Author: ITPulse

FirstBank has disclosed that it’s over 180,000 Firstmonie Agents spread across 772 Local Government Areas in Nigeria have so far recorded transaction volume in excess of 1 billion, amounting to over 22 trillion naira. Disclosing this in a statement, Firstbank said Firstmonie Agents have continued to play a critical role in promoting financial inclusion in the country, as they are integral to bringing financial services closer to the underbanked and unbanked segment of the society, providing convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the suburbs and remote environments with no access…

In a deal valued at $200 million, Infobip, a global cloud communications and omnichannel messaging provider has completed the purchase of global Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider Peerless Network, having received federal and state level regulatory approvals. The acquisition enhances Infobip’s presence in the U.S. and enables the firm to expand its voice offering worldwide, creating a global one-stop shop for omnichannel communications. In a statement, the company said the acquisition will allow its clients access the U.S. market through Peerless Network, whose nationwide voice network covers 98% of Americans across 49 states. In addition, Infobip now offers Peerless…

In an effort to align with the federal government’s target of achieving 70 percent broadband penetration in five years, MTN Nigeria has decided to launch what it tagged ‘Home Broadband services. The idea, according to MTN is to expand broadband services to millions of homes across Nigeria, which currently boasts of approximately 44.3 percent internet connectivity, whereas other African countries, such as South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya, are at 68, 74, and 48 percent internet penetration, respectively. “At MTN, we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern, connected life; hence our investment in industry-leading connectivity operations,” noted Hassan…

Konga, Nigeria’s leading e-commerce giant and Med-Direct Community Pharmacy, a 21st Century online retail pharmacy have announced a partnership to support the free delivery of highly discounted, quality drugs and medications to millions of Nigerians nationwide starting from Monday, August 15, 2022. The project, a humanitarian initiative will be executed under the auspices of Konga Kares, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the Konga Group, through which it has identified with and empowered critical segments of the population in need of a helping hand. Through this initiative, Konga Kares and Med-Direct Africa are hopeful of crashing the cost of…

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mal. Kashifu Inuwa has reiterated that he will continue to give the necessary support to the Lagos tech startup ecosystem in a way that will enable the ecosystem to grow and contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s economy. The NITDA DG, who stated this during a dinner meeting with some key stakeholders of Lagos Ecosystem, including representatives from Microsoft, MasterCard, Norebase, among others, noted that this is important in view of the fact that Lagos State has continued to maintain itself as a viable community with the strongest unicorn of innovation in…

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has reshaped industries, from healthcare to finance, but building effective AI models remains a complex and resource-intensive endeavor. Traditionally, data scientists have poured hours into fine-tuning algorithms, selecting features, and adjusting hyperparameters, those critical settings that dictate a model’s behavior, to achieve optimal performance. As the demand for AI solutions surges, however, this hands-on approach is proving unsustainable. Harrison Obamwonyi, a visionary data scientist, has long advocated for a more efficient way forward: Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) and hyperparameter optimization. These innovations are not mere tools; they’re transforming the very nature of AI model…

Stakeholders in Blockchain Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) has announced that all arrangements to hold its inaugural Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Conference billed for the 6th of August, 2022 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, has been concluded. Speaking recently to the media on the upcoming event, the President of SiBAN, Mr. Senator Ihenyen disclosed that the conference which will be a hybrid event is part of the association’s commitment to educating users and members of the public about blockchain technology, promoting its adoption by both private and public bodies, ensuring consumer protection and helping them safeguard against scams, while also working…

As part of efforts toward the protection of the telecom industry, which contributes impressively to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami has insisted that Nigeria will no longer import telecom products and services that can be manufactured locally. The Minister, who was speaking at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE), 2022 held at the Landmark Centre in Lagos, said this will heavily reverse the trend of importation of all types of telecommunications products, especially where production in Nigeria is possible. “Government had put efforts towards the…

Kaspersky experts have recommended four ways organizations can keep away from phishing scams following the continuous increase in the number of attacks in Africa in the second quarter of 2022. Carefully looking at the address bar before entering any sensitive information, such as your login details and password. If something is wrong with the URL (i.e., spelling, it doesn’t look like the original or it uses some special symbols instead of letters) don’t enter anything on the site. If in doubt, check the certificate of the site by clicking on the lock icon to the left of the URL. Not…

In comparison with the previous quarter – where the company’s security solutions detected 10,722,886 phishing attacks in Africa in Q2, Kaspersky analysis has revealed that attacks related to data loss threats (phishing and scams/social engineering) increased significantly in Africa in Q2 2022. According to Kaspersky data, attacks related to data loss threats have grown by 234% in Africa in the second quarter of 2022. For Africa, Kenyan users have been influenced the most by this type of threat: there were 5,098,534 phishing attacks detected in 3 months – a growth of 438% when compared to the previous quarter. It was…