Telecom
Pan African Towers Appoints Jyoti Desai, Vivek Gupta as Non-Executive Directors
Pan African Towers (PAT) Ltd, provider of digital infrastructure has announced the appointment of Jyoti Desai and Vivek Gupta as Non-Executive Directors, with effect from May 21st, 2024.
Jyoti Desai, a former Group Chief Operating Officer of MTN, is a banking and telecoms professional with more than 35 years in the industry.
Her achievements in banking, including a stint at Standard Bank, include driving largescale transformation in the banking industry to streamline operational cost and shifting focus to customer centric, segment-based value propositions.
An experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry as well as fixed and mobile telecoms, she has more than 15 years’ experience in Africa and the Middle East.
Desai is also skilled in startups in emerging markets, notably in the technical, commercial and operational aspects of the telecom business, and has more than 25 years’ experience in cost and operational transformation, including digital transformation, large scale project execution, Service Delivery, 3G, LTE, Mobile Communications, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and more recently 5G.
Vivek Gupta is a first-generation entrepreneur, investor and telecoms veteran. As Founder and Director of iSON Group, he has built a dynamic ecosystem of businesses in IT & ITeS, BPO and Telecom Infrastructure and Services, employing 20,000+ resources, spanning 40 countries across Africa, Asia and Middle East.
Gupta became an entrepreneur in 2008 as CEO of Zamil Infra, iSON’s first joint venture with the $8B Saudi conglomerate, Zamil, that specializes in build and managed services for telecom passive infrastructure.
Under Gupta’s leadership, iSON Group diversified in Renewable energy, Digital infrastructure, Digital Healthcare and Health insurance sector. iSON Group has grown both organically and inorganically in last few years.
He spent two decades creating an illustrious career within the telecom sector, working for multinationals such as Ericsson and IBM.
In 2008, he was recognized by Fortune as “IBM’s All-Star Salesman” for contracting over $5 Billion worth of business and executing high value transformational and ‘out of box’ deals, particularly path-breaking strategic outsourcing deals with Bharti Airtel, Idea & Vodafone that have gone on to become one of the most successful business models for the company.
“As can be seen from their profiles, both Desai and Gupta’s extensive global experience, and their contributions to the advancement of telecommunication, technology and infrastructural development in Africa and beyond make them invaluable assets for us at Pan African Towers, especially at this point in time where we are on a continuous improvement drive across our operations within Nigeria, and with a vision to grow our digital infrastructure base,” said Azeez Amida, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Pan African Towers.
Pan African Towers was established in 2017 to capitalize on the growing demand for wireless communications across Africa and has since emerged as a prominent telecommunications and tower infrastructure provider.
It would be recalled that in November last year, Pan African Towers announced a strategic investment from Development Partners International (DPI), a premier investment firm focused on Africa, and Verod Capital (Verod), one of the continent’s leading investment management firms.
DPI and Verod are investing in PAT to fuel its continued growth and will work with management to build on the company’s recent achievements and reaffirm its position as Nigeria’s largest homegrown digital infrastructure provider.
With this appointment, Jyoti Desai and Vivek Gupta joins Adefolarin Ogunsanya, Daniel Adeoye, Marc Stoneham and Azeez Amida on the board of Pan African Towers.
Sophos, a leading provider of innovative cybersecurity solutions, shared practical advice to help internet users safeguard their credentials and maintain continuous protection online.
Sophos
According to the upcoming Sophos Active Adversary Report, compromised credentials were the leading cause of attacks (42.06%) in 2025.
This is a strong trend that continues to dominate the scene, with cyber attackers demonstrating ever-increasing ingenuity and relying on new tools to compromise the security and privacy of internet users.
John Shier, Field CISO Threat Intelligence at Sophos, said: “The way attackers are using automation and generative AI to massively increase the speed and volume of their attacks suggests that attacks will become faster and more sophisticated. The best approach to protecting our identities and digital data is to take a proactive stance on defense.”
“Criminals are increasingly targeting people rather than devices, and this trend is expected to continue and even accelerate. Once again, AI is being used as a weapon to create highly detailed phishing lures to entice people to disclose passwords or financial information through well-designed emails, text messages, and WhatsApp messages.”
1. Keep your devices up to date: the most important and simplest measure you can take to protect yourself in the long term.
Cybercriminals are constantly on the lookout for computers that don’t have all the latest security patches, making them easy targets for compromise. This includes computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and home Internet/Wi-Fi routers. In most cases, you just need to click “Check for Updates” or “Update Now” and allow the device to restart.
2. Use a password management tool, whether it is built into an operating system or a third-party tool.
Password uniqueness and complexity are then managed automatically, greatly facilitating account isolation and protection.
3. Enhance protection with phishing resistant (MFA).
Many websites offer the option of using an “authentication app,” a smartphone app that displays a unique code for a short period of time, which must be entered after the password, making it much more secure than simply using a password.
Better still, there is a new solution called “passkeys,” which generally uses biometric authentication on your smartphone (face scan, fingerprint) to log in without any password. This is the best choice when available.
John Shier concludes: “Criminals will never stop trying to steal from us, so we must remain vigilant. We know that they are constantly improving and becoming more skilled at deceiving us, so it’s up to us to move forward and improve our protections to stay safe.”
For more information, please visit: https://www.sophos.com
Webb Fontaine has launched Webb Fontaine Zerø, a groundbreaking AI-powered Customs platform, at the 2026 WCO Technology Conference in Abu Dhabi, drawing over 1,500 delegates from 100+ countries.
Webb Fontaine
CEO Alioune Ciss unveiled the LLM-based concept during the keynote, calling it a “complete reset” from legacy systems – embedding AI across operations for real-time regulatory adaptation, risk management, and trade facilitation under the theme “Customs Agility in a Complex World.”
CTO Ara Shamirzayan led panels on AI risk analytics, while GM Anicet Houngbo moderated border digitalization talks showcasing emerging market successes.
The firm’s stand hosted Zerø demos, interactive sessions, and a sponsored gala dinner, reinforcing WCO ties via SAFE Framework and PSCG contributions.
Webb Fontaine eyes global partnerships to deploy agile, future-proof Customs tech amid rising trade demands.
L-R – Engr. Aliyu Yusuf Aboki , Executive Secretary WATRA; Mrs Nneena Ukoa, Head Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission; Hon. Clarence K. Massaquoi, Chairman Board of Commissioners, Liberia Telecommunications Authority; Kelechi Nwankwo, Director Corporate planning, strategy and Risk Management(NCC); Hon. Ben Fofana, Commissioner with oversight responsibility for Licensing and Regulation (LTA); Usman Mamman Director, Licensing & Authorization (NCC) during a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja on 30th January, 2026.
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