E-Business
There’s a Line Between e-Payment and Mobile Payment-Moroney
Sean Moroney, is chairman of Aitec Africa, whose core business since 1987 has been focussed on ICT publishing, event management, professional development and training in Africa.
Moroney’s company has been market-leading pioneer in terms of spreading knowledge on the Internet, computing and telecommunications across most of English-speaking Africa.
He spoke to hilary okeke on the forthcoming Aitec banking and payment technology conference and other issues.
Aitec Banking and Payment Technology Conference
Aitec Banking and Payment Technology Conference is a platform where experts in banking technology from Nigeria, South Africa, U.K and other parts of the world, come together to share their knowledge with the professionals and managers that attend the conference. Last year we had over 400 delegates attending the conference. In parallel with the conference, we have the exhibition which is the marketing showcase for the industry. Here, we see the latest technologies for the banking and financial services sector under one roof, providing a competitive situation where the banks and other potential buyers of the products can compare and actually quiz the companies that are on display about the services they are providing.
Major Achievements
The Banking and Payment Technology Conference has transformed the development of the financial credit sector from one that is rather traditional and colonial in perspective, to one that is now more outward looking, more inclusive and providing services for the unbanked. The problem that the conference has is that the vast majority of the populace still remains unbanked. They do not have basic financial services in order to transfer funds; in order to get money from one part of the country to another and also to be able to save their funds securely. The mobile banking phenomenon has hit East Africa in a big way and it is expected in this part soon. That would be a major focus of this year’s conference – Mobile Banking or what we call Branchless Banking. So, that has been the major achievement of the conference, providing a forum where new developments that are rapidly evolving can be deliberated.
Nigeria Ripe for e-Payment
Definitely! I think one needs to draw a line between e-payment and mobile payment. The former is facilitated by the Internet. I think the infrastructure is not well developed, in that way a lot of people do not have access to the Internet. For mobile payment, we are going to see huge increases in terms of volumes. Because there is rapid roll out of mobile telephony in the country, one can now leverage on that infrastructure and develop mobile banking.
Potential of Branchless Banking in Nigeria
Well, the potential is limitless. It still boils down to leveraging on the mobile networks, and there is big potential. You can use the mobile networks to transfer from user-to-user; you can also deploy wireless systems with mobile devices to function in the rural areas. At this moment, we have thousands of agents vending mobile scratch cards. Those agents can be trained and upgraded to actually become bank agents and can be in charge of certain transactions. So, the opportunities are boundless.
Role of Telecommunications in Mobile Banking
Telecommunication networks provide the backbone of the mobile banking system. In Kenya for example, on the M-pesa system there are millions of customers making fund transfers through the mobile system. The time has come for the banks to partner with mobile operators to provide these services because they have the proper banking expertise and experience in order to provide customers with the security and professionalism they need using mobile banking; whereas the mobile operators are more experienced in the infrastructure aspect. There is the need for partnership between the two sectors in order to provide effective mobile banking services.
Replicating M-pesa’s Success in Nigeria
Of course it could, but the right regulatory environment needs to be put in place. The Central Bank is grappling with that at the moment. Moneybox has been given mobile banking licence, which indicates some progress. I think we are on the eve of another banking revolution in Nigeria and we will see millions of people making use of their mobile phones for banking transactions.
Microfinance Banks and Mobile Banking
That is an important focus of this year’s conference – it includes the microfinance institutions. The conference, which would be in partnership with CGAP, EFIna and the World Bank, is going to focus on fashioning out ways in which these new technologies and new ideas can be utilized by the microfinance institutions. One of the sessions would be “Linking MFIs, Banks and payment Providers: What are the Obstacles in Nigeria?” So, we are going to look at what the problems are and what are the solutions. That would be a major focus of the conference – to find a way around to actualizing the benefits of these new developments.
Place of the Unbanked in the Branchless Banking Scenario
The unbanked are the target audience. The key untapped market out there needs low cost banking solution to be able to transfer funds from one point to another; a low cost solution to be able to invest their funds effectively, as well as access micro loans to develop their businesses. That is very critical in a branchless banking system that is based on telecoms networks.
Issues at this Year’s Event
They include latest software developments for ATMs. We will be looking at e-channels for microfinance banking, and the major focus will be on security issues. As we speak about mobile banking, security is a major problem. So, we would be looking at solutions in terms of security. We would be addressing ATM software trends for 2009/10, contact centres in banking, matters arising in Islamic banking, among others. In the exhibitions, we have a number of South African countries participating and we would be seeing a lot of cutting-edge technologies.
E-Business
Cyber Resilience a Critical Priority for Manufacturing Amid Rapid Digitalization – Report Shows
As 60% of manufacturers race toward full digitalisation, cyber risk is increasingly manifesting as a business risk, according to a new global report by Kaspersky and VDC Strategy.
This means cybersecurity is not merely a compliance function, it is a cornerstone of production assurance, safeguarding uptime, quality, and operational continuity.
Manufacturers are modernising to deliver safer, more consistent and more cost-effective production and digitalization is moving fast: just 9% of organisations describe themselves as fully digital today, but 60% expect to get there within two years, according to the joint report by Kaspersky and VDC, titled ‘Cyber Resilience, Built for Manufacturing’.
That shift links shop-floor equipment, production lines and site operations to platforms such as Manufacturing execution systems (MES), Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and historians, turning many plants into cyber-physical systems (CPS), where a digital disruption doesn’t stay digital. It can slow production lines, quarantine work in progress, invalidate traceability records, or halt production outright.
What’s driving manufacturing digitalization?
Manufacturers are digitising for measurable operational gains, not novelty. Survey respondents identified the primary drivers of their digital transformation strategy as:
- Improving production output or efficiency (24%)
- Reducing operational or production expenses (15%)
- Enabling new strategic opportunities (14%)
- Improving cyber resilience (13%)
The same connected systems that unlock these gains, including MES, IIoT sensors, automated material handling, remote engineering access, also become the systems that determine whether production can be trusted to keep running.
Cyber risk is now a business risk
Cyber risk has evolved from a mere IT concern to a direct threat to revenue generation, as environments transform into cyber-physical systems. In these integrated settings, digital disruptions like malware no longer just affect data, they can cause unsafe operations, scrapped batches, and halted production on the plant floor. This shift highlights the urgent need to treat cybersecurity as a key part of operational resilience.
According to the report, nearly 60% of manufacturing organisations estimate that cyber incidents cause damages exceeding $1 million per event, with an average disruption of 15.3 hours. The most significant losses often result from production halts, missed delivery commitments, and penalties, rather than just forensic costs.
In this context, downtime links cybersecurity risks to overall business performance. Cyber incidents can reduce Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), strain staffing, and disrupt supply chains. Recovery involves more than system restore, it requires re-establishing confidence in process parameters, quality records, and traceability before resuming operations.
Mature cybersecurity programs now incorporate OT security into governance, focusing on metrics valued by production leaders such as time to restore, backup confidence, legacy asset coverage, and safe degraded operation. This alignment ensures cybersecurity supports continuous production and resilience, not just IT compliance.
However, challenges remain due to split ownership. While 59% of organisations’ IT departments manage security policies, these often overlook plant realities. Managing many security tools (44%) and OT patching issues (38%) show that cybersecurity must be embedded into daily routines of production, engineering, and quality teams. Only through such integration can cybersecurity effectively enhance operational reliability and defend against evolving threats.
“As manufacturing environments become increasingly interconnected, cybersecurity shifts focus from merely adding protective layers to ensuring the availability, resilience, and integrity of production processes. The goal is to minimise operational impact and speed up recovery, rather than solely preventing intrusions.
“Kaspersky offers a unified ecosystem that integrates IT, OT, and IIoT security, empowering manufacturers to pursue digital transformation securely. This strategy helps maintain operational continuity and reduces long-term cybersecurity costs,” comments Andrey Strelkov, Head of Industrial Cybersecurity Product Line at Kaspersky.
To implement this strategy, manufacturing companies can leverage solutions from the Kaspersky OT Cybersecurity Ecosystem, centered around Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity (KICS), a native Extended Detection and Response platform designed for critical infrastructure protection. KICS enables centralised detection and response to complex attacks across the entire industrial network, ensuring comprehensive visibility and security.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has commenced a forensic investigation into the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lotus Bank and Hackerbella Ltd over alleged violations of data protection laws involving students’ personal information.
The investigation follows public complaints alleging that students’ personal data were used to open bank accounts without a lawful basis.
Dr Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner and chief executive officer of the NDPC, directed the investigation team to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the circumstances surrounding the collection, processing, use and disclosure of the affected students’ personal data.
The investigation will also determine the respective roles and responsibilities of UNILAG, Lotus Bank and Hackerbella in the alleged processing of the data.
According to the Commission, the investigation will assess the data protection compliance obligations of the parties under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act), as well as potential risks posed to the rights and freedoms of the affected data subjects.
The NDPC said the probe would cover several areas, including Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), the lawfulness and transparency of credit scoring or profiling activities, and the use of automated decision-making systems.
It will also examine the adequacy of privacy notices, data-sharing arrangements, lawful bases for processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation.
Other areas include data retention policies and the adequacy of technical and organisational measures put in place to safeguard the rights and personal data of affected students.
The Commission reiterated that institutions entrusted with the personal data of students, staff and other members of their communities have a heightened responsibility to ensure that such information is processed lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely.
The NDPC therefore warned educational institutions that are yet to comply with its existing data protection compliance directives to take immediate steps to achieve compliance.
The Commission said it would continue to exercise its regulatory mandate to protect the privacy rights of Nigerians and ensure that organisations processing personal data comply with the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
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