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Oviosu, Paga Boss Speaks @ 2017 Spring Meetings, Washington DC

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Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO Paga,
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Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO Paga, Nigeria’s #1 Digital Financial Service company, spoke at the Spring Meetings hosted by World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC recently.

The Spring Meetings, each year brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.

The conference featured a variety of seminars, panel discussions, regional briefings and many other events.

As part of the 2017 Spring Meetings, Paga was used as a case study for Digital Financial Services during the session “Driving Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa”.

This is evident of World Bank Group and IMF recognition of Paga’s role in championing the growth of digital financial services to the mass market in Nigeria.

Paga’s innovation is at the core of transformation of financial inclusion in Nigeria by providing technology that benefits individuals and small businesses in Nigeria – those who have no access to formal financial services and credit.

Speaking on digital financial services in Nigeria, Carla Grarsso, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund said: “It’s really fantastic what technology is doing. Financial inclusion and the broader availability f financial services are critical. It is critical for women and young people to build their assets in creating new enterprise. Africa leads the world in the use of mobile technology and these developments being challenges of their own – regulation and educating consumers about new products. This session showed us insights into how Nigeria is navigating these complex issues. Financial inclusion goes hand-in-hand with financial instability which is our core of business. We are supporting financial inclusion through our capacity development activities and the more we learn from innovators like Tayo Oviosu, the better equipped we are to serve our membership. We are excited to be part of this wave of technological progress and we can wait to see how it will improve the lives of millions of people in the not so distant future.”       

Tayo shared his entrepreneurial experiences with Paga aiming to solve two problems – ease of payments, and access to finance for the mass market.  

He shared Paga’s role in delivering digital financial services to all areas across Nigeria through the Paga Agent Network of over 11,000 entrepreneurs in all states of the country.

Compared to the 5,358 branches of all banks in Nigeria, the Paga Agent network is the single largest and most active network of financial services access points in Nigeria.

Paga Agents offer a convenient location for customers to send money to anyone using the recipients phone number, deposit money to any bank account, withdraw money from bank accounts, and pay bills.

Reflecting on his invitation by the IMF to be a keynote speaker at the Spring Meetings Oviosu said “It is a great recognition of the work of our 200-person strong team that the IMF would invite me to give a keynote talk on digital financial services using Paga as a case study.

At Paga we are very focused on building Africa’s #1 payments and digital bank. Our strategy and approach is unique in that we have built an agent network that is open to banks to leverage and we will also over financial services in partnership with the banks leveraging our platform. Our goal is to bring access to financial services to 30m Nigerians by 2020.”

Tayo founded Paga in 2009 with a mission to deliver innovative and universal access to financial services for individuals and businesses across Africa.

Today, Paga has over 200 employees, 6 million unique customers and over 11,000 authorized agents enabling trade, business and economic growth across Nigeria.

Paga continues to innovate and work closely with banks and other financial institutions to introduce more services that will make it even easier for people to conveniently make payments and get access to financial services.


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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IHS Nigeria, UNICEF Donate Oxygen Plant to Bridge Health Gap in River State

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IHS Nigeria and its implementing partner, the United Nations Child Education Fund (UNICEF) has expressed satisfaction that the Oxygen Plant recently donated to Rivers State is helping to bridge the health Gap in the state and its environs.

This observation was made recently when officials from IHS Nigeria and UNICEF, carried out a project inspection visit to the plant located at the General Hospital in Eleme, Rivers State.

During the handing over of the oxygen plant to the Rivers State Government in 2024, the facility was reported to have a production capacity of 123 oxygen cylinders and 720,000 litres of oxygen every 24 hours.

The plant was built under a Public-Private Partnership involving UNICEF, the Canadian Government, IHS Nigeria, in partnership with the Rivers State Ministry of Health through the State Hospital Management Board.

Speaking during the visit to the facility yesterday, the Director of Sustainability at IHS Nigeria, Titilope Oguntuga, noted that the oxygen plant has saved lives and is helping to bridge health gaps in the eight other states where similar plants are located.

She further explained that the visit reflects the organisation’s commitment “not only to create opportunities for impact but to also continue supporting the healthcare industry by carrying out such interventions that directly impact individuals and saves lives. This plant is one of the nine oxygen plants we have built across the federation,” she said.

“We are particularly excited that it is helping to bridge health gaps—not just in Rivers State and its environs, but in all the states where the plants are currently located.”

Oguntuga informed that in terms of sustainability “we focus our intervention sustainability on four pillars; ethics and governance, education and economic growth, environment and climate change and finally, people and communities”.

She added that “the visit to the Rivers State oxygen plant is to have an assessment of how well the plant is functioning, the impact it is currently making and to generally understand how the operation is going”.

On his part, Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Port Harcourt, Dr Anslem Audu, stated that the plant has been very functional and useful to the people of Rivers State. According to him, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of patients needed oxygen and oxygen was not available. So many children will come down with pneumonia and it will become an emergency, they will need oxygen, but oxygen is not available in the hospital. But with this plant now available no child will die because of lack of oxygen in the hospital. The era of lack of oxygen is no longer there.

Audu added that “You can practically visit any of the hospitals in Port Harcourt and find out that they have oxygen and the product is from this plant all thanks to IHS Nigeria, the Canadian Government and UNICEF”.

The UNICEF field officer, who confirmed that the plant is functioning optimally, said it is producing enough oxygen for the state’s needs.

In his words, “The partnership between these three organizations and the Ministry of Health in Rivers State has really worked, and we are reaping the benefits of the partnership.

He urged the implementing partners, especially the government, to also invest in the sustainability of the facility by providing a source of electricity for the plant to be more functional.

Earlier, the Medical Director Eleme General Hospital, Dr Leechi-Okere Clarabelle, noted that since the day of the unveiling, the plant has been functioning very well. Commenting on impact he noted that “We’ve had success stories whereby oxygen is distributed to public hospitals in the state, including the two teaching hospitals in the state and then we have also extended distribution to some private hospitals within the state.

“We have two hubs that serve as storage and distribution points because of the location of the plant. We produce here and store somewhere in Port Harcourt so that people who come from a far distance can get oxygen from these hubs.

 


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JAMB Accuses Student of Securing Admission through Identity Fraud

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Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has accused a 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate of manipulating his identity and engaging in online blackmail.

JAMB Accuses Student of Securing Admission through Identity Fraud

Fabian Benjamin, head of public affairs, JAMB, issued a statement on the matter on Thursday.

He said one Chinedu Okeke, currently a 400-level Medicine and Surgery student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), gained admission in 2021 while claiming to be from Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos state.

JAMB said Okeke’s national identification number (NIN) records from 2021 confirm his Lagos origin.

The board stated it does not alter candidate information provided through NIN.

The board, however, said the 400-level student, who is facing potential challenges for incorrect credentials, is now claiming that it retrieved the wrong details for him from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in 2021.

“[This] is unequivocally false, aimed at fabricating a defence for his case,” Benjamin said.

“The evidence suggests that Chinedu altered his records as filled in 2021 before registering for the 2025 UTME, a fact confirmed by even his advocates.”

The board questioned why a 400-level medical student would seek to study mechanical engineering in 2025, especially with “inconsistencies in his claims.”

JAMB alleged that Okeke “took advantage” of Lagos state’s quota in 2021, thereby obstructing the admission opportunities for other deserving candidates from the state.

It added that he then “attempted to manipulate his details with the NIMC” to unjustly claim representation from Anambra state in 2025.

The board criticised “online advocates” for “actively reaching out to Chinedu’s parents to extract emotional narratives rather than factual clarifications, neglecting to seek information directly from the university.”

JAMB affirmed its commitment to maintaining accurate records and preventing candidates from exploiting loopholes.

It warned that if UNN confirms any inconsistencies, it would notify the Medical and Dental Council to consider delisting Okeke.

“When a nation trivialises illegalities, it breeds a future fraught with potential criminality,” Benjamin’s statement concluded.


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Check Point Report Finds Africa as Top Target for Cyber-attacks

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Africa has become the most targeted region globally for cyber-attacks in the first quarter of 2025, according to new research from Check Point Software Technologies. The company’s Q1 2025 Global Cyber Attack Report reveals a steep rise in malicious activity as the continent continues to accelerate its Digital transformation.

Ethiopia emerged as the most targeted country in Africa during the reporting period. FakeUpdates ranked as the most common malware, while 80% of malicious files across the continent were delivered via e-mail. In contrast, 62% of threats in SA were distributed via the web.

On average, organisations in Africa faced 3 325 cyber-attacks per week – a staggering 72% above the global average of 1 938 attacks per organisation.

Check Point Software unpacked the findings at a media roundtable in Johannesburg. Eli Smadja, global research group manager at Check Point, provided a detailed overview of Africa’s evolving cyber threat landscape, which he said is increasingly defined by AI-powered threats, ransomware, infostealers, edge device vulnerabilities and cloud-based risks.

Among the most concerning developments was the discovery of a previously undocumented multi-stage backdoor, dubbed Stealth Soldier, currently being deployed in cyber operations targeting North African government entities. The malware forms part of a broader command-and-control infrastructure used in spear-phishing campaigns.

Smadja noted a growing trend in malware designed to bypass AI detection systems.

“These aren’t aimed at advanced large language models (LLMs), but rather at lower-level ones,” he said. “It’s about LLM evasion – fooling the AI and manipulating prompts.”

Despite the increasing use of AI in cyber security, Smadja cautioned against over-reliance on AI-driven defence systems. “AI still requires human prompting.”

Check Point is advocating for a zero trust model and a holistic, automated and consolidated approach to cyber security. This includes centralised threat visibility and simplified controls to protect against ransomware, phishing, data theft and vulnerabilities at the edge.

“Just having something at the perimeter isn’t enough,” Smadja said. “Cyber-attacks are not just targeting PCs or servers anymore. For instance, we’ve seen state-sponsored attacks aimed at fuel pumps to disrupt national supply chains.”

He highlighted the importance of understanding external risk – threats originating outside the organisation – especially as AI-driven ransomware and attacks on third-party service providers continue to rise.

“Printers, for example, are a major attack vector,” he added. “They’re often network-connected, and threat actors can exploit them to gain broader access.”

Credentials, Smadja noted, are also a lucrative commodity on the dark web, often selling for around $500.

 


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