E-Business
Nigeria Plans to Venture in Space Exploration

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, has disclosed of plans by Nigeria to join the league of countries in space exploration.
He stressed that the strength of the economy of any nation was dependent on its scientific and technological advancement.
Dr Onu stated this in a keynote address delivered at the 2020 National Convention of the Izzi Old Students Association held at the Faculty of Education, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Ishieke campus.
The minister said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had repositioned and strengthened the science and technological sector to play a leading role in the current efforts to diversify the country’s economy.
Dr. Onu who highlighted advantages of science, technology and engineering urged teachers and school administrators to encourage younger generation of students to embrace science, engineering and technology.
“It is sad that the students after rendering the school’s anthem started mentioning the professions that they will like to pursue, but not even one mentioned engineering.
“The principals and teachers should bring people who can enlighten the students on the importance of engineering to nation-building.
“It will be very sad if in this school we don’t have young people aspiring to be engineers because in Nigeria we have plans to send people to the space.
“Yes, we have that plan; don’t ever think it cannot be done, it may take 20 years, 30 years, but we have that plan and I will be very happy to see somebody from this school to go into space and you cannot do it without science and engineering.
“There are so many resources we have in our state and in our country and one problem we have faced is that we have always allowed our economy to depend entirely on commodities.
“First, we started with agricultural products and later with petroleum products; crude oil and natural gas without adding anything.
“We have seen that because we don’t control prices of crude oil in the international market and whenever there is a sharp drop in prices, it adversely affects our national economy and we enter into recession.
“All recessions that we have gotten into arose from this; and we have seen countries including South Korea that we were far better off in the 1960s, today their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is many times what we used to have.
“All the mobile phones we are using they come from South Korea, there is no area of technology that they are not involved in.
“We have also seen what has happened to China, Japan and Singapore, whether small or large, so, you cannot really grow the economy without emphasizing science and engineering,” Mr Onu said.
Mr Onu urged old students of the institution who have excelled in different fields of endeavour to look back and see how they could help the school regain its past glory.
He said: “This school should be celebrated. I am happy that we have all assembled today to celebrate this great school.
“The old boys have a very important role to play in nation-building; this they can do through strengthening their alma mater, improving the quality of teaching and standard of infrastructure as well as providing mentioning and guidance to young students.
“Old students as role models have become stars that show the light for young students to find their way; they help the younger ones to dream dreams and help them to have visions of what they want to be.”
The minister called for establishment of scholarship scheme to enable poor students of the institution to pursue their academic dreams.
He said education especially when it encouraged innovation and creativity remained the key to unlocking great potential of any nation.
He urged the association to remain focused, not to relent or to fail, adding that every effort should be made to ensure that the association continued to play its role for the good of the students, the state and the nation.
Mr Onu donated 10 sets of laboratory kits, two sets of desktop computers, 10 sets of laptop computers and 12 text books written by the minister in different areas of study.
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.
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