Telecom
ITU Strengthens Effort to Address Counterfeit ICT Devices

ITU discussions to address the growing problem of counterfeit ICT devices was actively participated, contributed to and progressed at the latest ITU-T SG11 (Protocols and test specifications) meeting held in Geneva this July.
A group of experts from various administrations and industry, as well as international organizations including the World Trade Organization (WTO), World Custom Organization (WCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the Mobile Manufacturing Forum (MMF), contributed to the progress of the draft Technical Report on “Counterfeited and Substandard ICT Equipment”, which is anticipated as a baseline document for further developments in this area.
Several forums and conferences have called for ITU’s assistance in addressing the growing problem of counterfeit telecommunications/ICT products and devices, which is adversely affecting all stakeholders in the ICT field (vendors, governments, operators and consumers).
As a result, ITU-T SG11 agreed to revise the terms of reference of its Question 8(Q8/11) ‘Guidelines for implementations of signalling and protocols, and for addressing counterfeit ICT devices’, which is the group dealing with this work.
Isaac Boateng, National Communications Authority, Ghana, and Rapporteur of Q8/11said: “The study on Counterfeit ICT devices currently going on in SG11 was driven by Resolution 177 (Guadalajara, 2010) of the Plenipotentiary Conference, on Conformance and Interoperability which ‘instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, in close collaboration with the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and the Director of the Radio communication Bureau, to assist Member States in addressing their concerns with respect to counterfeit equipment’. I expect that the publication of the Technical Report could support the ITU Member States, particularly those in developing countries, to develop policies and regulatory framework to combat counterfeit devices in their national telecommunications/ICT strategies.”
An event on “Combating counterfeit and substandard ICT devices” will be taking place on 17 and 18 November 2014 at ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. Substandard and fake ICT products are a serious issue that impacts developed and developing economies, the ICT industry, as well as the consumer population around the world.
The objectives of this event are threefold, namely to: discuss the global scope and impact of counterfeiting and substandard ICT products on various stakeholders; highlight the common concerns, challenges, initiatives, practices and opportunities of the various stakeholders in their fight against counterfeiting and substandard ICT products; and examine the possible role of ICT standards development organizations (SDOs), and in particular the ITU, as part of the global strategy and solution to curtail counterfeiting and substandard ICT products.
The ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) also approved in Dubai (2014) a new Resolution on “The role of telecommunications/information and communication technologies in combating and dealing with counterfeit telecommunication/information and communication devices” (see draft final report Members restricted).
The next physical meetings of the group focusing on Counterfeiting in ITU-T (Q8/11) will take place back-to-back with the “Combating counterfeit and substandard ICT devices” event in ITU Headquarters on 19-21 November 2014. The Technical Report on “Counterfeited and Substandard ICT Equipment” will then be stable for approval. ITU Members are also invited to submit Contributions to Q8/11 to start new work items on this topic.
Gartner Warns Organizations of Data Lake Fallacy
The growing hype surrounding data lakes is causing substantial confusion in the information management space, according to Gartner, Inc. Several vendors are marketing data lakes as an essential component to capitalize on Big Data opportunities, but there is little alignment between vendors about what comprises a data lake, or how to get value from it.
“In broad terms, data lakes are marketed as enterprise-wide data management platforms for analyzing disparate sources of data in its native format,” said Nick Heudecker, research director at Gartner.
“The idea is simple: instead of placing data in a purpose-built data store, you move it into a data lake in its original format. This eliminates the upfront costs of data ingestion, like transformation. Once data is placed into the lake, it’s available for analysis by everyone in the organization.”
However, while the marketing hype suggests audiences throughout an enterprise will leverage data lakes, this positioning assumes that all those audiences are highly skilled at data manipulation and analysis, as data lakes lack semantic consistency and governed metadata.
“The need for increased agility and accessibility for data analysis is the primary driver for data lakes,” said Andrew White, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.
“Nevertheless, while it is certainly true that data lakes can provide value to various parts of the organization, the proposition of enterprise-wide data management has yet to be realized.”
Data lakes focus on storing disparate data and ignore how or why data is used, governed, defined and secured. The data lake concept hopes to solve two problems, one old and one new. The old problem it tries to solve is information silos. Rather than having dozens of independently managed collections of data, you can combine these sources in the unmanaged data lake. The consolidation theoretically results in increased information use and sharing, while cutting costs through server and license reduction.
The new problem data lakes conceptually tackle pertains to Big Data initiatives. Big Data projects require a large amount of varied information.
The information is so varied that it’s not clear what it is when it is received, and constraining it in something as structured as a data warehouse or relational database management system (RDBMS) constrains future analysis.
“Addressing both of these issues with a data lake certainly benefits IT in the short term in that IT no longer has to spend time understanding how information is used — data is simply dumped into the data lake,” said Mr. White.
“However, getting value out of the data remains the responsibility of the business end user. Of course, technology could be applied or added to the lake to do this, but without at least some semblance of information governance, the lake will end up being a collection of disconnected data pools or information silos all in one place.”
Data lakes therefore carry substantial risks. The most important is the inability to determine data quality or the lineage of findings by other analysts or users that have found value, previously, in using the same data in the lake. By its definition, a data lake accepts any data, without oversight or governance.
Without descriptive metadata and a mechanism to maintain it, the data lake risks turning into a data swamp. And without metadata, every subsequent use of data means analysts start from scratch.
Another risk is security and access control. Data can be placed into the data lake with no oversight of the contents.
Many data lakes are being used for data whose privacy and regulatory requirements are likely to represent risk exposure. The security capabilities of central data lake technologies are still embryonic. These issues will not be addressed if left to non-IT personnel.
Finally, performance aspects should not be overlooked. Tools and data interfaces simply cannot perform at the same level against a general-purpose store as they can against optimized and purpose-built infrastructure. For these reasons, Gartner recommends that organizations focus on semantic consistency and performance in upstream applications and data stores instead of information consolidation in a data lake.
“Data lakes typically begin as ungoverned data stores,” said Mr. Heudecker. “Meeting the needs of wider audiences require curated repositories with governance, semantic consistency and access controls — elements already found in a data warehouse.
“The fundamental issue with the data lake is that it makes certain assumptions about the users of information,” said Mr. Heudecker.
“It assumes that users recognize or understand the contextual bias of how data is captured, that they know how to merge and reconcile different data sources without ‘a priori knowledge’ and that they understand the incomplete nature of datasets, regardless of structure.”
While these assumptions may be true for users working with data, such as data scientists, the majority of business users lack this level of sophistication or support from operational information governance routines. Developing or acquiring these skills or obtaining such support on an individual basis, is both time-consuming and expensive, or impossible.
“There is always value to be found in data but the question your organization has to address is this — do we allow or even encourage one-off, independent analysis of information in silos or a data lake, bringing said data together, or do we formalize to a degree that effort, and try to sustain the value-generating skills we develop?” said Mr. White.
“If the option is the former, it is quite likely that a data lake will appeal. If the decision tends toward the latter, it is beneficial to move beyond a data lake concept quite quickly in order to develop a more robust logical data warehouse strategy.”
Telecom
LINX Picks Digital Realty as Access Point for New Ghana IXP

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) announced today that it will extend its partnership with Digital Realty to West Africa, welcoming the data centre provider to its new interconnection fabric, LINX Accra.
Digital Realty is nearing completion of its new facility in Accra, ACR2. A modern data centre strategically positioned near multiple submarine landing cable stations in Accra’s downtown area.
Ghana is one of Africa’s most internationally connected countries, thanks to the presence of these six undersea cable systems. As a result, the country’s digital landscape has grown dramatically in recent years.
LINX Accra was announced in late 2024 and is anticipated to launch in the coming weeks.
LINX stated that a new internet exchange point (IXP) for Ghana will provide future-proof and scalable solutions to propel the digital ecosystem forward.
The new IXP will be LINX’s third facility in Africa since the opening of LINX Nairobi in 2023, marking an important milestone in the company’s overall strategy in Africa.
Nurani Nimpuno, head of global engagement for LINX commented: “We are excited to be embarking on this new journey with Digital Realty in Ghana. We have strong relations with our partners across our LINX hubs in the UK, US and Kenya so I’m confident this extension of the relationship will be a success.”
Digital Realty has been a key access point for LINX’s interconnection solutions in London and also in North Virginia, US for several years.
More recently, LINX launched their first steps into Africa with LINX Nairobi in November 2023 and LINX Mombasa in February of this year, both working closely with iColo: A Digital Realty Company.
Joseph Koranteng, managing director of Digital Realty in Ghana, commented: “We’re pleased to be welcoming LINX to our new data centre in Ghana, a key milestone as we continue to strengthen interconnection across Africa.
“As demand for low-latency connectivity grows, this collaboration will play a critical role in helping to shape the region’s digital future by enabling greater access, resilience, and integration with the global internet fabric.”
Telecom
Moniepoint Clinches Two IBSi Awards for Leadership in Corporate Banking and Digital Wallet Services

Moniepoint Inc, Africa’s leading fintech platform, has been named a Category Winner in two prestigious categories — Corporate Banking and Digital Wallets — at the IBS Intelligence (IBSi) Digital Banking Awards 2025.
The accolades recognize Moniepoint’s significant impact in advancing financial inclusion and operational efficiency through its innovative digital banking initiatives across the continent.
Moniepoint earned dual recognition with the Corporate Banking award for its end-to-end digital platform empowering SMEs across emerging markets through simplified working capital access and streamlined payment processes, while also being honored in the Digital Wallets category for its scalable wallet infrastructure that enables millions to seamlessly transact, save, and manage finances—both innovations supporting broader financial inclusion and economic empowerment goals.
The IBSi Awards jury highlighted Moniepoint’s achievement in delivering measurable business impact, its ability to scale efficiently, and its pioneering approach to integrating local market needs with cutting-edge financial technology.
The IBSi Digital Banking Awards recognize technology implementations and innovation across digital banking units worldwide. This year, more than 110 submissions from over 30 countries were evaluated.
The IBSi Digital Banking Awards celebrate the most innovative and impactful technology implementation projects in the global banking sector.
This year’s competition recognised outstanding achievements among digital-only banks, neo-challenger banks, and the technology partners driving digital transformation worldwide.
“We are thrilled to be recognised in two highly competitive categories,” said Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of Moniepoint. “These awards validate our mission to power the dreams of African businesses and individuals by building technology that works for everyday realities.
“Whether it’s helping SMEs grow or enabling simple, fast, and secure transactions for millions, we remain committed to delivering impactful solutions.”
“These recognitions from IBS Intelligence reflect the hard work of our teams and partners, and the deep trust our users place in Moniepoint,” Eniolorunda added.
“We look forward to continuing to innovate and scale inclusive digital financial services that shape the future of banking across Africa.”
Nikhil Gokhale, Director of Research and Digital Properties at IBS intelligence, said, “Over the years, we’ve witnessed a remarkable transformation in the digital banking space — from the rise of nimble neobanks to the digital reinvention of traditional institutions.
“The IBSi Digital Banking Awards honour this evolution by recognising technology-led excellence across the global banking landscape.
“Now in its fifth edition, the awards continue to recognise banks that are redefining the digital banking landscape through bold strategy, customer-centric thinking, driving innovation, inclusion and meaningful impact.”
This award complements and validates Moniepoint market leadership having been listed for three years in a row in the CB Insights annual Fintech 100, a list of the 100 most promising private fintech companies in the world and described as high-momentum companies shaping the future of financial services as well as being ranked by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies for two consecutive years.
Moniepoint Inc. powers over 10 million businesses and individuals with access to seamless payments, banking, credit, and business management tools since 2019. As Nigeria’s largest merchant acquirer, it powers most of the country’s Point of Sale (POS) transactions while operating profitably.
Processing over 1 billion transactions monthly, with total payments volume exceeding $22 billion, Moniepoint enables businesses to digitize their operations and thrive in Africa’s rapidly evolving economy.
UK-headquartered IBS Intelligence (IBSi) is the world’s only pure-play Financial Technology (traditional and new-age) research, advisory, and media firm, with a global coverage, and a 360° portfolio of intelligence offerings.
For over 30 years, IBSi’s expert teams have delivered independent, in-depth, actionable insights, with a laser focus on everything Financial Technology, to the global banking, consulting, technology, and institutional investor world.
Telecom
Spotify Launches Mood-Based Music Campaign in Nigeria

Spotify is inviting Nigerian listeners to tune inward with the launch of Find Your Mood, a new campaign that celebrates the everyday emotions and life moments that define who we are, and the music that helps us move through them.
At the heart of Find Your Mood is a simple truth: music is more than sound. It is a feeling. Whether it’s the quiet calm of early mornings, the frustration of Lagos traffic, or the joy of a weekend link-up, Spotify delivers personalised, mood-based playlists that echo, elevate and enrich each unique emotional state. From the reflective tone of the Calm Mix to the energising Focus Mix or the celebratory Good Vibes Mix, Spotify helps listeners discover the perfect soundtrack for however they’re feeling.
“With Find Your Mood, we’re showing how Spotify goes beyond streaming to become an essential companion in the emotional lives of our listeners,” says Sithabile Kachisa, Head of Marketing for Spotify in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“It’s about making every playlist feel like it was made just for you, because it was. This campaign reflects our belief that music has the power to meet people where they are and move them toward where they want to be.”
The campaign’s centerpiece is a Hero Film that captures the emotional journey of young Nigerian creatives, following their highs, lows, setbacks and breakthroughs. Throughout it all, Spotify’s mood-driven playlists act as both compass and companion, soundtracking their stories in a way that is personal, powerful and deeply human. Shot across familiar, everyday Nigerian spaces, the film highlights the role of music as not just background noise, but as an emotional anchor.
Ultimately, Find Your Mood is more than a campaign. It is a reflection of how Spotify enhances the way people live, feel, and connect with themselves, with their community, and with music that truly gets them. Because when music is a feeling, Spotify is where you find your mood.
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