E-Business
How Konga Restored Confidence in Nigeria’s eCommerce Sector in 2019- Ekeh
Despite the significant upheavals in the Nigerian e-commerce sector amid a series of potential investor apathy-inducing developments in 2019; the industry had a shining light in the activities of a local player, Konga.
Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, co-chief executive officer, Konga, disclosed that Konga went a long way in restoring investor and customer confidence in the Nigerian e-commerce sector.
The Harvard alumni affirmed that Konga, which has undergone a remarkable transformation since it was acquired by the Zinox Group, has been a refreshingly positive source of delightful innovations, and sound corporate governance whichhave dispelled the negative clouds that hovered over the sector in 2019.
Further, he attributed this to the company’s long-held tradition of ethical conduct and realistic business model which have kept Konga at the apex of the e-commerce industry in Nigeria.
Indeed, huge question marks had emerged on the credibility of players in the African e-commerce sector after the travails of another major player which saw a much-publicized IPO on Wall Street, fall flat after a publication by a US research firm, Citroen.
Furthermore, analysts believe the development may have hampered the efforts and chances of other prospective players on the African e-commerce scene in attracting critical investment and winning over a highly sceptical consumer base.
However, Prince Ekeh has held up Konga as a source of hope and pride in the sector.
‘‘Konga is undoubtedly one of the miracles of the Nigerian e-commerce sector. We have not only shown our qualities as a shining light in the industry; but our track record of ethical behaviour, landmark innovations and sound business practices were critical factors that restored investor and customer confidence in the Nigerian e-commerce market in 2019,’’ he said.
‘‘We were not only able to grow revenue by eight times in 2019 but we have also been able to reduce our costs by 65%. That is a significant figure. Also, our flagship year-end promotion, Konga Yakata, lived up to its billing as the biggest sales event of the year, offering access to tons of genuine products delivered swiftly at the best prices for millions of Nigerians nationwide.’’
Ekeh who disclosed that Konga is in the middle of an impressive nationwide roll-out of stores in its bid to reach more of Nigeria’s unreached and under-served population, noted that the company has also recorded significant adoption of Konga Pay, its internally-owned and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed mobile money platform.
In addition, he asserts that through Kxpress, an in-house logistics platform which handles last mile deliveries to customers as well as external parties, Konga is creatively resolving the thorny challenge of logistics which has hobbled other players in the market. Equally important, he cites the roll-out of thriving subsidiaries such as Konga Travel, which he says, has grown nearly 25% on a year-on-year basis, among other upcoming business units.
‘‘We have also invested significantly in state-of-the-art regional warehousing facilities which enables us retain inventory in diverse states and locations in Nigeria; which, aligned with our growing network of over 30 retail stores dotting Nigeria’s landscape, makes us closest to the people.’’
Prince Ekeh further reveals that, in spite of the many strides recorded, the company is not resting on its oars.
‘‘It is no surprise that Konga has been listed as one of the top 20 brands to watch in 2020. This is proof of the significant achievements and strides we recorded in 2019. But we have not even unveiled a quarter of what we have in stock for the market. There are many more exciting things to come this year,’’ he concluded.
Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.
Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.
These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.
In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.
In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.
Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.
In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.
These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.
“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.
“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.
The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.
Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.
Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.
It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.
Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.
Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.
Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.
“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.
Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.
“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin
The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.
Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.
“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin
Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.
To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.
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