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E-Business

Carbon Partners with AXA Mansard to Launch Healthcare Benefits Program

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Carbon, Nigeria’s foremost digital financial services company, has partnered with AXA Mansard, a leading provider of insurance products and services, to launch a range of healthcare benefits for its regular customers.

As part of the new program, customers that save a minimum of N3,000 monthly with Carbon will qualify for a N20,000 cash benefit in the event that they are hospitalised for 2 or more nights.

Customers that also have an existing loan that is not in arrears or do over N5,000 in transactions with Carbon monthly (transfers, bills, airtime) will also qualify for this health benefit. This cover is for a period of one month for every qualifying month on a recurring basis as long as customers continue to qualify and is currently only available to Carbon’s customers in Nigeria.

In addition to this new program, Carbon has also announced some new measures designed to ease the financial burden caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As well as providing customers who pay their loans on time with access to the new healthcare benefits, Carbon is rescheduling loans for eligible customers who experience difficulty paying back their loans. Users will also be able to make up to 30 fee-free transfers on the platform.

Across Africa, as well as the rest of the world, many lenders have stopped issuing loans to customers, potentially depriving people of funds when they need it the most.

To cater for the expected increase in loan requests, Carbon has put some additional safeguards in place but will continue to disburse loans. Carbon will also keep loan amounts constant on renewals and in some cases reduce loan amounts. Repeat loan applications may also require further review but that will be kept to a minimum.

According to Ngozi Dozie, co-founder of Carbon, “Our main aim as a business is to empower our customers to live a life of dignity and prosperity. Whether that is by rewarding their discipline and loyalty or by adjusting the terms of their loans, we are committed to seeing them thrive and flourish.

“That is why we have rolled out these benefits and announced the new measures. We want to ensure that they have the best support and access to life-changing services, even at this difficult time.”

Alfred Egbai, AXA Mansard’s Group Head, Emerging Customers and Financial Inclusion, also added: “We are really excited to partner with Carbon to roll out these benefits across Nigeria.

“In Carbon, we have a partner that understands the needs of the Nigerian consumer and is committed to putting the customer first, just as we are. We are confident that, by working together, we can deliver services that add value to the lives of our customers”.

Carbon’s new range of healthcare benefits is the latest on a long list market-leading innovation from the startup. Carbon (formerly Paylater) pioneered instant lending in Nigeria and was the first mobile app that provided access to credit digitally and without requesting individuals to present the documents and collateral traditionally associated with accessing loans.

Earlier this year, Carbon introduced an iOS app and USSD service following on from their launch in Kenya in December 2019. It also announced the launch of its Disrupt Fund, a $100,000 Pan-African fund to address the lack of capital for African tech startups.


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E-Business

NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

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Data Breach
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Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.

NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.

Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.

Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.

It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.

Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.

 

 

 


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Nigeria Among Hotspots as Kaspersky Warns of Rising Ransomware Threat in Africa

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Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.

Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.

Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.

“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.

Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.

“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin

The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.

Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.

“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin

Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.

To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.

 


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Nigeria Launches Cybercrime Team with Commonwealth, UK Support

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Nigeria recently launched a new joint case team to step up its response to cybercrimes that affect people and businesses at home and abroad.

Nigeria Launches Cybercrime Team with Commonwealth, UK Support

The ‘Joint Case Team on Cybercrime’ brings together Nigeria’s key justice and security agencies to work as one, making it easier to detect, investigate, and prosecute digital offences.

It is supported by the UK National Crime Agency, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, as part of a wider effort to promote international cooperation on cybercrime.

Speaking at the launch in Abuja, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, minister of justice and attorney general of the federation described the initiative as “a bold and transformative stride in Nigeria’s justice system.”

He said that although Nigeria has a national legal framework to address cyber offences, laws alone are not enough.

Nigeria is among the countries most affected by cybercrime around the world, with increasing financial losses.


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