E-Business
Microsoft Empowers African SMEs with Office 365 Packages
Microsoft has announced the availability of Office 365 in nine new territories across the African continent.
Office 365 is the next iteration of the company’s flagship Office product line which is made available for consumers, businesses and educational institutions via the cloud.
The entire suite of Office 365 packages is now also available in Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
“Office 365 is available in various packages, each one specifically designed to meet a particular need,” says Marc Israel, Office Division Group Lead for Microsoft West, East and Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands. “This means that whether you are a consumer, educational institution, small to mid-size business or a large enterprise, we have an Office 365 package that will meet all your software requirements in in an always-up-to-date cloud service, at a predictable monthly cost.”
In Africa in particular, the Small and Medium Business sector continues to play a big, contributing heavily towards GDP growth and employment.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) estimates that SMEs represent over 90 percent of private business and contribute more than 50 percent of employment and of GDP in most African countries.
“One of the biggest challenges SMBs face in today’s harsh economic conditions is finding technology that meets their needs without breaking the bank,” said Marc Israel, Office Division Group Lead for Microsoft West, East and Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands.
“Just because your company is smaller, it does not mean you should have to compromise on the type of technology available to you.”
Designed for companies with between 1 and 10 employees, Office 365 Small Business Premium gives organisations access to the richness of Office applications, extending the functionality to make itavailable via the cloud.
The pay-as-you-go model can save customers between up to 20% of their software budget, without them having to compromise on the technology they have within their organisations.
“Very few smaller organisations can afford the level of sophistication they need in terms of software,” said Israel.
Office 365 is more affordable and less complex – within 15 minutes a company can be up and running with a domain, website, email addresses and the other functionality they require to function.
“Microsoft Office 365 has delivered on its inherent promises,” said John Robbins, President and CEO of Pear Workplace Solutions. “That’s why we deployed it, and it just works.”
Mobility is also critical in the African context and Office 365 allows users to access functionality across multiple devices at no extra charge.
“We have employees based in regional offices in a number of countries around the world, and they expect to be able to connect to their email or other services from anywhere at any time, and from any device,” said Daniel Roach-Rooke, IT Infrastructure Manager at Aston Martin.
Office 365 works the same on Windows PCs and Mac, and is compatible with iPads and Android tablets, enabling a mobile workforce and allowing organisations to overcome physical infrastructure limitations.
“Cloud computing has the potential to transform the region,” said Israel.
“It enables global growth for businesses in emerging markets who are seeking to engage world markets in spite of a lack of traditional infrastructure.”
“As a cloud solution, Office 365 is accessible virtually anywhere, driving productivity and efficiency for Professionals, SMEs, and large enterprises,” says Israel. “It also allows for much simpler deployment, management and security through the easy to use web admin console, industry-leading virus and spam protection and a financially backed 99.9% uptime guarantee,” he concluded.
Kaspersky has identified an advanced phishing campaign targeting employees with personalised emails and attached documents disguised as HR policy updates.
This campaign marks a significant escalation in phishing tactics, with attackers tailoring not only the email body, but also the attachments by addressing individual recipients, showcasing an unprecedented level of customisation. The goal was to lure the victim into entering their corporate email credentials.
The attackers likely prepared by parsing employee names to make the campaign targeted and more convincing.
The emails feature a deceptive body: a fraudulent “verified sender” badge to build trust, the recipient’s name, and an invitation to open the attached file to review remote work protocols, benefits administration and security standards. However, the whole email body is in reality just an image with no real text in it; this is done to bypass email filters.
The attached document, posing as an updated “Employee Handbook,” does not contain any actual guidelines – only a title page, a table of contents with the items that have supposedly been changed highlighted in red, a page with a QR code, supposedly for going to the full document and common instructions on how to read QR codes using a phone. The document features the victim’s name multiple times to convince that this document was created specifically for them.
If the victim scans the QR code and follows the link, they land on a fraudulent page where they are asked to enter their corporate credentials, which is what the attackers are hunting for.
“This campaign demonstrates a new level of sophistication in phishing attacks, and we may be seeing a new mailing automation mechanism that generates a separate attached document and a separate image for the email body for each recipient.
“This tactic allows to scale the attack and at the same time possibly evade traditional defenses. Organisations must prioritise advanced security measures and employee education to stay ahead of these threats,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.
Temu, the global online marketplace, has joined the International Trademark Association (INTA) as a corporate member and serves on its Anti-Counterfeiting Committee.
INTA is a global association that brings together more than 6,700 organizations, representing over 37,000 trademark professionals and brand owners across 181 countries. By joining INTA, Temu deepens its commitment to building a trusted online marketplace and advancing global IP protection through broader, cross-industry collaboration.
“INTA welcomes TEMU’s willingness to engage in anticounterfeiting initiatives, including in the Association’s annual Anticounterfeiting Workshop and Online Takedown Certificate Program which serve to share best practices and connect stakeholders,” said Alastair Gray, Director of Anti-Counterfeiting, INTA. “Constructive collaboration with these efforts can contribute to the protection of intellectual property rights for INTA members and support the removal of counterfeit products from the platform which ultimately protects consumers.”
At the 2025 INTA Annual Meeting held in San Diego in May, Temu participated in the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee Roundtable, serving as a moderator to facilitate discussions among brand owners, online platforms, and government officials on emerging technologies, best practices for collaboration, and strategies to strengthen global anti-counterfeiting efforts.
“Joining INTA and serving on its Anti-Counterfeiting Committee reflects Temu’s ongoing commitment to ensuring a trustworthy online shopping experience,” said a Temu spokesperson. “We value collaboration with industry peers and stakeholders and are dedicated to advancing collective efforts in intellectual property protection.”
Temu also participates in INTA-led online workshops, including the Online Platform Notice and Takedown Certification Program, which outlines the latest procedures and best practices used by e-commerce platforms and social media companies. These workshops aim to enhance the quality and accuracy of rights-holder notices, promoting more effective takedown processes and content moderation.
Since launching in 2022, Temu has made significant investments in IP enforcement. Its measures include comprehensive seller vetting and compliance training, 24/7 algorithmic monitoring with manual review, a dedicated IP protection portal and brand registry to streamline takedown submissions, and an internal enforcement team that handles claims with speed and accuracy.
China’s Huawei Technologies unveiled an AI computing system on Saturday that an industry expert said rivals Nvidia’s most advanced product, as the company aims to expand its footprint in the country’s booming AI sector.
The CloudMatrix 384 system made its public debut at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), a three-day event in Shanghai, attracting a large crowd to Huawei’s booth with its showcase of cutting-edge AI innovations.
The system has attracted significant interest from the global AI community since Huawei (HWT.UL) first introduced it in April. Industry analysts see it as a direct challenger to Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72, the most advanced system-level offering currently available from the U.S. chipmaker.
In an April article, Dylan Patel, founder of semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis, stated that Huawei now possesses AI system capabilities that could surpass those of Nvidia.
Huawei staff at its WAIC booth declined to comment when asked to introduce the CloudMatrix 384 system.
A spokesperson for Huawei did not respond to questions.
Huawei has become widely regarded as China’s most promising domestic supplier of chips essential for AI development, even though the company faces U.S. export restrictions.
Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang told Bloomberg in May that Huawei had been “moving quite fast” and named the CloudMatrix as an example.
The CloudMatrix 384 system features 384 of Huawei’s latest 910C chips and, according to SemiAnalysis, surpasses Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72 in certain performance metrics, despite the latter using 72 B200 chips.
SemiAnalysis attributes this performance advantage to Huawei’s strong system design, which offsets the lower power of individual chips by leveraging a greater number of them and incorporating system-level innovations.
Huawei describes the system as utilizing a “supernode” architecture that enables ultra-high-speed interconnectivity between chips.
In June, Zhang Pingan, CEO, Huawei Cloud confirmed that the CloudMatrix 384 was already operational on Huawei’s cloud platform.
MTN Mulls AI Tech to Protect Infrastructure as Cable Cuts Hit 13,000 in 18 Months
Banks Reopen Naira Card Payments for International Tuition Fees
Attackers Target Employees with Fake HR Updates
Yahoo Mail Halts Free Storage Service, Caps at 20GB
Safaricom, PayPal Collaborate to Link Mobile Money with Online Payments
E-Financial3 days agoUnion Bank Rewards Customers with ₦5 Million Each in Save and Win Palli Promo Season 4 Grand Finale
E-Business3 days agoHuawei Unveils AI Computing System to Challenge Nvidia’s Flagship Product
E-Financial3 days agoEdun, Finance Minister Inaugurates NDIC New Management
News3 days agoLawyers Drags NLS to Court for Alleged Election Fraud, Data Violation
Telecom2 days agoGlo Boosts Network Capacity for Enhanced Customer Experience
General News3 days agoNew Tax Law Empowers NRS to Fine Offenders up to N10m
News2 days agoTranscorp Power Posts Strong Half-Year Profit, Declares ₦11.25Bn Dividend
Broadcasting3 days agoCourt Upholds AVRS Legal Rights to Licence Audiovisual Works in Hotels