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Courier Industry to Independent Regulator Soon

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If there is any issue that operators in the Courier industry in Nigeria are very passionate about, it is the issue of having an independent regulatory authority to run the affairs of the industry.

They strongly believe that an independent regulatory authority is capable of turning the fortunes of the courier industry around just as it is being witnessed in the telecommunications or the pharmaceutical sectors of the economy.

These operators believe that the only reason why the growth in the courier sector is stunted is because it is still tied to the apron strings of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) better known for its moribund, bureaucratic and red tape nature.

They posit that as long as this continues the industry that has to do with speed and dynamism will remain in a docile condition for a very long time.

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Some of them have often accused NIPOST of not wanting to let go because it is profiting from the status quo.

Though Dr Simon Emeje, senior assistant postmaster general in charge the Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) of NIPOST does not agree with all these, however he acknowledges the fact that it is a very serious problem in the industry which the government is looking at more seriously.

"The government is working on it. The draft postal bill and the draft National Postal Policy have been written and the government is fine-tuning some things in the documents. So, it is a development in the industry that both the operators and the general public are looking up to." He said

According to him, everyone wants to see the regulatory body established, because everybody has felt that having an independent body will do the industry a lot good, because so far, NIPOST is both a regulator and an operator. Globally, this is no longer, in practice.

Dr Emeje maintained that Courier operators still see them as a partial judge in the sense that they are a department in NIPOST.

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He said that this is being addressed as the government is working on separating the regulatory body from NIPOST.

On why creating an independent regulator for the Courier industry had dragged on for so long? He had this to say: "the reason is because the issue met a misfortune along the way. At a time, they set up a ministerial committee on the Courier Regulatory Authority. When this was almost completed, and a stakeholders meeting was called, the week this was to take place, Alhaji Abubakar Argungu, former post master general died in October 2005 in a plane crash. This finally brought gown the tempo.

"April last year, the stakeholder’s forum was finally held. The draft postal bill and the draft national Postal Policy is now ready. The postal policy has been okayed but the government is fine-tuning the postal bill It had drafted because of one problem or the other. The postal policy is a document from which the bill is drawn.

"It is at a stage of fine-tuning for it to be submitted to the minister of information and communication. When that is done the minister will present it to the federal executive council from where it will go to the national Assembly to be passed into law.

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Telecom

Dimension Data to Channel Funds to Support Nigerian Fibre Expansion

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Dimension Data has said that the proceeds from its Series 1 corporate bond, will support the expansion of the company’s fibre infrastructure to meet Nigeria’s growing demand for digital connectivity.

Dimension Data to Channel Funds to Support Nigerian Fibre Expansion

This followed the successful subscription of the corporate bond.

Recall that Dimension Data Limited said that it has completed the signing ceremony for the issuance of N4.05 billion (approximately US$2.9 million).

This sum marks the first tranche of a N20 billion (US$14.7 million) bond programme announced earlier this year.

The bond programme was raised under Dimension Data SPV Funding Plc, following approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria.

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The company says the proceeds will support the expansion of the company’s fibre infrastructure to meet Nigeria’s growing demand for digital connectivity.

Speaking at the ceremony, Olugbenga Olabiyi, managing director of Dimension Data Limited, said the investment reflects the company’s long-term commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital economy.

The planned investments will fund the continued expansion of Dimension Data’s fibre network, supporting increasing demand from financial institutions, fintechs, enterprise customers and other technology-driven sectors.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Johannesburg, the company has grown its footprint across the Middle East and Africa.

Today Dimension Data is a member of the NTT Ltd Group, one of the world’s leading technology companies.

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As cloud adoption, digital financial services and data-intensive applications continue to grow, the company believes resilient fibre infrastructure will remain a critical enabler of Nigeria’s digital economy.

 

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FG Commences 90,000km Fibre Optic Rollout within Weeks

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The Federal Government has announced that work will commence within weeks on a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network expected to connect every state, local government area and ward in Nigeria, marking what officials describe as one of the country’s most ambitious digital infrastructure projects.

Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Tuesday after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on the progress of three flagship digital transformation initiatives being implemented by his ministry.

According to the minister, all resource mobilisation and contractual processes for the nationwide fibre project have been completed, paving the way for physical deployment.

“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks’ time, we should start to lay those fibre, so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” Tijani said.

He explained that the project would deliver fibre optic infrastructure to every geopolitical zone, state, local government area and ward, significantly expanding broadband access and improving the quality of internet connectivity across the country.

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“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local government and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” he added.

Bosun Tijani attributed the progress in the digital economy to a series of reforms approved by President Tinubu, including the designation of digital infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, tariff adjustments and tax harmonisation measures sought by industry operators.

“I think our sector has been extremely fortunate. Mr. President has given us quite a number of things that the sector has been demanding for a long time. Whether it’s the Critical National Infrastructure designation for all digital infrastructure, the slight adjustment in tariff, or the tax harmonisation, these are reforms the industry has long requested.

“I think it’s probably the sector that is most appreciative of this government because when we came in, the sector was contributing between 16 and 18 per cent to our GDP, but today it is tracking close to 21 per cent. That represents significant growth,” he said.

The minister noted that the reforms had also improved the financial performance of major operators in the telecommunications sector.

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On efforts to bridge the digital divide, Tijani disclosed that the government would begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to provide network coverage for more than 20 million Nigerians currently living in underserved communities without access to telecom services.

He said the President had approved the project after months of capital mobilisation and planning.

“Today we’re at a point where, before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot to put this project together and raise the required capital, but we are now ready to begin deployment around October,” he said.

The minister also announced that Nigeria would officially launch an alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, a move he said would place the country among a select group of nations operating an advanced digital addressing system.

“Nigeria will be amongst maybe 10 or 15 countries in the world with an alphanumeric postcode. It’s the latest design in postcode systems, where we can identify every property in this country. We’re hoping to launch that on the 1st of October,” he said.

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Tijani explained that the new system would assign a unique address to every property nationwide, enhancing logistics, accelerating e-commerce, improving emergency response and strengthening public service delivery.

“Inability to locate places comes at a cost. You can imagine what this will do for e-commerce. It means goods can now be delivered in record time,” he said.

He added that integrating the postcode system with existing government identity databases would improve security and make public services more efficient.

“Our alphanumeric postcode is unique because it allows us to assign a unique address to every property. In many countries, such as the UK, postcodes cover clusters of buildings. What we are introducing will uniquely identify every building, and that will be a game changer for Nigeria in terms of security, commerce and public service delivery,” the minister stated.

 

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E-Business

Kaspersky Reveals a New Malicious Framework Targeting Cryptocurrency Users with the Use of OkoSpyware

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At its recent annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) shared insights about the new OkoBot campaign targeting cryptocurrency users.

The new sophisticated framework employs TookPS to exfiltrate seed phrases and uses a new OkoSpyware module to monitor Chromium-based browsers and deploy various malware strains, including the Rilide stealer.

It has already targeted hundreds of victims across over 25 countries, with the highest number of affected end users recorded in Brazil, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico and Turkiye. According to Kaspersky experts, the threat remains active and primarily poses a risk to cryptocurrency users.

In January 2026, experts from the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT)  identified multiple attacks involving a previously unknown malware capable of capturing the contents of cryptocurrency wallet windows. Dubbed Okobot, the new sophisticated malware framework comprises more than 20 malicious payloads and implants designed to perform a wide range of functions, including collecting local files, executing remote commands, downloading arbitrary browser extensions, stealing cryptocurrency wallets, harvesting seed phrases and credentials, recording video and carrying out other malicious activities.

One of the new implants used in the campaign is a loader that modifies browser memory to load and hide malicious extensions. OkoBot also includes a new OkoSpyware module, which captures keystrokes and the video stream of a target application’s window.

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Currently available information does not allow the campaign to be attributed to any known crimeware actor with high confidence. However, the techniques and infostealer involved are widely used by Russian-speaking threat actors, and technical analysis has also revealed code artifacts in Russian.

The initial infection typically occurs through two main vectors: ClickFix attacks, in which threat actors use social engineering to trick users into running malicious code, and malware distributed via GitHub under the guise of legitimate software. During the investigation, researchers identified one such case involving a fake installer for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), a widely used Microsoft database management tool.

The malicious framework includes SeedHunter, a malware component that monitors active system processes and injects an implant into Trezor Suite, Ledger Wallet, and Ledger Live, – official applications used to manage cryptocurrency assets. When it detects a connected Trezor or Ledger hardware wallet, it triggers the hooked functions to display a hard-coded phishing page aimed at stealing the user’s seed phrase, using a distinct layout for each wallet type.

“The OkoBot campaign has been active for more than a year and remained ongoing as of July 2026. The observed infection vectors strongly suggest that developers are among its primary targets. Of particular concern is the malware’s continued evolution, which indicates that the framework is being actively maintained. As distribution efforts persist, the campaign has the potential to reach more users and expand into additional countries in the near term,” says Dmitry Galov, Head of the Russia and CIS unit at Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team.

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