E-Business
Lagos Agencies, Firms to Build Innovation Hubs

Two agencies of the Lagos State Government and four firms have announced a partnership on the construction of five innovation centres across the state.
The initiative was designed to ensure capacity building, competitiveness and ecosystem among start-ups and budding entrepreneurs in the state.
Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Versecom Limited, IHS Nigeria, Leadspace by Passion Incubator and Cisco Nigeria would build five innovation centres, including: energy and environment hub, financial inclusion centre, smart city and health initiative, agricultural hub; and logistics and mobility innovation centre. The hubs would be located in various public parks around Lagos.
Mr. Timilehin Odusina, co-founder/chief executive officer, Versecom Limited, said the consortium has constructed an energy and environment hub, a low–cost initiative at Rafiu Jafojo Park in Shasha, Alimosho Local Government Area.
According to him, the low–cost hub was created to tackle the cost of office and community barrier to business entry faced by most Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and freelancers in the country.
“This hub offers a seat at N1, 000 per day, 50 per cent to 80 per cent lower than current market rates. The hub is targeted at idea stage – pre-seed startups and freelancers around Lagos,” Odusina said.
Olaitan Ogunbiyi, sales director, IHS (Nigeria) Limited, explained that the energy hub would be officially launched on November 1, 2019 describing it as the first-of-its-kind in Nigeria, a feat that made IHS Nigeria the premier sponsor of this initiative.
“The hub will be open to everyone, but the community events, challenges, among others will be tailored only towards Energy and Environment startups. In addition to the 500-seat capacity dome, IHS Nigeria has funded the construction of an energy laboratory with equipment like transformer winder, oscilloscope and others in a bid to remove the barriers inhibiting innovation within the sector,” Ogunbiyi said.
Tosin Faniro-Dada, head, Startups, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), praised the firms for embarking on the partnership, assuring that the state government would continue to create enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
Versecom Limited, as the initiator would manage the partners, while LASPARK, as the operator of all public parks in Lagos, would regulate the partnership in collaboration with LSETF. Besides, LSETF, through its Lagos Innovates programme, would handle community engagements through its plethora of tech-focused programmes.
IHS Nigeria as the sponsor of the construction of the hub would work with Leadspace by Passion Incubator to manage the hub and help entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses, while Cisco Nigeria would support with Wi-Fi equipment for the hub.
E-Business
FG Mulls Fibre Optic Layout to Bridge Internet Gaps

President Bola Tinubu said that his administration has initiated a project to install fibre optic cables across the country, aimed at enhancing the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
His plans were contained in a speech he delivered at a joint session of the National Assembly in commemoration of Democracy Day on Thursday, June 12.
He said the fibre optic layout is part of other projects being embarked on.
“In addition, we have embarked on an ambitious project to lay fibre optic cables across the nation, a transformative step toward bridging the digital divide and fostering greater connectivity.
“This initiative promises not only to enhance the speed and reliability of internet access but also to revolutionise how businesses operate, how students learn, and how communities stay connected,” Tinubu stated.
He maintained that by extending this critical infrastructure, his government is empowering entrepreneurs, enabling digital education, and providing the tools for our youth to compete in a globalised world.
In a most recent report on Internet connectivity, The ICIR pointed out how Nigeria has faced setbacks in its deployment of fibre optic cables and needs a transformation.
The challenges revolve around vandalism, inadequate coordination between road construction and telecom infrastructure, and varying right-of-way (RoW) charges across states.
Among industry experts, these issues impact network outages, increase repair costs, and hinder broadband expansion efforts.
It has also further threatened the digital economy, leading to slower Internet speeds, dropped calls, and unreliable connectivity among others.
E-Business
African Startups Raised $345m in Funding in May

African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.
The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.
It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.
“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.
“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.
Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.
Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.
“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.
From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.
Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.
In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.
E-Business
Human Hacking: When Cyber Criminals Target You

By Nancy Werteen
When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”
But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.
Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.
“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.
IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.
“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.
Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.
There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?
That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?
“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.
Phishing can take many forms.
Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.
Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.
Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.
Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.
- News3 days ago
CDCFIB Warns against Recruitment Racketeers
- General News21 hours ago
AfDB to Provide $184.1mfor Africa’s Largest Solar Energy, Battery Storage Project
- Telecom3 days ago
Meta, FMCIDE Unveil AI Accelerator to Drive Innovation in Nigeria
- News3 days ago
FG May Forfeits $4m from World Bank Loan over Audit Flop
- Telecom3 days ago
Nigeria Leads the Charge in Green Innovation @MTN’s Africa PachiPanda Challenge
- Broadcasting3 days ago
Afia TV and Radio Stamps Footprints in Lagos
- E-Financial3 days ago
NDIC Begins Final Settlements to Creditors of Liquidated Premier Bank
- Telecom2 days ago
ngCERT Issues High Alert to Nigerians Using Android Phones