E-Business
NCC to Realize Win, Sabi by 2010
Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that he is poised to realizing Wire Nigeria, State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (Sabi), by 2010 when his tenure is expected to elapse.
He restated his commitment to leave a legacy of very professional and strong regulatory body, and a robust telecoms network crisscrossing the entire nation before he quits the scene in 2010.
Dr. Ndukwe said he believes that once the right processes are put in place, there will be no reason why things would not continue to move in the right direction, and that he would entrench those ideals within the one and half years left of his tenure.
He listed some of his priorities to include massive expansion of telecom transmission infrastructure across the country through the Wire Nigeria (WIN) project, spreading broadband and Internet services to urban and semi urban locations through the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative, SABI, and achieving a profound improvement in quality of services across the networks.
"Between now and 2010, this country will have even a more robust telecom industry. I will like to continue to develop the manpower of the Commission and set up the right processes. My major aspiration is to continue to develop the commission to be manned by very good people that will be able to sustain and maintain the reputation of the Nigerian Communications Commission even after I have left", he said.
He said Nigeria has a lot to celebrate on the 7th anniversary of the telecom revolution as Nigerian has become the leading telecom nation in Africa in terms of subscriber base, at more than 54 million lines as at today, and is one of the top ten countries in the world in the field of growth of the telecom industry.
According to him, the sector has witnessed surprise expectations with huge investments still coming. He cited the buying of Multilinks by Telkom South Africa, the merger of four operators to form the bigger Visafone, the partial acquisition of Intercellular by Sudatel, and expansion of the investment base of Starcomms which has also gone to the stock market, as very significant in the attractiveness of the industry to telecom investments.
"Since January this year, the telecom network has witnessed steady growth which currently outstrips 1.2 million lines every month, which indicates the fact that the growth rate is still not abetted. This also shows that Nigeria has witnessed economic growth because there is a linkage between acquisition of telecom services and economic improvement", he said.
Ndukwe also said Nigeria is proud to be playing host to other African regulators who are seeking to understudy the various processes and strategies adopted by the Commission to register the current successes. These countries include Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Liberia, Gambia among others.
He noted that the Commission has been very active on the issue of quality of services across the networks with marginal improvements recorded against all odds. According to him, some of the measures taken in this direction include the imposition of compensation to the subscribers. He said this is the first time a telecom regulator in Africa, if not in any part of the world, would force the operators to pay compensation to all the active subscribers in their networks.
He said the reason for forcing the compensation was because the Commission believed that the subscribers would have lost some seconds and minutes as a result of the unacceptable quality of services rendered by the affected operators.
Engr. Ndukwe also listed the projects by the Commission to address prevalence of phone thefts in the country before the end of the year, and the latest attempts to register prepaid SIM cards in order to combat incessant criminal activities perpetrated through use of phone lines without usage identities, as some those actions focused on improving the value of phone services in the country.
The commission he explained is working with the National Identity Management Commission, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and other bodies to ensure that a good and credible database is put in place for the benefit of all.
On the issue of slow start by some operators who have not launched services since receiving license, the NCC boss said he is aware that Etisalat has done a test run on its network and had placed calls to him from its network while he was out of the country. He said the Commission has written Alheri (Member of Dangote Group which has a 3G license) to understand why much has not been heard from the company. But he was quick to add that it is the operator that paid huge license fees and failed to launch that is actually loosing money as it would not make sense to pay $400 million and keep the license.
On the slow growth of the landline network in Nigeria, Dr. Ndukwe said that most of the land line infrastructures across the world today were built in the 1980s and the 1990s, which he said was the time that Nigeria missed the opportunity and that up to 2000, rather than progress, Nitel’s infrastructure has retrogressed.
He noted that with the fibre optics projects going on with some operators like Globacom, their may be some hope. While agreeing that the cabling infrastructure is best for high bandwidth traffic, he however said some wireless systems are now carrying as huge bandwidth which is the reason why some of the operators have embraced it.
In 2025, nearly 8,500 users from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) globally faced cyberattacks where malicious or unwanted software was disguised as popular online productivity tools, Kaspersky reports.
Based on the unique malicious and unwanted files observed, the most common lures included Zoom and Microsoft Office, with newer AI-based services like ChatGPT and DeepSeek being increasingly exploited by attackers. Kaspersky has released threat analysis and mitigation strategies to help SMBs respond.
Kaspersky analysts explored how frequently malicious and unwanted software are disguised as legitimate applications commonly used by SMBs, using a sample of 12 online productivity apps. In total, Kaspersky observed more than 4,000 unique malicious and unwanted files disguised as popular apps in 2025. With the growing popularity of AI services, cybercriminals are increasingly disguising malware as AI tools.
The number of cyberthreats mimicking ChatGPT increased by 115% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, reaching 177 unique malicious and unwanted files. Another popular AI tool, DeepSeek, accounted for 83 files. This large language model launched in 2025 immediately appeared on the list of impersonated tools.
“Interestingly, threat actors are rather picky in choosing an AI tool as bait. For example, no malicious files mimicking Perplexity were observed. The likelihood that an attacker will use a tool as a disguise for malware or other types of unwanted software directly depends on the service’s popularity and hype around it. The more publicity and conversation there is around a tool, the more likely a user will come across a fake package on the Internet.
To be on the safe side, SMB employees – as well as regular users – should exercise caution when looking for software on the Internet or coming across too-good-to-be-true subscription deals. Always check the correct spelling of the website and links in suspicious emails. In many cases these links may turn out to be phishing or a link that downloads malicious or potentially unwanted software,” says Vasily Kolesnikov, security expert at Kaspersky.
Another cybercriminal tactic to look for in 2025 is the growing use of collaboration platform brands to trick users into downloading or launching malware. The number of malicious and unwanted software files disguised as Zoom increased by nearly 13% in 2025, reaching 1,652, while such names as “Microsoft Teams” and “Google Drive” saw increases of 100% and 12%, respectively, with 206 and 132 cases.
This pattern likely reflects the normalisation of remote work and geographically distributed teams, which has made these platforms integral to business operations across industries.
Among the analysed sample, the highest number of files mimicked Zoom, accounting for nearly 41% of all unique files detected. Microsoft Office applications remained frequent targets for impersonation: Outlook and PowerPoint each accounted for 16%, Excel for nearly 12%, while Word and Teams made up 9% and 5%, respectively.
The top threats targeting small and medium businesses in 2025 included downloaders, trojans and adware.
Phishing and spam
Apart from malware threats, Kaspersky continues to observe a wide range of phishing and scam schemes targeting SMBs. Attackers aim to steal login credentials for various services — from delivery platforms to banking systems — or manipulate victims into sending them money through deceptive tactics. One example is a phishing attempt targeting Google Accounts.
Attackers promise potential victims to increase sales by advertising their company on X, with the ultimate goal being to steal their credentials.
Beyond phishing, SMBs are flooded with spam emails. Not surprisingly, AI has also made its way into the spam folder — for example, with offers for automating various business processes.
In general, Kaspersky observes phishing and spam offers crafted to reflect the typical needs of small businesses, promising attractive deals on email marketing or loans, offering services such as reputation management, content creation, or lead generation, and more.
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has credited a series of strategic reforms under the national Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Financing of Terrorism, and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) framework, behind Nigeria’s significant strides toward exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist, marking a critical milestone in the country’s fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and financial crimes.
In a statement, Chief Executive Officer of NFIU, Hafsat Bakari, praised the collective efforts of government agencies and stakeholders. “Congratulations and a job well done as Nigeria comes closer to exiting the FATF grey list. The results achieved as part of the strategic reforms must be applauded,” she said.
She said the NFIU, serving as the Secretariat of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on AML/CFT/CPF, spearheaded the development of a comprehensive roadmap to address deficiencies highlighted in Nigeria’s 2021 mutual evaluation report. She explained that the roadmap was recently reviewed and endorsed at the FATF Plenary in Strasbourg, France, where it was acknowledged that Nigeria has completed the implementation of its Action Plan within the agreed deadline—a rare achievement among listed jurisdictions.
Bakari emphasised the pivotal role of political leadership in this success: “The clear focus and leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, provided an enabling environment for the reform processes. His dynamic leadership, alongside the support of the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly, has been a critical success factor.”
She also highlighted the crucial contributions of the Judiciary, which has demonstrated the effectiveness of Nigeria’s legal framework in combating financial crimes. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and the Minister of Interior, who led the Inter-Ministerial Committee, were credited for providing strategic direction.
“The commitment of these key officials, along with support from the National Security Adviser and various ministers, has been instrumental in driving the reforms forward,” Bakari noted.
A broad coalition of agencies formed the backbone of the national effort, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Police Force, and many others. Their coordinated efforts have strengthened Nigeria’s defenses against illicit financial activities.
Despite the progress, Bakari cautioned that key steps remain before Nigeria can officially exit the greylist. “A critical upcoming milestone is the onsite assessment by the FATF in the next few weeks. This assessment is an opportunity to demonstrate Nigeria’s highest political commitment to sustaining the reform programme and to showcase the impressive results achieved by both public and private sectors in preventing, detecting, and disrupting serious crimes.”
She reaffirmed the NFIU’s dedication to the ongoing fight: “The NFIU remains committed to supporting and working with all stakeholders in strengthening our collective defenses against money laundering, terrorist financing, and other serious crimes.”
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is strategically positioning Africa to tap into a $712 billion digital trade market by 2035, leveraging key partnerships and trade-enabling infrastructure to deepen continental integration and economic sovereignty.
Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, made this known on Wednesday at the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2025) in Abuja.
According to him, the Protocol on Digital Trade is central to AfCFTA’s strategy for unlocking the potential of Africa’s growing digital economy.
“We intend to harness this significant market, which is estimated to be over $712 billion by the year 2035, presenting opportunities for young entrepreneurs, investment in data centres, the commercialisation and movement of data, and the development of digital public infrastructure,” Mene said.
He emphasised the critical role of Afreximbank in providing the financial architecture required to support the AfCFTA’s implementation, especially in reducing and eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers.
“Without the support of Afreximbank, the AfCFTA will not succeed. It requires trade finance tools, support for industrial development, green trade, and green industrialisation,” he added.
Among the tools introduced in collaboration with Afreximbank is the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which enables intra-African payments in local currencies, reducing dependence on the US dollar and lowering transaction costs. Mene stressed that trading in foreign currencies like US dollar between African countries is no longer sustainable.
“We must use our own currencies. We must ensure the economic sovereignty of our continent and guard ourselves against ever-shifting global geopolitical tensions that affect payment systems,” he said.
He also disclosed that $10 billion has been mobilised under the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to support countries implementing the agreement, with an initial ZIP package of $1 billion. Furthermore, a $1 billion AfCFTA Automotive Fund has been established to support component manufacturers and vehicle assembly on the continent. The sector, if well-supported, could generate $46 billion by 2035.
Additional initiatives include the AfCFTA E-Tariff platform, the Rules of Origin Manual, and the soon-to-be-launched Transit Guarantee System, which are all geared towards simplifying trade procedures and boosting intra-African trade.
“We have moved beyond political aspirations to establishing a functional and legally binding multilateral African trading system. This includes protocols on investment, competition policy, and digital trade,” Mene said.
Despite these milestones, he warned that numerous challenges persist. These include inefficient customs systems, high trade costs that limit SME market entry, political instability, and persistent food insecurity which blocks smallholder farmers from accessing markets. He called for continued collaboration between political leaders and development finance institutions to address these obstacles.
“We should be proud of what we have achieved, but also mindful of the difficult journey ahead. Conflict and instability, particularly in rural regions, continue to prevent millions of farmers from accessing markets. We must tackle these issues with urgency if the full potential of AfCFTA is to be realised,” Mene said.
During a question and answer after the launch of African trade and economic outlook report, Yemi Kale, Group chief economist and managing director of Research and Trade Intelligence at the African Export Import Bank, said between May 2024 and 2025 transaction volume through Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) increased by over 1,000 percent, reflecting increased adoption of the payment system.
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