Author: ITPulse

As part of efforts to play a big role in Privacy Week 2021, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is scheduled to host a Privacy Technology Expo 2021 online on the 26th of January 2020. The theme of the Expo is ‘Harnessing Data as a Critical Asset in the Digital Economy’, and is aimed at showcasing our national innovativeness and contribute to the growing global privacy-enhancing technology industry. According to a statement signed by NITDA’s Head, Corporate Affairs & External Relations, Mrs. Hadiza Umar, the expo is spurred by NITDA’s issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) in…

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through its digital learning platform, atingi has empowered over 800, 000 Africans to get vocational education and self-development courses for free. The platform, which berthed in Africa 12 months ago to enables Africa’s youth reach their personal potential helps give educational content that meets the needs of African audiences free of charge. African countries of Togo, Niger, Rwanda and Benin were used as a pilot to run the atingi platform, enabling learning proposition to be dynamically evaluated, adapted and targeted to local needs. Africa is recognized as a potential global workforce…

As a way of guarding against the spread of the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic, Firstbank yesterday announced the launch of a truly virtual payment card that allows its customers to make all financial transactions without physically visiting the bank. The card is designed in such a way physical interaction between the customer and FirstBank Branches is not required. All that a customer needs to do is to download the application and stay ahead in modern banking. “The launch of our Virtual Payment Card is yet another secure and seamless way we promote electronic banking, whilst enabling customers to carry-out their transactions…

By Elvis Eromosele The COVID19 pandemic is not letting up. It continues to race and rage across the globe. With 92 million cases and almost two million deaths, one expects every hand to be on deck to curb the spread. The World Health Organisation (WHO) advises that if COVID-19 is spreading in your community, stay safe by taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. Yet in Nigeria where the second wave is blossoming crowds have besieged National Identity Management Commission…

Video conferencing platform, Zoom is set to sell 4.4 million shares with a value of $337.71 in a secondary offering to raise $1.5 billion that will be used for acquisitions or strategic investments this year. Experts believe that the sale of the shares is taking advantage of a surge in investors’ interest in Zoom’s stock, which quintupled in value last year when the company’s flagship product became a household name. Zoom is already profitable, but the share sale will pad its balance sheet. As of October, the company had $730.5 million of cash and equivalents, up from $283.1 million in…

The government of Uganda has blocked all social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter ahead of tomorrow’s crucial presidential and parliamentary elections. The East African country’s telecom regulatory body, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) in a letter to all Internet Service Providers (ISPs), ordered the immediate suspension of access and use” of all messaging apps and social media platforms until further notice. Though further details not disclosed why the suspension of all social media platforms, there is a wide belief that it is an attempt by the incumbent President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to muscle the oppositions and the citizens to…

The United Kingdom-based Control Risks, a specialist global risk consultancy has announced the Top 5 Risks for Business in 2021, with a world with Covid-19 coming first on the list. Control Risks believes that in 2021, the business will face a globally fragmented recovery from COVID-19; and now is the time to embrace risk and focus on the rebound as there will be emerging digital threats. “There’s no doubt that businesses will continue to face considerable disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, but we believe that the opportunities are real and exciting for many companies in 2021,” comments Control Risks CEO,…

Global cybersecurity company, Kaspersky has in its security bulletin asserted that growing economic turbulence along with the impact of Covid-19 will contribute to an increase in cybercrime across South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria in 2021. The bulletin noted that while the increase in these crimes will vary by country, African nations must prepare themselves for the inevitability of increases in malware that already topped 28 million by August last year, according to Kaspersky research.  “Even though every country globally has had to deal with the pandemic in its own way, developing economies across Africa have been especially hard hit by…

Global cybersecurity company, Kaspersky has recommended seven key points that will help organisations and individual stay protected in 2021, even as it disclosed that in 2020, an average of 360,000 new malicious files was detected by per day – an increase of 5.2 percent when compared to 2019. This increase was influenced mostly by a large growth in the number of Trojans (malicious files capable of a range of actions, including deleting data and spying and backdoors (a specific type of Trojan that gives attackers remote control over the infected device. The seven recommendations are: Pay close attention to and…

TradeDepot, the B2B eCommerce platform for consumer goods in Africa, has today released new insights from its market data that highlights the trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021. According to TradeDepot, the impact of the pandemic, rising inflation, border closures and other issues drove significant changes in behaviour for retailers, distributors and manufacturers in 2020. As the sector settles into the new year, TradeDepot predicts that some of the main trends that shaped 2020 – particularly smaller packaging for consumer goods and increased spending on food and essential goods due to dwindling disposable income and people spending…