Tech | Business | Economy

Category: Business

NCS Rallies Experts to Combat Cybercrimes
- Experts call for increased investment in internet security
- As CBN, EFCC, CDS, others brainstorm
Information Technology (IT) professionals have again reiterated why the country has to invest significantly in cyber security, develop local skills, and take IT more seriously.

The professionals under the umbrella of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) said these are necessary in order to combat the current incidence of internet fraud in Nigeria.

Professor Adesina Sodiya, NCS President, speaking at the Annual Cyber Security Forum and Workshop organised by NCS in Abuja this week, said that the workshop was to provide a platform for experts to come together and discuss how the nation’s cyber security challenges could be solved.

Prof. Adesina Sodiya, President of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS)

The event was attended by representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chief of Defence Staff, among other top government institutions and functionaries.

According to Sodiya, “A lot is going on in the financial and other sectors. You just heard from the EFCC guy where he confirmed that they are facing a lot of challenges in the area of cyber security. The issue is that so many of our young men, mostly due to unemployment are taking into cybercrimes. If you know what our youths can do, you would be amazed.”

Speaking further, he recommended that:

The first thing we need to do to address the issue of cyber insecurity is to invest more in cyber security protection. Critical information infrastructure protection. Some people in government, still do not know the level of threat that we have and even when some IT professionals are mentioning these threats, they feel that they want to use the opportunity to get money and so on and so forth but, the truth remains that we need to invest more on cyber security.

“We also need to truly make cyber security a business. Some of these guys that are experts, we should find a way of harnessing their skills for something that is go for the nation.

“Then again, government should take the issue of IT very seriously. The issue of IT is not something they should play with. Look at what happened to INEC, we told them that they needed to prepare well for cyber security. We sent proposals to them. Eventually, one of the things that affected the 2023 general elections was cyberattack.

“And one great thing in cyber security is that if today you have a barrier that is stopping criminals from in infiltrating, it doesn’t mean that that protective will work tomorrow. Because these bad guys will continue to try until they are successful and that is why cyber security strategies must be evolving, must be dynamic.

“Lastly, we need more experts in cyber security in this country. Even the few we have are leaving this country because they make more money abroad.

“We thank the Ministry of Education and the NUC for approval cyber security in our universities. We now have BSC in cyber security that will also assist in developing experts.

Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the apex bank had also taken various measures over the years in response to the challenges posed by cyber threats.

He however, noted that while much had been done so far, it’s an obvious fact that the war is far from ended.

Represented by Ifeanyi Muonagor, Head, Cyber Security Operations Center at CBN, Emefiele said:

The more digital innovations we adopt to make life easier and better, the more the bad actors search for ways of compromising them for their nefarious ends. Hence, it is expedient that we do not relent in the quest for better education in computing, information technology and cybersecurity as you are doing by the avenue of this conference.”

NCS organises the annual Cybersecurity Forum as a platform for stakeholders to discuss the latest strategies and tools to prevent and respond to cyber threats.
May 13, 2023
USSD: MNOs Receives NCC’s Nod to Disconnect Banks over N120b Debt

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have received the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC’s) backing to disconnect Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) over failure to pay the debt owed to operators for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services.

The USSD debt, TechEconomy gathered, amounts to over N120 billion.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), who disclosed this Friday in a statement stated that the approval was granted because, despite multiparty stakeholder efforts to resolve the situation and prevent any impact on services, the DMBs have continued to incur greater and greater debt, without making the commensurate payments.

Telecom mast

The statement signed by Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and Gbolahan Awonuga, Chairman and Head, Operations respectively, mentioned Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami and including the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, along with MNOs and DMBs to have intervened by failed.

Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of ALTON

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) wishes to inform the Nigerian Public that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted approval for our members – Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) – to disconnect Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) if they fail to pay the debt owed to Operators for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services which amount to over N120 Billion”,
– the statement reads

It added that every time some progress is made, the DMBs come up with reasons to take stakeholders several steps back, in this matter.

Background

It will be recalled that MNOs and DMBs have had protracted disagreements concerning the appropriate USSD pricing model for financial transactions, transparency of charges, mode of collection and liability for payment of the outstanding and continuous service fees due to the MNOs (which currently stands at over N120 Billion).

Due to the inability of MNOs and DMBs to reach an agreement on the issues, MNOs in 2021 sought to disconnect DMBs due to the unpaid debts which stood at N42 Billion as at that time. However, Prof. Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, intervened and asked the MNOs not to disconnect DMBs as the action will negatively impact on the Digital and Financial Inclusion policy of the Federal Government.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and Deposit Money Banks (DMB) represented by the Chairman, Body of Bank CEOs subsequently met on 15 March 2021 to discuss indebtedness of DMBs to MNOs for USSD services.

Further to the meeting, CBN and NCC issued a joint press statement on the agreement reached by all stakeholders.

Other efforts by Pantami, Danbatta and others

Prof. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy

Professor Isa Pantami, and Professor Umar Danbatta, EVC of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have made several efforts to get the banks to show good faith and sign an agreement, in the national interest, based on the resolutions reached that meeting.

“Unfortunately, the patriotic intervention of the Hon. Minister and the NCC have been taken for granted by the DMBs, as two years after, the banks have failed to sign a final agreement”, the statement reads.

What is involved

It is pertinent to note that the contract between MNOs and DMBs on the use of USSDs for banking transactions are strictly commercial and MNOs are at liberty to withdraw the services if it is established that the transaction is unprofitable to them.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, EVC of NCC

MNOs have invested billions of naira in expanding their systems to accommodate the USSD needs of DMBs over the years. This has resulted in more Nigerians having access to banking services in addition to enabling banks to trim down costs by requiring fewer branches to service their growing customers. Unfortunately, MNOs are not getting paid for their services and the debt that stood at N42 Billion in 2021 has now risen to over N120 Billion.

It is obvious that the level of debt is unsustainable given the time/value huge cost of the continuous upgrade and operation of the systems and infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions of DMBs.

May 13, 2023
Airtel Invests $500m on Spectrums in Five African Countries

Airtel Africa invested $500m on additional spectrum in five African Countries in the past year, TechEconomy can report.

According to Airtel Africa plc Results for the year ended 31 March 2023, the group acquired spectrum in Nigeria, the DRC, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya in the year under review.

Commenting on the spectrum investment, Mr. Olusegun Ogunsanya, the chief executive officer, Airtel Africa said:

Over the year, we invested $500m on additional spectrum, including 5G, across many of our OpCos which, combined with our capex, will underpin our growth ambitions”.

He said that, despite this investment, and driven by a disciplined capital allocation policy, Airtel’s balance sheet remains strong and has been further de-risked over the last year by the prepayment of $450m HoldCo debt in July last year.

“Currencies across our footprint have been under pressure, and the impact from the revaluation of our foreign currency denominated liabilities provided some headwinds in the last financial year.

“While currency devaluation is not in our control, we have plans to continue to mitigate its impact by growing our revenues at a faster pace than devaluation, with double-digit revenue growth in reported currency delivered this year and as we continue to reduce our foreign currency exposure across our balance sheet.

Ogunsanya added that Airtel Africa’s six-pillar strategy continues to provide the basis for stakeholder value creation by facilitating continued expansion of its services to enhance both digital and financial inclusion across Africa. “This strategy will continue and will be underpinned by our sustainability strategy as articulated in our Sustainability Report published in October 2022”, he said.

TechEconomy had reported on December 7, 2023, an announcement by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that by the close of business on Monday, December 5, 2022, only two companies expressed interest in the auction of the 3.5GHz Spectrum band (READ HERE).

Airtel was later declared the winner of the auction.

May 12, 2023
MTN to Increase Prices in Selected Markets Due to Inflation

In a move aimed at generating cash flows and sustaining business operations, MTN Group said Thursday it is planning to hike prices in selected markets due to inflationary pressures.

The telecom business, which has operations in 19 nations, said in its first quarter report filed with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that overall inflation across its footprint was 18.5% in the first quarter of 2023, up from 11.5 percent in the same period the previous year.

MTN said to combat inflation, central banks raised interest rates throughout that time. The high interest rates and inflation had a negative impact on consumer purchasing power and corporate activity.

In the statement, MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said, “MTN’s resilient business model and operational execution enabled us to continue to successfully navigate difficult macroeconomic, geopolitical, and regulatory conditions in Q1 2023.

“Local currencies generally weakened against the dollar, and foreign exchange availability was limited in several of our key markets, affecting the pace of capital expenditure and our ability to upstream dividends and management fees.

2023 Outlook

In its outlook for the rest of 2023, MTN Group said, “We anticipate that trading conditions across markets will remain challenging for the remainder of 2023, and we will continue to execute on our proactive measures to manage the near-term challenges and risks.

“Within this environment of elevated inflation, implementing selective price increases across the portfolio remains a critical priority to ensure that operations generate sufficient cash flows to fund future capital expenditures needed for building world-class networks.

“We will continue to have the necessary engagements with the regulatory authorities on such needed increases.”

South African Market

MTN SA advanced the comprehensive network resilience plan with improved network availability as we exited the quarter. The teams upgraded additional sites with batteries and started piloting solar solutions on a limited number of sites, as well as deploying additional security solutions where there is a high risk of theft or vandalism.

“Over and above reduced economic activity in South Africa, MTN South Africa’s (MTN SA) network availability remained under pressure due to ongoing power outages across the country: there were approximately 90 days of load shedding in Q1 2023 compared to 14 days in Q1 2022.”

According to the report, MTN revenue rose 15.6 percent to 53.83 billion rand ($2.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 45.69 billion rand in the first quarter of 2022, the company said.

Nigerian Market

The company announced, in correlation with the audited report published on March 17, 2023, total revenue of over N2 trillion, amounting to 22.3% growth in profit before tax.

MTN Nigeria drove strong commercial momentum in a challenging operating environment to deliver a strong financial performance in the period.

Mobile subscribers increased by 10.5% to 75.6 million, and active data subscribers increased by 15.3% to 39.5 million. Profit before tax grew by 22.3% to N534.0 billion. The total dividend for the year is N15.60 per share, with a final dividend of N10 per share.

4G network coverage reached 79.3% of the population in the first quarter, an increase from 79.1% in December 2022, while data use grew by 31.3% to 7.8 GB per user.

However, the report noted: “In addition to higher inflation and interest rates as well as challenges with the availability of hard currency liquidity, the Nigerian economy was also impacted by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s redesign and introduction of new naira notes on December 15, 2022.

The limited availability of new notes resulted in cash shortages, which impacted customers’ ability to recharge through physical channels and transact within the MoMo agent network.”

MTN’s Ambition 2025 Strategy

MTN Ambition 2025 is anchored in building the largest and most valuable platform business, with a clear focus on Africa. This will rest on a scaled connectivity and infrastructure business, making use of both mobile and fixed access networks across the consumer, enterprise, and wholesale segments.

It regularly evaluates investments to increase profits and lower risk. As a result, the MTN Group is considering a medium-term orderly exit from three operations in West Africa: MTN Guinea-Bissau, MTN Guinea-Conakry, and MTN Liberia. Axian Telecom has made the group an offer for our equity stakes in these Opcos, which is currently being considered.

May 12, 2023
2,246 Nigerians Evacuated in 12 flights from Sudan — NEMA

Over 2,246 Nigerians have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan on 12 different flights, according to information provided by the National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA.

In a statement released on Thursday in Abuja, the head of NEMA’s press unit, Manzo Ezekiel, said that the agency had sent a variety of food products that had been authorized for the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan to care for the stranded Nigerians who are awaiting an airlift home in Port Sudan.

According to the Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, the food supplies are intended to support Nigerian people while the ongoing evacuation is reinforced.

The items consist of 100 bags of 10kg rice, 50 bags of 10kg beans, 10 cartons of seasoning, 50 cartons of spaghetti, and 5 bags of iodized salt.

The statement read in part: “The items were airlifted on Thursday to Port Sudan by Tarco Aviation that brought 123 stranded Nigerians to Abuja. The latest arrival has brought the total number of evacuated stranded Nigerians to 2,246 in 12 different flights.

“It must be emphasized that the evacuation exercise is continuing with efforts being made to engage some Nigerian airlines to strengthen airlift of Nigerian citizens that are willing and have been profiled to be transported back home as a result of the unfortunate conflict in Sudan.”

May 11, 2023
MTN Leases Spectrums from NTEL at N4.25 billion to Enhance 3G and 4G Coverages
- Renew its 2100MHz Spectrum for a period of 15 years at N58.66 billion
MTN Nigeria has secured approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for spectrums lease transaction between the company and the Natcom Development and Investment Limited (NTEL), TechEconomy can report.

Karl Toriola, CEO MTN Nigeria

With the approval, MTN will now lease NTEL’s 5MHz Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) in the 900MHz Spectrum band and 10MHz FDD in the 1800MHz Spectrum band covering 19 States.

The transaction is for a period of two years, effective 1 May 2023, at a cost of N4.25 billion, including taxes, regulatory fees and ancillary charges.

In addition, having accepted NCC’s offer to renew its 2100MHz Spectrum for a period of 15 years, effective 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2037, MTN Nigeria has paid N58.66 billion to the NCC.

The 2100MHz Spectrum license enables the provision of 3G mobile services on MTN’s network.

Commenting on the transactions, Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria CEO said:

“This is a significant milestone in delivering our Ambition 2025 strategy. The access to NTEL’s 900MHz and 1800MHz Spectrums broadens our spectrum holdings and improves our 3G and 4G user experience as coverage and capacity will enhance these spectrums”.
May 11, 2023
Payment24, a Vehicle Biometrics Startup Expands to North America and Europe
- Continued growth supported by product innovation and ongoing customer success cracks open new markets
Payment24, the global platform provider specialising in payment and loyalty solutions, announced that the organisation is enjoying continued growth, has significantly expanded operations and acquired several new logo clients as it diversifies its business beyond a provider of solutions for the fuel industry and banks only.

In support, the company has also announced the significant global expansion of its operations into North America and Europe and ongoing product innovation with the launch of Cloud Switch, the expansion of its loyalty platform, the inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI) across its products, and a bold move into the electric vehicles (EV) space.

The organisation’s geographical reach has expanded considerably, and Payment24 has a deployment presence in five continents in close to 17 countries.

According to its executive team, following on its success in Africa and Latin America region, its sights are set on Europe and North America, and in 2022 the company opened its doors in Boston.

Based on the growing interest and demand for its solutions, a platform specifically tailored to the North American market will be released in the next six months.

Further, it has extended its reach in Europe with the investment in a business based in Geneva, Switzerland, from which it will serve the needs of the European market.

Since its launch, Payment24 has one of the largest private label refuelling networks in South Africa and neighbouring countries and is on target to facilitate the payments of more than half of the fuel stations in the country.

This is alongside an extensive network supporting cross-border refuelling in hundreds of locations across over ten African countries. Based on its expansive and growing loyalty footprint, which sees billions of litres of fuel transacted through the Payment24 platform annually, it is now also one of the largest fuel loyalty providers in the country.

This follows a growing retail loyalty footprint, which with the recent inclusion of click-and-collect and mobile payment modules to its platform, is experiencing exceptional growth across a diverse retail market.

Due to the diversity of the company’s platform and its evolution from being a dominant player in only the oil space to its expansion into other industries, Payment24 has announced that it has streamlined its offerings into industry-specific solutions catering to six core industries, including banking, oil, retail, convenience, transport, and logistics.

According to Shadab Rahil, CEO of Payment24, the company’s renewed focus and categorisation of its offerings provides a clear direction of where it can assist customers while helping them better understand how the platform supports their business.

We have experienced exceptional growth over the past three years and continue to enjoy significant success in the banking and oil industries,” says Rahil. “Since the expansion of our platform and the modules we provide, we have made notable inroads into the retail, payments acquiring, and fleet management space, having secured several new customers in these sectors over the last two years. To support this growth, we have more than doubled our headcount in the last two years, and because more than 50% of our business comes from outside the South African borders, 33% of our team is now based outside of the country.

“As an R&D company, Payment24 invests heavily in our development teams, which is quickly being matched by a growing support team, especially in Central America, as demand mounts for localised support in each country we operate,” adds Rahil.

Technical and Product Evolution

In the last three years, the company has matured the core competencies of its fleet and fuel payment and loyalty offerings by introducing additional payment channels and customer engagement methods such as WhatsApp and USSD, as well as the overall enhancement of its loyalty platform.

Its focus has also been extended to provide service offerings to the car rental and the banking industry, underpinned by its launch of Cloud Switch.

This cloud-based acquiring solution is a fully integrated standalone offering that is today being used by several banks across the continent as their primary payment acquiring tool.

According to Payment24, its loyalty offering is receiving incredible interest. Based on the complex nature of loyalty transactions, the company has expanded its platform to include multiple loyalty options for its customers depending on the nature of the industry and the transaction itself.

This is clearly defined in the product roadmap it delivers to customers who can invest in a finance, fleet, or retail solution today and then add a loyalty component as their needs evolve.

To support the growing global demand for alternative fuel and energy sources, the company has recently developed and enabled modules and support for electric vehicles (EV) on its platform, providing oil companies with an effective means to transact across both EV and fossil fuel transactions. This includes developing a tailored system to support European and EU requirements.

“It’s important to meet your customers where they are and simultaneously offer them a roadmap for the future of their business while melding this with future technologies. This approach provides stickiness between you and your customers while ensuring you can walk a longer road with them,” says Nolan Daniel, CEO at Payment24. “Another key evolutionary step for us is identifying the effective and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) across our entire platform. We are already looking at improving automation and elevating the customer experience using AI and believe this will become an essential part of the future of Payment24.”

While traditionally leaders and experts in the closed-loop payment space, the company has also expanded its offering to support open-loop EMV (MasterCard and Visa) payments by adding its own issuing and acquiring open-loop EMV platform to its platform. This solution melds the security features inherent in its traditional closed-loop solution with the newly mandated open-loop requirements, providing transactional customers with an extra layer of security.

The core features of the Payment24 solution promise continue to be underpinned by an open platform that supports high integration with third-party technology and software providers. It is also 100% hardware agnostic, works with partners and competitors when required, and delivers all its services in real time.

“Looking ahead, 2023 will be a watershed year for Payment24, where we will be announcing our expansion into new geographies supported by the announcement of several new key technologies and several significant new customers. Our reach and influence is one of our greatest success stories and we are looking forward to helping our customers globally transform their business and improve their customer experience through the application of our technologies,” ends Rahil.
May 11, 2023
State of Ransomware: Data Encryption from Ransomware Reaches Highest Level, Sophos Finds
- Paying the Ransom Doubles Recovery Costs
- Rate of Ransomware Attacks Remains Steady, with 66% of Organizations Surveyed Reporting They Were a Victim of Ransomware
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today released its annual “State of Ransomware 2023 ” report, which found that in 76% of ransomware attacks against surveyed organizations, adversaries succeeded in encrypting data.

SOURCE: Sophos’ State of Ransomware 2023

This is the highest rate of data encryption from ransomware since Sophos started issuing the report in 2020.

The survey also shows that when organizations paid a ransom to get their data decrypted, they ended up additionally doubling their recovery costs ($750,000 in recovery costs versus $375,000 for organizations that used backups to get data back). Moreover, paying the ransom usually meant longer recovery times, with 45% of those organizations that used backups recovering within a week, compared to 39% of those that paid the ransom.

Overall, 66% of the organizations surveyed were attacked by ransomware—the same percentage as the previous year. This suggests that the rate of ransomware attacks has remained steady, despite any perceived reduction in attacks.

“Rates of encryption have returned to very high levels after a temporary dip during the pandemic, which is certainly concerning. Ransomware crews have been refining their methodologies of attack and accelerating their attacks to reduce the time for defenders to disrupt their schemes,” said Chester Wisniewski, field CTO, Sophos.

“Incident costs rise significantly when ransoms are paid. Most victims will not be able to recover all their files by simply buying the encryption keys; they must rebuild and recover from backups as well. Paying ransoms not only enriches criminals, but it also slows incident response and adds cost to an already devastatingly expensive situation,” said Wisniewski.

When analyzing the root cause of ransomware attacks, the most common was an exploited vulnerability (involved in 36% of cases), followed by compromised credentials (involved in 29% of cases). This is in line with recent, in-the-field incident response findings from Sophos’ 2023 Active Adversary Report for Business Leaders.

Additional key findings from the report include:
- In 30% of cases where data was encrypted, data was also stolen, suggesting this “double dip” method (data encryption and data exfiltration) is becoming commonplace
- The education sector reported the highest level of ransomware attacks, with 79% of higher education organizations surveyed and 80% of lower education organizations surveyed reporting that they were victims of ransomware
- Overall, 46% of organizations surveyed that had their data encrypted paid the ransom. However, larger organizations were far more likely to pay. In fact, more than half of businesses with revenue of $500 million or more paid the ransom, with the highest rate reported by those with revenue over $5 billion. This could partially be due to the fact that larger companies are more likely to have a standalone cyber insurance policy that covers ransom payments
With two thirds of organizations reporting that they have been victimized by ransomware criminals for the second year in a row, we’ve likely reached a plateau. The key to lowering this number is to work to aggressively lower both time to detect and time to respond. Human-led threat hunting is very effective at stopping these criminals in their tracks, but alerts must be investigated, and criminals evicted from systems in hours and days, not weeks and months. Experienced analysts can recognize the patterns of an active intrusion in minutes and spring into action. This is likely the difference between the third who stay safe and the two thirds who do not. Organizations must be on alert 24×7 to mount an effective defense these days”.
– said Wisniewski

SOURCE: Sophos’ State of Ransomware 2023

Sophos recommends the following best practices to help defend against ransomware and other cyberattacks:
- Strengthen defensive shields with:
  - Security tools that defend against the most common attack vectors, including endpoint protection with strong anti-exploit capabilities to prevent exploitation of vulnerabilities, and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) to thwart the abuse of compromised credentials
  - Adaptive technologies that respond automatically to attacks, disrupting adversaries and buying defenders time to respond
  - 24/7 threat detection, investigation and response, whether delivered in-house or by a specialist Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider
- Optimize attack preparation, including making regular backups, practicing recovering data from backups and maintaining an up-to-date incident response plan
- Maintain good security hygiene, including timely patching and regularly reviewing security tool configurations
Data for the State of Ransomware 2023 report comes from a vendor-agnostic survey of 3,000 cybersecurity/IT leaders conducted between January and March 2023.

Respondents were based in 14 countries across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Organizations surveyed had between 100 and 5,000 employees, and revenue ranged from less than $10 million to more than $5 billion.
May 11, 2023
iQuolify, Recruitment Portal for Immigrants Launches in Nigeria

An immigrant recruitment portal for professionals has been launched in Nigeria for immigrant job seekers in Canada, Europe and America.

The portal was unveiled at a virtual event attended by On-Nigeria Director for MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Kole Shettima, African Award-winning Actress, Kate Henshaw, Canadian Immigration Resettlement Expert, Tracy Docheff, IT experts, Human Resource Experts and other International Development Experts.

Akin Fadeyi, the founder of the iQuolify Project, said, “iQuolify is a well thought out digital recruitment solution for Immigrant Professionals who compromise their qualifications for jobs below their pay grade outside their countries”.

Akin Fadeyi, founder iQuolify

“iQuolify will focus on showcasing immigrants to prospective employers, Data Analytics for policy makers, mentoring and Training until target immigrants are able to optimally integrate and unlock their potentials.

MacArthur On-Nigeria Director, Dr. Kole Shettima declared that the Foundation has always held diversity, equity and inclusion as values.

He said At the MacArthur Foundation, we ensure that our decisions and actions are rooted in the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion by embracing the unique attributes of all individuals; creating a fair playing field for all; and cultivating environments where everyone feels respected, valued, and a sense of belonging. iQuolify is therefore a very compelling fit into our work culture and work I commend the initiative”.

Dr. Bankole Odole, the Co-Founder for the Canadian iQuolify, opined that “as an immigrant with five Masters Degrees, I had experienced firsthand, challenges immigrant professionals grapple with. The idea of iQuolify is therefore a ready solution capable of shielding other incoming immigrants from such same challenges.

Kate Henshaw, African Award-winning Actress and Social Advocate (Guest Speaker) expressed delight, describing iQuolify as a project whose time has come. She said “Many people have good reasons to migrate but find themselves disadvantaged as migrants and then resort to menial jobs.

She said the platform is a great vision that will bring to table solutions to less dignifying jobs. Kate Henshaw added the need to maximize one’s opportunities at home or abroad, by focusing on constant self-improvement, not just leaving the country by any means.

Prof. Sola Akinrinade, Board Member Tech HERfrica, former VC Osun State University and former Provost Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) Academy; spoke about educated migrants not living up to their potentials because they travel unprepared and encouraged all to take advantage of iQuolify to mitigate these lapses.

Tracy Docheff, Immigrant Resettlement Expert, Director of Marketing and Communications at Toronto Newlife Wellness Place said her job as an immigrant settler within various Canadian communities is going to be simpler with iQuolify.

Also at the event was Olufunmilola Bucknor, Founder and Lead Consultant, HR Madam Consulting who shed light about her challenges recruiting for organisations within and outside Nigeria over piles upon piles of resumes. She did iQuolify will bridge this gap.

Other speakers at the unveiling who shared their experiences as immigrants were Dr. Kunle Ojoleye, IT Expert, Consultant and former Sessional Professor at the University of Calgary, Alberta.

Mr. Victor Ogunmola, Geo-Sciencist at ExxonMobil, United States and Mr. Dapo Rotifa, a Business Development Expert in the US. iQuolify is the digital community of Canadian employers, recruiters and civil society groups; seeking a qualified and professional workforce, worldwide.

Background

iQuolify is an NGO product, a non-profit solution, driven to bridge immigrant professionals, to prospective employers.

The iQuolify website is the portal to solve the problem of migrating only when once has a befitting job waiting and not travelling to get stranded.

Videos are vetted before they go live on iQuolify for quality control, hence, there are video samples on the portal to aid user presentations.

Recruiters find qualified applicants by clicking on profiles on the portal. iQuolify takes the migrant from where they are, to where they want to be.

May 10, 2023
Immigration Bemoans Lack of Forex to Buy Passport Booklets

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says the scarcity of international passport booklets in the country is due to the lack of access to foreign currency.

Banks have recently been obliged to take extraordinary measures to fulfill their dollar obligations due to the country’s lack of FX.

Idris Jere, comptroller-general of the NIS, stated during a public hearing held by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday that the books are imported into the nation.

He said that the government’s “foreign exchange regulation policy and CBN’s refusal to grant access to forex for importation of the booklets” were to blame for the shortfall.

“We generate forex from the sale of passports but we do not have access to buy the same booklet and that is a challenge for NIS,” NAN quoted Jere as saying.

“The factors responsible for the scarcity of passports include the inability to set up passport-producing factories in Nigeria as its production is done abroad.

“The major seven components used for producing passports are sold in the international market and the assemblage and production are done in Malaysia.”

May 10, 2023
Fake Videos: Demand for Deepfakes on the Darkweb Reaches $20,000 per Minute

Deepfake creation tools and services can be found on darknet marketplaces. These services offer generative AI video creation for a variety of purposes, including fraud, blackmail, and stealing confidential data.

The prices for creating or purchasing deepfakes may vary depending on the complexity of the project and the quality of the final product.

According to the estimates by Kaspersky experts, prices per one minute of a deepfake video may range from $300 to $20,000.

This was announced at the Kaspersky Cyber Security Weekend – META 2023.

Kaspersky analysed various Darknet marketplaces and underground forums offering creation of deepfake videos and audios for different malicious purposes. In some cases, individuals may request specific targets for deepfake creation, such as celebrities or political figures.

Cybercriminals use generative AI video in several ways for illegal activities. They can use deepfakes to create fake videos or images that can be used to defraud individuals or organisations. For example, they can create a fake video of a CEO requesting a wire transfer or authorising a payment, which can be used to steal corporate funds.

Fake videos can be used to create compromising videos or images of individuals, which can be used to extort money or information from them.

Cybercriminals can also use deepfakes to spread false information or manipulate public opinion. For example, they can create a fake video of a politician making controversial statements, which can be used to influence the outcome of an election.

A deepfake of Elon Musk promoting a new cryptocurrency scam.

Deepfake technology can be employed to bypass verification in payment services by creating realistic fake videos or audio recordings of a legitimate account owner. These can be used to trick payment service providers into thinking that they are the actual account owner, thereby gaining access to the account and its associated funds.

“Increasingly, deepfakes are used in attempts at blackmail and fraud. For example, the CEO of a British energy firm was tricked out of $243,000 by a voice deepfake of the head of his parent company requesting an emergency transfer of funds. As a result, funds were wired to the fraudster’s bank account. Suspicions were only raised when the criminal requested another transfer, but by then it was too late to get the funds that were already transferred back. A similar case was reported in the UAE, where $400,000 were stolen in a scam also involving voice deepfake,” comments Vladislav Tushkanov, Lead Data Scientist at Kaspersky.

“It’s important to remember that deepfakes are a threat not only to businesses, but also to individual users: they can spread misinformation, be used for scams, or to impersonate someone without consent. Increasing your digital literacy level is key to counter these threats.”
– Tushkanov

Continuous monitoring of dark web resources provides valuable insights into the deepfake industry, allowing researchers to track the latest trends and activities of threat actors in this space. By monitoring the darknet, researchers can uncover new tools, services, and marketplaces used for the creation and distribution of deepfakes.

This type of monitoring is a critical component of deepfake research and helps to improve our understanding of the evolving threat landscape. Kaspersky’s Digital Footprint Intelligence service includes this type of monitoring to help its customers stay ahead of the curve when it comes to deepfake-related threats.

May 10, 2023
How Immigration Officers at Alimoso Passport Office Burst Human Trafficking Syndicates

Criminally-minded persons in their desperate bid to get rich quick are not relenting in their crook means and methods despite the concerted and tough measures being taken by the federal, state and local governments to rid Nigeria of illicit and criminal methods of material wealth acquisition.

Trafficking in persons especially criminal recruitment and sponsorship of unsuspecting young girls and even sometimes male and female adults to foreign countries for financial exploitation in disguise of education, work and better life, is one of such illicit trades that has continued to boom in Nigeria.

Luck, however, ran out on some human trafficking syndicates recently when officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) attached to the recently-established Alimoso Passport Front Office in Lagos, apprehended scores of the human traffickers, who came to the office to obtain the Nigerian travel passports for some young girls they planned to traffic overseas for illicit activities.

For instance, the Nigeria Immigration Service officers, few weeks ago, successfully burst the plan by a suspected human trafficking ring to take two underage girls out of the country.

The alleged trafficker – a woman- had taken the girls to the passport office claiming they were her daughters, who needed the international passports to travel out of Nigeria.

But the eagle-eyed immigration officers detected that the woman’s age gap and the ages of the two girls did not match her claim that she gave birth to the teenage girls.

On further investigation, the suspect admitted that the girls were recruited for trafficking abroad, for commercial exploitation.

Sources at the NIS revealed that many suspected human traffickers had been apprehended at the Alimoso Passport Front Office since it commenced operation on January 30, this year.

According to the sources, the traffickers might have wrongly assumed that they could have their way easily because the front office was new.

“It seems traffickers think because this passport office is new, they will have it easy. It is not possible here as we scrutinise every form and ensure due diligence.

“We have had instances where people wanted to procure passports for adopted children for the purpose of taking them overseas. Those who have legal documents of adoption were directed to Abuja because only the CGI (Comptroller General of Immigration) has the final say on such issues,” a senior officer, who begged not to be mentioned, said.

The officer added, “For those who did illegal adoptions, they came posing that the babies were their biological kids but were uncovered by our diligent officers. When certain documents were required from them, some of them didn’t come back.”

Confirming the arrest of the latest suspected trafficker, the Passport Control Officer (PCO), Mrs. Ayoola Malaolu, said several human traffickers, who came to the Alimoso NIS Passport Front Office, had been apprehended upon being detected that they came to obtain the Nigerian travel passports for unlawful purposes.

She commended the officers for their professionalism and dedication to duty, assuring that her team would continue to work professionally and stop traffickers and others with criminal intentions from getting travel documents with which they can perpetrate their evil work.

Mrs. Malaolu appealed to applicants for passports, whether fresh or reissue, to always go through the online application process and payment platform, as well as to exercise patience and follow the queue, assuring that they would be courteously attended to.

May 10, 2023
MainOne Expands Global Interconnection Capabilities Using Equinix Fabric

West Africa’s leading connectivity and data center services provider, MainOne, an Equinix Company has enhanced its interconnection capabilities by using Equinix Fabric to extend its network reach and provide its enterprise customers with agile, on-demand and seamless connectivity to cloud providers, remote markets, and local infrastructure over the MainOne network and onto Platform Equinix.

Equinix Fabric is an on-demand, software-defined interconnection service, which provides global reach to the Equinix network of over 245 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers located in 71 major metros and 32 countries around the world. Equinix Fabric directly, securely, and dynamically connects distributed infrastructure and digital ecosystems on Platform Equinix®.

Speaking on this expansion, Anil Verma, MainOne Chief Technical Officer, stated that “As a long-time customer of Equinix Fabric, MainOne has utilized the global footprint of data centers and services to establish connections to Cloud service providers and enable private, dedicated connections for customers in West Africa.

Now as an Equinix company, the expansion of our network to Equinix Fabric guarantees enhanced SLA and lower latency for critical services and applications. This is part of our commitment to provide our customers with world-class interconnection services to accelerate their digital journey.”

In the new expansion, MainOne will utilize Equinix IBX data centers in Lisbon (LS1) and London (LD5) to create geographic diversity, enabling its customers connect their IT infrastructure to a dynamic and rich ecosystem, enjoying more direct access to Cloud services, and higher performance, ensuring they are able to stay ahead of their competitors with low-latency and secure IT infrastructure.”

May 9, 2023
“I’m Optimistic about the Future”, BLord Rejects $10m Offer to his App

Linus Williams Ifejika, commonly known as BLord, a Nigerian tech pioneer and cryptocurrency investor, turned down $10 million in funding from overseas investors for his most recent invention, the BillPoint app.

The founder of the B-Lord Group claimed that he declined the offer since his company anticipated that the app will make far more money than the sum in a few years.

This information was provided in a statement released by his media office as he outlined how the BillPoint mobile app is reviving modernity.

To make it simple for people to pay their electricity and cable TV bills, Linus launched the app in April 2023.

According to him, “The BillPoint app is here to make transactions easy for Nigerians. It is an unarguable fact that no one walks down to vendors to sort their bills any longer when they can do so online that is one of the more reasons this App will succeed and I am optimistic about the future of the app and its acceptability.”

BLord also said it has generated a lot just within days of its launch and it is proof of how valuable the product is, adding that it’s going to solve problems for many users in the coming.

The BLord Group is a fintech firm that has diversified into real estate and other industries over time. Their bill payment service, Billpoint, was developed as a reaction to some of the significant problems traditional banks were having with small transactions like subscription payments, power bills, and other recurring utility payments.

With more than 30 service providers linked to the network, Billpoint offers a secure, simple, and useful way to pay bills online.

May 9, 2023
Local Founders Attracting Local VCs in Africa’s Tech Space

Africa’s startup space has been as humble as the global startup space. With the region getting its share of the ripple effect of the global inflation and financial crisis, funding has not been what it used to be since after H1 2022, writes JOEL NWANKWO:

The complaint about Africa’s 2022 funding rate does not stem from a bad performance but from a desire from Africans to always exceed expectations when it comes to funding.

However, the period did not go without some positives. In fact, the run saw the region surpass its 2021 figures in terms of total funding while also coming out strong in other variables. Despite a more conservative investor environment, VC investment in Africa increased to account for 44% of the value of all private capital deals in 2022.

This development was seen across numerous technology verticals. Investors invested historic amounts of money in African healthtech, according to a report from the Global Private Capital Association (GPCA).

Furthermore, the research claims that investment activity grew outside of the main 4 tech centers (Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa), with cash invested increasing in 16 different African nations year over year. Startups from the Francophone world made significant progress, with notable rounds going to Senegalese fintech Wave and the DRC’s Web3 firm Jambo. Benin, Madagascar, and Sudan all received their first venture capital investments.

Perhaps more notable in the GPCA report was the extent of increased participation of local VCs.

This statistic reflects growth in Africanness of the region’s tech ecosystem, giving local VCs and founders a better capture of the market.

Inward Growth

In 2022, African-led businesses will receive a record $2.2 billion, according to the GPCA analysis, which shows that indigenous founders are a key factor in ecosystem growth. African founders currently receive the majority of investment monies due to the expansion of the VC industry across the continent.

A record $2.2 billion was invested in businesses with at least one African founder in 2022, indicating an increase in investor demand for business people with in-depth understanding of African markets.

As local entrepreneurs grow more aware of the complex VC market and forge ties to capital sources, African-led firms with founders who received their only education on the continent raised $586 million in 2022, setting a new record. Paymob, an Egyptian fintech company co-founded by AUC alums, raised $50 million in a Series B round headed by Paypal Ventures and Clay Point.

The growth of local startup talent is being accompanied by an increase in VC companies launched in Africa. Among Africa’s most active VC investors in 2022 were rising VCs Janade du Plessis of Launch Africa Ventures, Idris Bello of LoftyInc Capital Management, and Kola Aina of Ventures Platform.

What’s the Big Fuss?

A region that continually suffers from dependence on foreign capital controls is surely in need of a local resurgence. No doubt foreign VCs will remain attracted to the region’s burgeoning tech ecosystem. However, this should in no way handicap the activities of local VCs in the continent as has been the case in previous reports.

To really understand why Africa needs to look inwardly for startup growth and financing, it is crucial to consider recent events like the Russo-Ukrainian war and the increased inflation rate in the West. While they had been particular to the West and Europe, they had significantly affected startup funding and flow in Africa.

Foreign investors and venture capitalists have been drawn to the continent’s young, vibrant population and underdeveloped markets, which has spurred the rapid growth of the African digital startup ecosystem in recent years.

The spread of the ecosystem is hampered, however, by the recurring economic and social crises in these countries that have made foreign investors and venture capitalists leery of backing African entrepreneurs.

According to a survey by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, between 2014 and 2020, 57% of investments came from venture capital and private equity investors, while only 1% and 10%, respectively, came from institutional investors and enterprises. Local funding for businesses is limited because just 22% of investors participated in African venture capital agreements, compared to around 40% from North America.

Africa’s startup ecosystem looks promising at the moment. An increasing number of local investors and venture capitalists are keen to promote promising startups in their own communities.

Startups can strengthen their bonds with their backers and gain access to their local contacts and knowledge by looking for local investors.

What Next?

By evaluating local financing possibilities, African startups can also minimize their dependency on foreign banks. Local banks and fintech businesses are mushrooming in many African nations, providing a range of financial services, from straightforward savings accounts to digital payment systems.

Local VCs invest in local startups

African governments and local investors must continue to step in to provide the assistance the developing business needs as startup ecosystems throughout the world struggle with a funding shortage.

The Nigerian government launched a $618 million investment project for tech and creative entrepreneurs in March 2023 in collaboration with the African Development Bank, the French government, and the Islamic Development Bank. The government has committed to giving this project $45 million.

It also launched the Nigeria Startup Act‘s implementation committee earlier in the same month. The Act would offer a reliable financing stream for the local startup ecosystem with an annual disbursement of 10 billion naira ($21.7 million) from the statutory fund.

As they strive to become more independent, Africa’s tech sector may grow less vulnerable to foreign shocks.

May 8, 2023

Translate »