E-Business
Samsung Digital Villa, Driving Change in Rural Communities
Mama Bassey, 40, a petty trader, has just left home for her stall beside the ever-busy main road in Oban town, Cross River State.
She hails a bike and boards it with her wares in tow. On her way, she receives a call on her phone that her youngest son has come down with fever. She aborts her journey to the stall and quickly dashes home, picks her son and proceed son a 10km journey to the nearest hospital.
After consultation with the doctor, the boy is placed on malaria drugs but the hospital’s pharmacy is out of malaria medicines.
He is also supposed to receive a vaccine but unfortunately, the last batch, which the hospital received a few months ago, has been discarded because there was irregular electricity with which to preserve the vaccines.
The illness cost Mama Bassey and her family dearly in lost time and revenue, and it could have been worse as Bassey himself was put at the risk of death.
Interestingly, the global socio-economic landscape today has welcomed many organizations that are changing the educational, healthcare and business terrain with innovative and exciting products and services that make life better and easier.
In India, Educom is providing solutions that can support every level of educational need from individual teachers, to large scale procurement for new educational projects, by working with schools, colleges, state bodies and teachers to provide advice and resource materials to improve learning outcome.
These smart schools are fostering opportunities for teaching and learning by integrating learning technology in these areas. People in this community and bordering communities, however spend less on acquiring better education.
Africa Indoor Residual Spraying programme (AIRS), since 2001, has also helped protect millions of people in Africa from malaria, by spraying insecticide on the walls, ceilings, and other indoor resting places of mosquitoes that transmit malaria, also ensuring that spraying does not harm people or the environment.
It is expected that Africans with the help of this program will spend less on the treatment of malaria and will be at a lower risk of death caused by malaria.
In Nigeria, Samsung Electronics, West Africa demonstrated its passion to help meet the demand for unique solutions in education, healthcare and electrification when it launched its digital village. The village utilizes one resource that Africa has in abundance, “sunshine”.
In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Samsung recently launched a solution, dubbed the Samsung Digital Village, in Oban, Cross River State.
This is first of its kind in Nigeria and it is made up of several solar powered innovations, which altogether provide holistic solutions to rural infrastructure challenges, such as those faced by people like Mama Bassey.
The Digital Village relies on alternative energy (solar energy) to power its activities.
Mr. Brovo Kim, managing director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, speaking at the commissioning of the Digital Village, noted that a sizeable proportion of rural communities across Africa do not have access to electricity, a situation that denies people in these areas access to tools and resources to drive socio-economic development. “We are not only bridging the digital divide but also providing a facility that meets the most critical health and educational needs of the rural community,” he added.
The Digital Village has several components that the beneficiaries can leverage on to enhance their livelihoods. For instance, the solar powered generators are the heart of the digital village and are designed to power classrooms, small businesses and community facilities.
The generators can last for up to 25 years, compared to the normal traditional diesel generators which are not that sustainable and require a lot of servicing.
The batteries in the generators can last for up to eight years before they are replaced.
Innovations such as the Digital Village, smart classroom and malaria management have been known to transform lives and communities.
Just last year, a randomised control trial in a Ugandan community found that tea, when consumed once a week, was effective in preventing multiple episodes of malaria in humans living in malaria endemic areas. Smart classes, however, have changed the process of learning.
In this new dispensation, learning is happening more through screens; be it television, laptop or films. Students are very quick in learning new technologies, particularly when used in education, it enhances the understanding of the concepts.
The Digital Village is designed to help beneficiaries overcome socio-economic barriers that prevent rural community dwellers from obtaining quality healthcare and education.
The initiative will also contribute to the ICT sector, through the provision of transformative e-learning solutions.
With these barriers sufficiently lowered, the digital environment offers opportunities for people to take part in the wide spectrum of activities that makes learning sociable and fun.
The strategic thrust of this innovative initiative reveals an operational shared value approach, which is manifested in the fact that both Samsung and its consumers are expected to benefit from this innovative social investment to transform the lives of its beneficiaries.
The Samsung Digital village has previously been launched in South Africa, Ghana and Gabon and has positively impacted upon the lives of millions of people in these countries.
The village has provided them with a cluster of connected health and education facilities, helping to fast track the development of these countries.
With innovations such as this, it is expected thatthere will be less demand on the family purse and time. Rural dwellers like Mama Bassey are saved the hassles of travelling long distances in search of healthcare services for their families, hence lowering the risk of death.
The solar powered electricity now available will make the difference. It is not in doubt that these solutions, combined with a strategic partnership with UNESCO, will engender smarter, stronger and well informed communities.
Africa’s leading technology distributor Powerhouse, TD Africa, has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing cybersecurity awareness and digital resilience by sponsoring the 3rd Annual Secure 360 Summit Nigeria 2026, hosted by global cybersecurity leader Check Point Software Technologies, as Gold Sponsor.
Chioma Chimere, Coordinating Managing Director, TD Africa
This year’s summit was held in Abuja and Lagos, bringing together key stakeholders from across Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.
Now in its third edition, the Secure 360 Summit has evolved into one of Nigeria’s premier cybersecurity forums, bringing together Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), IT Directors, and senior technology leaders from the financial services, telecommunications, enterprise, energy, and public sectors to address today’s rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.
Speaking on the significance of the summit, Kingsley Oseghale, Country Manager, Check Point Nigeria, emphasized the need for stronger collaboration in tackling emerging cyber risks. “Cybersecurity has become a business priority rather than just an IT concern.
“Through the Secure 360 Summit, we continue to provide a platform for industry leaders to exchange insights, strengthen partnerships, and explore innovative approaches to securing today’s digital economy.
“We are pleased to have TD Africa as a valued partner in driving cybersecurity awareness across Nigeria.”
In her remarks, Chioma Chimere, Coordinating Managing Director, TD Africa, applauded Check Point for creating a platform that addresses one of the most critical challenges facing businesses and individuals. “Cybersecurity is everyone’s business. We owe it to ourselves, our organisations, and our communities to remain security-conscious in an increasingly connected world.
“At TD Africa, innovation drives everything we do, and innovation can only thrive in a secure environment.
“This is why we are proud to support initiatives like the Secure 360 Summit that promote knowledge sharing and strengthen our collective cyber resilience.”
The summit featured expert-led sessions on emerging cyber threats, artificial intelligence, cloud security, ransomware, and strategies for building resilient digital infrastructures, equipping participants with practical insights to navigate today’s cybersecurity landscape.
Through its continued partnership with global technology leaders like Check Point, TD Africa remains committed to empowering businesses across Africa with world-class cybersecurity solutions, fostering industry collaboration, and driving the continent’s secure digital transformation.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure that every Nigerian is enrolled in the national identity database before the end of 2026, according to Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general and chief executive officer of the agency.
Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general and chief executive officer, NIMC
Coker-Odusote, who appeared on Channels Television, said the directive forms part of the federal government’s efforts to establish a comprehensive national identity system capable of supporting effective governance, planning, and service delivery.
“The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian,” she said.
According to her, NIMC is working with partners under the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project to accelerate nationwide enrolment.
“What we have done is we have partnered through the World Bank ID4D project with front-end partners. They are part of the digital identity ecosystem. These are private citizens that we’ve enabled and given jobs to enrol citizens on our behalf,” she explained.
She stressed that the National Identification Number (NIN) remains a unique identifier, ensuring that every individual is registered only once.
“That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once,” the NIMC DG added.
Coker-Odusote said Nigeria’s actual population remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from 200 million to 250 million, making a comprehensive identity database essential for national planning.
“It is estimated that we’re 200 million. When we’re done enrolling, we will then know the actual numbers that we have. Some estimates say 230 million, while a few people say 250 million.
“Your identity is basically the foundation for effective governance and service delivery. How can you plan if you don’t know the total number of persons that you have? We have been mandated by Mr President to go down to the community levels to enrol every single Nigerian”, she said.
Responding to concerns about whether an individual could obtain multiple identities by registering in different locations or under different names, the NIMC boss said the commission’s biometric verification system prevents such occurrences.
She explained that while the previous system could accept duplicate enrolments before detecting them later, the current process automatically identifies and invalidates multiple registrations.
“The legacy system had no way of verifying at the front end whether you had already been captured. Once the record comes into the system, it flags it as a duplicate or that the person already exists in the database.
“You would only have one identity generated for you. The other record goes into a deduplication bucket where it is invalidated,” she said.
The NIMC DG added that biometric verification, including fingerprints and facial recognition, makes it virtually impossible for one person to maintain multiple identities.
“Absolutely. One of the things that this Act has done is to cement our role in capturing biometrics. Private and public sector organisations will no longer capture biometrics independently. They will validate identities through API integration with NIMC.
“The telcos are already doing that with us. If you need a SIM card, they capture your facial biometrics, which are matched against our database in real time to confirm that you are who you claim to be. We’re using biometric validation to tighten security around identity confirmation,” she said.
The remarks come weeks after Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 into law on June 26, repealing the 2007 legislation.
The new law reinforces the “One Person, One Identity” policy by making the NIN the country’s foundational identity credential for accessing government and essential private services, including banking, passport applications, tax administration, pensions, land transactions, and consumer credit.
It also introduces stiffer penalties for identity theft, multiple registrations and unauthorised access to personal identity data, while strengthening data privacy protections and granting NIMC wider powers to investigate identity-related offences.
Cybersecurity and privacy experts are raising concerns around the growing trend of sports fans using generative AI to create World Cup-related images, mock-ups, predictions and social media content.
Whilst offering new ways for supporters to engage with major sporting events, these tools also introduce risks that many users may underestimate. In light of this, Kaspersky has shared the key risks fans should keep in mind when using generative AI tools, so they can continue enjoying the championship with peace of mind.
When fan AI goes rogue. A growing number of AI tools are being used to create World Cup-themed visuals, avatars, memes and other fan content. While these services may seem creative and harmless, not all of them come from trusted providers.
Many are launched quickly to capitalise on interest around major events, increasing the likelihood that users will interact with platforms that offer limited transparency around data handling, lack adequate privacy and security measures, or might even be designed with malicious intent.
Personal data at stake. To create customised World Cup content, users are often asked to upload selfies, sign up with an email address, connect social media accounts or share other personal information. In doing so, they may reveal more information than necessary without fully understanding how that data will be stored, used, or potentially exposed.
“AI-driven fan content may seem harmless, but one of the key privacy risks is that users are often encouraged to share far more personal information than necessary. A simple request to generate a themed avatar can involve the collection of photos, contact details, account data and behavioural insights – information that may later be insufficiently protected.
“Because major global events often create an ideal environment for opportunistic actors, fans should take a closer look at how these tools manage personal data before engaging with them,” says Anna Larkina, web content analysis and privacy expert at Kaspersky.
When fan content becomes a scam. AI-generated World Cup content in some cases can also be used to support fraud. Cybercriminals may use convincing mock-ups, fake giveaways, or official-looking fan pages to attract attention and build trust. Once users engage, they may be redirected to phishing sites, fake stores, fraudulent offers, or betting-related scams. Generative AI makes these campaigns easier to produce, more persuasive and far easier to scale.
The myth of AI predictions. Another area that deserves caution is AI-powered match prediction. However advanced or data-driven these tools may appear, AI cannot reliably predict inherently uncertain sporting outcomes. When used to promote betting, paid subscriptions or “insider communities”, such services can create a false sense of confidence and encourage risky decisions.
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