The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy has said it intends to collaborate with Nigerian Exchange Limited to stimulate startup listings with the newly-created NGX Technology Board.

In a statement issued on Friday by the NGX, it was revealed that the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, stated this during a tech event themed; Invest in Africa’s Future- Let’s talk about exits- a joint initiative of the Ministry, NGX, and Future Africa in New York.

Tijani noted that Nigeria had been grappling with over dependence on oil in the last few years. He added that diversifying from reliance on a single sector like the oil industry often requires increasing productivity in other sectors and for him, this can be achieved through the application of technology and innovation.

Highlighting his goals, Tijani said the ministry will work on creating a regulatory environment for fintechs, access to funding especially from angel investors, improve digital infrastructure, facilitate the export of tech products and services and collaborate with NGX on tailored listing options for startups via its Technology Board.

The Minister said, “We cannot do all of these as a country if we do not prioritise innovation and encourage entrepreneurs to build. Nigeria is now open to investments. We want to prioritise the ability of our technology companies to export products and we are targeting Africa first and then eventually start selling to the rest of the world.”

At the same event, Temi Popoola, the Chief Executive Officer, NGX, stated that the exchange will work to support the agenda of the minister and the mandate of President Bola Tinubu.

Whilst stating that technology is a big enabler of the capital market, Popoola said that NGX is keen on fostering innovation in the capital market, potentially to attract a larger pool of investors and mature tech companies to list on its platform.

Explaining the challenges around listings, he stated that the demand for private capital currently outweighs public capital.

Popoola revealed that the NGX is in discussions with Securities and Exchange Commission on private markets to enable the exchange do business with non-listed companies like startups.

“We will continue to do a lot of work that makes us able to attract local capital and the day tech startups come to the exchange, we are confident that there would be very good audience of investors that would want to own a bit of their shares. This is what we at NGX are doing by removing all barriers for that to happen,” the CEO said.

As Nigerians are going through seasons of very high cost of living, including suffocating cost of fund to do business, a piece of exciting news has emerged that Konga is set to pioneer a 24-hour Buyers and Sellers TV, which is set to launch in the month of October to celebrate Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Anniversary.

Konga TV, an Internet Protocol TV (iPTV) channel widely reputed as Africa’s first buyers and sellers TV, will go live early in October 2023.

The development, which has sparked excitement among media watchers and stakeholders in Nigeria’s Manufacturing, Distribution and Retail sectors is set to further revolutionize the online broadcasting and commerce space in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest market.

Efforts to reach the Management of Konga, Nigeria’s leading composite e-Commerce group was not successful but a staff of the company’s Customer Experience Team, who is in a position to know, confirmed that internal test-run has commenced and is sure that within days, Konga TV will go live to the public.

According to the staff who craved anonymity, the TV station shall create democracy in pricing of goods and services in Nigeria, no matter where you are located, but for genuine products only. She disclosed that both sellers and buyers in Nigeria lack true freedom because of lack of market intelligence.

While sellers are overburdened with huge inventories unable to sell, buyers pay above reasonable market prices, adding that no one gives a space to millions of MSMEs raising their heads because cost of marketing and distribution is very high in Nigeria and stifles young entrepreneurs.

She summarized the 24-hour Konga TV as democracy in the marketplace for genuine products and services across all categories – FMCG, Computing, Home and Kitchen, Mobile Gadgets, Fashion, Power and Renewable Energy products, Real Estate, Hotel Bookings, Flight tickets, Furniture, Vehicles of all categories, etc.

‘‘It is a platform where willing buyers cut deals with sellers at a huge discount for genuine products only and guaranteed by the Management of Konga 24 hours a day and delivered on time as promised.’’

She also mentioned that a lot of global leading Companies Executives shall be brought live on Konga TV to talk about their companies and inspire Nigerians. Same with Nigerian Entrepreneurs who have big story to tell about their headaches and successes.

The official launch date of Konga TV is being awaited from the Management of Konga.

Malicious objects of all types were detected and blocked on 34% of Industrial Control System (ICS) computers in the first half of 2023, according to the ICS CERT landscape report by Kaspersky.

In Africa over this period attacks were detected on 40,3% of ICS computers, placing it in first place among the other regions. The top industries under attack were energy (45,9%), engineering & integration (44%) and building automation (40%). All these attacks were blocked after detection.

ICS computers are used in oil & gas, energy, automotive manufacturing, building automation infrastructures and other spheres to perform a range of operational technology (OT) functions – from the workstations of engineers and operators to supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) servers and Human Machine Interface (HMI).

Cyberattacks on industrial computers are considered to be extremely dangerous as they may cause material losses and production downtime for the controlled production line and even the facility as a whole. Moreover, industrial enterprises put out of service can seriously undermine a region’s social welfare, ecology and macroeconomics.

An analysis of the most significant and targeted threats detected on ICS computers in selected countries of Africa in the first half of 2023 shows that the threat landscape can vary between countries and between industries due to the differences in the security maturity of different countries/industries and the current focus of threat actors.

In South Africa in the first half of 2023 malware was detected and blocked on 29,1% of ICS computers, in Nigeria on 32,6%, in Kenya on 34,5% of machines.

There are different types of cyberthreats that OT-related computers face – malicious scripts, spy trojans, worms, ransomware, and others. In the first half of 2023 Africa had the highest percentage of ICS computers on which spyware was blocked (9,8%).

The Middle East and Southeast Asia had similarly high percentages (8,3% and 8,1%). The global average stands at 6,1%.

Africa was also the region with the highest percentage of ICS computers (14,8%) on which attacks from denylisted Internet resources were blocked (these are web resources associated with distributing or controlling malware). The global average is 11,3%.

Viruses and worms spread across ICS networks by means of removable media, shared folders, infected files, such as backups, and network attacks on outdated software.

The percentage of ICS computers on which worms were detected was very high in Africa (7% vs. 2,3% global average), making this region the leader by percentage of ICS computers on which threats were detected after removable devices were connected.

“Africa’s industrial landscape is diverse, ranging from large-scale mining operations to small-scale agriculture. This means that ICS cybersecurity solutions need to be adaptable to various sectors and technologies.

In some regions, legacy ICS systems that lack modern security features are still in use. These systems are often more vulnerable to cyberthreats and require significant upgrades. Lastly, some critical infrastructure in Africa is located in remote areas with limited connectivity, which can make it difficult to monitor and secure ICS assets effectively,” comments Evgeny Goncharov, Head of Kaspersky ICS CERT.

“By understanding these risks, organisations can make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and efficiently fortify their defenses. In doing so, they not only protect their bottom line but also contribute to a safer and more secure digital ecosystem for all.”