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Elegbe, Interswitch Boss Charges Entrepreneurs on Clear Business Model

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Mitchell Elegbe, Interswitch GMD, has advised entrepreneurs to have a clear business model before seeking start-up capital.

The Interswitch boss made this remark during a two-hour Webinar Startup Insight series themed ‘Why startup capital is necessary, but not sufficient’. The online session was attended by different entrepreneurs.

Elegbe stated that when looking for capital for business, entrepreneurs should bear in mind the problem they intend to solve. He said it is important to know the appropriate business model required.

He also advised entrepreneurs to critically think about their business models, stating: “The bigger the problem you want to solve, the more coherent your business model should be.”

Narrating his experience prior to the emergence of Interswitch, Mitchell said he recognized Nigeria had payment problems but he had very little knowledge of the banking industry having cut his teeth career-wise in the telecommunications and oil & gas sectors.

However, because he understood the problem he was trying to solve, he went for different pitches and scaled through.

Elegbe also spoke about the concept of Greiner growth curve in business which posits that businesses will go through six stages of evolving growth and five revolutions of crisis stages.

He explained that the ability to move from one stage to the other is what will make a business. He advised entrepreneurs to consider partnerships later in business, noting that at that time a name would have been made for the brand.

He concluded by encouraging business owners to recognize their times and seasons. According to him, if a business is run successfully for two years, then the most dangerous part has been overcome. The next challenge will be how to scale the business.

“Business owners should not do the same thing for a long time. They should be dynamic in their line of thought. Business owners should see difficult times as a golden opportunity to make their brands better. May you see your golden opportunity”, he added.

The programme which is in its second edition is a 12-week Accelerator programme organized by Asset & Resource Management Holding Company Limited (ARM) in partnership with the Ventures Platform. It is designed to fund and support compelling Fintech startups solving key problems in the financial services industry.

It was also initiated to unlock verticals and new markets, thereby changing how users access and consume financial services in Africa through the Ecosystem Dialogue, and Startup Insight Series.

The Ecosystem Dialogue Series (EDS) is a platform for conversations between policymakers, advocators and members of the startup community, to discuss policies and innovations that startups can leverage; while Startup Insights is a mentorship series that brings experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate professionals (with prominent success stories) together with startup founders, to explore deep industry and entrepreneurship insights.

Other speakers at the Ecosystem Dialogue series included Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, Executive Director, Financial Services Innovators and Henrietta Bankole-Olusina, Managing Director, ARM Financial Advisers.


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E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

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Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


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NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


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NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

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National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.

NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.

The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.

In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.

“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.

Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.

“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.

He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework.  He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.

According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.

Earlier in her opening remarks,  Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.

Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.

“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”


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