E-Business
How Smart Technologies Will Drive Africa’s Electrical Expansion
The use of advanced metering technologies is steadily on the rise in Africa, but, to evolve the business models of the electrical utilities operating on the continent, utilities still need to harness the full digital potential of technologies such as smart metering.
This is according to Abraham Ortega, senior executive consultant at state-of-the-art electrical equipment and solutions provider, Hexing, who said that smart meters have already improved the operation of many utilities, contributing to increased grid stability.
“However, smart metering is just the tip of the iceberg. When incorporated into an advanced, fully integrated system, utilities will be able to significantly change the way that they operate. The continuing challenges faced by utilities can only be overcome by introducing more robust technologies that bring in more revenue for utilities, while offering competitive pricing for the consumers on the continent.”
Hexing is a multi-national company founded in 1992, offering a state-of-the-art range of electrical equipment and solutions to electric utilities across the globe.
Hexing Electrical SA, established in 2012, provides smart prepaid meters and systems, intelligent data acquisition systems, distribution networks, micro-grid solutions, operation and services to customers, and solving the challenges of the collection of electricity charges in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the rest of Southern Africa.
Ortega said that utilising smart metering networks at their most basic level have already enabled many utilities to better fund their own expansion projects.
“With meter to cash solutions (smart meters) being rolled out in many African countries, utilities and their private sector partners have been able to improve the accuracy of their billing and tracking of electricity consumption. Speaking from Hexing’s own experience, we have seen clients significantly reduce their losses and nearly double their revenue collection to fund further expansion and stabilisation of their grids.”
Mafise Ledwaba, Database Developer at Centlec, one of Hexing’s clients, explains that the solution has been able to effectively reduce losses related to maintenance issues as well as theft, while making client billing exceedingly accurate.
“This has enabled us to increase revenue collection from R30 million to between R70 million and R90 million per month with the span of four years. It has helped our company to further drive expansion into the Free State where Centlec currently operates,” he says.
Ortega noted that there are still challenges that these utilities need to overcome. “Among our clients, we have seen a greater need for standardising the software systems that service their smart metering systems. A utility often utilises smart meters supplied by a range of different manufacturers. The reasons for this are many, from availability to simply changing contracts to new service providers. The point remains that these meters have to be able to integrate with one central system, if they are to make the utility more efficient.”
Thembekile Zwakala, acting chief information officer at City Power noted that this is a particular challenge in South Africa.
“We make use of multiple technology providers and for us, it is really important not to become dependent on a single manufacturer for all of our technology. The problem is that each of these manufacturers have their own back-end systems, and reconciling the data that we receive from the field is often time-consuming and prone to generating errors. We are looking to service providers like Hexing to help us develop a single back-end operation and control system for our smart meters that can reconcile all of the different brands and generations of smart meters, thereby ensuring accuracy and saving time.”
The solution, according to Ortega, is an intelligent operation and maintenance management system (IOMMS) capable of overcoming infrastructural challenges, interpreting information from the field and immediately taking the right course of action with minimal human involvement.
“Governments and utilities have no choice but to partner with the private sector if real growth is to be achieved. The good news is that Hexing is capable of supplying, constructing and maintaining integrated smart systems. While companies such as ours can provide the means for technological advancement, governments and regulators can help to make these systems a realist by rewriting or re-interpreting the relevant laws to enable operators to better collect revenue with these systems.”
The old models for funding and constructing infrastructure has had limited success in Africa, and, continuing on this path will not only become increasingly expensive, but also yield fewer and fewer results, he said.
“The only solution for the continent, going forward, is to find ways of bringing in cutting-edge technological solutions that bypass these challenges altogether,” Ortega 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.
Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains
Senate Passes Harmonised Report on Tax Reform Bills
FG to Provide High-fibre Internet in 12 Universities by Year End
The Silent Killer of Great Companies: A Guide To Why Your Processes Will Break (and How to Fix Them)
EFCC Witness Admits Writing Off Arik Air’s $2.3M Debt Amid N76Bn Fraud Trial
E-Financial2 days agoEFCC Recovers over N20Bn Stolen by Hackers from 6 Banks in Nigeria
Telecom2 days agoEngr. Ikechukwu Nnamani Receives Two Prestigious @ABoICT Awards
Telecom2 days agoFG to Deploy 80 Percent of 7000 Telecom Towers to North
E-Financial2 days agoPonzi Scheme Operators Risk N10m Penalty, Others- IST Chair
E-Financial2 days agoUBA Launches *919# Advance Top-Up Feature for Instant Access to Customers
News2 days agoEFCC Recovers Funds, Arrests Suspects in N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud
E-Business1 day agoNigeria Among Hotspots as Kaspersky Warns of Rising Ransomware Threat in Africa
E-Financial2 days agoCourt to Deliver Judgment in NIBSS’ Suit against CBN, Others over BVN Database Management