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SEC DG Seeks Stakeholders Engagement to Ensure Nigeria Tap into $3.25tr Islamic Finance Industry

Lamido Yuguda, the Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has called for a stronger stakeholder engagement to enable Nigeria tap deeper into the Islamic finance industry currently valued at $3.5 trillion and global sukuk issuances pegged at $182.72 billion.

To realise this, Yuguda said the Commission was strongly focused on strengthening the development of the Non-Interest Finance segment in Nigeria by collaborating with the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), an international standard-setting body.
The SEC boss stated these in Abuja on Wednesday at the first annual SEC-IFSB international forum on non-interest capital market.
Yuguda, while acknowledging IFSB’s pivotal roles in ensuring stability and resilience in the Islamic finance segment globally, said the body has also been of immense help to SEC Nigeria and indeed all other IFSB members in Nigeria in capacity building, technical support, and global visibility.
He revealed that the Islamic finance segment of the financial industry in Nigeria reached an estimated size of $2.9 billion as at the end of 2022, with outstanding sukuk forming the largest part at 57%, followed by Islamic banks at 42% (total assets), and the remaining 1% split between Islamic funds (total assets) and takaful (total contributions).
“This shows that the Nigerian market makes up just 0.9% of the global non-interest market, indicating the dire need for more growth. With the country boasting a large population and a significant proportion unbanked, the long-term potential for Islamic finance in Nigeria is immense.
The Non-Interest (Islamic) Capital Market in Nigeria has undergone transformational growth, becoming an integral part of our financial framework, offering a distinctive platform for ethical and Shari’ah-compliant investments.
“Since the debut of Sukuk in Nigeria in 2017, the Debt Management Office has raised almost N1 trillion to finance over 5,000 kilometres of critical roads & bridges with all such issuances oversubscribed.
The oversubscription of the most recent 6th Federal Government of Nigeria Sukuk by 435% underscores investor confidence, showcasing the strategic role of Sukuk in infrastructure development and financial inclusion.
“The Pension Industry’s Fund VI is presently not able to find enough instruments to fill its demand. This means that there is ready demand for sukuk issuances.
“Why are we not maximizing the potential. This brings us to the challenge of low awareness. This is one of the reasons for this forum and other efforts the SEC and other regulatory bodies attending this forum must continue to work towards exploring the full potential of this segment of the market.
“SEC Nigeria has a 10-year (2015-2025) Capital Market Masterplan which was revised in November 2022. The attainment of the Masterplan targets by 2025 remains a challenging distance.
These targets encompass the introduction of 100 retail Shari’ah-compliant products, the attracting at least 1 million retail investors in Shari’ah-compliant products, the securing of at least N5 trillion in investments from institutional investors in Shari’ah-compliant products, and the facilitation of 50 listings of Shari’ah-compliant products with a market capitalization of no less than N5 trillion by 2025”, he explained.
In his keynote address, Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta, Secretary-General of IFSB noted that 2023 has been marked by a tumultuous series of events but expressed joy Nigeria and other economies showed strong resilience in the face of daunting adversities.
He added that the challenges present significant potential for the non-interest and Shariah-compliant financial services industry to drive the sustainable development agenda.
Danbatta said the optimism was hinged on the limited exposure of many non-interest financial services industry to global conflicts, gradual recovery and reopening of economies, an accelerated digital transformation process, the improved financial soundness and resilience in advancing inclusive and sustainable socio-economic growth.
“The non-interest financial system, with its emphasis on risk-sharing, asset-backed arrangements, and project-specific execution, naturally aligns with public-private partnerships in the infrastructure sector.
“Moreover, non-interest finance offers flexibility, demonstrated by the diverse structures available for those seeking financial backing. For example, it can be transformed into marketable credit instruments, such as Sukuk, linked to specific assets,” he explained.
News
Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if Christians continue to be killed, reigniting a sensitive debate over religious violence and foreign intervention in Africa’s most populous nation.

President Donald Trump
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a US military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.
At the time, the US military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.
Nigeria, however, described the operation as a joint counterterrorism effort, stressing that it was aimed at armed groups designated as terrorists and “had nothing to do with a particular religion”.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
Pressed on comments by his own Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims but insisted that Christians were being targeted disproportionately.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly raised alarms about the safety of Christians in Nigeria, beginning in late October when he warned that Christianity faced what he described as an “existential threat” in the country. He has accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and has openly threatened US military intervention if the violence continues.
Nigeria has firmly rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. The government maintains that the country’s security challenges are complex and largely driven by insurgency, banditry and criminal violence rather than religious targeting.
With a population of more than 230 million people, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north. Islamist insurgencies, particularly Boko Haram and its offshoots, have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions.
Nigerian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that militant attacks have claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, arguing that framing the violence along religious lines oversimplifies the crisis and risks inflaming tensions.
Following Trump’s earlier threats, the Nigerian government said it was willing to continue cooperating with Washington in combating terrorism but rejected language suggesting that Christians alone were under threat.
The latest comments are likely to strain diplomatic relations further, as Nigeria balances its partnership with the United States against concerns over sovereignty, security cooperation and the portrayal of its internal conflicts on the global stage.
News
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.
In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.
ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.
“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”
According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.
“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”
According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.
“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”
OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.
“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.
“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”
News
Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.
At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.
Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.
At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.
Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.
Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.
Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.
However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.
The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.
At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.
AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.
Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.
“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.
“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.
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