Category: e-Business

TO ensure that there is stronger security protection for data transmission before the February 25, 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been advised to conduct a stress test on Data-in-Motion (DiM) or in Transit on Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), before the election proper.

The Chief Executive Officer of New Horizons Nigeria, Mr. Tim Akano, gave the advice in Lagos when he spoke on: “understanding privacy and online risk in the digital world today,” to mark this year’s World Data Privacy Day, organised by the Data and Knowledge Privacy Protection Initiative.

He said the election would be the first time in the history of the country that live data will be used to determine who will be the next president of the country.

According to Akano, the inferno that can burn the country is the use of live data that is vulnerable to attack, noting it is in the best interest of INEC in particular and Nigeria, in general, to pay more attention to what he called the man in the middle attack, which hackers can exploit to intercept, modify, or retransmit election data while in motion or in transit.

“There is nothing more important in Nigeria than the success of the February election, and we are a country of about 222 million, and nothing must go wrong because the entire West African coast, from Benin Republic to Togo to Ghana, does not have the infrastructure to sustain us.”

Akano, pointing out instances where conflicting results in other countries had led to untold bloodbath, said between 2007 and 2008, Kenya witnessed an untold bloodbath arising from conflicting election results. In 2010 and 2011, Mr. Devil himself took over the affairs of Ivory Coast when conflicting election results were announced.

In 2016, Russia was alleged to have influenced the American presidential elections through technology, and in the recent Osun governorship Tribunal judgment, three types of BVAS results on the same election were alleged to have been tendered, adding that this should not be because maths is exact, absolute.

According to the 2022 Securonix Threat, insiders were involved in 57 per cent of data breaches and there are new technological solutions to this if INEC cares to prevent that.

While commending INEC for the end-to-end encryption done for the technology, he however called on INEC Chairman  to urgently to talk to some Nigerian Cyber security practitioners and appoint some devil’s advocate who will conduct a stress test on BVAS DiM before the wholesale adoption on February 25th, saying it is common practice for big companies such as Microsoft and Oracle to carry out test on new develop software by  calling on strong hackers to test it and see if they can hack into it easily, and if they can, then they go back to their lab to ensure they work on it.

Akano, going forward, advised INEC to carry out an upgrade after the election to ensure that the issue of overvoting does not arise from BVAS by building in a technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) which will alert you when overvoting arises from the pooling unit.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has introduced “Nigerian Girls Can code” competition in a bid to breach the gender gap between the males and the females in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

Apart from the cash prizes to all participating schools, the Commission gave out iPhone tablets to students and teachers of the Schools.

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated this at the headquarters of the Commission in Abuja during the award presentation to students who participated in the competition.

Speaking through the Exercise Commissioner Technical Services, NCC, Ubale Maska, he said, the competition is designed to enhance digital literacy, skills and bridge the digital divide between the men and women.

“The inclusion of girls in ICT is in line with United Nations efforts to empower girls in tech and close the digital gender gap.

The competition has been designed to enhance digital literacy and skills for the country’s emerging digital economy, bridge digital inequality, improve digital access as well as narrow the digital divide between men and women in the ICT innovation and development.

“The Nigerian girl can code competition is also framed to support technology skills learning for girls and promote broader national audience amongst others.”

The EVC explained that empowering women and girls would fuel thriving economies, spur productivity and growth.

According to him women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps.

“We believe that critical societal problems can be solved using technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things and data analytics. Application of these emerging technologies in agriculture has the potential to increase both operational efficiency of farmers and the yield of the land. It will provide competitive edge needed by farmers in terms of accurate decision making, improved productivity, and efficiency,” Danbatta stated .

Danbatta further said the competition was organised to empower women and young girls through technology skills and leadership opportunity to present and promote their schools support for STEM programme, and  show them  capacity for innovation to leverage ICT to ensure equitable and quality lifelong opportunities.

The Chairman of NCC Board, Prof Adeolu Akande, said the competition was designed to address the challenges of digital inequality, bring equity and narrow the digital gap between men and women in ICT

“Winners of this competition were selected based on the application functionality, innovation, accessibility, commercial potential and overall national impact,” he added.

Our Correspondent gathered that the NCC sent invitation to 54 secondary schools but only 36 responded and 12 indicated interest. And of the 12, only 11 participated with four judges, namely: Agwu Amugo, SAGE Nigeria (Chairman) Martha Alade, of Favour Women in technology in Nigeria (WITIN), the Administrative Secretary of Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, Paul Uzoechina, and Halima Mohammed of the NCC

 Aitabia International School Kano, emerged the overall winner with a prize of N1.5million, Federal Government Girls College, came second with N1million and Ambassadors School, Ogun State emerged second runner up with N.5million.

The near-collapse of electronic banking in the last one week owing to the frenzy occasioned by the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) policy on cash withdrawal limit and currency swap has shown that more still needed to be done to in the area of digital infrastructure provisioning. LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

Thirty-seven-year-OLD Chuks Odinaka had visited Justrite, a super market in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos for the normal weekend shopping. In view of the agonising wait at the few available automated teller machines (ATMS) dispensing cash in his neighbourhood, he had opted to pay through his bank’s mobile banking app.

Though the supermarket accepts ATM cards on its Point of Sale (PoS) machines, his experience the previous night had made the option of carrying an ATM card a worthless exercise in the last one week or so.

He had gone to a local bar with his friends, wife and two children for the weekend to have drinks and fish pepper soup. With a N10,000 bill to settle, Odinaka reached for his ATM card and asked the attendant to deduct his cash. He tried almost six times but there was no signal and the transaction remained unsuccessful.

“The experience wasn’t palatable at all. I had to resort to the use of my Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) to try to pay. After a successful payment, cash was deducted from my account but never credited to the merchant. Since they didn’t know me, they insisted I wait till they get transaction alert before they will let me go. The innocent woman, who lamented losing cash to several reversed transactions, insisted I will not leave. It was an embarrassment but it was the situation we found ourselves. After trying unsuccessfully too to use her mobile app to check her account balance, she gave up. Since I had two mobile phones and I live not too far away from her, I left one mobile phone with her. After three hours, she called that she had received an alert,” Odinaka said.

Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Garba Danbatta, said the growth in the telecom industry has led to convergence in various sectors, especially between telecoms and financial service sector.

According to him, there is no greater demonstration of this than the fact that financial transactions that were once conducted in-person at banking halls are now undertaken on consumers’ mobile devices. “Financial and commercial activities have been digitised, and the most common of these is the USSD, which has brought ease to financial transactions,” he had said.

With this experience, he had seen the worthlessness of his ATM cards. So he went to Justrite armed with his mobile banking app which not only failed him woefully but also embarrassed him monumentally.

Odinaka’s experience is but one of the several ugly experiences bank customers have been going through in the last one week or more. A food vendor, Iya Blessing, stopped accepting transfers because of the punitive cost of collecting her cash from PoS merchants in the absence of bank payments over the counter and ATMs.

Last December the CBN had directed deposit money banks and other financial institutions to ensure that over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities per week do not exceed N100,000 and N500, 000.  

 However, due to the mixed reactions from Nigerians, the apex bank increased the maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawals across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations to N500,000 and N5 million.

The cash withdrawal policy began on January 9,  2023.

According to the CBN, the aim is to boost the cashless policy and reduce the amount of cash outside the banking system.

The bank had directed commercial banks to load their ATMs with the redesigned naira notes in a bid to boost circulation.

The CBN also ordered the banks to halt dispensing the new currency notes over-the-counter. But in view of the sufferings of Nigerians, especially the vulnerable, the bank reversed itself.

He explained that the attention of the apex bank was drawn to complaints from Nigerians who have not been able to access the redesigned notes since the banks started dispensing them on December 15, 2022.

Cash outside banking vaults

CBN, in its money and credit statistics, said currency outside the banks added N108.67billion to N2.84 trillion in October 2022 from N2.73 trillion in September last year.

According to the CBN data, currency outside the banks appreciated by 11.07 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) from N2.54 trillion reported in corresponding period of 2021.

The statistics revealed that currency outside banks hit the highest record of N2.84trillion in October.

While defending its decision to redesign the Naira, the apex bank in October expressed that some individuals were stockpiling huge amounts of cash outside the banking system.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said: “Significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 85 per cent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks.

“To be more specific, as at the end of September 2022, available data at the CBN indicate that N2.73 Trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of Commercial Banks across the country; and supposedly held by the public.

“Evidently, currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015; rising from N1.46 trillion in December 2015 to N3.23 trillion in September 2022. This is a worrisome trend that cannot be allowed to continue.”

The statistics had shown that currency-in-circulation (CIC) grew YoY by 11.22 per cent to N3.3 trillion in October 2022 from N2.97 trillion in 2021.

CIC in October gained 2.17 per cent or N70.03billion to N3.3trillion in October from N3.23trillion reported by the CBN in September, the Statistics disclosed.

Stakeholders react

President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo blamed the flip-flop services of electronic transactions on the pressure exerted on the network owing to the knee-jerk CBN’s cashless policy implementation. He said the current state of access to telecoms services is very poor because of the pressure on the network.

“Cashless is good because it is a global phenomenon but it must be implemented gradually. With the current state of infrastructure now, you will be lucky if you make 10 cash transfers and get alert for two. As a matter of fact, the success rate of electronic cash transfer since the problem started has slumped to between 20 and 25 per cent.  The CBN should extend the timeline by another two months,” he said.

But in a swift reaction, the President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Ikechukwu Nnamani said the flip-flop service of electronic banking has nothing to do with the strength of current network infrastructure.

Nnamani who is the Chief Executive Officer of Medallion Communication Limited, said the inability of bank customers to make use of either the USSD or app is purely a fault of the banking platforms.

A new skills development initiative, Digital Expert Academy Digital, has set the target of training 10 million youths in soft skills that will make them fit for emerging technologies jobs over the next 10 years.

Founded by 21st Century Technologies, the academy said it will train youths in skills such as the management of digital infrastructure, technical skills, data centers and other information technology trainings.

Speaking during the inauguration of the academy in Lagos, Chairman, 21st Century Technologies, Mr Wale Ajisebutu, said the academy will build a team of young forward thinkers more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that will drive the conversations around innovation, technology and capacity development.

Mr Ajisebutu said the decision to kick off the academy stemmed from his long term ambition to train 10 million employable Nigerian youths that are tech savvy.

He expressed excitement for the future of data, digital and technology in Nigeria, adding that Digital Expert Academy is positioned to help young tech talents across Nigeria to unleash their full potentials and explore opportunities in the tech and digital ecosystem.

He also said the academy wants to address the issue of young tech talents wanting to leave Nigeria in search of greener pasture, a situation he coined as the “Japa Syndrome”.

 “Digital Expert Academy initiative is building an inclusive future for Nigerian youths through digital infrastructure,  data centre academy training for those interested in working in a world class digital infrastructure companies and hyper-scale data centers like 21st century technologies.

“The global talent shortage in tech has been well reported. A report by Korn Ferry predicts that by 2030, there will be as many as 85 million unfilled tech roles, translating to over $8 trillion lost revenue annually.

“Therefore, the digital expert academy is championing the transformation into technology solutions as a service, with our tech-enabled managed services portfolio courses and a commitment to technology innovation, operational excellence, and partnership intimacy,” he said.

The ceremony came after almost nine months of continuous effort by the team and its brand Architectural Contractor, SpaceIkon, towards ensuring a smart and digitally inclined tech campus for all young tech enthusiasts in Nigeria.

Also present for the inauguration were other tech giants, partners and guests such as Consular-General U.S Consulate, Mr Wills Stevens; MD Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Wole Adeniyi; CVO, Digital Encode, Dr Obadare Adewale; Country Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, Mrs Ola Williams; CEO SpaceIkon, Mr Dare Bakre, and tech giants such as Oracle Academy, Siemens Energy among others.

Mr Stevens expressed delight at the world class standard of the academy and said the facility has the capacity to compete with other world tech institutions. He reiterated support for the initiative which he said is geared towards bringing about more tech inclusion between Nigeria and the U.S. in furtherance to the long term goal of youth development in Nigeria.

Harnessing the digital economy, he said requires policies that support a long-term vision to transform Africa’s economies, societies, and governments, and unlock new drivers of economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction.

Dr Adewale stressed the importance of Nigeria being the African giant as a vantage point to positioning her youths as front runners in tech in line with it growing youthful population as adopted by other growing countries like India and Japan. “Technology is fast becoming the core of every human development and every form of business. It is most important that we also expand the adoption of technology especially for a country like Nigeria that is full of opportunities and its youthful population resources as the core of our human development,” he said.

Mrs Williams also said: “The digital expert academy platform would open enormous doors to uprising talents in tech, creative and digital industry towards the global inclusion of Nigeria as a nation to reckon with.

Dr Adewale, one of the most certified cyber-security expert in Nigeria, expressed delight at the introduction of the academy at a time when Nigeria as a nation needed a platform to empower its youthful population.

The information communication technology (ICT) space continues to be the centre of attraction for boosting national revenues and creating jobs for the youthful population. LUCAS AJANAKU reports that while cyber threats will not abate, an expert highlights aspects of hardware and software technologies that IT managers must prioritise for optimal results.

As organisations continue to navigate through economic challenges, no thanks to the slow post-COVID economic recovery, ransomware operations have remained the top cyber threat to companies and organisations across the world.

This is according to Group-IB’s Hi-Tech Crime Trends 2022/2023 report that covered the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and which the company’s threat intelligence analysts, it stipulated that the number of companies that had their information uploaded onto dedicated leak sites (DLS) between H2 2021 and H1 2022 was up 22per cent year-on-year to 2,886, which corresponded to eight companies having their data leaked online every single day. 

This just as PPC Limited, a leading ICT and infrastructure development company, has shared some technology trends that will help Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), IT managers or Chief Information Officers (CIOs) improve business operations and achieve greater productivity and corporate profitability during the year.

The Director of ICT Operations at PPC Limited, Dr. Patrick Ede, said: “This year’s predictions highlight some key aspects of hardware and software technologies that IT managers must prioritize in their strategy to remain competitive over the next 12 months.”

In the MEA region, 150 companies had their information leaked on DLS during the reporting period.

For the second consecutive year, Group-IB researchers observed the increasing impact of initial access brokers (IABs) on the ransomware market in MEA and beyond.

Group-IB researchers detected 2,348 instances of corporate access being sold on dark web forums or privately by IABs, twice as much compared to the preceding period.

The number of brokers also grew from 262 to 380, leading to a drop in prices that made the attacks of ransomware gangs and other threat actors more affordable. In the MEA region, the number of network access offers more than doubled to 179 in H2 2021 – H1 2022, resulting in a drop in price of total offers of 23 per cent.

Group-IB added that globally, 2,886 companies had their information, files, and data published on DLS in H2 2021 – H1 2022, a 22per cent increase compared to the 2,371 companies affected during the previous period (H2 2020 – H1 2021), according to ITWeb.

As with the preceding year, the number of ransomware-related data leaks peaked in the final quarter of 2021, when the data of 881 companies was shared on dedicated leak sites.

The cyber security firm says it is important to note that the actual number of ransomware attacks is believed to be significantly higher as many victims chose to pay the ransom and some ransomware gangs do not use DLS.

“It is worth noting that the number of victims whose data was published in the wake of ransomware attacks in H2 2020 – H1 2021 was 935per cent up from the preceding year. As a result, the 22per cent year-on-year growth seen in the observed period suggests that the Ransomware-as-a-service market has passed the phase of rapid growth and is now beginning to stabilise,” CEO at Group-IB, Dmitry Volkov.

Group-IB discovered that companies based in North America (50per cent of companies whose data was leaked by ransomware gangs) were the most affected by ransomware-related data leaks. Comparatively, the MEA region was the second-least affected by ransomware-related data leaks, as 150 companies from the region had their data published online. Only 5.3 per cent of the leaks on DLS contained data from countries from this region.

The most affected countries were Israel (23 companies), South Africa (21), Turkey (14), United Arab Emirates (14), and Saudi Arabia (12).

Other affected countries in Africa were: Egypt (six companies), Morocco (three companies), Angola (two companies), Botswana (two companies), Nigeria (two companies), Zambia (two companies), Côte D’Ivoire (two companies), and Burkina Faso, Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia (all one)

The most active ransomware gang in the MEA market was Lockbit, responsible for 37 per cent of publications of victims’ data from the region on designated leak sites. Second in this list was Conti, a Russian-speaking ransomware group that launched the devastating ARMattack campaign at the end of 2021, which was responsible for 12 per cent of leaks, and third was Hive (four per cent of leaks).

  Ede said as organizations continue to build digital capacity, data privacy and protection are vital. While there’s a lot of focus on cyber protection, organisations need to develop capacities in cyber resilience in the event of an actual attack or error.  Training of personnel on safety on the web coupled with data recovery and continuity efforts should not take a backseat.

On smart technologies, Ede said these have a transformative effect wherever they are applied. This year, organisations as well as governments will harness the benefits they offer. In smart cities, the application of internet of things (IoT) and other smart systems will ensure the needs of citizens are met by seamless communication, connected transport systems, street lighting, security and traffic control. In buildings, smart devices that use artificial intelligence can prevent unauthorised access, track assets and improve overall security. Efficiency, productivity and increased uptime will greatly improve with the use of fully-integrated manufacturing systems that utilise artificial intelligence (AI), IoT and other cloud-based applications that can be managed from any location.

He said the launch and availability of the fifth generation (5G) network will greatly improve broadband access for various mission-critical and secure operations. In 2023, Nigeria and three other countries in sub-Saharan Africa are predicted to gain increased 5G adoption. There are 5G- consumer devices available already in these countries, which are in turn facilitating increased uptake.

“The improved speed and low latency 5G offers will open up new vistas of possibilities for better industrial operations and further propel investment into the entertainment industry. The resulting advancement will be driven by extended reality, augmented reality, virtual reality, and ultra-high-density videos.  Energy companies will benefit from real-time monitoring of assets, energy usage and improved revenue using 5G network access” he said.

On clean climate technologies, he said climate change advocacy and the commitment of organizations to rethink their operations while reducing carbon footprint will encourage investment in clean technologies that reduce environmental impact and assure energy efficiency. These technologies include renewable power systems and smart lighting, adding that for collaborative tools, the remote or flexible work model is here to stay. Workplaces will continue to develop flexible work structures and invest in collaborative tools that make communication seamless, he stressed.

More businesses, PPC said, would migrate their storage to the cloud this year as it posits as a critical aspect of digital transformation. Cloud products and services support remote or hybrid workplaces, and ensure data privacy while delivering scalability, speed, and cost savings.

 “While the list is non-exhaustive, these are critical areas that decision-makers need to harness for heightened productivity, profitability and continued relevance,” Ede said.

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Tecno, has said it is aligning its products line with the realities of the need to preserve the environment through eco-friendly materials.

Marketing Manager, Tecno Mobile Nigeria, Attai Oguche, who spoke at the unveiling of the new Phantom X2 smartphone in Lagos at the weekend, said the company will continue to innovate on its products.

Oguche said the smartphone is eco-friendly. “The Phantom X2 is a game-changer device for all smartphone users across the nation as it provides the best and latest technology in the best design possible,” he said, adding that a comparison of the device in the current global market only proves its superiority over others in the market.

According to him, a standout feature of the device is its camera-grade retractable portrait lens, which eliminates the need for a separate digital camera. The device also boasts of a 32 MP selfie camera and a 64MP rear camera, producing sharp, clear photographs. Additionally, the 4nm flagship CPU ensures smooth operation without lag. The device also boasts 12GB+256GB of PC-level memory, making it suitable for a variety of tasks, including content creation and gaming.

The Phantom X2, he said, also boasts of a 5160mAh battery with a 45W supercharger, allowing for fast charging. The phone’s unibody double-curved construction not only looks sleek, but it’s also made from recyclable materials, making it environmentally friendly.

“Nigerian customers have been pre-ordering the PHANTOM X2 since the end of last year, and those who did were rewarded with smart watches and sunglasses worth N75,000. Additionally, customers who make full payments before January 31st will receive N10,000 cash back and one person will get a 100per cent cash-back.

Even if you missed the pre-order, you can still purchase the PHANTOM X2 and stand a chance to win prizes such as the PHANTOM razor toothbrush G-box or the Phantom draw-bar box.

Visit any Tecno store across Nigeria for more information and to purchase your own Phantom X2. Keep updated on the launch and other details by following Tecno on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter,” Oguche said.

The unveiling event held at Jewel Aeida center in Lekki, had “beyond the extraordinary,” as the theme.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) are collaborating to stop unapproved lottery and gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing.

The two regulators signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said will impact the gaming industry. He said it was in sync with the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), adding that it was in a bid to promote fair practices in the industry for the protection of telecoms consumers in relation to lottery and gaming activities.

He said the collaboration is in line with the provisions of Commission’s SVP 2021-2025, which provides for facilitation of strategic partnership and collaboration with other bodies to enhance service delivery.

“The initial MoU expired in 2022, amendments and modifications have been made since no MoU is cast in stone, especially given the industry’s dynamic nature,” he said.

The Director-General, NLRC, Mr Lanre Gbajabiamila, expressed confidence that the MoU will yield favourable outcomes in curbing illegal online gambling as he expressed hope that NCC and NLRC will achieve their intentions in the interest of gaming stakeholders.

He noted how unapproved lottery and gaming activities and practices undermine the integrity of domestic and global gaming markets to the detriment of stakeholders in addition to undermining consumer confidence in these markets, hence the collaboration with the Commission to arrest such tendencies.

The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mr. Adeleke Adewolu, said the MoU was designed to address recent technology information-sharing capabilities and consumer satisfaction and to enhance areas of co-regulation in line with the Federal Government’s digital economy mandate.

The new MoU replaces the one that was first signed by both organisations, which expired last year. It provides complementary approaches to deter unapproved lottery/gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing in recognition of how unapproved lottery and gaming activities and practices undermine the integrity of domestic and global gaming markets to the detriment of stakeholders in addition to undermining consumer confidence in these markets.

Under the agreement, following requests from NLRC, NCC shall endeavour to block or disable illegal lottery gaming operators on the telecommunications service providers’ platform in Nigeria and NLRC

The document was developed by a Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) comprising representatives of NCC and NLRC to implement the MoU and other matters that promote collaboration between both organisations in their regulatory functions.

Project entrepreneurship has become more relevant. Some individuals and organisations have embrace it and the concept has brought out innovations  which have led to successes in project management. Chief Executive Officer, Undia Integrated Services Limited, Okundia Jonathan is on the campaign to share ideas to boost project management, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The Chief Executive Officer, Undia Integrated Services Limited, Okundia Jonathan has worked on many projects and nurtured them on good governance structure to become self-sustained over time.

For him, the successes of projects depends on the robust project management framework, which will preserve investments and ensure that resources – people, time and money – are used strategically and align to defined business needs.

He said organisations with the knowledge that project management was key to their business have benefited from keeping up with the evolving demands in the marketplace.

Jonathan, who has a degree in Engineering, an MBA and a PMP Certification, has been a player in the oil and gas industry as far back as 1998 and has continued to make a mark using project management methodology.

Explaining what his work entails, he said: “As a project management expert, my work entails integrating all aspects of a project, ensuring that right and adequate knowledge and resources are available and properly utilised, when and where needed, and above all, ensuring that the expected results are produced in a timely, cost- effective manner. As a project manager, I must be able to deliver the intended projects objectives and values to the stakeholders regardless of the prevailing variability. It requires the use of the right tools and techniques in integrating all knowledge areas appropriately from initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and then, closing the project when the project objectives have been met structurally and functionally.”

Giving insight into his specialisation, he stated: “We provide project management services from field development and business planning stages through operation and production, and abandonment in the oil and gas exploration and production life cycle. I have been in this business for over two decades.”

Sharing his experience, he said it has been very challenging, yet gratifying. He had sleepless nights of brainstorming on concepts becoming a reality and providing value to clients and their stakeholders.

On core solutions he has brought to clients, he explained: “We have revamped and retrofitted several existing oil and gas facilities onshore and offshore Niger Delta, and built new oil and gas production and processing facilities that are all operational and in production.”

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM), ASUS, has stressed the importance of gaming performance and outstanding power efficiency in a sleek portable chassis in laptops.

Its CVP and GM OEM PC, Jason Banta, who spoke during the unveiling of the all-new TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition, an all-AMD gaming laptop with a redesigned chassis and an incredibly immersive 16-inch display.

“AMD and ASUS have partnered to deliver our latest ‘Zen 4’ and RDNA 3 technologies into the most innovative form factors. The TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition delivers blistering gaming performance and outstanding power efficiency in a sleek portable chassis,” Banta said.

The TUF Gaming A15, A17, F15 and F17 laptops also make a triumphant return, sporting the latest silicon from AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA to power players into the next generation of gaming performance.

Banta explained that the TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is a sleek gaming laptop, was built to demolish the competition. Powered completely by AMD, the TUF Gaming A16 features up to an AMD Ryzen 9 Zen 4 processor and AMD Radeon RDNA 3 mobile graphics.

As an AMD Advantage Edition machine, ASUS and AMD have worked together to leverage both hardware and software to their full potential, ensuring the TUF Gaming A16 is fully compatible with AMD’s latest gaming-centric features.

Exclusive features such as AMD SmartShift and AMD Smart Access Memory technologies   enhance system performance and efficiency, while AMD SmartAccess Graphics technology makes the most of every frame by automating switching between integrated and discrete graphics or provide full manual control with a dedicated MUX switch.

What horsepower drives an immersive 16-inch panel with narrow bezels and a huge 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio. Even in frenetic titles, the QHD 240 Hz refresh rates let the TUF Gaming A16 keep up with the pros. With AMD FreeSync Premium technology, the display’s refresh rate synchronizes with the GPU’s output to reduce lag, minimize stuttering, and eliminate visual tearing for ultra-smooth and lifelike gameplay. A16:10 aspect ratio display gives incredible immersion and image detail in slower paced titles.

The TUF Gaming A16 boasts even more upgrades under the hood. 4800 MHz DDR5 RAM keep games and programs feeling snappy and responsiv, while up to 2 TB of PCIe Gen4 storage leaves plenty of room for even the largest game libraries. USB4 support allows for compatibility with the latest peripherals and high-speed external storage, while a 90 Wh battery and USB-C power delivery keep the TUF Gaming A16 running all day long.

The TUF Gaming family has always been inspired by the durability and reliability of military-grade equipment, and the A16 leans further into that history with the brand-new Sandstorm colorway. Inspired by the wastelands of battlefields, this custom anodized aluminium finish is the perfect paintjob for a military-grade laptop. For those looking to keep a lower profile, Off-Black also makes a return to help gamers to blend in with the crowd. The machine is also certified to meet MIL-STD-810H spec, guaranteeing its reliability across a range of demanding tests, proving that the TUF Gaming A16 is the perfect blend of style and durability.

The 2023 ASUS TUF Gaming F15 and TUF Gaming F17 laptops enter this year’s lineup with up to a 13th Generation Intel Core i9-13900H processor, with a mix of Performance and Efficient-cores carefully balancing gaming and multitasking power. The 2023 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 and TUF Gaming A17 come equipped with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 Zen 4 processor, leveraging incredible gaming performance with serious battery endurance. All four models sport up to the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series Laptop GPUs with G-SYNC support, and feature a max TGP of 140 W with Dynamic Boost. This pairing of high-powered CPUs and high-performance mobile GPUs delivers incredible gaming performance in all the latest titles.

New for 2023, all four models now feature a MUX Switch with NVIDIA® Advanced Optimus, ensuring next-level performance. A MUX Switch allows a laptop to bypass the integrated graphics when gaming, increasing performance and reducing latency, and the addition of NVIDIA Advanced Optimus allows this process to happen automatically, giving gamers increased performance in games without needing to press a single button.

High-performance hardware demands superior cooling. As part of its cooling system, dual Arc Flow Fans feature an 84-blade design, with blades that taper down to just 0.1 mm to reduce turbulence. These fans provide up to 13 per cent more airflow than their predecessor, despite being quieter than last year’s design, and access to higher GPU power targets for even more performance. With its cooling design, the TUF Gaming family is sure to give gamers every advantage in 2023.