The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has announced the formation of Airbel Ventures, a new humanitarian impact investing fund aimed at accelerating the introduction and scaling of breakthrough technologies in crisis-affected communities.

The fund will invest in companies whose ideas have the potential to change humanitarian response, including digital infrastructure for frontline health systems and climate-resilient agriculture.

The launch of Airbel Ventures follows a period of rapid innovation at the IRC, despite the humanitarian sector facing record funding cuts.

In the past year, the IRC’s Airbel Impact Lab has advanced more than twenty Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology initiatives—from anticipatory action tools powered by climate and vulnerability data, to frontline service delivery using safe, orchestrated AI systems, to breakthrough diagnostic tools for emerging diseases.

Airbel Ventures’ first impact investment is in Signalytic, a company delivering solar-powered computing devices that ensure reliable electricity and connectivity for remote health facilities.

Following the investment, the IRC will pilot Signalytic’s technology with its Nigeria Health team, demonstrating the viability of next-generation digital infrastructure in humanitarian settings.

“We know breakthrough solutions already exist—what’s missing is the path to scale in humanitarian contexts,” said Dr. Jeannie Annan, Senior Vice President for Research & Innovation at the IRC and head of the Airbel Impact Lab.

Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s second biggest lender by market value, has received approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to acquire 100 percent of Paramount Bank Limited, clearing a key regulatory hurdle in its East African expansion drive.

In a statement on Thursday, CAK said the transaction is “unlikely to lead to a substantial prevention or lessening of competition in the market for the provision of banking services in Kenya” and would strengthen Paramount’s financial position, helping it meet enhanced core capital requirements over the long term.

The Kenyan regulator noted that the deal poses no risk of reduced competition in the country’s banking sector. Zenith currently has no banking operations in Kenya, while Paramount is a Tier III lender with a modest 0.2 percent market share.

“The approval is based on the Authority’s determination that the transaction is unlikely to harm competition, while any negative public interest concerns regarding employment can be addressed through mitigating remedies,” CAK added.

Paramount met the Central Bank of Kenya’s KSh3.0 billion core capital requirement in November last year, reporting KSh3.118 billion after raising KSh332 million from shareholders, according to Mwango Capital, a Nairobi-based research firm.

The deal reflects a broader shift among banks in East Africa’s largest economy as lenders seek growth opportunities beyond increasingly saturated home markets marked by weak credit expansion, rising regulatory costs, and intense competition.

While several global banks — including Standard Chartered and HSBC — have scaled back African operations over the past decade, Zenith’s move signals confidence in selective regional expansion, particularly in East Africa, where economic growth and financial inclusion trends remain supportive.

The banking group is also widening its continental footprint. Last month, the lender disclosed plans to expand into Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, as it targets generating up to half of its profits outside Nigeria over the medium term.

Historically, Nigeria, the continent most populous nation contributed as much as 90 percent of the bank’s earnings, a dominance that is now gradually easing.

Data cited by The Africa Report show that profit contributions from foreign subsidiaries rose to 27 percent in the first nine months of 2025, up from 14 percent in 2024.

Nigeria’s banking recapitalisation drive is also pushing large lenders such as Zenith to deploy capital beyond their home market. In January 2025, Zenith — which holds an international banking licence — raised N350.4 billion ($242 million), lifting its paid-up capital to N614.6 billion ($425 million).

With higher capital buffers in place, banks are reassessing how best to deploy fresh funds as domestic earnings normalise following two years of windfall gains.

As part of the approval, Zenith has been required to retain Paramount’s 78 employees for at least 12 months after the transaction is completed.

The bank is listed on the Nigerian and London stock exchanges and operates across corporate, commercial, retail, and investment banking. Its international subsidiaries span the United Kingdom, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, the UAE, and China.

Kaspersky has reported a spike in phishing emails containing malicious QR codes. Detections for these jumped from 46,969 in August 2025 to 249,723 in November 2025 – a more than fivefold growth – as cybercriminals increasingly exploit QR codes, a trend that will likely continue in 2026.

Attackers use QR codes in emails more frequently because they provide a simple and cost-effective way to conceal malicious URLs, evading detection by many protective solutions.

These QR codes are often embedded directly in email bodies or, even more commonly, within PDF attachments – an evolution that both masks phishing links and encourages users to scan them on mobile phones, which may have weaker security than work PCs.

Malicious QR codes commonly appear in mass phishing campaigns as well as targeted ones. Links embedded within them may lead to:

• Phishing forms impersonating login pages for services like Microsoft accounts or internal corporate portals, designed to steal usernames, passwords, and other credentials.
• Fake HR notifications urging employees to review or sign documents, such as vacation schedules, or even view lists of terminated staff, ultimately directing to credential-stealing sites.
• Fraudulent invoices or purchase confirmations in PDF attachments, often combined with vishing (voice phishing) tactics that prompt victims to call provided phone numbers to “cancel” or clarify the transaction, enabling further social engineering attacks.

These tactics exploit trust in routine business communications, leading to credential theft, account takeovers, data breaches, and financial fraud.

“Malicious QR codes have evolved into one of the most effective phishing tools, particularly when hidden in PDF attachments or disguised as legitimate business communications like HR updates.

“The explosive growth in November 2025 highlights how attackers are capitalising on this low-cost evasion technique to target employees on mobile devices, where protection is often minimal.

“Without advanced image analysis at the email gateway and safe scanning practices, organisations are left vulnerable to credential compromise and downstream breaches,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.

To defend against this escalating threat, Kaspersky recommends educating employees on cybersecurity and deploying a mail server security solution such as Kaspersky Security for Mail Server that provides trusted and secure corporate email exchange, countering spam, email-borne infections, all forms of phishing, business email compromise (BEC), QR code attacks, and other threats.