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E-Business

Mastercard, Angaza Partner on New Generation Technology Solutions

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Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, has signed a global Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Angaza, a leader in last-mile distribution technology, which will see the two companies partner to rollout an efficient digital payment solution that increases access to affordable necessities, like solar home systems and water pumps, for people and businesses in emerging markets across the globe.

Leveraging Angaza’s pay-as-you-go (PAYG) embedded metering and monitoring technology and Mastercard’s cutting-edge digital payment solutions and infrastructure including QR technology, this partnership will not only unlock access to the basic necessities, but will also help people without access to credit or traditional banking services start on a path to financial inclusion.

The partnership follows the successful launch of Mastercard’s first PAYG application programming interface in Uganda last year, which combines low cost QR technology – an open and interoperable technology, with the internet of things to lead more secure and efficient payments.

PAYG business models are emerging around the globe to give people the ability to pay for what they use, as they need it. The model adopted by Angaza allows life-changing products, such as solar home systems, clean cook stoves and water pumps, to be sold at a low upfront cost. Consumers can then pay off the cost of the products over a period of time.

Currently, most payments on the Angaza platform are conducted via cash or mobile money. With the integration of Mastercard’s API, the solution will provide new levels of payment flexibility and affordability impacting the lives of millions of consumers across emerging markets.

Additionally, this partnership could open up fresh access to other financial services and tools. By keeping accurate records of payments that a user is making, the user is able to establish a verifiable digital identity and trackable credit history which was previously impossible to create or maintain. This data gives companies and financial service providers the ability to put underserved populations on a new path to financial inclusion.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Angaza to bring access and inclusion to people and businesses around the world. This partnership will help consumers to overcome hurdles such as the significant cash outlay required to purchase critical items by leveraging micropayments, which in turn also helps to build their credit history.

All of this is being made available via the internet of things, which is a great democratizer and is playing a critical role providing safe, secure and accessible digital ecosystems”, says Jorn Lambert, Executive Vice President, Digital Solutions at Mastercard.

“This is a pivotal collaboration for the last-mile distribution industry, bridging Angaza’s global pay-as-you-go solution with a leading digital payment provider,” said Angaza CEO Lesley Marincola. “The addition of Mastercard’s QR technology to Angaza’s platform will allow solar distributors and their clients to process payments for life-changing products securely and efficiently, while opening doors to broader financial inclusion.”

To date, Angaza’s technology has enabled more than five million people in emerging markets across Africa, South America and Asia to purchase over one million life-changing products like solar home systems, water pumps, and clean cookstoves.

Following the completion of a successful pilot with the BOP Innovation Centre in Nigeria, Mastercard and Angaza will expand the programme to other markets in Africa and Latin-America to bring as many people as possible into the financial fold.


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E-Business

NIMC Says NIN Services Back Online

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced the restoration of its National Identification Number (NIN) verification services nationwide.

NIMC Says NIN Services Back Online

This, according to the commission, follows the completion of a system maintenance exercise.

In a statement issued on Friday, the NIMC confirmed that all previously disrupted services have resumed.

“NIMC wishes to inform the general public that the recent technical maintenance has been completed and all services have been restored,” the statement read.

The NIMC urged Nigerians seeking to enroll for NIN to visit the its official website to locate the nearest enrollment centers.

The agency also encouraged individuals to make use of its self-service portal for tasks such as data modification, including name changes.

To further ease the verification process, the Commission recommended downloading the NIMC NameAuth app (oath.app) from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store for quick and secure NIN authentication.

NIMC expressed appreciation for the public’s patience during the service disruption, which had impacted banks, telecom providers, and government agencies that rely on NIN verification for their operations.

 


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Report Reveals African Organizations Dangerously Overestimating Cyber defences

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Many businesses are overestimating their defence against cyber attacks, which creates a significant human risk blind spot. A new KnowBe4 report exposes a worrying disconnect between what leaders think about their cyber security readiness and what employees experience.

According to the KnowBe4 Africa Human Risk Management Report 2025, based on insights from cyber security decision-makers across 30 African countries, despite high awareness, a critical gap exists in turning that awareness into actual readiness and resilient behaviour.

Key findings from the KnowBe4 Africa Human Risk Management Report 2025:

Confidence vs awareness: While cyber security awareness is high, leaders express uncertainty about their workforce’s ability to act on that awareness. Many feel employees may overestimate their capabilities in recognising, reporting and mitigating threats.

The need for adaptive and personalised security awareness training: Many companies fail to personalise security awareness training to specific roles or risk exposures.

Widespread BYOD usage: A large percentage of employees (between 41% and 80%) use their personal devices for work.

AI policy development is lagging: Many companies (46%) are still in the process of developing policies for using AI tools in the workplace.

Regional variation: Southern Africa trains more, East Africa governs AI better and West/Central Africa sees the most human-related security incidents.

This gap is significant because Africa has become an attractive target to cyber criminals, especially those that launch AI-powered attacks. A LexisNexis Risk Solutions study found 60% of South African organisations have seen an increase in AI-facilitated financial crime – above the 56% global average.

Kehinde Popoola, regional manager and key representative for West and East Africa at Rubrik, said digital transformation is gaining momentum in Africa and companies are more exposed to cyber risk. The Rubrik executive adds that amid an increase in threats, it is crucial that organisations adopt an assumed breach mindset.

The KnowBe4 research shows that cyber security preparedness and the actual structures required to support secure behaviour seem misaligned.

The report highlights that just 10% of cyber security leaders are fully confident that staff would report a phishing attack or other cyber threat, despite rating employee security awareness of cyber threats at four out of five or higher.

There is also a significant perception gap between decision-makers and general employees in Africa regarding security awareness training, with 68% of leaders believing that training is tailored to roles, compared to only a third of employees feeling adequately trained.

KnowBe4 asserts that many organisations only conduct annual or biannual training that is too generic to effectively change behaviour, contributing to uncertainty about its effectiveness.

According to another report, the KnowBe4 African Cybersecurity and Awareness Report 2025, which focuses on end-user based responses, only 43% of African respondents felt confident in their ability to recognise a cyber threat, and just one in three believed their security awareness training was adequately tailored to their role. This comparison suggests the development of a dangerous perception gap in many organisations.

“There’s a disconnect here – between what leaders think is happening and what employees are actually experiencing,” says Anna Collard, SVP content strategy and evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. “The data shows that without procedural and cultural follow-through, awareness simply doesn’t translate into readiness.”

“The continent’s cyber security posture may be more confident than it is truly resilient,” Collard adds.

 


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Domain of Deception as Attackers Deploy Spyware Under Guise of Legal Threats

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Kaspersky has detected a rapidly escalating malicious campaign that has targeted over 1,100 corporate users since June 2025. The attackers pose as a legal firm and in their emails threaten recipients with lawsuits over alleged domain name patent violations, aiming to deploy malware.

Victims who opened and launched the attached files – that mimicked legal documents – had a Trojan installed on their devices, and the attackers could spy on the content of their screens. Organisations across healthcare, finance, and education sectors have been targeted.

The campaign began with 95 emails on June 11 and has since continued to escalate. Apart from claiming that the recipient’s domain name violates patented combinations of a major brand and threatening litigation, in the email the fake legal bureau also expresses the patent holders’ interest in acquiring the domain and offers getting acquainted with the details of the alleged violations by opening the attached archive with “documents”.

It is worth noting that the attackers, likely to avoid detection, attach an archive that is not password protected, and inside it includes another archive that is password protected and a file containing the password along with it.

After the user entered the archive password and clicked on the alleged legal document inside, a Trojan was installed on the device. The user saw a message displayed that read, “This document cannot be opened on this device. Try opening it on another windows device,” and simultaneously the Tor Browser was covertly downloaded and installed in the background.

Through it, the malware regularly sent snapshots of the user’s screen to the attackers over the Tor network. The malware also autostarts whenever the computer is restarted.

“This campaign is a sophisticated blend of psychological manipulation and technical deception, leveraging fear of legal action to coerce businesses into executing harmful files hidden in attached archives. Its rapid growth since June 11 underscores the urgency for organisations to bolster defenses.

Victims face the risk of losing their private data. Robust email security, employee training, and swift incident reporting are essential to counter this evolving threat,” comments Anna Lazaricheva, spam analyst at Kaspersky.

 


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