest growing telecommunication company in sub-Saharan Africa; and
Gbenga Totoyi, Partner at Alan&Grant – the Lagos-based consultancy firm creating innovative HR & Enterprise solutions – and Group Head of Human Resources of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc – a Nigerian Stock Exchange listed insurance company.
Mobola Akingbala– Chief Marketing Officer at Hirefoster – a company that acquires, trains, and connects talented marketing professionals to companies who need their skills worldwide.
Commenting on the Global Grid Initiative, Fadl Al Tarzi, CEO of Nexford University, said:
“Since day one we’ve had the vision that the world is evolving into a virtual grid, where qualified talent should have access to career opportunities regardless of their physical location. COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation by at least 5-10 years, today’s adoption of online education and remote working are making the virtual grid a reality. If you have connectivity and the right education you will have access to job opportunities regardless of your location.
In Nigeria, Nexford has pioneered programs connecting learners to employers with its successful cooperation with Sterling Bank. With 87% of global employers are facing skills gaps,over the coming decade the majority of global employers will have remote teams. These shifts are going to transform career prospects of learners in Nigeria and across the world. Mentorship through the ‘Global Grid’ initiative is going to help Nexford’s Nigerian learners get on this global grid and prepare them for future careers.”
Jennifer Bangoura, Director of Career Innovation at Nexford University, commented:
“We have been meticulous in selecting suitable mentors and inspiring thought leaders to drive the program and share their leadership experience and knowledge. It is a perfect complement to our existing offering, and we are delighted to announce it as we celebrate our third anniversary.”
The program coincides with the celebration of Nexford’s third anniversary. Co-founded in 2019 by CEO Fadl Al Tarzi, the online university has grown into a global platform connecting learners, regardless of age, gender or social class with global employers.
Nexford has demonstrated commitment to solving the world’s biggest employer challenge – skills – and bridging the gap between learners and employers. The Global Grid initiative complements Nexford’s continued global expansion, and its provision of US degree programs to global learners for social and economic mobility.
The newly launched initiative will add value to Nexford’s already strong community in Nigeria, where the university has been in successful cooperation with Sterling Bank, Nigeria’s largest commercial bank as part of its Nexford for Talent (N4T) program.
As part of the agreement, Sterling Bank underwrites students loans and provides learning scholarships and internships during studies, while in turn benefitting from access to graduates with skills specifically tailored to its corporate needs.
Since the program’s start, 209 of Sterling Bank’s employees have enrolled in Nexford degree programs, with 61 Sterling Bank MBA graduates as of January 2022.
The company’s strong Nigerian presence was recently strengthened by Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, respected former World Bank Vice President and Nigerian Minister of Education, joining Nexford’s board of directors.
The first webinar of the global program taking place on 18th February will be offered by Filippino mentor Raymond Victorino – an HR Professional with previous leadership roles with Accenture, Samsung Electronics and Jollibee, and well-known speaker and leader in human resources management and employee experience.
Raymon will speak on “Positioning Yourself for the Next Job Promotion”, during which he will offer insightful tips from an HR insider perspective, which can help learners take the lead in developing their professional careers.
Nexford will continue to grow its Global Grid initiative and expand its network of mentors throughout 2022.
Smart Network Company Marlink and SES, the leader in global content connectivity solutions, have signed a multi-year, multi-million-euro deal, which will enable Marlink’s customers to access SES’s next-generation medium earth orbit constellation (MEO) — O3b mPOWER, the two long-term partners announced today.
Under the agreement, Marlink will offer the high-throughput and low-latency O3b mPOWER dedicated connectivity services to its customers with data-intensive requirements.
These include its humanitarian, energy, enterprise, mining, government, maritime and OmniAccess’ superyacht customers who require robust communication networks with higher speeds and dedicated lower latency for their business operations in the most remote locations.
O3b mPOWER is built on the proven commercial success of SES’s first-generation O3b MEO constellation and is scheduled for launch in the coming months. When operational by end of 2022, O3b mPOWER will provide unprecedented flexibility, performance coverage, and scale to extend new, bandwidth-intensive network services and applications.
The software-driven O3b mPOWER communications system is capable of delivering intelligent connectivity services from tens of megabits to multiple gigabits per second which will augment Marlink’s Smart Network solutions for its most demanding customers.
Marlink and SES have been partners for more than two decades, jointly delivering connectivity solutions to maritime users, humanitarian agencies, energy and mining companies, as well as enterprise, mobility and government customers around the world leveraging SES’s widebeam and high-throughput GEO satellites, O3b constellation and teleport infrastructure.
Marlink operates a global industry leading VSAT network and has unrivalled market access to the remote communications industries.
The new agreement will enable Marlink to further enhance the capabilities of its hybrid network solutions and offer its customers with truly differentiated, flexible, reliable and secure connectivity solutions, optimized for every application, especially the ones requiring high-throughputs and low-latency.
Erik Ceuppens, CEO of Marlink Group, commented, “At Marlink we are driven by technology progress and committed to bring the full power of a connected and digital world to our customers’ remote workplaces. This is why we are so excited to extend our long-term partnership with SES and to bring the game changing high-throughput low-latency capabilities of O3b mPOWER as part of Marlink’s Smart Network solutions to our most demanding customers in all our market verticals.”
Steve Collar, CEO of SES, commented, “Fast, flexible connectivity represents an opportunity for all businesses – especially those operating in remote locations. Marlink’s customers understand the strategic need for excellent connectivity, and the value of digitalisation. SES’s high-throughput, low-latency data connectivity represents a future-proof solution for these operators.”
Nigeria has a vibrant startup environment with many cutting-edge businesses in a range of industries. Many Nigerian startups have difficulty adopting the cloud for a variety of reasons: Restricted access to dependable internet infrastructure worries about data privacy and security, data sovereignty and residency requirements, and hugely, knowledge gap in the face of inadequate and massive cloud ‘brain drain’.
Having worked as a Cloud Solutions Architect enabling startups globally, I have firsthand experience with the impact cloud technologies have on startups. For startup entrepreneurs who are developing lean, the cloud is a crucial tool that enables financial intelligence, enhances scalability, and maintains industry leadership. Let’s look at how startup founders might adopt the cloud to their benefit.
A recent Deloitte analysis reveals that startups who employ cloud computing expand 26% faster than those that do not. Also, a recent study reveals cloud users have a 3 time higher likelihood of exceeding sales targets than non-users.
These figures show how crucial cloud technology gets, especially for budding startups, and even with grown digital natives.
The cloud’s potential to cut CAPEX is one of its over-emphasised benefits for startup entrepreneurs. Metered usage per workload per time ensures startups not only thrive but scale their innovation. Beyond CAPEX, finOps is ever critical to cloud cost optimisation.
Cost optimisation is the top cloud initiative up until 2021 for the 5th year in a row* as 61% or organisations plan to optimise cost use of cloud with a whooping USD10M waste on unnecessary cloud spend.
Monetisation and time to value can both be enhanced via the cloud. Startups can easily create new environments for testing, development, and deployment using cloud-based tools and services. A quick win here is monetising quickly through API solutions, commercialising data, paid embedded solutions to customer apps etc.
Funding gets easier too. Cloud marketplace and extended partnerships, especially with public cloud giants like Google, provide a quick springboard to global visibility, support from the best hands in the world and even funding.
Cybersecurity, a board-level bug, has become better in the cloud. We have moved from the days when CISO’s question the security, privacy, and compliance of the cloud to a dawn of automated detection and response to emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and malignant cybersecurity issues.
Google’s Autonomic Security Operations for instance, provides a stack of products, blueprints, accelerator programmes, technical content, that has transited cloud security from shared responsibility to shared fate. Security does not have to be a nightmare!
Reliability is another emergent benefit. A recent research ended up with: reliability is everything. Clients and/or customers would move on with the next vendor if services do not meet user expectations. The cloud re-defined this and provides the right SLA’s, SLO’s etc. per service without unnecessary spend. SLO-based monitoring and automated response is the order of day now with cloud services.
Performance ties to reliability in some sort of way. If services are not performant, then their reliability is doubtful. Performance, on the other hand, has to be measurable and empirical.
The startup innovator most times, has to leverage bits of solutions (in modules) that can be sold in bits or in whole. This is the brain behind microservices which ensures the blast radius of a performance, security, etc., bottleneck is not as holistic as the old-school monoliths. The cloud fosters microservice architectures, multi-tenant designs etc.
In spite of the fact that these advantages are there, legislative demands like data residency affect cloud adoption in Nigeria. This is so as many cloud giants – do not have datacenters located in-country.
A hybrid cloud architecture in this case becomes handy where tiers of the startup’s solution stack are distributed on-prem, leased datacenters and/or on extended cloud-type services while other tiers sit on the public cloud.
Understanding the decision pillars above is great for a start. Moreso, please follow us on LinkedIn, #techie, to join a free online community of global experts providing cloud best practices and monthly digital transformation events leveraging the cloud. Uche is also one of the founding members of Cloud Techie – a digital community that helps businesses grow using the cloud.
About the author – Uche Nwaukwais a DevOps, SRE, and Senior Cloud Architect with 15+ years of experience having played strategic roles in global fintech, banks, ISVs, telecommunications, and OEMs including IBM, Microsoft and Google. He has been privileged to advise execs and techies alike on architecture best practices in the financial services industry, dominantly. He has served as an Enterprise Architect and also, a CTO driving bespoke architectures to meet stringent SLOs and SLAs. Uche is an avid learner, a father, and a husband, and likes to relax with a good chess game and cycling.
Over the past couple of years, there has been a rise in NFTs in the decentralized economy.
Many creatives have gotten popular and become richer because of NFTs they own or have sold. For example, six Cryptopunk series (which are basically pixelated heads of artistic figurines combinely sold for $61.05 million.
A renown art maker called Beeple sold his HUMAN ONE for $28 million, and Cloc, Everyday and Park sold their art pieces for a whooping 52 – 69 and 91 million dollars respectively. The sales made many begin to wonder what these NFTs are and their impact on the digital creative industry.
According to market research, the Non-fungible token market will continue to grow at an astonishing CAGR of 23.9% between 2022–2028. I have also observed the rise of NFTs in the blockchain economy through my years of experience and its potential is one of the reasons Bridge Network has included an NFT bridge in its offering. We recognize the impact NFTs are having in digital rights management and are becoming a dominant player in the field.
NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens that represent a unique asset. Examples of such assets include a piece of art, digital content, and media.
“Non-fungible”, in this case, refers to the fact that NFTs can’t be copied or reproduced, or substituted because they are recorded in a blockchain that can be used to confirm ownership.
If you’re very familiar with the creative industry, you’ll understand the importance of having copyright laws and the consequences of flouting them. It is blatantly illegal to lift or reproduce other creatives’ works as yours.
You can find yourself in a very long legal battle and at the end of the day be made to pay a fine. The rise and rise of NFTs are looking to change the face of this game.
In 2019, Nike applied for a patent to be allowed to merge physical and virtual sneakers. Hence, they are able to make money on both. The owners of virtual shoes (NFTs) can have them manufactured in real life.
Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet was minted as an NFT and sold for nearly $3 million. These are different ways creatives are making use of NFTs.
There are two ways to think about copyright for NFTs. One gives you control and exclusivity as a creator such that you can use your NFT to generate revenue outside the blockchain.
The other – a creative commons license – allows you to retain copyright whilst letting others copy, distribute, and make use of your work non-commercially.
Both ways have one thing in common – they are made with the creator in mind.
At Bridge Network, leading a team of over 25 experts made of engineers and product designers, among other tools, we have created an NFT bridge which enables creators to swap tokens and NFTs.
Operating a platform with over 1.5 million transactions and hundreds of thousands of users is the very reason why we are very concerned about how safe these assets are.
As a result we ensure we keep up to date with copyright practices to ensure that they are not easily vulnerable to theft. We have adopted the highest level of copyright protection to make this happen.
With the changing face of copyright protection and digital rights management, some things are certain about the era of NFTs.
Creators are able to properly verify ownership of an asset on the blockchain. Even though assets are easily duplicated, there can never be two “originals”.
The copyright laws that are currently in place have put the power in the hands of the creator to be able to enjoy the dividends of ownership.
We understand this space directly and are determined to always put the creator first when it comes to protecting their assets and copyrights to their creatives. Our over 12 years of combined experience make this easier. With every day passing, we are working towards helping creators be protected from copyright fraud.
About the Writer:
Favour Uzoaru is the Co-founder/COO Bridge Network, a trustless ecosystem of cross-chain applications powering seamless transactions across various blockchains in the world of defi. Bridge allows users to transfer native tokens & NFTs cross-chain, manage assets, trade, earn & access opportunities in the multichain-verse from one easy to use platform.
You will have a more empowering experience online, when you’re sharing with the people you care about and engaging with the communities that interest you the most.
That is why on this year’s Safer Internet Day, we’d like to celebrate young people’s role in creating a safer internet by sharing some Safety tips (tools) you need to manage your network and connect with the content that you’ll most enjoy.
1. Safety Tips – Define your circle
So, to get the best experience out of your interactions with people online, it is safer to connect, like and follow people and pages that you share the same interests with and also those whom you have many common friends with.
Always remember to manage your network by friending people you know and following people you find interesting but don’t know personally, such as a celebrity.
You can also unfriend and unfollow pages of people and celebrities whenever you like. You can also choose to block profiles of people you no longer want to be in touch with.
When you block someone, they won’t be able to find you in a search, start conversations with you or see things you post. In addition, people you block can no longer tag you, invite you to events or groups, or add you as a friend.
2. Reporting violating content
Much as we try to be careful around the people, communities, videos and comments that we see online, we’re oftentimes confronted with content that violates what we stand for.
There is a link on nearly every Facebook post for reporting abuse, bullying, harassment and other issues. Our global teams work 24/7 to review things that you report and remove anything that violates our Community Standards and the vast majority of reports are reviewed within 24 hours.
The best way to report abusive content or spam on Facebook is by using the Report link that appears near the content itself.
To report a post, photo or comment, click on the top right and choose the option that best describes the issue, then follow the on-screen instructions. Learn more about reporting other types of content.
3. Safety Tips – Keeping your account safe
Keeping your account safe should always be a priority. The first and most important step in ensuring this is your password.
Passwords need to be easy for you to remember but at the same time hard for an intruder to figure out. While creating your password, keep the following in mind;
Use passwords that are hard to guess. Make sure they are at least 6 characters long and use a combination of numbers, letters and special characters.
Use a different password for each of your accounts. That way, if someone learns your password, they don’t have access to all your accounts.
Don’t share your passwords with other people.
4. Safety Tips Engagement control
Did you know that it is now easier to limit the number of interactions from people you are not interested in?
When you want to take a break from someone, changing your privacy settings will help you see less of their posts, photos or comments they are tagged in. They will also see less of yours.
5. Notifications fatigue?
We like being on top of news and information around us, but things can get a little bit too much sometimes. If your phone is always lighting up and blinking with notifications that are distracting, you can now manage this for a better social media experience.
Adjust the notification settings follow on your phone in three simple the steps;
Click at the top-right corner and select Settings.
Click Notifications on the left.
Click to adjust how you get notifications and what you get notified about.
Visit Facebook Youth Portal to learn more about our efforts in ensuring safety within our family of apps.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) rarely has anything positive to say about the Nigerian economy.
On repeated occasions, the institution has urged Nigeria to increase monetary reforms, remove fuel subsidies, implement VAT hikes and push towards exchange rate unification.
Indeed, revenues from oil sales have been drained by fuel subsidies which jumped to N1.43 trillion in 2021. While such a move may reduce pressure on the government, the question remains whether Nigeria is stable enough to shoulder the ramifications of such a move.
Outside of Nigeria, all eyes will be on the US inflation report on Thursday. Inflation in the United States remains at uncomfortable levels with consumer prices accelerating 7% in December, a fresh high since June 1982.
January’s inflation data is expected to show inflation surging to 7.3%, it fastest year-on-year growth since February 1982! Given the widespread obsession with inflation, the pending CPI report has the potential to rattle financial markets!
Another jump in US consumer price inflation may boost market expectations over a more aggressive hawkish cycle and a possible 50-basis point rate hike in March.
This could result in a selloff in global stocks and gold prices, while the dollar appreciates. Traders are currently pricing in more than five quarter-point Fed rate hikes in 2022 which could result in more pain for stocks and gold down the road.
In the commodities arena, oil slipped from multi-year highs as investors weighed the risks to the market’s recent rally.
A potential de-escalation in tensions between Russia and Ukraine coupled with the resumption of Iran nuclear talks weighed on the commodity.
Oil prices are likely to remain volatile and influenced by pending EIA report scheduled for release later in the week. Given the current fundamentals at play, oil has the potential to reach $100 if not in Q1 then Q2. The key question is what happens when prices hit this psychological level?
In the meantime, higher oil prices remain good news for energy-producing nations like Nigeria. However, the benefits are likely to be cancelled by low oil production and fuel subsidies.
The Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), a global open innovation program is inviting fintech and payment startups to showcase their innovative products and solutions, with finalists gaining firsthand exposure to key fintech stakeholders across banking, merchant, VC and government sectors.
Winners of the Visa Everywhere Initiative will be awarded monetary prizes and the opportunity to partner with a global, trusted brand like Visa.
This year’s program has expanded to include startups that are using cryptocurrency and Visa Direct, a payment solution that can help businesses move money to billions of endpoints worldwide via card and account rails, in innovative ways.
Finalists from across the world that are driving economic growth will converge in Qatar this November for the Visa Everywhere Initiative finals.
“Fintechs and other payments innovators are transforming the way consumers and businesses make payments, making it easier for more people to access the money they need when they need it – and the pandemic has seen this become more critical than ever,” said Kemi Okusanya, Vice President, Visa West Africa.
“Competing on a global stage alongside some of the most prestigious startups in the world and, more importantly, being able to receive that global exposure and support from a trusted brand like Visa was an exceptional achievement for PAYZE,” said Giorgi Tsurtsumia, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PAYZE as well as 2021 VEI CEMEA Winner. PAYZE is an e-commerce-oriented fintech that enables businesses across CIS countries to accept payments from around the world through a single integration. With the support of Visa’s network and a cash prize of $25,000, the PAYZE team is busy fulfilling their vision, having processed more than 250,000 transactions across 2021.
The competition also saw Karachi-based fintech, Safepay, win the CEMEA Audience Favorite award and $10,000 in prize money. Safepay specializes in secure payment processing for e-commerce stores and helps merchants increase checkout conversions, expedite receivables, and streamline sales by allowing their customers to pay online.
The Visa Everywhere Initiative network includes 8,500 startups from around the world, which continues to grow every year.
Since its launch in 2015, the program has helped startups from over 100 countries collectively raise more than $2.5 billion in funding, addressing one of the biggest challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs. Every year, the scope of VEI is expanded to engage with unique startups and solve unique problems in the world of payments.
This year, the program will have a clear focus on Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), a region with tremendous opportunity for fintechs that are developing innovative products and solutions aimed at supporting the community. The latest edition of VEI sees two new editions in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as the global finale in Qatar in November 2022.
Visa Everywhere Initiative is seeking innovative and ambitious entrepreneurs who are uplifting communities by solving payment and commerce challenges faced by businesses of all sizes and sectors, including:
Enablers of digital services and digital issuers
Blockchain and cryptocurrency
Crowdfunding
Banking-as-a-Service
BIN sponsors
Issuer/processors
Program managers
Digital issuance
Blockchain and cryptocurrency
Alternative lending
Personal financial management
Money transfer and remittance
Digital banking (aka neo banks)
Digital wallets, peer-to-peer (P2P) and transfers
Employee benefits
Payables
Corporate cards (aka expense management)
Value-add for merchants and/or consumers in the finance space
Data and analytics
ID, authentication and security
InsurTech
Loyalty
Merchant services and tools
Process and payment infrastructure
Retail technology
Other
Small- and medium-sized businesses
Money movement (disbursements, Intra-account, P2P vendor and payments)
Acceptance (e-commerce and mobile acceptance)
Risk management (chargebacks, etc.)
Brand management (Community building, etc.)
Other
How to Apply for Visa Everywhere Initiative 2022
Visa does not acquire any equity from Visa Everywhere Initiative competitors as part of this competition.
More information and application details are available here.
Absa, a leading pan-African Corporate and Investment Bank that offers its clients innovative advisory and financing solutions across multiple economic sectors, said it is fully aligned with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s aspiration of economic growth and development opportunity associated with the advent of launch of 5G technology in Nigeria.
According to the financial services institution, there are impressive, transformative economic growth opportunities inherent in the adoption of 5G technology as underlined by the Nigerian government’s approval of the National Policy on 5G Networks on September 8, 2021.
President Muhammadu Buhari launches national 5G Policy
Following this approval, the federal government officially launched the policy as the driver of its digital economy agenda in Abuja on January 25, 2022.
The government sees the adoption of 5G networks as an opening to create jobs in the economy, improve operational transparency, drive sectoral productivity and expand the fight against insecurity.
Following a series of trials and exhaustive stakeholders’ engagements eliminating the perceived health risks associated with the 5G technology, President Muhammad Buhari, officially leading proceedings at the launch event, assured investors that as the rollout of the advanced network technology begins in earnest, the federal government will provide an enabling environment that supports robust investment in digital infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the leading pan-African Corporate and Investment Bank has expressed excitement at the launch of the national policy on 5G networks.
Sadiq Abu, the Chief Executive Officer, Absa Nigeria, said the policy would fast track the growth of the country’s digital economy.
“The race to keep pace with the rest of the globe demands urgent policy actions. Therefore, the launch of the national policy on 5G networks is laudable as it provides a fitting platform to drive the rollout of the 5G network on a national scale. Of course, this policy effort will make a difference in how sectors such as education, retail, health, manufacturing, and banking sectors are run with great implications on productivity, job creation, and revenue levels across sectors”, he explained.
He added, “Absa as a growth partner will leverage its global experience and robust investment network in the sector and beyond to support investors in maximising market opportunities with the potential to drive growth in the economy.”
Technology is a key driver of innovation. Innovation heralds changes that foster improved standard of living on a larger scale.
The introduction of the 5G technology is poised to change sectoral operations, create new jobs in the digital space while impacting operations across every line of human endeavours.
5G technology is an advanced upgrade of previously existing wireless interconnectivity infrastructure such as the 2G, 3G and 4G. It is generally tagged as the fifth generation of wireless technology. The technology offers a high-speed, low-latency virtual reality world, as well as ultra-high-speed streaming which will grandly impact society in terms of how people commute, communicate, shop, bank, and produce the goods they consume.
A report by PwC forecasted that the advanced tech infrastructure will likely contribute $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services to the global economy by 2035.
According to the report, the tech infrastructure has the potential to create or transform up to 16 million jobs across all sectors of the economy, which includes full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs. It will also lead to the creation of industries not yet imagined leading to the emergence of extensive opportunities for the local population.
And, going by the disclosure made at the last Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) held in Dubai, over 500 million subscribers presently have access to commercial 5G networks in 176 countries. South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Hong Kong, the United States and Thailand top the list of countries where the new tech infrastructure has the widest coverage, revealed Statista.
Although the deployment of the tech infrastructure is at an experimental phase in most markets, the experiential impacts are already being felt.
From the feedback at the MBBF, 5G technology is starting to empower different segments of the global economy.
It is, however, a matter of time before the ripple effects of 5G networks are felt in every corner of the world. This is why Nigeria’s launch of a national policy on the 5G network is a welcome development.
Google has announced expansion of its two-step verification (2SV) process for log-ins to enhance account security after its newly introduced two step verification initiative saw a 50 percent drop in account breaches for 150 million Gmail and 2 million YouTube creator accounts under the 2SV initiative.
The 2SV introduces use of mobile phones to confirm a user’s identity everytime one accesses their Google Account from a different device.
Aligning with this year’s global Safer Internet Day theme, “Together for a better Internet”, Google is actively working on new technologies that will provide a secure, seamless sign-in experience and eliminate reliance on passwords that have turned out to be a major cause for data breaches and phishing attempts. Users often find passwords hard to remember and have to update them regularly.
“We don’t just plug security holes, we work to eliminate entire classes of threats for people who depend on our services. Today alone, billions of people around the world will use our products to help with things big and small from conducting e-payment transactions or teaching an online class full of students. It is our responsibility to keep users’ personal information safe and secure,” says Dawn Dimowo, Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager, Nigeria.
Google provides tools like Security Checkup, which provides users with practical tips on how to increase the security of their Google Account.
In 2021, Google accelerated its effort to eliminate password threats by starting to auto-enroll users in 2SV, providing people with an additional layer of security when cyber criminals attempt to hack into their accounts. Through the initiative, more than 1.5 billion security checks were done.
“This decrease speaks volumes to how having a second form of verification can be effective in protecting your data and personal information. And while we are proud of these initial results, and happy with the response we have received from our users and the community, we are excited about other ongoing behind the scenes work intended to make our users even safer,” adds Dimowo.
To improve online security, Google recommends running frequent Security Check Ups to ensure that accounts are prepared for recovery by adding a phone number and a backup email.
It secures accounts and prevents bad actors from gaining access. Additionally, Google recommends using Google Password Manager, which is built directly into Chrome, Android, and the Google App, to create safe passwords for all online accounts, including shopping, banking, and e-learning sites.
Leading African economies that have struggled to improve their infrastructure, business conditions and overall competitiveness are generally performing better against other emerging markets in areas that measure their digital skills and sustainability.
That’s one of the findings of the 2022 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, a ranking of the world’s 50 leading emerging markets with Nigeria ranked 34th, TechEconomy.ng can report.
Kenya ranks No. 28 in the overall Index but is 17th in digital readiness. South Africa, No. 24 overall, is 21st in digital readiness. Likewise, Ghana is 32nd overall and 23rd in digital readiness.
The Emerging Market Logistics Index, now in its 13th year, ranks countries for overall competitiveness based on their logistics strengths, business climates and, for the first time, their digital readiness – all factors that make them attractive to logistics providers, freight forwarders, air and ocean carriers, distributors and investors. The Index includes a survey of 756 supply chain industry professionals.
Digital readiness assesses digital skills, training, Internet access, e-commerce growth, investment climate, and ability to nurture startups, as well as sustainability factors such as renewable energy mix, lower emissions intensity and green initiatives.
“The connection between a country’s digital capabilities and growth prospects is undeniable,” Agility CEO Tarek Sultan said. “The competitiveness of emerging markets countries will be determined by their ability to develop digitally skilled businesses and talent pools, and find the resolve to lower their emissions in ways that spur growth rather than sacrificing it.”
The importance of digital readiness was apparent in the survey. Logistics executives identified adoption of technology as the leading driver of economic and business growth for emerging markets. The top focus areas for their companies: technology and sustainability.
In addition to performing relatively well in digital readiness, Ghana improved its year-to-year rankings in international logistics infrastructure (to 37th from 45thth); domestic logistics infrastructure (to 36th from 38th); and business fundamentals (to 28th from 32nd).
According to the Emerging Market Logistics Index, most logistics industry executives see moderate-to-strong economic growth and little or no chance of recession in 2022, even without immediate relief from the snarled supply chains and sky-high ocean and air freight rates triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roughly two-thirds of the 756 industry professionals surveyed for the Index believe shippers will see cargo rates come down by the end of the year. Eighty-percent see port bottlenecks, air capacity shortages and trucking issues easing by year end.
“The industry’s optimism reflects the fact that emerging economies are getting more resilient and figuring out ways to weather supply chain disruption,” Sultan said. “If emerging markets can get better access to vaccines and give small business a boost, they can help power a broad, dynamic global recovery.”
2022 Emerging Market Logistics Index Highlights:
Index rankings for Sub-Saharan Africa: South Africa (24), Kenya (28), Ghana (32), Nigeria (34), Tanzania (42), Uganda (43), Ethiopia (45), Mozambique (46), Angola (47).
China and India, the world’s two largest countries, held their spots at No. 1 and 2 in the overall rankings. UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Thailand, Mexico and Turkey rounded out the top 10. Vietnam, No. 8 in 2021, fell to 11th, switching places with Thailand.
Powerhouse exporters China, India and Mexico topped the rankings for international logistics. China, India and Indonesia ranked highest for domestic logistics.
Overall Index rankings for Latin America: Mexico (9), Chile (12), Brazil (16), Uruguay (23), Colombia (25), Peru (26), Argentina, (31), Ecuador (38), Paraguay (41), Bolivia (44), Venezuela (48).
In the Middle East and North Africa, rankings were: UAE (3), Saudi Arabia (6), Qatar (7), Turkey (10), Oman (14), Bahrain (15), Kuwait (17), Jordan (19), Morocco (20), Egypt (21), Iran (30), Lebanon (35), Tunisia (36), Algeria (37), Libya (50).
Rankings in Asia: China (1), India (2), Malaysia (4), Indonesia (5), Thailand (8), Vietnam (11), Philippines (18), Kazakhstan (22), Pakistan (27), Sri Lanka (33), Bangladesh (39), Cambodia (40), Myanmar (49).
Transport Intelligence (Ti), a leading analysis and research firm for the logistics industry, compiled the Index.
Emerging Markets Rankings Show African Gains in Digital Readiness (Source Agility)
John Manners-Bell, Chief Executive of Ti, said: “How quickly emerging markets recover from the crisis of the last two years is heavily reliant on the speed of the vaccine rollout, not least from the perspective of social, economic and political cohesion. At the same time, the links connecting these economies with western markets need to be reinstated if shippers are to be integrated back into the global trading system. COVID has meant that shipping has become even more costly, complicated and slower, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Digitization will play an important role in facilitating frictionless cross-border movements, but in the long run the benefits of globalization will only be shared with emerging markets if supply chains and logistics can be made more resilient in the face of future crises.”
In furtherance of its appreciation of customers, whilst promoting the adoption of mobile payment solutions in the country, FirstBank is rewarding holders and customers of its branded Visa Gold card in its ongoing Visa Gold card.
The promo which will have over 300 Visa Gold cardholders rewarded during the FirstBank Visa Gold Cashback campaign is scheduled to end on 25 March 2022.
Each month, the first 50 customers with an average transaction value below $150 in the last 6 months will be rewarded with 10% cashback on transactions carried out on POS and across the web.
To qualify to be rewarded, the card must be used at least 3 times monthly on POS/Web (within the campaign period) with a minimum cumulative spend of $300.
The maximum transaction value for purchase cashback is $500.
In addition, the first 50 customers – monthly – with an average transaction value above $150 in the last 6 months will be rewarded with $50 when they grow their total transaction value by 50% monthly through PoS and Web payments. The maximum transaction value for purchase cashback is $300.
50 inactive Visa Gold cardholders in the last 6 months are not left out when they use their cards at least 3 times monthly on PoS and Web. With a minimum cumulative spend of $150, they are entitled to 10% cashback on transactions.
FirstBank Visa Gold card is an international premium credit card issued in partnership with Visa International.
It is Bank’s dollar-denominated card for customers in the mid-affluent segment and is accepted for payment at over 29 million locations and cash withdrawals at over 1.8 million ATMs worldwide.
The card which is accepted globally is secured with chip and PIN technology. Its transaction limit is $1,000, $10,000 and $5,000 for ATM, POS and Web respectively. It is available in the self-funded and credit variant. It is denominated in US Dollars with a life span of 3years.
“Appreciating our customers for their patronage is very important to us as we encourage the increased adoption of the Visa Gold card”, said Mr Chuma Ezirim, FirstBank ’s Group Executive, e-Business and Retail products.
“Being the first financial institution in the country to hit the issuance of 10 million ATM cards, we remain resolute to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that our customers are at an edge in experiencing safe, convenient and rewarding digital banking services, regardless of where they may be across the globe, he concluded.
Like many other sectors of the economy, the insurance industry is facing disruptive innovation, with the impacts of the pandemic, economic uncertainty, rising unemployment and rapidly changing customer demographics and expectations forcing insurers to adapt or die.
According to KPMG’s recent South African Insurance Industry Survey: “The insurance industry is highly competitive – to stay relevant, insurers must embrace digitalisation to ensure they can continue to serve their customers’ needs in an efficient and simplified manner and grow the customer base to achieve economies of scale in an environment of increasing costs.”
Customer onboarding is the start of a customer’s journey with an insurer and often one of the very few interactions they will have with the company (all going well with the customer, of course).
The process, therefore, needs to be seamless to ensure a good foundation for a lasting relationship, and in an era of sky-high consumer expectations in terms of convenience, flexibility and speed of transactions, the traditionally manual and time-consuming onboarding process is fast becoming unsustainable.
When digitalised, basic and repetitive tasks can be left to technology, freeing up staff to focus on more complex activities and improve customer experience.
Sameer Kumandan, Managing Director of SearchWorks
“Smooth onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures are key when onboarding to ensure user-friendly customer journeys. This is where SearchWorks can assist via multiple services to streamline the process while mitigating risk when new applicants are considered,” says Sameer Kumandan, Managing Director of SearchWorks, an innovative data aggregation platform that allows users to conduct live, accurate searches on individuals and companies and in-depth KYC checks online.
The web-based search application is a bespoke solution giving companies access to up-to-date information and a multitude of safeguards tailored to their specific needs.
While onboarding new clients, a SearchWorks report will provide the insurer with the applicant’s ID verification, bank account verification to assist with monthly debit order instructions and loyalty payments, detailed property and vehicle valuations to assist with monthly premiums, trace and contact data, CIPC searches to verify companies, and social media checks.
This fully inclusive and customised report ensures that the insurance agent knows everything about who is being onboarded, helping with decisions on premiums based on potential risk factors.
“By using SearchWorks, organisations have a wealth of information at their fingertips with very little effort required to access it. Various onboarding and KYC checks can be added using multiple data sources with only a few client inputs,” explains Kumandan. This mitigates risk by ensuring member validity via multiple validation services. “By using SearchWorks’ ‘one click’ validation service, insurance agents will quickly know whether a new applicant is being truthful in their application feedback, decreasing the amount of time spent on either clearing or rejecting applications. Having regular validations in place will also ensure that the correct monthly premium is in play based on a high or low risk factor.”
User experience has become of optimal importance – the insurer that limits the number of clicks it takes to sign up, the number of documents needed to verify one’s identity, and the time it takes to join and fulfil KYC obligations is well ahead of the game.
‘’2022 is just beginning and we have already seen some major ransomware attacks. And with the new hybrid way of working, we all need to adapt our security mindset. Everyone needs to help reduce risk and contribute to a culture of cybersecurity.’’ says Fady Younes, Cyber Security Director for Middle East & Africa, Cisco.
On this year’s Safer Internet Day, can you remember how a ransomware attack works? Slowly. Weeks and even months before, the hackers sneak into the system to gather information, moving around the network undetected.
There are many technical methods for detecting attacks, for example a permanent assessment of the network, using artificial intelligence to search for anomalies and detecting infected endpoints long before the damage is done.
According to Cisco Talos, attacks via e-mails, via tactics such as compromised links and attachments, have increased in 2021 and will remain a source of danger in the current year.
Despite advanced security technologies, people remain the most important factor in reducing the risk of cyber-attacks – in day-to-day work, but also in the IT teams who use their experience to anticipate risks and dangers.
On this Safer Internet Dat, here are five measures you can adopt to stay safer from attack:
1. Stay alert and cautious
Pop-ups are not friends. Links may lead to a fake site. Attachments can be false promises and allow digital criminals to enter the corporate network.
Pay attention to hassles received on the PC or smartphone, because there are numerous methods to seduce you.
Perhaps the promise of a discount, a refund or a mail that says it’s waiting for you can seem enticing? Today, such forgery isn’t even limited to email.
In principle, you should not trust SMS messages either. And of course, you should be careful with company information. Reputable people and companies will never ask you for sensitive information like passwords.
2. Use unique passwords and a second device.
A long password is better than a short one. An incomprehensible password with many special characters and digits is better than a word.
It is important to have a different password for each app and web service rather than always using the same one.
And perhaps the single most important thing you can do, is to deploy multi-factor authentication such as Duo. This means a second device is needed to confirm that you are authorized, usually the smartphone.
3. Only install apps from safe sources
Do not install any games, themes, wallpapers and other supposedly performance-enhancing magic fixes on devices used for business purposes – and certainly not an app that comes from some nameless developer from the furthest corners of the internet.
Only use the official app stores from Apple, Google or the smartphone manufacturer.
While there may be malware there, the risk is far less than loading installation files onto your device from other sources. If you absolutely need a specific app, check with your IT department.
4. Update, update, update
As you mark the Safer Internet Day, remember that software always contains vulnerabilities – one problem is those that are known and exploited. Digital crime immediately pounces on it.
Security-conscious and responsible manufacturers disclose weak points and close them in a short time.
This is how Cisco handles it for all products. Safety processes are essential for product quality.
These must already be integrated in the product design. For the user this means: Always update your software as soon as an update appears.
5. Do not circumvent security measures
Security can be uncomfortable. For this reason, many employees repeatedly circumvent existing security measures and, for example, go online with their company laptop without a VPN via a public Wi-Fi hotspot. “That’s a serious mistake,” says Younes. ‘’Never try to circumvent existing IT security precautions. Convenience plays into the hands of cybercriminals.”
With the new academic year now in full swing, children and students across South Africa will be sitting down at their computers to study, complete their coursework, and possibly even write exams online.
This is an exciting time, but it is also fraught with worry as digital distractions are rife.
As parents, guardians, and caregivers, it is important to provide the necessary guard rails to ensure that while technology remains an important educational tool, children do not lose focus on their studies, or worse, fall victim to cyber-threats and bullying at this crucial time.
The internet, smart phones and tablets have become an essential part of our daily lives. The same is true for our kids. Estimates suggest kids and teens between the ages of 8 to 18 spend about 44.5 hours each week in front of digital screens.
The international Safer Internet Day, which takes place every year on 8 February, highlights the need for greater awareness and action to ensure the internet is a better and safer place for all.
Parents need to ensure that children are equipped to do the best that they can do, but how do they do it? How do you protect kids from trolls and the cyber-bullies when they need technology for study and research purposes?
A sensible approach starts with creating a healthy environment that encourages exploration, but with clear boundaries.
Clearly, our reliance on technology isn’t going to diminish, but there are ways we can all become better at managing it.
Managing technology with intelligence has never been more crucial. Which is why protecting technological progress is at the very centre of the ESET ethos.
Digital distractions
What might seem harmless at first glance; studying while watching TV, texting, or checking social media, can impair learning and result in lower exam scores.
A study conducted by Dr Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University showed that 80% of high school students surveyed reported frequently switching between studying and technology.
The same survey showed a direct correlation between digital distractions and a decline in marks.
Disconnecting devices is not a solution, but limiting what sites, services and platforms can be accessed is. If we want students to learn and perform at their best, smart phones and other online distractions must be managed.
The benefits of removing distractions while studying are almost incalculable. Most students incorrectly believe that they can perform two challenging tasks at the same time.
They may like to do it, they may even be addicted to it, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s far better to focus on one task at a time.
One method of controlling access to digital technology is to physically remove it and allow for periods throughout the day when it can be used.
Research suggests children study most effectively for around 45 minutes. It’s important that those precious minutes are productive and free of distractions. Welcome breaks can then be used for quick updates and catch ups, but a relatively strict routine needs to be adhered to. It’s too easy to get lost in Reels and TikToks beyond the allocated time.
Parents should also make use of a decent internet security platform, which should be a prerequisite on mobile phones and laptop computers anyway.
ESET’s own Internet Security solution allows for screen and browsing limits to be set in place and allows parents to manage the access from their phone.
The solution ensures that students can focus on what they need to start the school year on the right foot but continue healthy habits for safe online behaviour right up until exams.
With other cyber threats like identity theft, malware attacks and the potential loss of any data stored on a device should it be stolen or hacked, it is imperative that any device connected to the internet have suitable security protection.
Guiding kids through constant technological change is hard enough as it is, which is why using tech to your advantage wherever possible is an absolute must. It’s safe to say your kids will thank you for it in the end.
