General News
Mainframes,Millennials and A Tale of Two Nigerians
For those who may think mainframes were history, think again. Mainframes are the silent engines behind today’s industrial and commercial behemoths, namely, banks, phone and ATM networks, transportation systems, oil exploration and production operations, smartphone apps and more.
So, the mainframe never really went away.The reality is that mini-, micro- and mainframe computers have all benefited from advancements in hardware miniaturization and processor speed engineering. And while almost anyone can easily identify what a laptop or desktop computer looks like, mainframeswere the building blocks (the genesis) of modern computing and remain the pillars of enterprise computing today.
Empirical evidence shows that Nigeria’s (nay Africa’s) business and technology industries remain keenly in touch with mainframe systems. But even more importantly, millennials, today’s high school and university students are also rediscovering the versatility of modern mainframe computing concepts and techniques as evidenced by two Nigerian students, Salisu Ali of Bayero University Kano and David Ntekim-Rex of the University of Lagos, who have emerged regional winners in the annual “Master the Mainframe” competition, organized by AngelHack, a global hackathon company and the IBM Z Academic Initiative.
Salisu Ali, 21, and David Ntekim-Rex, 19, came 1st and 2nd respectively in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, and were also among the top 12 finalists globally. Both student’s entries, according to the judges, showcased innovation and their clear understanding of software security and utility principles, two key attributes of mainframe systems. The other 10 finalists are from Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Nepal and the USA.
The Winners:
| Name | Country | Age | University |
| Anna McKee | U.S. | 22 | University of North Texas |
| Brendan Early | U.S. | 16 | UT High School |
| Trung Chu | Japan | 29 | Nagoya University |
| Hiro Fuchiue | Japan | 27 | RWTH Aachen University |
| MuriloAndrande | Brazil | 34 | Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos |
| Diego DeFranco | Brazil | 33 | FATEC Rubens Lara |
| Sebastian Wind | Germany | 26 | University of Leipzig |
| Christian Ziegler | Germany | 20 | Hochschule Coburg |
| Salisu Ali | Nigeria | 21 | Bayero University Kano |
| David Ntekim-Rex | Nigeria | 19 | University of Lagos |
| Prince Dey | India | 23 | RCC Institute of Information Technology |
| Dinesh Poudel | Nepal | 23 | Tribhuwan University |
More than 17,000 young people from around the world participated in this year’s Master the Mainframe contest, an introduction to programming and application development competition designed to teach students how to code and build new innovations using the mainframe. 80% of registrants were new, and 23% were female. Students were introduced to the enterprise systems behind their smartphone apps and gain hands-on experience to inspire interest in pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.
By participating, students learn, prepare for careers and can win prizes. Attracting participants from more than 120 countries across six continents, this year’s contest “was truly a global contest” and drew the largest turnout since the contest began in 2005, according to Brian Collins, IBM Technical Solutions Manager and Ross Mauri, General Manager, IBM Z Team.
They observed that “millennials were a perfect match for mainframes”and that in a world where the focus often seems on designing the latest app, these contestants entered the competition with the hope of getting a job working on the mainframe, which was first introduced in the 1960s.
Even though the mainframe was built before many of these contestants’ parents were born, tech savvy millennials are increasingly intrigued by the significant role the mainframe plays globally. Mainframes are the backbone of 92 of the top 100 worldwide banks, all 10 largest insurers, 23 of the largest 25 airlines and six of the 10 top global retailers and powering every ATM transaction on earth.
In Nigeria, West Africa’s largest economy, 80% of the country’s 20-plus commercial banks including the financial industry regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, depend on IBM enterprise systems to run their most critical operational tasks.
As creativity, innovation, big data analytics and machine intelligence increasingly become the currencies of Africa’s fast developing economies, the need for mainframe skills cannot be overemphasized.
Thankfully, the “Master the Mainframe” competition has helped to showcase the fact that today’s millennials see mainframe skills as a path to a good-paying job and career path. Glassdoor currently lists more than 6,380″mainframe” jobs in the United States, and based on current growth patterns, IBM predicts that approximately 37,200 new mainframe administration positions will emerge worldwide by 2020.
“Ali and David’s performance in this year’s edition of the “Master the Mainframe” contest reflects well on the ongoing efforts of IBM and other technology firms which continue to invest significantly in Nigeria’s technology ecosystem. This is a positive development,” says Dipo Faulkner, Country General Manager, IBM Nigeria.
For this year’s contest, IBM had all contestants create their own application that dealt with flour, oil and sugar with over 600 different companies worth of data that needed to be sorted and tracked. Contestants needed to translate multiple flat files of data into dynamic applications that could run on the mainframe without error.
According to US-based technology writer Kristin Lewotsky: “By developing and implementing a plan to develop a skills pipeline before the need arises, organizations can place themselves in that smart category that allows them to continue to support their business operations and growth without a hitch.”
For more than five decades, IBM has continuously reinvented the mainframe to address the biggest challenges of today and tomorrow. The latest version of the IBM Z mainframe unveiled last year is now built to handle modern workloads such as AI, blockchain, data encryption, and deep learning.
Analysts reports show that IBM grew its mainframe revenue 71 percent year-to-year in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today announced new findings from the Sophos State of Ransomware in Manufacturing and Production 2025 report.
Sophos
The study reveals that manufacturers are stopping more ransomware attacks before data can be encrypted; however, adversaries are increasingly stealing data and using extortion-only tactics to maintain pressure.
As a result, more than half of manufacturing organizations impacted by encryption paid the ransom despite progress in defensive measures. The report is based on an independent survey of 332 manufacturing organizations that were hit by ransomware in the last year.
The Sophos State of Ransomware in Manufacturing and Production report found:
● Encryption rates are falling, but adversaries are shifting tactics: 40% of attacks on manufacturers resulted in data encryption, the lowest level in five years and down from 74% last year. However, extortion only attacks surged to 10% from just 3% in 2024 as attackers increase reliance on data theft for leverage.
● Data theft remains a significant concern: 39% of manufacturers that experienced encryption also had data stolen, one of the highest rates across all surveyed sectors.
● More organizations are stopping attacks before encryption: 50% of manufacturing organizations stopped the attack before data could be encrypted, more than double last year’s 24%.
● Expertise shortfalls and inadequate protection fuel attacks: Lack of expertise was cited by 42.5% of organizations. Unknown security gaps were cited by 41.6%, and a lack of protection by 41%. Respondents identified an average of three internal factors that contributed to the attack.
● More than half of manufacturers with encrypted data paid the ransom: 51% of affected organizations paid the ransom. The median ransom paid was $1 million dollars, compared to a median demand of $1.2 million dollars.
● Recovery costs and timelines are improving: The average cost to recover from a ransomware attack, excluding ransom payment, declined by 24% to $1.3 million dollars. 58% of manufacturers fully recovered within one week, up from 44% last year.
● Ransomware incidents affect IT and security teams: 47% of manufacturers reported increased team stress after experiencing data encryption. 44% said pressure from senior leaders increased, and 27% reported leadership change as a result of the attack.
“Manufacturing depends on interconnected systems where even brief downtime can stop production and ripple across supply chains,” said Alexandra Rose, Director of Threat Research, Sophos Counter Threat Unit. “Attackers exploit this pressure: despite encryption rates falling to 40%, the median ransom paid still reached $1 million. While half of manufacturers stopped attacks before encryption, recovery costs average $1.3 million and leadership stress remains high. Layered defenses, continuous visibility, and well-rehearsed response plans are essential to reduce both operational impact and financial risk.”
What Sophos is Seeing in Manufacturing
Over the past twelve months, Sophos X-Ops has observed ransomware activity across leak sites and found that 99 distinct threat groups targeted manufacturing organizations.
The most prominent groups targeting manufacturing organizations based on leak site observations are GOLD SAHARA (Akira), GOLD FEATHER (Qilin) and GOLD ENCORE (PLAY). Reflecting the trends revealed in the report, in over half of the ransomware incidents that
Sophos Emergency Incident Response was brought in to remediate, attackers both stole and encrypted data, highlighting the use of double extortion tactics where data is held for ransom and threatened with release on a leak site.
Strengthening Defenses for the Long Term
Based on its experience protecting manufacturing organizations worldwide, Sophos recommends the following best practices to help businesses stay ahead of ransomware and other cyberthreats:
● Eliminate Root Causes: Take proactive steps to address common technical and operational weaknesses—such as exploited vulnerabilities—that adversaries frequently target. Solutions like Sophos Managed Risk can help organizations assess their exposure and reduce risk across their environments.
● Defend Every Endpoint: Ensure all endpoints, including servers, are protected with dedicated anti-ransomware defenses to prevent attacks from gaining a foothold.
● Plan and Prepare: Establish and routinely test a comprehensive incident response plan. Maintain reliable backups and practice data restoration regularly to minimize downtime in the event of an attack.
● Monitor Around the Clock: Continuous visibility is essential. Organizations without in-house resources can strengthen their resilience by partnering with a trusted Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider.
Spotify
This year, Spotify is bringing back the fan-favourite features people already love, while adding new experiences that spotlight how listeners across Africa moved, prayed, worked, partied and rested with audio. Wrapped Party invites fans to dive into their stories with friends and family, and 50 fan destinations worldwide give listeners a place to come together, celebrate their year in music and feel part of something truly global.
From design to in-person experiences and data stories rooted in local listening, this is how the 2025 Wrapped campaign comes to life across Africa.
A modern visual mixtape for Africa
Before streaming, mixtapes and burned CDs were the original playlists: handpicked, decorated and passed between friends, cousins and neighbours as deeply personal gifts. The 2025 Wrapped design builds on that tradition, turning a year of listening into a bold, dynamic visual mixtape for more than 700 million fans around the world – including millions across Africa.
Every gradient and texture reflects that unpredictable mix of emotion and rhythm that makes listening so personal. With a reduced colour palette, bold imagery and a blend of analogue and digital aesthetics, 2025 becomes the most expressive and modern-feeling Wrapped yet. From amapiano dance circles in Johannesburg to late-night studio sessions in Lagos and road-trip singalongs in Nairobi, the look and feel of Wrapped mirrors how African fans actually experience music – loud, layered and full of feeling.
Immersive real-world experiences – and an amagwinya road trip
The Wrapped creative campaign is live in more than 30 markets globally as Spotify moves beyond traditional billboards to create immersive experiences that celebrate the artists who defined 2025. Across Africa, installations and pop-ups bring Wrapped digital storytelling into the real world with artist integrations, interactive photo moments and live performances for top listeners.
In South Africa, Wrapped quite literally hits the road. Inspired by the heartbreak of reaching the front of the line only to hear the gwinyas are finished – and the way Darwin Rev turned that moment into a national mood with Amagwinya Aphelile – the Where Are the Gwinyas? fan destination sends a Wrapped-branded amagwinya kombi on a multi-city road trip.
The truck travels through Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria, serving up gwinya with a Wrapped twist – from fish fillet to bunny-chow-inspired curry fillings and classic snoek, atchar and polony. At each stop, fans turn up their favourite Wrapped anthems, transforming the kombi from simple food truck into rolling street party.
“Wrapped has always been about reflecting fans’ stories back to them, and this year those stories from Sub-Saharan Africa are literally spilling into the streets. From the amagwinya road trip in South Africa to the data stories coming out of Nigeria and Kenya, we’re showing that the numbers behind Wrapped are really about how people here live, move and connect through music,” says Spotify’s Head of Marketing for Africa, Sithabile Kachisa.
How Africa listened in 2025
Wrapped is ultimately about turning listening data into stories fans can see themselves in – and nowhere is that more vivid than in Africa.
In South Africa, early mornings belonged to Ciza’s Isaka, with more than 46,000 fans pressing play at exactly 6:00 a.m., turning sunrise into a shared soundtrack. Mafikizolo’s Uyoncengwa Unyoko passed 14 million plays, proving some songs are built for repeat on both the dancefloor and in the taxi rank.
In Nigeria, Fido’s Joy is Coming found its way onto more than 700 playlists tagged as sad, as listeners reached for hope even when the mood was low. Davido’s With You amassed over 42 million streams, underlining the staying power of one of the country’s most beloved hitmakers.
In Kenya, Extra Pressure was added to fans’ gym playlists, turning workouts into high-stakes training montages, while Njerae’s Aki Sioni crossed 3.2 million streams, transforming vulnerability into a chart-ready strength.
Across the continent, these moments show how Wrapped transforms numbers into narratives. The stats reveal not just what Africa listened to in 2025, but how, when and why it mattered – from perfectly timed play buttons and weekday rituals to songs that travelled through communities as gifts, prayers, jokes and declarations. Wrapped gathers all of that energy and hands it back to fans as a story only they could have written.
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has warned Nigerians against dealing with 15 unregistered entities using company names and registration numbers that are not in the commission’s records.
In a public notice signed by CAC Management, the commission said it had discovered the use of purported company names and RC numbers that are not registered with the CAC, urging the public to disregard them and verify all business information directly from its portal.
“The CAC remains committed to protecting the integrity of the Companies Register, upholding the law, and ensuring a safe and transparent business environment in Nigeria,” the CAC said.
According to the notice, the following are the entities not registered with the CAC:
Famas Services Nigeria Limited (RC: 216312)
Promo Dutch Investment Limited (RC: 396654)
Dialack Concept Nig. Ltd (RC: 297772)
Purpleheart Construction and Real Estate Mgt. Co. Ltd (RC: 1210548)
M/S Loktu Enterprises (BN: 373466)
Loktu Enterprises (BN: 400390)
Badatoyak Ltd (RC: 521322)
Johson Nats Limited (RC: 198492)
Peoples Club Nigeria International (CAC/IT/41191)
Jiba Enterprise (BN: 577523)
Civil Engineering Solutions Nigeria Limited (RC: 33001)
Gabdoff Hotel Ltd (RC: 112409)
Amoka Group (BN: 545221)
BEEC Nigeria Limited (RC: 30143)
- Adetunji (BN: 657466)
Explaining the reason for the commission’s publication, the statement noted that it aligns with its statutory role of maintaining an accurate and reliable companies register, protecting investors, and preventing fraudulent activities in the business environment.
The commission urged Nigerians to always confirm the status of any company or business name through its official portal.
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