Ajay Banga, the World Bank President, has unveiled plans to connect 300 million women to internet access by 2030. This initiative is part of the World Bank’s broader strategy to tackle gender inequality and spur economic development, ensuring that women are not excluded from the global digital revolutions.

Speaking on Thursday during a panel discussion at the 2024 Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, Banga highlighted the critical role of broadband in empowering women.

The panel also included Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; the UK’s Minister for Development and Women and Equalities, Anneliese Dodda; and Togo’s General Secretary at the Presidency, Sandra Johnson.

“Our world is driven by data and technology. If women are locked out of broadband, it presents a significant barrier to their empowerment. We aim to connect 300 million women to broadband by 2030, particularly in regions where infrastructure is most lacking,”Banga said.

The programme will prioritise areas where women face the greatest challenges, including 15 African countries, and will combine digital connectivity with skills development and access to financial services.

“We’re not just building infrastructure; we’re equipping women with the tools to derive real value from it—through skills training, education, and financial access,” Banga explained.

In addition to broadband access, the World Bank plans to provide 250 million women with direct social benefits via digital registers. These platforms will enhance transparency, ensuring that women receive financial aid without interference.

“Our goal is to empower women not just financially but through digital education and skills, enabling them to engage in more sustainable economic activities,” Banga said.

Another key aspect of the initiative is to connect 80 million women to financial services, giving them the capital needed to start or expand their businesses.

“When women start businesses, they often employ other women, creating a multiplier effect that can significantly impact communities,” Banga noted.

The initiative will be executed in collaboration with governments, fintech companies, private equity firms, and financial institutions. Plans also include the introduction of “gender bonds” to raise funds specifically for empowering women.

Banga highlighted Nigeria as one of the 25 countries where the World Bank is working on regulatory reforms aimed at improving women’s access to financial services.

Despite the arrest of important operators in early 2024, Grandoreiro continues to be used by its partners in new campaigns. Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis team (GReAT) has discovered a new light version focused on Mexico targeting around 30 banks. These findings are to be highlighted at the Security Analyst Summit (SAS) 2024.

Remaining one of the most active threats globally and targeting users of more than 1,700 banks, Grandoreiro variants account for around five percent of banking trojan attacks this year.  Mexico is one of the most targeted countries by various Grandoreiro strains, including the new light version, seeing 51,000 recorded incidents this year.

Kaspersky data indicates Grandoreiro has been active since 2016. In 2024, the threat targets more than 1,700 financial institutions and 276 cryptocurrency wallets across 45 countries and territories, lastly adding Asia and Africa to the list of its targets, making it a truly global financial threat.

Among countries affected in Africa are Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda.

After assisting an INTERPOL-coordinated action, which has led to Brazilian authorities arresting operators behind a Grandoreiro banking trojan operation, Kaspersky discovered that the group’s codebase has been split into lighter, fragmented versions of the trojan, to continue its attacks.

Recent analysis has identified a specific light version focused primarily on Mexico, which has been used to target approximately 30 financial institutions. The creators likely have access to the source code and are launching new campaigns using the simplified legacy malware.

“All the recent developments underscore the evolving nature of the threat. Fragmented and lighter versions may represent a trend that could extend beyond Mexico and into other regions, including beyond Latin America.

However, we believe that only some trusted affiliates have access to the malware source code to develop such lighter versions. Grandoreiro operates differently from the traditional ‘Malware-as-a-Service’ model we are accustomed to.

You won’t find announcements on underground forums selling the Grandoreiro package; instead, access to it appears to be limited,” explains Fabio Assolini, head of the Latin American (GReAT) at Kaspersky.

Multiple variants of Grandoreiro, including the new light version and the primary malware, accounted for approximately five percent of global banking trojan attacks detected by Kaspersky in 2024, making it one of the most active threats worldwide.

Kaspersky has also analysed the newer samples of the primary Grandoreiro from 2024, and observed new tactics.

It records mouse activity to mimic real user patterns, aiming to evade detection by machine learning-based security systems that analyse behaviour. By replaying natural mouse movements, the malware aims to trick anti-fraud tools into seeing the activity as legitimate.

Additionally, Grandoreiro has adopted a cryptographic technique known as Ciphertext Stealing (CTS), which Kaspersky has never seen being used in malware. In this case, its aim is to encrypt the malicious code strings.

“Grandoreiro has a large and complex structure, which would make it easier for security tools or analysts to detect if its strings were not encrypted. This is likely why they introduced this new technique – to complicate the detection and analysis of their attacks,” Fabio Assolini elaborated.

d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, has been chosen to take part in the latest Kenyan Government initiative to expand the uptake of off-grid solar home systems and clean cookstoves in underserved rural counties in the country.

d.light has been selected to take part in the latest round of the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP), a program set up by the Government of Kenya and funded by the World Bank with the aim of closing the energy access gap in Kenya by providing electricity and clean cooking solutions to remote and traditionally underserved areas of the country not covered by the national energy grid.

d.light will provide solar power and clean cooking solutions to over 150,000 people who currently lack access to electricity and clean cooking. To address affordability, d.light’s solar products will be sold on an instalment plan via d.light’s “PayGo” service.

The program covers 14 counties in total – 13 counties in the north, east and south-east of the country, including West Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita Taveta: plus the southwestern county of Narok.

According to 2022 data from the World Bank, 24 percent of Kenya’s population of 54 million people still lack access to electricity, with more than 34 percent of Kenya’s rural population without access.

In addition, only 30 percent of the entire population currently have access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking. The majority still use harmful and polluting fuels like unprocessed biomass, charcoal, coal, and kerosene.

Commenting on the news, d.light’s Managing Director for Kenya, Karanja Njoroge, said, “Kenya has achieved sustained economic growth and social development in the last decade or so, and its economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and central Africa.

“However, many of its citizens still live without access to electricity, especially in rural areas outside the major towns and cities. These areas are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including droughts and desertification.”

Njoroge continued, “Kenya was one of the first African countries in which d.light launched operations back in 2008, and our headquarters for Africa is in Nairobi.

With our combination of tried-and-tested, market-leading products, established distribution channels, and our secure “PayGo” payment system, d.light is ideally placed to participate in this latest drive to extend clean, safe, renewable energy to the people and communities in rural Kenya who need it.

“Thanks to the KOSAP initiative, a better quality of life is within reach for many Kenyans.”

The Government of Kenya launched the KOSAP program in November 2018. The program consists of four components with a total budget of USD$150M provided as a grant from the World Bank:

 Component 1: Mini-grids for community facilities, businesses, and households

 Component 2: Standalone Solar Home Systems and clean cooking solutions for households

Component 3: Standalone systems and solar water pumps for community facilities

Component 4: Capacity building for development, planning and regulation of power and renewable energy at a county government level

d.light is participating in Component 2, which has been allocated USD$15.7M of the total budget. Of this amount, USD$9.3M is earmarked for off-grid solar solutions and USD$6.4M for clean cookstoves.

The KOSAP program is part of Kenya Vision 2030, the long-term development blueprint for the country first launched in 2008 by then President Mwai Kibaki. Vision 2030’s aim is to transform Kenya by 2030 into an industrialized, prosperous, competitive middle-income country that provides a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment.

This news follows d.light’s nomination in September as a finalist for this year’s Earthshot Prize, the prestigious annual international environmental award founded by the UK’s Prince William that showcases groundbreaking sustainable solutions for repairing and regenerating the planet.d.light is one of 15 finalists. The winners will be announced at the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday 6 November.