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Visa Expands She’s Next initiative in Africa, Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

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As the rate of women entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa continues to rise, Visa is expanding its global She’s Next initiative to empower women entrepreneurs on the continent, bringing practical insights and valuable tools needed to grow and advance their businesses.

The initiative comprises a series of programs giving women entrepreneurs access to insights via research and engagement with small businesses, private and public sector communities and educational resources.

She’s Next, empowered by Visa, will also bring networking opportunities in partnership with She Leads Africa; a community of over 700,000 women entrepreneurs, and lastly financial support and solutions to enable digital capability.

To coincide with the launch, Visa has unveiled new research titled “Understanding Women Owned SMEs”, which explores the role of technologies including digital payments in enabling the business success of female entrepreneurs in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.

The research highlights the top business challenges experienced by women entrepreneurs in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, the impact of Covid-19 on these business and how digital payments have accelerated business growth in over 80% of the businesses surveyed.

“According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs in the world, with 26% starting and managing a business on the continent in the last year.

We aim to encourage and enable even more participation of women in driving the economy, through our She’s Next initiative,” says Aida Diarra, Senior Vice President & Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa. “Our research shows that female-led businesses face unique challenges throughout their entrepreneurial journey, and we are committed to helping these business owners across Africa to identify opportunities for growth.”

Visa Survey: African Women Entrepreneurs

The World Bank sites Africa as home to 8 of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world, a market ripe with opportunity and enabled by woman-owned businesses. Key findings from the Visa survey include:

  • Top business challenges: Lack of technological infrastructure, economic fluctuations and a regulatory environment were highlighted as the top business challenges for women entrepreneurs in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
  • Covid-19’s impact on businesses: 7 out of 10 women-owned SMEs in SSA claim the pandemic has had a significant negative impact on their business revenue.
  • Digital payments accelerate business growth: The impact of introducing digital payments for businesses is positive, but the study shows room for improvement in adoption. 83% of respondents that did adopt digital payments experienced improvement in revenue.
  • E-commerce: Over 50% of women owned SMEs in Nigeria and Kenya have an ecommerce presence with a high likelihood of offering customers an option to pay online. At least 7 out of 10 women expect their customers use of ecommerce platforms to increase after the pandemic.

Supporting Growth of Small Businesses across the Globe

As one of the largest electronic payment networks in the world, Visa provides products, services and programs that go beyond payment tools to deliver the value of Visa’s network by helping small businesses to be more competitive today and in the future.

Visa believes that economies that include everyone, uplift people everywhere and it focuses every day on enabling access to digital commerce for both buyers and sellers. For small businesses, Visa is taking steps to address the access gap and be a payments network that truly works for everyone.

So far, Visa has digitally enabled 16 million small and micro businesses (SMBs) worldwide, just over 30% of the multi-year goal it set in 2020 to digitize 50 million SMBs.

The Visa Foundation also announced $3,500,000 million in funding to organizations across Sub-Saharan Africa that support small and micro businesses (SMBs).

This funding includes grants and impact investments  to programs that provide SMBs with training, support services and access to capital, with a gender inclusive and diverse lens. She’s Next in Sub-Saharan Africa will expand on the reach and impact of this program.


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E-Business

CBN Affirms Alpha Morgan Bank’s Capitalisation

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has affirmed the capitalisation of Alpha Morgan Bank, marking an important milestone in the bank’s growth journey and reinforcing its commitment to building a strong, resilient, and future-ready financial institution.

This affirmation reflects the bank’s adherence to regulatory requirements and its strategic focus on strengthening its capital base to support sustainable growth, innovation and improved service delivery to customers.

With this milestone, Alpha Morgan Bank is well positioned to continue expanding its footprint with its 14 approved branches across different states, while deepening inclusivity and enhancing the range of banking solutions available to individuals, businesses, and institutional clients nationwide.

Commenting on the development, the Managing Director of Alpha Morgan Bank, Mr. Ade Buraimo, expressed the readiness of the bank in ensuring compliance with regulatory requirement, good governance framework while delivering satisfying banking along the long-term vision of the bank to become the best bank to work and strong financial institution to reckon with.

He said: “Capitalisation is more than a regulatory requirement; it is an opportunity to strengthen the institution for the future. The affirmation of Alpha Morgan Bank capitalisation reflects the work we have done to build a solid capital foundation that allows us to support businesses more effectively, expand financial access and continue delivering the level of service our customers expect.’’

According to him, Alpha Morgan Bank remains committed to maintaining strong corporate governance standards, sound risk management practices, and prudent financial management as it continues to support economic development and create long-term value for stakeholders.

“As Alpha Morgan Bank enters the next phase of its journey, the institution will continue to scale its operation, invest in technology, expand its branch network and digital banking presence, whilst delivering reliable and satisfying banking experiences to its growing customer base,” Buraimo added.


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Police Says Victims Enable Cyber Attacks Out of Ignorance

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Mr Uche Ifeanyi, commissioner of Police in charge of the Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC),  said on Friday that most cyber attacks occur because victims act out of ignorance.

Police Says Victims Enable Cyber Attacks Out of Ignorance

He spoke in Abuja at the opening of an online cybercrime awareness campaign themed “Odogwu No Dey Hide Him Face,” organised to educate and empower communities about online safety and cyber hygiene.

“Studies reveal that the majority of cyber attacks are initiated or enabled by victims due to lack of knowledge.

“Personal information is invaluable and must be protected at all times.

“Just as we maintain physical health, we must also maintain a healthy digital lifestyle,” he added, stressing that simple cyber hygiene practices could greatly reduce the risk of becoming a victim.

He urged the public not to disclose confidential information to unauthorised persons and to use strong, unique passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and apply security safeguards on digital devices.

“Keep personal information private, avoid suspicious links, and regularly update software or system patches,” he said, adding that antivirus programmes and firewalls were essential for online safety.

Ifeanyi warned against falling for “free gifts” online.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is fraud,” he said, advising caution with urgent or suspicious messages.

He also urged internet users to verify information before sharing to avoid spreading fake news, emphasising that cybercriminals could exploit everyone regardless of age, occupation, or social class.

Vincent Olatunji, director-general, National Data Protection Commission (NDPC), commended NPF-NCCC for its efforts and said the campaign theme was commendable.

He noted the importance of educating people on legitimate wealth and safe internet use.

Olatunji said that the fight against cybercrime required collective effort, warning that the risks were increasing daily as more people connected to the internet across Nigeria.


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Firm Enhances its Security Awareness Platform with SCORM and PDF Support

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Kaspersky has introduced an update to its Automated Security Awareness Platform, adding full support for PDF and SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) – the industry-standard protocol for deploying and managing e-learning content.

The enhancement enables organisations to build fully customised cybersecurity training programmes that reflect their infrastructure, risk profile, and internal policies, while continuing to benefit from Kaspersky’s expert-driven security content and phishing simulations.

According to the Kaspersky report titled “Redefining the Human Factor in Cybersecurity”, employees responding to phishing attacks was one of the main causes of cyber incidents in companies worldwide, accounting for 21% of cases among other reasons.

At the same time, additional Kaspersky research reveals that social engineering attacks are predicted to increase more than any other type in the nearest future, with 87% of respondents believing that social engineering attacks will become even more effective due to the use of AI tools.

The new Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform (Kaspersky ASAP) update directly addresses several persistent challenges such as reducing the number of human-related incidents, cutting time spent on managing training programmes, decreasing regulatory and compliance risks, and minimising potential legal or reputational damage stemming from cybersecurity breaches.

With the new SCORM support, the platform becomes even more flexible: companies can now upload, track, and manage their own SCORM-based learning materials directly within the system. In addition, companies can accelerate their programmes by using easier-to-create PDF-formats.

This allows organisations to tailor training to their specific technology stacks and emerging threats targeting their industry or region. Businesses that have already invested in third-party SCORM courses or internal learning development can now seamlessly reuse their existing modules, protecting their prior investments while strengthening their cybersecurity posture.

The combination of Kaspersky’s embedded content built on real cases uncovered by the company’s world-class experts with customers’ PDF materials or SCORM modules enables a true best-of-breed approach to human risk management.

Organisations can supplement Kaspersky’s up-to-date cyberattack scenarios with internal policies, unique workflows, and industry-specific lessons, ensuring training resonates with employees and reflects real operational challenges.

“Human behaviour remains one of the most unpredictable elements in cybersecurity and also one of the easiest for attackers to exploit. By adding SCORM support to Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform, we’re giving organisations the flexibility to build training programmes that truly match their internal realities.

“Combined with Kaspersky’s expert-driven content and real-world attack data, this update empowers companies to create more adaptive, relevant, and impactful awareness programmes than ever before,” comments Svetlana Kalashnikova, Security Awareness expert at Kaspersky.


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