The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • ICT can replace oil, says Google

    Nigeria has the potential to use Information Communication Technology (ICT), to restore what has been lost in the oil sector, Google’s Policy and Government Relations Manager, Mrs Titi Akinsanmi has said.

    She said Nigeria has a vibrant technology sector which has lots of opportunities to tap into.

    “We have vibrant ICT companies including the big known companies like Jumia and Konga and the young companies that develop apps that make a difference in the way people live their lives,” she said.

    She noted that applications built around chats and games have huge investment prospects as oil revenues fall.

    She said a research carried out about two years ago on the impact of the internet on the economy showed that ICT sector already contributes at least three per cent GDP in Nigeria.

    “If we can have three per cent contribution from the ICT sector in our GDP where there is no focus in the sector, it means if we focus more on the sector the GDP will increase,” she said.

    She said part of what Google has been doing over the last five years in the country is to work with a range of partners to develop the ICT ecosystem. “We also work with institutions within government; we work with media and the education sectors to enable people contribute to the technology sector. We at Google know that if people have the access and the funds, they will use our products and that is what we are really after, because we are here to make profit in our business,” she said.

    She said there are many opportunities in the ICT sector, including the opportunity to become small multimedia size business online, developing apps for Android operating systems and developing apps around maps.

    She called for training to develop the ICT sector, saying there is a lot of work to be done in that area, adding that if people do not have the skills, they will not be able to take advantage of the opportunities around them.

  • Funding major challenge of ICT startups, says NITDA

    Funding major challenge of ICT startups, says NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)  has identified dearth of seed fund as one of the major challenges inhibiting the growth of startups in the information communications technology (ICT) industry in the country.

    Its subsidiary, Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), lamented that, despite the importance of seed funds in the early life of startups, it remained a big challenge in the development of the ICT ecosystem.

    Coordinator of OIIE Bunmi Okunowo, who spoke at the maiden edition of StartUP Friday in Abuja, however, said the office disbursed N50 million grants to tech-driven startups last year as a demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening indigenous ICT entrepreneurship to reduce joblessness and create wealth for the people.

    He said OIIE gave the grants to incubators and accelerators that have proven records of nurturing and producing startups with growth potential, adding that it is expecting the approval of its budget for this year before implementing this year’s disbursement.

    He said: “One of the major challenges facing startups is the seed funding. That early stage funding that helps the startups to get the idea off ground to prototype, to working product and commercialisation stage. Seed funding is very scarce in our society, despite the increased rates of ICT products and services springing up every now and then. What we are doing is to assist thriving incubators and accelerators with grants in bankrolling the cost of incubating or accelerating promising tech-driven startups to successful businesses,” he said.

    At the StartUP Friday, which hosted over 100 entrepreneurs, Okunowo said the programme was a component of its StartUP Café designed to bridge the gap by enriching the development processes of new tech-driven businesses through “meet-up” which he said, would connect the tech-startup with investors, mentors, technology buyers and enthusiasts in major tech clusters in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu as well as Port-Harcourt, Ibadan and Ife.

    He said StartUP Friday was a product of the feedback got from a study OIIE conducted in last year when it launched an online application for grants. The results of the poll revealed that Lagos State has the highest number of startups that applied, while Abuja and Kaduna came second and third respectively.

    “For us, it was surprising that Abuja was second. This brought questions such as: Where are they? Where do they meet? Where do they go? Is there a forum where they connect and share resources, experiences? We began to strategise on how to create a community of startups, an ecosystem where everyone belongs to just as we have in Lagos. A place where it doesn’t matter what hub or community you belong to, rather where all connect to share and grow. That’s how StartUP Friday came into being,” he said.

    According to him, the event was borne out of the desire for the OIIE to create an environment for startups to learn, interact and, re-scale their business, adding that through the process, startups would also get to socialise with investors, technology buyers, and technology enthusiasts.

    Senior Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment under the Office of the Vice President, Afolabi Imoukhuede, said the development is in line the focus of the government in catalysing the creation of jobs in some sectors, which includes ICT, especially tech innovation clusters across the country.

    CEOs of some of the tech-driven startups spoke on their experiences. The founder of Mamalette, a young ICT-driven business that provides existing and new mothers with technology-driven access to continuous quality content and network with those going through similar experiences, Anike Lawal, narrated her experience on how she kept on pushing against all odds and learning many skills to enable her company take off. Today she has over 80,000 members on her platform, reaching 200,000 people weekly and managing 1,800 registered forum users on the platform.

    Founder of Health Tech Global Solutions, Dr. Neto Ikpeme, also spoke on how he started three businesses that he had to stop until he found this current one. He said: “Rejection from sponsors or buyers should not deter an entrepreneur from pursuing his passion”.

    At the March edition of StartUP Friday, Okunowo said the programme would be expanded to feature pitches from at least ten tech-driven start-ups, product demonstrations, networking and shortlisting for an upcoming incubation programme overseas.

  • Kaspersky: Blame banks for $1b cyber robbery

    According to security researchers at Kaspersky Lab, the banking malware known as Carbanak has continued to wreak havoc, as a growing network of cybercriminals aggressively adopt advanced persistent threat (APT)-style attacks, breaking through security defences with assaults, such as spear-phishing emails carrying malicious software.

    They estimate that $1 billion has been stolen from financial institutions worldwide over the last two years. B  ut banks and other organisations must bear some of the blame for the success of the Carbanak malware in enabling criminal gangs to steal millions of dollars.

    Kaspersky Lab reports that the Carbanak malware continues to evolve and is one of a number of APTs used to attack banks and other companies.

    However, by constantly leaking metadata with critical information on public facing websites and relying on outmoded perimeter security these organisations are handing power to the criminals.

    Malicious exploits such as Carbanak that infect systems and render bank vaults defenceless are delivered by spear-phishing emails. Criminals have become astute at manipulating information gleaned from metadata leaked in banks’ outbound or website documents, using it to make these emails appear authentic, convincing employees to open files and infect the system.

    Banks’ continued investment in outdated legacy security and underinvestment in innovative cyber security solutions means they are on the back foot while criminals become more numerous, sophisticated and audacious.

    They neglect solutions that can now lead to 100 per cent effectiveness against the most common form of threat, which currently comes from documents within email attachments.

    Banks need to re-evaluate their current protocols and create policy that only allows the “known good” inside their organisation when an in-bound document arrives, rather than current approaches which are focused on finding and stopping the “known bad”.  The speed at which these criminals are innovating means banks will always be one-step behind if focusing on known common threats.

    Kaspersky Lab says file regeneration solutions now available allow only completely clean versions of files into a firm’s system, by recognising only what the manufacturer’s standard lays down and rebuilding it inside an organisation in real time.

    Assessing the risk presented by files and mapping that against how the business uses files enables policy and standards to be built that eliminates risk yet delivers business continuity.

    The end goal for all banks is to have trust in their security so that their employees do not have to be frightened of clicking on links, downloading documents and opening emails in their day to day jobs. But under the current barrage of attacks and the poor trust in existing security systems, banks simply can’t contemplate this. It’s time for this to change.

  • Domain’s rejection threatens Nigeria’s cyberspace identity

    Domain’s rejection threatens Nigeria’s cyberspace identity

    The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) has lamented that the refusal of Nigerians to register with the .ng domain name is a major challenge to the nation’s cyberspace identity, a decade after it was unveiled.

    Its President, Mr Sunday Folayan, who spoke in Lagos at a press conference to kick off  NIRA’s 10th anniversary, lamented that many Nigerians are not registering with the .ng domain name the way they should because they still do not believe in the country.

    “They would rather register with .com or .co.uk. Nigerians do not want to patronise anything made in Nigeria because we believe we are inferior whereas we are not,” he said.

    Folayan said the number of the .ng domain names registered in the last 10 years in relation to the population of over 170 million people was so insignificant. He urged Nigerians to have a change of heart  ng domain’’ helps to do better business in our locality, as we can’t rule the world without ruling our country first’’.

    Folayan said owning and using .ng domain name enhances Nigeria’s local content, improves branding and geo-targeting of local content in the market. He added that the registration also enhances visibility of businesses, products and services offered online and improves credibility.

    Folayan said the domain name will create availability of more names under the .ng domain, adding that the Domain Name Systems (DNS) industry is a revenue generator with abundant business opportunities.

    He corrected the impression that registering a company in .ng is local,, urging Nigerians to join in the noble act of promoting the growth of indigenous businesses, cultural heritage and economy.

    Folayan said NIRA will further reduce the cost of registering with the domain name to attract more people.

    “For now you can get the .ng domain name registered between N2, 000 and N20, 000, but very soon, registering a domain name will be much cheaper,” he said.

    Folayan said Nigerians must believe in themselves to do great things, adding that NIRA aims to see all local businesses online and wants people to have personal website.

    He particularly urged small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to register, adding that they are the economic engine room of the nation and would bring technological innovation that will bring the next billion naira enterprises to the country.

    He said the NiRA .ng selfie and animation competitions will be launched soon in effort to create local contents that inspire and encourage Nigerians to take advantages of the opportunities offered by the competitions.

  • Broadband ‘ll challenge satellite Tv, says Spectranet chief

    The Chief Executive Officer, Spectranet, David Venn, has said the emergence of cheap, available broadband internet services will give players in satellite pay television industry a good run for their money.

    He also said the same trend will pose a daunting challenge to the voice segment of the mobile telecoms industry in the country, adding that when more people are able to put about 10gigabytes of data on their smartphones, they are most likely going to abandon voice calls.

    He said the emergence of Netflix which offers its subscription at about $8 a month and allows unlimited access to movies, is a threat to existing pay satellite television content providers.

    According to him, when an instant messaging platform which can share picture and messages,such as WhatsApp made its debut a few years ago, it disorganised the revenue profile of telcos as the revenue component arising from short message services (SMS) went down significantly.

    Venn, who spoke in Lagos with information communications technology (ICT) editors, said Spectranet, an internet service provider (ISP) deploying the latest technology-4G or long term evolution (LTE), aligns totally with the eight-point agenda of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) CEO, Prof Umar Dambatta, adding that the firm wishes to revolutionise the access to the internet both in the rural and urban areas of the country.

    He said over the past one year, a lot has been done to improve the Spectranet network to make it more resilient and accommodate fast video streaming, adding that this year will mark the firm’s year of phenomenal growth across the country as plans have reached advanced stage to take services to the rural areas.

    He said the firm already has fibre optic cables in Lagos and Abuja, adding that the cables are also complemented with base transceiver stations (BTS) erected across the country to make end user experience on the network worth the cash paid for subscription. He said the firm has upgraded the network and was in talks with Netflix so that subscribers could download videos from Spectranet’s server in Nigeria saving the pains of downloading from America, adding that the firm has built its optic fibre cables in rings to take care of possible vandalism and possibility of service disruption.

     

  • Loading web page delays, videos raise heart rates, says Ericsson

    Tech giant Ericsson, has  said its new report shows that  delays in loading web pages and videos under time pressure caused mobile users’ heart rates to rise an average of 38 per cent.

    Six-second delays to video streaming caused stress levels to increase by a third. The report showed the impact of different levels of network performance on smartphone users, perceptions of telcos and digital content providers.

    According to the firm, neuroscience technology was used to objectively measure emotional responses to varied smartphone experiences.

    Its Mobility Report, says: “To put that in context, the stress incurred is equivalent to the anxiety of taking a math test or watching a horror movie alone, and greater than the stress experienced by standing at the edge of a virtual cliff. Once a video begins, an additional pause can cause stress levels to increase dramatically.

    “In the study, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) of an operator increased significantly when associated with a delay-free experience – by 4.5 points. This finding was also reflected when measuring emotional engagement using a neuroscience-based motivational index.”

    The report however noted that the operator’s NPS dropped on average four points with moderate time-to-content and re-buffering delays. Interestingly, moderate delays result in a double negative for mobile operators: decreased engagement with their brand and increased engagement with competitors.

  • ‘Nigeria’s future lies in software’

    Nigeria has the capacity to influence the global software technology landscape and reap huge benefits if the government makes a conscious effort to actualise the prosperous future that beckons the country in the sector, MD/CEO, SystemSpecs, Mr John Obaro, has said.

    He said the country should stop focusing on the agric sector at the basic levels, and concentrate on the potential of software technology where the future lies.

    Systemspecs developed Remita, the software powering Treasury Single Account (TSA) of thje Federal Government.

    Speaking on the sideline when he received Communications Technology Minister Adebayo Shittu, in his office in Lagos, he said to make the dream come true, government delegations on trade missions abroad should always include local software entrepreneurs or products.

    He added that the Federal Government should not receive foreign software as aids to the country in areas where the country has demonstrated local competence that can be polished.

    “No longer should our young and virile tech talents be allowed to succumb to foreign exploitation that retains them on foreign soil rather than become a blessing to their fatherland,” he said.

    Obaro said now that oil prices have been battered, it was the time for the country to take advantage of opportunities in software technology.

    He argued that the present situation in the country may be a divinely orchestrated providence, to jolt the country from oil dependency to harnessing the huge potential in software technology.

    “While our currency is struggling and the naira’s exchange rate against major currencies have almost doubled in less than a year, we still have to source enormous foreign exchange to service the huge foreign-owned software assets in use by government at all levels and across the private sector. The beneficiaries are those countries that have nurtured their software industry and caused us to be dependent on them even in critical areas of our national life,” Obaro said.

    He  wondered what the country would have benefitted were the software installed at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation [OAGF], Federal Inland Revenue Service [FIRS], Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems [NIBSS], the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] and the banks powered by indigenous software companies.

    “Let us imagine what would have happened if Government Integrated Financial Management Information System [GIFMIS] and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System [IPPIS] at OAGF are powered by indigenous software and not one from Estonia and USA respectively. If Integrated Tax Administration System [ITAS] at FIRS is an indigenous software and not from Canada; if the Bank Verification Number [BVN] platform deployed by NIBSS is powered by an indigenous software and not from Germany; if Real Time Gross Settlement [RTGS] platform at CBN is powered by indigenous software, and not one from Sweden.

    “Let us imagine that at least one Nigerian bank uses indigenous software rather than the prevailing situation where all the banks use foreign software procured from India, Jordan, Switzerland, and others,” he said.

    He listed the benefits of patronising indigenous software by the government to include assisting the Federal Government realise its objective of providing employment to teeming talented Nigerian youths. Others are the conservation of the huge foreign exchange currently lost when paid as annual software maintenance fee to foreign software providers and the retention of 100 per cent annual maintenance fees within the economy.

    Specifically, he said had the government patronised the indigenous software industry, this would have helped the country to preserve its foreign reserves and thereby become a net exporter of software and an earner of huge foreign exchange.

  • Google to support Cyber Crime Act’s implementation

    American search engine Google has pledged to support the Federal Government in the implementation of the Cybercrime Act to ensure that the country tapped fully from the limitless potential of the internet.

    Its Policy and Government Relations Manager, Titi Akinsanmi, said Google would work with the Nigerian government in a better way to ensure that opportunities that come with having the internet are not lost while trying to make sure that the internet space is regulated in a particular way.

    Speaking in Lagos during training on Safer Internet Day at Queens College, Yaba, Akinsanmi said one of the things missing in the internet space was local data, adding that Google would collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to address the issue.

    “We hear story, hear information but we do not have concrete data to be able to identify the number of young people who are actually online; what they are doing online or the location of the online user. We have institutions working around this but more importantly it is for us to be able to measure it in  concrete terms. What we want to do at Google is to put in place within the internet space measures that pulls data and is able to measure the quality of internet access, the kind of people and users locations among others,” she said.

    She said young internet users, particularly between the ages of 10 and 18 are active users and must be well mentored to prevent crime, scams, hackering and other forms of internet fraud. She said this age bracket must also be prevented from having an online exposure that is above their age.

    She insisted that kids should not be prevented from the internet; rather, parents, teachers and guardians should be responsible to guide them.

    She said: “Google cannot be the parent. This is why we interfere in the role of the parent or their teachers to equip them to ensure that the young ones actually engage in a safe space online.

    “There are many offerings that we have at Google that we do not just have the adult version but we have the kids version too.”

  • Education vital to skills development, says Lenovo

    Chinese original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Lenovo Group Limited has said good education is vital to the acquisition of technical skills which will facilitate economic development.

    It added that the realisation of this informed the inclusion of N2 million educational grants as part of prizes winners will take home in its ongoing national promotion.

    Executive Director, Mobile Business Group at Lenovo Middle East and Africa (MEA), Shashank Sharma, who spoke during the presentation of prizes to six more winners of N.2 educational grant each in Lagos, said the firm was happy to  touch the lives of its customers through education, adding that the gesture underscored the firm’s commitment to the economic development of the country.

    He described the initiative as a platform for Lenovo to connect with its consumers and appreciate them.

    He said: “The Lenovo National Promo is our way of thanking our customers for their loyalty and support; they are the major reason for our successes in the past year. The initiative also demonstrates our commitment to providing them with additional value for every smartphone purchase. We thank all of our esteemed customers for the very positive response they showed towards this campaign. We look forward to having more activities of this kind,” he said.

    Sharma added that Lenovo would continue to leverage on its expertise in mobile technology to improve the lives of its customers.

    The new winners – Kehinde Jinadu from Abuja, Emmanuel from Benin as well as Magdalene Okwuwe, Bode Afolayan, Ikekwuku and Morismo Harry from Lagos – were unveiled at the third draw of the promo which held in Lagos.

  • Transfast bags three nominations in Kalahari awards

    Transfast bags three nominations in Kalahari awards

    The Kalahari awards are honours which are given to best innovators and achievers in the Remittance and Mobile Money industry.

    Winners have been announced for the 2016 edition of the of the Kalahari awards which honours the best innovators and achievers in the remittance and mobile money industry.
    The winners of the award which will hold on February 2nd and 3rd in Lagos, Nigeria were named at the 2016 edition at the 6th Remittance and Mobile Money Expo.
    Transfast Money Transfer, which houses Transfast and Transpay, is among the top-notch financial institutions award winners. Transfast  scooped three nominations.
    The three nominations Transfast will take home include  include the Best Remittance Service award, the Best E-Commerce Payment Solution award and the Remittance Personality of the year award which was awarded to Jay Vix, Transfast’s Global Marketing Director.
    Jay Vix, a shrewd businessman, is described as a Jack of many trades with expertise knowledge on data-driven strategy, integrated marketing, experiential marketing and consumer acquisition amidst many more qualifications.
    The award select and honours the top-notch of the breed in all the segments of digital payments and remittance services. The categories include: remittance providers, financial institutions, mobile network operators, mobile money providers, application providers, card services, micro-finance organizations, regulators and individuals in the ecosystem in Africa and yonder.
    The expo at which the award winners were named is held annually in Nigeria to address the emerging trends in digital financial ecosystems in Africa covering regulations, technology, innovations from the supply and demand side value chain within Africa.
    It attracts prominent figures in the fields of remittance, payment, mobile financial services, banking and financial technology suppliers across Africa and beyond.
    The Kalahari awards place their focus on institutions that have made major contributions in the remittance and mobile financial arena, which Transfast, an international money transfer and Payment Company, majors in.