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E-Business

The True Value of Leadership in the Digital Age

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By Caroline Berns

Few years ago, at a large conference together with many other South African employers, we discussed graduate programs. My counterparts shared how they recruit the top talent from the Universities and what specific skills they look for. When I told them that we do not even ask to see the final grades of our graduates, they were surprised – but started to understand as I explained the thought process behind it.

When our candidates come from different backgrounds including being the oldest who support their family or ones who live many hours away and struggle to commute day-to-day, we look at their determination to learn despite all and the potential we see in them to become leaders.

Looking at the graduate programs abound today, I cannot help but notice the immense potential shining through in young African graduates. Yet we need to bear in mind that the digital skills needed for new joiners to thrive are changing at a rapid pace. The technologies our students are learning at University today will be outdated tomorrow.

The journey continues for those who can only persist to learn and in my opinion, the greatest legacy companies of today’s day and age can leave behind is offering new mentality and approach in developing leaders who can lead the way to the future.

Nascent technologies are taking over the globe – Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are already playing a central role in business and 5G technology is preparing to change everything. It makes it even more important than ever to ensure leadership potential is nurtured to build employees who can navigate the digital transformation complexities of our industries and redefine the shape of things to come.

From one industry to the next

At Ericsson, we are at the forefront of this transformation and technology is at the heart of our business. In the midst of a digital revolution, People function is a powerful agent of change. The function is uniquely placed to create new digital ecosystems that utilize people, technology and processes – playing a key role in getting existing employees to adopt a digital mindset and hiring future employees that will support this new culture. For the rising clusters of amazing youth talent rising from within the African continent, People function can play a crucial role in nurturing future leaders to take charge of tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities.

Creating a Future World

In a world that is increasingly complex, our team at Ericsson is on a quest to drive positive change. We enable the full value of connectivity by creating game-changing technology and services that are easy to use, adopt and scale enabling our customers to capture the full value of connectivity. We do not simply transform technology. We transform people too. We consider and create diversity and inclusion in everything we do, building teams that reflect our approach. At the crux of this, we create space for youth talent to bring their unique perspectives to solve some of society’s most confounding challenges.

Tomorrow’s business leaders

Development programs that offer opportunities to everyone, from undergraduates to those with a few years’ commercial experience, are essential for industries to unleash potential of youth talent.

In order to create a unique space for individuals to share their ideas and perspectives, Ericsson leaders follow an omnichannel approach in communication, ensuring our brand reaches diverse communities. Our diversity and inclusion strategy incorporates mentoring circles and advisory boards to strengthen communication between a broad range of individuals.

We have built our business on empowerment. From the customers we partner with to the employees who bring it all together, we know that exciting things happen when people have the power to work to their full capabilities and unleash their natural leadership capabilities.

Africa’s youth of tomorrow will be the future innovators. They will also be innovative leaders. Hence, it is important to empower them to incubate ideas and become globally sound technology experts and thought-leaders. We can only unlock the unlimited possibilities of tomorrow’s digital age by going beyond what we are traditionally used to and by always searching for talents based on their potential to learn and potential to lead.

Caroline Berns is Head of Talent Acquisition at Ericsson Middle East and Africa


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E-Business

FG Mulls Fibre Optic Layout to Bridge Internet Gaps

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President Bola Tinubu said that his administration has initiated a project to install fibre optic cables across the country, aimed at enhancing the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

FG Mulls Fibre Optic Layout to Bridge Internet Gaps

His plans were contained in a speech he delivered at a joint session of the National Assembly in commemoration of Democracy Day on Thursday, June 12.

He said the fibre optic layout is part of other projects being embarked on.

“In addition, we have embarked on an ambitious project to lay fibre optic cables across the nation, a transformative step toward bridging the digital divide and fostering greater connectivity.

“This initiative promises not only to enhance the speed and reliability of internet access but also to revolutionise how businesses operate, how students learn, and how communities stay connected,” Tinubu stated.

He maintained that by extending this critical infrastructure, his government is empowering entrepreneurs, enabling digital education, and providing the tools for our youth to compete in a globalised world.

In a most recent report on Internet connectivity, The ICIR pointed out how Nigeria has faced setbacks in its deployment of fibre optic cables and needs a transformation.

The challenges revolve around vandalism, inadequate coordination between road construction and telecom infrastructure, and varying right-of-way (RoW) charges across states.

Among industry experts, these issues impact network outages, increase repair costs, and hinder broadband expansion efforts.

It has also further threatened the digital economy, leading to slower Internet speeds, dropped calls, and unreliable connectivity among others.


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African Startups Raised $345m in Funding in May

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African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.

The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.

It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.

“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.

“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.

Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.

Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.

“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.

From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.

Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.

In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.

 


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Human Hacking: When Cyber Criminals Target You

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By Nancy Werteen

When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”

Human Hacking: When Cyber Criminals Target You

But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.

Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.

“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.

IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.

“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.

Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.

There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?

That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?

“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.

Phishing can take many forms.

Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.

Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.

Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.

Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.

 

 

 

 

 


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