E-Financial
The Insecurity of Things
Evolution in technology is enabling more “things” to connect more often around the world, at a pace that’s showing no sign of slowing down.
By 2020, 70 percent of people across the world will be smartphone users and countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East will account for 80 percent of the new subscriptions.
More people currently have access to a mobile phone than a clean toilet, safe water or reliable energy – and their prevalence is expected to keep growing.
This has led to the inevitable widespread adoption of generic cloud and social technologies in emerging markets with access to freeware or inexpensive public services such as Gmail and Dropbox.
While this holds great opportunity for developing countries, the rapid spread of technology compounds a broader issue concerning infrastructure.
Within the developed world, the fines payable for not protecting personal data are hefty in regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare.
Governments have increasingly woken up to the seriousness of the cyber threat. To keep on top of the risks, more regulators have hardened their stance on cyber security infrastructure.
As cities in developing countries are expanding rapidly, it is likely that infrastructure will not be able to keep pace with their growth nor the increased expectations of their populations. This suggests lower standards of technology governance which can put personal data at risk.
Having said that, developing countries have the opportunity to leapfrog by avoiding the mistakes made by other advanced countries and applying the lessons learned from the development of smart city infrastructure.
If managed effectively, there is huge potential for technology to increase the efficiency with which developing infrastructure can be managed.
The use of big data, the Internet of Things and the ubiquitous nature of smartphones use promise to revolutionize developing cities to become truly smart cities built on safe and secure infrastructure.
The line between the digital and the physical world is blurring. Action to close the infrastructure gap has never been more important and will heavily influence the potential of risks with catastrophic cascading effects.
Securing the infrastructure – it starts at enrolment
In developing markets, where new players are able to gain early access, influence consumer behaviour and acceptance, it is easy to see how the systems established for payments will be under pressure by “quick and easy access”.
It could result in a weakening of the process, enabling non-credible players to enter the payment ecosystem.
It’s vital for secure infrastructure to be built from the ground up to minimise vulnerabilities and to keep pace with technological advancement.
EMV, widely known for its chip & PIN application, is a global security payment standard that serves as the foundation for future payment technologies, across cards, contactless, mobile and remote payment channels.
Already deployed in 150 countries, it is fundamental to building secure payment infrastructure. EMV technology allows dynamic data to be created, making each transaction unique and virtually impossible to replicate.
While research shows a 200 percent growth in transactions originating from mobile devices in 2015 compared to 2014, EMV has still not taken root in some of the world’s developing economies. Its effectiveness as a first line of defense is clear – with significant adoption of EMV transaction penetration (chip card on chip terminal transactions) in Africa and Middle East (61.2 percent), Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean (71.7 percent) and Western Europe (83.5 percent).[3]
Employing a multi-layered security approach for any organization is what will lead to decrease in fraud.
EMV is just the beginning. To ensure our consumers can benefit from the same level of safety in the digital world, we are basing our future payments products on proven technologies like M/Chip that significantly reduce counterfeit fraud.
M/Chip features in mobile phones will be a key component of emerging devices. The MasterCard Digital Enablement Service or MDES is our core platform for provisioning M/Chip-enabled payment devices with tokenized payment credentials.
MDES together with M/Chip provides the same level of EMV-like security and interoperability for the digital world as we have in the physical world
In addition, 3D Secure Standard is an automatic online security service that secures you against unauthorised use online. It uses a private code that gives added protection when you shop at participating online merchants.
Government adoption of secure technology can also be a part of the solution.
In Egypt, with 85 percent of the population lacking access to formal banking, the mobile phone is rapidly becoming the method of choice for making payments and managing money.
The Central Bank of Egypt issued strict mobile payment regulations to guarantee safety and security for people, resulting in significant reduction in fraud.
This is indeed a necessity considering that the mobile penetration in Egypt is currently at 115 percent of the total population, meaning that some people have more than one phone.
Similarly in Thailand, the government is taking active steps to improve cybersecurity for electronic transaction on mobile phones. Being the second largest smartphone market in Southeast Asia, the country is pursuing its ambition to become a cashless society.
Here, the government is relying on biometric technology to prove people’s identity via mobile phones as a means to reduce fraud. Like Egypt, Thailand’s saturated mobile phone market is relied upon heavily for payments and money transfers.
Nigeria is another example of how deploying secure infrastructure has resulted in huge benefits to the country’s development. Nigeria’s National Identity Smart Cards are embedded with biometric identification chips and electronic payment capabilities, another example of biometric technology being employed to curb fraud. The introduction of the chips helped reduce fraud from counterfeit cards and transactions in Nigeria.
Adapting known solutions for a digital world
The security solutions that already exist in the physical world are ready to be implemented in the digital world. We just need the motivation, regulation and coordination to ensure everyone is able to benefit, wherever they are in the world. The alternative, in today’s unregulated environment of the Internet of Things development, could be a thing of security nightmares.
Working in partnership with those who can make a difference is vital to remain one step ahead and change the current mindset from one that sees security innovations as optional, to one that recognises they are an absolute necessity.
Through the right global standards, best products and services, and our desire to constantly innovate, we can ensure everyone is protected and financially included everywhere, which will ultimately define and defend the future of payments.
Federal government plans to raise $2.8 billion in fresh funding as part of efforts to diversify its borrowing instruments and attract capital from global Islamic finance markets.
President Bola Tinubu asked the national assembly on October 7 to authorize $2.3 billion in new loans and a $500 million sovereign sukuk, marking what would be Nigeria’s first international sukuk issuance if approved.
“The objective is to make our borrowing more sustainable and cost-efficient,” Wale Edun, minister of Finance and Economy, said at an economic summit in Abuja, emphasizing a shift toward green bonds, diaspora bonds, and sukuk instead of traditional eurobonds.
According to Tinubu’s letter to lawmakers, the $2.3 billion borrowing will fund part of the 2025 fiscal deficit and refinance eurobonds that mature in November.
The government plans to mobilize the funds through multiple channels, including syndicated loans, eurobond sales, bridge financing via partner banks, or direct borrowing from international financial institutions.
The initiative aims to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on eurobonds while expanding its investor base to include Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian markets.
Nigeria has issued eight domestic sukuk bonds since 2017, all denominated in naira and targeted at the local market.
These Sharia-compliant instruments have financed road infrastructure projects and enjoyed strong demand — the latest, issued in May 2025, was seven times oversubscribed, according to Fitch Ratings.
The planned $500 million sukuk, denominated in U.S. dollars, would mark Nigeria’s debut in international Islamic debt markets.
Abuja aims to replicate the success of its domestic sukuk program abroad, potentially with support from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank.
Nigeria’s Islamic finance industry reached $4 billion in assets by May 2025, according to Fitch.
Sukuk make up 54% of that total, followed by Islamic banking assets at 45%.
Despite rapid growth, non-interest banks still represent only 2% of Nigeria’s total banking assets, with five active institutions, including sector pioneer Jaiz Bank.
The Central Bank of Nigeria recently introduced new Islamic liquidity tools and raised capital requirements, measures expected to accelerate sector expansion in 2026.
“Nigeria has considerable potential for Islamic finance growth,” Fitch said, citing the country’s large Muslim population and significant unbanked demographic.
The proposed operation follows an upgrade of Nigeria’s sovereign rating by Fitch to ‘B’ in June 2025. The agency praised Tinubu’s reform agenda, which includes fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and fiscal restructuring, all of which improved fiscal credibility.
Nigeria returned to international capital markets in late 2024 after a nearly three-year hiatus and now seeks to consolidate its presence as a sovereign issuer while diversifying funding sources.
The global sukuk market has shown robust growth this year. Fitch projects outstanding sukuk to surpass $1 trillion by the end of 2025, while S&P Global Ratings forecasts $190–200 billion in new issuances.
Africa, however, accounts for only 2% of the global sukuk market, underscoring Nigeria’s potential to position itself as a regional leader in Islamic finance.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named AfriQuatum, with a claimed worth of N76 billion, as a Ponzi scheme.
The regulator also urged the public to be cautious about investing with the firm.
SEC disclosed this in a recent statement.
According to the SEC, any person who places an investment or engages with the entity does so at his or her own risk, adding that its operations exhibit characteristics commonly associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes.
“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the activities of AfriQuantumX, which holds itself out as an investment platform trading on and selling cryptocurrency and stocks to investors in Nigeria.
“The Commission hereby informs the public that AfriQuantumX is not registered by the Commission either to solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market,” SEC stated.
Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has said that policies such as open banking when operational will foster new opportunities for collaboration, ensuring customers benefit from competitive, tailored services by balancing innovation.
Open banking is a system that allows customers to securely share their financial data with authorized third-party providers (TPPs) through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), enabling them to access innovative financial products and services like consolidated account dashboards, personal finance management tools, and more convenient payment methods.
Mr. Cardoso, disclosed this while speaking during the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Fintech Week 2025 in Lagos.
Cardoso, who was represented by Opemi Yusuf, the Director of Payment System Supervision at the apex bank, said that as Nigerian advances towards a cashless economy, the foundation of progress must remain trust in our payment system. Innovation loses its meaning if consumers are not confident in the safety of their money or the protection of their data.
“Initiatives such as Agent banking and microfinance expansion targets the grassroots community solution like mobile wallets and USSD services lowering barriers, but technology alone cannot close it, we must combine innovation with collaboration across government, industry and communities to build trust, improve literacy and extend financial services to rural and underserved areas. Our collective commitment must be that no regional community is left out of the Digital transformation”.
“Over the last year, we have seen strong adoption of digital channels with total electronic payments reaching over 3.9 billion transactions valued at N280 trillion in August 2024 compared to the growth of 4.12 billion transactions valued at N384 trillion by July 2025,” he stated.
The CBN Governor added that the apex bank continues to work closely with the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum and law enforcement agencies to combat digital crime and protect consumers.
“By balancing innovation with prudent oversight, we allow new technologies to flourish while protecting consumers and the broader financial system. A symphony is incomplete if some instruments are silent,” he said in reference to the theme of the forum.
In his opening address at the event, President of the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR), Dr. Stanley Jacob, described this year’s theme, “The FinTech Ecosystem Symphony: Orchestrating Nigeria’s Digital Future”, — as a call to collective action.
“This is not merely an event; it has become a statement of intent,” Jacob said, urging participants to seize the opportunity to forge partnerships and make impactful deals that will shape the sector’s future.
Also speaking, Vice President of the Association and Chair of the 2025 NFW, Dr Jameelah Sharrief-Ayedun, noted that for the first time, besides having diverse sector participation, the NFW is happening concurrently in more than one city.
According to her, beyond Lagos, the event is also holding in Abuja, Delta and Enugu at the same time.
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