News
Regulators, Africa’s Innovation Community Set to Converge in Port Harcourt for #StartupSouth8

Organisers of StartupSouth have announced that Port Harcourt will on October 5 – 6, 2023 play host to Africa ‘s Innovation Community as well as top Corporate Leaders and Government functionaries – including Inuwa Abdulahi, Director General & Chief Executive Officer, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Now in it’s 8th Edition, #StartupSouth is the annual flagship Startup Conference and platform that facilitate connections, networking and opportunities for founders, early stage Investors, large corporates and African Government officials – especially at the subnational.
In a statement released to journalists, the organizers disclosed that speakers and guests confirmed at the conference include Kuppolakshmi Krishnamoorthy, Global Head, Zoho for Startups, Paul Onwuanibe, Group CEO, Landmark Group, Victor Asemota, Africa Startup Ecosystem Leader & investor, Obi Asika, Convener, Omniverse and Janet Sawari, CEO & Founder, TAIR Labs, Cape Town, South Africa. Others are Dr. Chimezie Amadi, Commissioner, Digital Economy & E-Governance, Imo State, Chinwe Okoli, Special Adviser to Anambra State Governor on Innovation & Incubation, Arinze Chilo-Offiah, Special Adviser to Enugu State Governor on SMEs & Startup, Mohamed Amine Khiari, Chairman & CEO, Africa Accelerator, Tunisia & Partner, Network VC Silicon Valley Fund, Geoffrey Weli-Wosu, Founder, Domineum Blockchain, Emeka MBA, CEO & Founder, Afia TV, Kehinde Ogundare, Country Manager, Zoho, Akintunde Oyebode, Commissioner for Finance, Ekiti State, Nkechi Obi, Chairman, National Female League and others.
The theme for this year’s Conference is Deep & Bold: 5IR, Emerging Realities, Regional Economic Imperatives & The Role of Innovation. Speaking about the theme, the Convener, Uche Aniche said the theme provides an opportunity for a reflection on Nigeria/Africa’s readiness for the impact of Artificial Intelligence and explores the right response especially at the subnational level to ensure that Africa doesn’t get the short end of the stick.
The Conference which will feature Breakout Sessions from over forty Corporate and Individual brands also has as a feature an Investors Meetup on Thursday October 5, 2023 in partnership with African Business Angel Network/VC4A as well as an Awards Night on Friday October 6, 2023.
The purpose of The Awards is to recognize and celebrate the achievements of Founders and Corporate organizations, regardless of their public or private status, who have made significant contributions to the Innovation ecosystem and embodied the core values of the #StartupSouth movement.
The Conference is Proudly sponsored by Zoho Technologies, Rapid Cabins, Breej, Cool FM Port Harcourt & Nigeria Info Port Harcourt, The King’s Assembly and others.
News
EFCC Recovers Funds, Arrests Suspects in N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud

Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed that the agency has recovered some money from the digital investment platform Crypto Bridge Exchange trading platform that crashed last month leaving many investors weeping and counting their losses.
In an interview with TVC on Sunday, May 25, Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC has made arrests in connection with the CBEX fraud. He added that the EFCC has made significant progress in its investigation into the crypto scheme that scammed many Nigerians.
“We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money”he said
Olukoyede explained further that although the stolen money was in cryptocurrency, the EFCC has managed to trace and recover part of it. He however mentioned that converting the funds back to dollars in cash was not easy because it required going through similar crypto processes.
“Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them. There is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process.”he said
The EFCC boss added that some suspects have already been arrested, noting that the agency is still pursuing others who are on the run.
“We have gone far. We have made a reasonable arrest. We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” he said.
He, however, said the investigation has been challenging because the fraudsters used “non-custodial wallets,” which means there was no identity attached to the accounts, making it harder to trace the criminals.
“We are still investigating a lot of wallets and the wallets they created are called noncustodian wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody.
So, from the noncustodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia and from there, they dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where money has not been dispersed.
That is to the extent that we have gone. I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this” he said.
In April, CBEX collapsed, leaving investors with reported losses of over N1.3 trillion.
The platform became inaccessible after users faced repeated withdrawal issues, which were soon followed by the sudden disappearance of their account balances.
The incident, however, triggered widespread reactions, especially on social media, where users have voiced their anger, concerns, and disappointment.
Despite this, CBEX resumed operations, announcing fresh withdrawal options in a move to restore investor confidence.
News
Toll Collection on Lagos-Calabar Highway Begins December

Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has announced that a section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be tolled starting in December.
Umahi disclosed this during an interview for a forthcoming State House documentary marking the second anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He said: “By December, we will toll Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway. We project a 10-year return on investment.
“The road has solar-powered lighting and CCTV infrastructure, and offers carbon credit advantages.
“It is more than a road; it is an economic corridor and a catalyst for regional growth.”
According to the minister, 30 kilometres of Section 1 have already been completed, with an additional 10 kilometres in Section 2 nearing delivery. Both segments feature six-lane concrete-paved carriageways, designed to meet modern standards for safety and durability.
Umahi further revealed that construction had commenced on Sections 3 and 3B of the highway, spanning a total of 65 kilometres, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom.
He described the positive response from local communities as a clear indication of the project’s wide-reaching socioeconomic benefits.
“Just days ago, we flagged off Sections 3 and 3B—65 kilometres in total, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom. The host communities’ excitement speaks to these projects’ transformative impact,” he said.
Umahi also highlighted the administration’s renewed focus on the Sokoto-Badagry superhighway, which he noted was part of a broader vision dating back to colonial-era trade plans.
“The Trans-Saharan trade route dates back to colonial-era planning. President Tinubu is now bringing these long-abandoned visions to life,” the minister explained.
News
Kaspersky Uncovers Dero Crypto Miner Spreading via Exposed Container Environments

Kaspersky Security Services experts have identified a sophisticated cyberattack campaign targeting containerized environments to deploy a miner for the Dero cryptocurrency.
The attackers abuse exposed Docker APIs — parts of Docker, an open-source container development platform. In 2025, there are a significant number of Docker API default ports that are insecurely published, accounting for almost 500 occurrences worldwide on average each month.
In the discovered campaign, cybercriminals inject two types of malwares into the compromised systems: one is the miner itself and the other is a propagation malware that can spread the campaign to other insecure container networks.
Kaspersky experts discovered this malicious campaign as part of a compromise assessment project. According to expert estimates, any organisation that operates containerized infrastructure — while exposing Docker APIs without robust security controls — can be a potential target. These may include technology companies, software development firms, hosting providers, cloud service providers and more enterprises.
According to Shodan, in 2025, there are 485 published Docker API default ports¹ worldwide each month on average. This figure illustrates the campaign’s potential attack surface by tallying the “entry points” — or insecurely exposed ports that attackers might target.
Once attackers identify an insecurely published Docker API, they either compromise existing containers or create new malicious ones based on a legitimate standard Ubuntu image. They then inject two malware types into the compromised containers: “nginx” and “cloud”.
The latter is a Dero cryptocurrency miner, while “nginx” is a malicious software that maintains persistence, ensures execution of the miner and scans for other exposed environments. This malware allows attackers to operate without traditional Command-and-Control (C2) servers; instead, each infected container independently scans the Internet and can spread the miner to new targets.
“The campaign has the potential for exponential growth of infections, with each compromised container acting as a new source of attack, if security measures are not immediately put in place in the potentially targeted networks,” explains Amged Wageh, an incident response and a compromise assessment expert at Kaspersky Security Services.
“Сontainers are foundational to software development, deployment, and scalability. Their widespread use across cloud-native environments, DevOps, and microservices architectures makes them an attractive target for cyber attackers. This growing reliance demands organisations adopt a 360-degree approach to security — combining robust security solutions with proactive threat hunting and regular compromise assessments”.
The attackers embedded the names “nginx” and “cloud” directly in the binary — an inflexible executable file composed of instructions and data for the processor, not for humans. This is a classic masquerading tactic that lets the payload pose as a legitimate tool, trying to deceive both analysts and automated defenses.
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