Author: ITPulse

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shared its telecom regulatory experiences with the Congo-Brazzaville Telecommunications Regulations Authority (CTRA), who visited the NCC head office on a benchmarking tour.  During the 3-day visit, the NCC’s Director, TSNI, Bako Wakil, told the CTRA’s team led by its Network Director, Benjamin Mouandza on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) institued by NCC on QoS and how these KPIs are measured and monitored by the Commission toward ensuring improved service delivery to the Nigeria’s ever-growing telecoms consumers. He said this also helped to improve Quality of Experience (QoE) of the consumers. On type-approval process, Wakil…

A report by Atlas VPN has indicated an increase in malware and other attacks on businesses across world in the last 30 days. In the data it compiled and analysed, Atlas VPN noted that threat actors attacked businesses more than 722 million times during the last 30 days worldwide, with over 73 percent of these hacking attempts malware attacks. The report shows that threat actors dispatched 722 million threats within the last 30 days, which comes out to 23 million attacks daily, over 73 percent of attacks were malware threats, 22 percent phishing and 5 percent command & control (C&C).…

Kayode Tokede examines ways monthly salary earners with FirstBank accounts can benefit from the lender’s numerous loans initiatives amid harsh economy. In time past, monthly income earners – especially bank customers – were unable to have quick access to personal loans to meet their immediate financial needs due to the stringent conditions. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had introduced the Know-Your-Customer (KYC), among other policies, to enhance financial inclusion and reduce the incidence of related identity fraud in the banking sector. These have enhanced the capabilities of banks to grant soft loans to customers. With these, monthly income earners…

Africa has always been at the forefront of the payments space led by mobile money services since 2010 COVID-19 has propelled the adoption of digital payment platforms for millions of people across the African continent. The need for contactless methods of making transactions, transformed what was once a nice-to-have into a necessity. Indeed, whereas the pandemic has bolstered the adoption of digital payments across industries, demographics and payment types on the continent, Africa has always been at the forefront of the payments space led by mobile money services since 2010. As a company, serving thousands of businesses at varying growth…

Dr. Adewale Peter Obadare, the Chief Visionary Officer, Digital Encode Limited has urged both public and private organisations to work towards ensuring they are all ISO Certified. ISO certifications, Dr. Obadare said, help to improve business credibility and authority as well as the overall efficiency of the business and the security/ customer data protection. He gave this advice at the formal presentation of the ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System) and ISO 27701 (Privacy Information Management System) to Avetium Consult; a business Process Outsourcing and Business Technology Solution Company. The ISO certifications were facilitated by Digital Encode Limited. He commended…

The duo of Prof. Isa Pantami, Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), have made a case for Africa digital transformation strategy. The two telecom ombudsmen, who spoke at the recent 3-day virtual African Internet Governance Forum 2021 (vAFIGF2021) with the theme: “Advancing Digital Transformation in Africa in the Face of Crisis”, and hosted by the Nigerian government, noted that the digital transformation strategy for Africa should be established on key foundational pillars. For the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, these pillars should include an enabling…

Despite being the second largest continent by population and its huge landmarks, Africa still lags behind in several indicators vital for a successful industrial revolution.  The region is still behind in the most important measures of innovation capacity. Although Africa has 18% of the world’s population, it accounts for only 0.3% of global R&D spending and 0.5% of patent applications. Trade statistics paint a picture of a relatively low-tech, low value-add region: Africa produces 0.4% of global high-technology exports and 0.8% of middle-technology exports, such as industrial machinery, autos and chemicals. Unlike previous waves of industrial change, competing in the…

Following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on governments and citizens, countries across the African continent are looking at e-government with renewed interest and urgency. In its latest E-Government Survey, the UN notes that governments around the world are looking at new e-government initiatives in their pursuit of digital government transformation. These include the expansion of e-participation, the delivery of e-government as a platform, the innovative use of intelligent technologies to power smart cities, and the adoption of data-centric approaches to service delivery and government policy. E-government is defined as the use of information and communication technologies to transform government…

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced Agomate, BridgingSpace and 28 others as top tech startups that have qualified for the Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria (B2MC Nigeria) programme. The 30 startups will participate in an intensive, virtual boot camp between 24th of January and 18th of February 2022 in the NITDA-sponsored national startup competition that identifies and accelerates the most high-impact startups across Nigeria. B2MC Nigeria is a collaborative programme between the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and MassChallenge, a global network for innovators, headquartered in the United States of America. The participating startups will have access…

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has created a new subsidiary from the agency tagged Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI).. The creation of ONDI follows the successful merger of two of its subsidiaries; the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) and the Office for Nigerian Content Development in ICT (ONC). In a statement signed by Mrs Hadiza Umar, NITDA’s Head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations, the merger of the two subsidiaries to create ONDI is an efforts to implement the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and to streamline its operation to serve stakeholders more efficiently.…