General News
Professor Eric Hanushek, Rukmini Banerji Awarded 2021 Yidan Prize
Professor Eric A. Hanushek and Dr Rukmini Banerji have been awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize, the world’s highest education accolade, in recognition of their ground-breaking work addressing a crucial piece of the education puzzle: improving quality of education and outcomes for learners at scale.
Following a rigorous judging process, conducted by an independent judging committee of recognized education experts, Hanushek and Banerji were selected as the recipients of the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Research and Yidan Prize for Education Development.
They will join nine laureates who have been awarded the Yidan Prize since its inception in 2016, established by the Yidan Prize Foundation – a global philanthropic education foundation that inspires progress and change in education.
Professor Hanushek, a Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow and Professor, Hoover Institution of Stanford University, USA, is awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Research.
His work focuses on education outcomes and the importance of teaching quality and has transformed both research and policy internationally.
His work helped shape the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (ensure inclusive and equitable quality education) by reframing targets for learning outcomes and has shown that it’s how much students learn – and not how many years they spend in school – that boosts economies.
“Like no one else, Eric has been able to link the fields of economics and education. From designing better and fairer systems for evaluating teacher performance to linking better learning outcomes to long-run economic and social progress, he has made an amazing range of education policy areas amenable to rigorous economic analysis.” said Mr Andreas Schleicher, head of the Yidan Prize for Education Research judging panel, and director for the OECD’s Directorate of Education and Skills.
With the Yidan Prize funding, Professor Hanushek is planning a research fellow program in Africa, supporting analytical capacity to shape education policies from a local perspective.
Dr Banerji, Chief Executive Officer of the Pratham Education Foundation, India, is awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Development for her work in improving learning outcomes.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) assessment approach, pioneered by Dr Banerji and her team in India, revealed literacy and numeracy gaps among children who had already spent several years at school , with the model spreading to several African countries as early as 2005 .
To close these gaps, her team’s “Teaching at the Right Level” (TaRL) program works with schools and local communities to provide basic reading and arithmetic skills, ensuring no children are left behind.
This systematic, replicable model reaches millions of children annually in India and is spreading around the globe. The approach is now being implemented in a number of African countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, among others , through partnerships and the TaRL Africa initiative .
As a board member of the TaRL Africa initiative, Dr Banerji is supporting the growth and development of impactful programs on the continent.
“Dr Rukmini Banerji and the Pratham team have a clear mission: ‘Every child in school and learning well’. A reminder that we need to focus on education quality and not just school enrolments.
“The solutions that they have deployed towards this goal have proven to be cost-effective and scalable with a demonstrated potential to impact globally—disruptive education innovation with transformative results”, said Dorothy K. Gordon, head of Yidan Prize for Education Development judging panel, and board member of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education.
With the support of the Yidan Prize, Dr Banerji plans to strengthen and expand Pratham’s work with young children so that strong foundations can be built early in a child’s life. Dr Banerji believes this will contribute significantly towards the goal of seeing “every child in school and learning well”.
“The quality and diversity of this year’s nominations reflect the drive and passion around the world to unlock new approaches to education.
“Our nominees are working on projects that span over 130 countries and territories. They are rethinking education systems from top to bottom, tackling inequities and empowering learners,” Dr Koichiro Matsuura, Chairman of the Yidan Prize Judging Committee and the former Director-General of UNESCO commented.
“We are also delighted to welcome five new judges to our panel — adding new perspectives and strengthening the voices of both women and representatives from more diverse regions to discuss big ideas from some of the world’s brightest minds.”
From developing play-based learning centres, to applying neuroscience to help dyslexic children, the Yidan Prize recognizes the people who are already making an impact. Each laureate will be awarded HK$30 million (approximately US$3.9 million), half of which is a project fund – enabling a series of innovative and progressive education projects to scale up and support millions of learners globally.
The 2020 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate, Professor Carl Wieman has pioneered the use of new teaching methods in STEM education. Today, his PhET Interactive Simulation model has delivered over 1 billion STEM simulations in 93 languages to date; Last year’s Yidan Prize for Education Development Laureates, Ms Lucy Lake and Ms Angeline Murimirwa of CAMFED, have created a unique model of girls’ education to drive systemic change, with 178,000 young women once excluded from education now leading programs to support another 5 million girls to learn, thrive and lead change.
All Yidan Prize laureates will join the Yidan Council of Luminaries to work collaboratively with distinguished education leaders. The Council works together and speaks with a collective voice to shed light on the importance of restoring and rethinking education with innovative ideas.
Sharing a diversity of expertise and insights, they: have contributed to the UNESCO Futures of Education initiative on how schools can prepare for the future; are working with the Global Mindset Initiative to build a foundation for a growth mindset research to achieve quality education for students globally; have spoken at high-level conferences such as the Asian Development Bank’s International Skills Forum, to discuss the latest education innovations needed for a new normal.
Now in its fifth year, the Yidan Prize has attracted many high-quality nominations, with projects reaching and positively impacting learners globally, representing diverse perspectives, cultures and geographies. Nominations for the 2022 Yidan Prize will be open from 19 October 2021 until March 2022.
Meanwhile, the 2021 laureates will be formally recognized at the Yidan Prize Awards Presentation Ceremony and the Yidan Prize Annual Summit held on 5 December 2021.
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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