Nigeria easy target for cyber criminals

Ben Uzor Jr

Nigeria is becoming a huge attraction for cyber criminals, Symantec Corporation said. The steady growth of the economy, and increased bandwidth capacity emanating from the increasing number of submarine cable systems is exposing the country to malicious cyber attacks, Gordon Love, Symantec's regional director for Africa said at a press conference in Lagos. Critical information from the banking, oil and gas, telecommunications industry are currently been migrated online and therefore exposure to sophisticated cyber attacks and threats is inevitable, Love said. 

The $7 billion cyber security company called on the government, banks, oil and gas companies, mobile operators to develop a holistic and robust cyber security strategy to curb the spate of cyber attacks. "Nigeria is a target for the cyber criminals globally. The booming economy, increase in bandwidth and the proliferation of mobile devices are some of the reasons why Nigeria is a such a huge attraction for cyber criminals. In fact, Nigeria has become one of the largest users of smartphones in Africa. Over 20 million malicious threats and attacks were released into the cyberspace in the last twelve months. 

"The threats are here. The problem is that Nigeria does not really appreciate the magnitude of cybercrime and how it can derail an economy." Symantec has ranked Nigeria 59th on its latest Internet security report. Besides, Nigeria ranked 66th position at the same period in 2011. The security report is one of the most comprehensive sources of internet data in the world. Sheldon Hand, Symantec's territory manager for Indian Oceans, West, East and Central Africa (IWECA) reiterated Love's position on the state of cyber security in Nigeria. "Nigeria has become even more vulnerable to attacks.

The country's gradual transition from a cash to an electronic based economy will also expose Nigeria to complex cyber threats, Hand said. Government must be prepared for increased cyber attacks as the country goes 'cashless' and also moves to deepen broadband penetration. Symantec, said Nigeria is going through a revolution in broadband Internet access. As the speed and efficiency of broadband access improves, attacks and threats increase. 

Most developed nations have the larger risk of cyber threats and they also have a quick recovery plan in place, according to industry analysts. In Nigeria however, there is no plans on ground to combat such threats. For us as a nation, the alarming trend calls for a critical approach considering the fact that Nigeria is a developing country adopting new technologies without really assessing the  risks associated with using them.

Visafone, RIM rev up Nigeria's smartphone market

. . . Rolls out first CDMA BlackBerry Services in Africa

Ben Uzor Jr

Visafone and BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion (RIM) has signed an agreement for the launch of BlackBerry® services on Visafone’s Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile network. The move, according to industry analysts is aimed at raising Visafone’s stakes in the smartphone and data segment of Nigeria's telecommunications market. The agreement marks another milestone in Nigeria's highly competitive market with Visafone becoming the first carrier to introduce CDMA - enabled BlackBerry smartphones in Africa and the Middle East, said Jim Ovia, chairman of Visafone at the launch in Lagos. The introduction of the Blackberry services, according to Ovia is a critical part of Visafone's data strategy.

"This partnership represents a big step forward in Africa's mobile history and we are excited to be at the forefront of such a ground-breaking development in Nigeria.  "We have responded to our customers' demands for Blackberry services by being the first to provide them with a suite of CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones that best meets the region's growing mobile needs". But more broadly, the launch, Ovia said is a significant boost to the telecoms regulators' efforts to spur growth of data usage amongst the country's over 101 million active mobile lines. The CDMA operator is also launching three Blackberry smartphones on its network, namely: Curve 9310, Curve 9370 and Bold 9930 devices.

Visafone and RIM said the devices will be available to customers at all 88 Visafone shops for pre-booking from Monday, October 29. Ovia further explained that the launch will benefit any Visafone customer that wants access to email, Internet and social networking apps, including BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), Facebook®, Twitter™ and Social Feeds. Speaking in the same vein, Waldi Wepener, regional director for RIM in East, Central and West Africa, said, "We are proud to support the Nigerian mobile industry with the first-time availability of CDMA BlackBerry smartphones in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Our partnership with Visafone demonstrates RIM’s commitment to working with key partners in Africa to bring the widest range of services to people that want to be connected across the continent.” The range of CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones, according to Wepener will run on BB 7.1 Operating System (OS), which introduces a next-generation browser - one of the best in the Industry.

Browsing results are up to 40 percent faster than BlackBerry® 6 smartphones and up to twice as fast as BlackBerry® 5-based smartphones*. He said that the NFC (Near Field Communications) - enabled Bold 9930 and Curve 9370 smartphones on OS 7.1 both come with BlackBerry® Tag which allows users to share contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content by simply tapping their BlackBerry smartphones together. BlackBerry Tag also enables friends to instantly add one another as contacts on BBM.  On the additional services subscribers are to expect, the statement assured that “All the new BlackBerry smartphones can be used as mobile hotspots so that other Wi-Fi enabled devices can use the mobile network connection on the smartphone.”

Bharti Airtel world's fourth largest operator

Ben Uzor Jr

Bharti Airtel is the fourth largest mobile operator in the world with over 250 million connections globally, according to analyst firm Wireless Intelligence. China Mobile continues to be at the top spot with 683.08 million connections, followed by Vodafone Group (386.88 million) and America Movil Group (251.83 million). Bharti Airtel (250.04m) and Telefonica Group (243.51m) are at fourth and fifth position, respectively, Wireless Intelligence said in its 'Mobile operator worldwide group global ranking by connections (Q2, 2012)'. Besides China Unicom (which is at the sixth position), the report said Bharti Airtel is the only other member of the top ten to move up the ranking, recording a 13 per cent year-on-year rise in connections to overtake Telefonica.

Bharti Airtel had become the fifth largest mobile operator in the world following its acquisition of Zain Group's mobile operations across 15 African nations in June 2010, the operator said in a statement. It, however, added that Bharti's mobile revenue at USD 3.04 billion in the second quarter of FY12 is significantly lower than the other operators in the top five, "reflecting Bharti's presence in the ultra low-cost, low-margin Indian and African markets." The other Indian telecom operators in the report are Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and BSNL at eighth, fourteenth and twentieth position, respectively. While Reliance Communications has maintained its global ranking, Idea Cellular has moved up three places. State-run BSNL's ranking dropped by two places. Telenor and Sistema - foreign firms with a subsidiary in India - were at the ninth and fifteenth position, respectively. Russia's Sistema Group lost four positions in the ranking, the report said.

BuyCommonThings.com captures Nigeria's online retailing space

… Saves consumers time and money

Ben Uzor Jr

 Nigeria’s No. 1 online grocery store, BuyCommonThings.com, has upped the ante and captured the online retailing space with service delivery that saves its customers time, stress and money. Its 100 percent free same-day doorstep delivery has connected strongly with its teeming online customers as to qualify as a game-changer in Nigeria’s online grocery retailing space, as well as in the brick-and-mortar retailing space. If the very affordable prices of the products sold on BuyCommonThings.com are then factored into this 100 percent free same-day delivery service, the natural response to this is, wow.

Olumide Olusanya, chief executive officer of BuyComonThings.com, and former CEO of Cards Technology Limited, indicated that the reason for this emanates from his organisation’s vision for the BuyCommonThings.com service: “to be Nigeria's No.1 Online Grocery Store by changing the way Nigerians shop for groceries--the same way Amazon.com changed the way the world shops for books.”

To realise this vision, the organisation has set out the mission for itself of providing Nigerians simple but compelling reasons to do all their grocery shopping via BuyCommonThings.com. The concept is hinged on providing great affordability in prices; increasingly wide selection and variety; and a great customer service experience that resonates with its target customers.

Olumide insists that convenience is not the primary selling point of BuyCommonThings.com. Rather, convenience is a consequence of the business model adopted by BuyCommonThings.com when compared to the large multinational retailing giants in the country. BuyCommonThings.com seeks to sell the same value proposition these large retailing giants are selling—and more—in a more efficient way. This may appear to be a tall order. Nevertheless, it seems to be gaining traction with the customers BuyCommonThings.com is targeting with this service. In three months, BuyCommonThings.com has captured the attention of its target market due to its simple strategy of giving service.

The online store is making available its increasingly wide array of grocery products to an increasing number of Nigerians, starting from Lagos. Olumide Olusanya said, “One of the things the internet does is that it makes pricing transparent so you can compare prices. The day you begin to see customers here using their smart phones to open BuyCommonThings.com’s site to do comparisons while shopping in the large grocery outlets is the tipping point for the realization of our vision.” Recall that as an e-payment entrepreneur, Olumide was part of the forerunners that birthed the electronic payments industry in Nigeria at the turn of the century. He sits atop BuyCommonThings.com and he is positioned to lead in the online retailing domain in Nigeria. As Jeff Bezos grew his retailing business into a colossus on the back of the internet, Olumide is set to do the same in Nigeria with BuyCommonThings.com.

Comviva bets big on mobile data growth in W/Africa

...To increase telcos' data volume by 40%

Ben Uzor Jr

As voice revenues steadily declines in the West African telecommunication market, Comviva, the global leader in providing mobile solutions beyond Value Added Services (VAS) is betting big on mobile data growth in the region, pledging to increase operators’ data volume by over 40 percent and increase ARPU (Average Revenue per User) by 20 percent. Furthermore, the telecoms company deploys advanced optimization, data management and monetization techniques to enhance the user experience by improving data download percent speeds by over 70 percent and stimulate revenue growth, whilst generating up to45 percent savings on bandwidth and up to 50 percent on infrastructure investment.

Mayank Sharma, vice president, Africa Region, Comviva said operators in West Africa have witnessed huge demand for mobile data over the last year, especially in countries like Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon. “For this they need a solution that can complement their infrastructure and help them launch innovative data services to boost revenues and also ensure efficient network management to minimize the revenue leakages and cost overheads. Comviva’s comprehensive approach to mobile data management enables efficient handling of the various types of data traffic. Our solution helps enhance mobile internet experience by improving data download speeds.”

Comviva, with over 10 years of experience in managing mobile data pipes for more than 80 operators globally across 40+ countries, is ideally placed to be the solution provider to evolve an operator’s Mobile data strategy. The award winning, Mobile Data Platform, is a comprehensive data suite offering

Acceleration, Optimization, Smart Caching, Video Caching, P2P Caching, Policy & Bandwidth Management, DPI based profiling and inline billing. In addition, it also enables the operators to define policies (PCRF), performs real-time metering, (PCEF) and caching, transcoding and content adaptation techniques for HTTP, P2P and video content. Currently, data traffic in West Africa is lower than voice. However, operators have reported that the demand for data services is doubling every six months. Operators expect that data will account for 60 percent of total traffic on 2G and 2.5G networks, and approximately 90 percent on 3G networks by the end of 2012. 

In addition with cables landing in most of countries in the region, the global connectivity is in much better shape than ever before and will be the driver for data growth in the region.

Traction in mobile payments still low, experts

Bill Okonedo & Ben Uzor Jr

Industry experts say mobile money service is still struggling to get a footing in Nigeria even with its huge potentials. Mobile money operators and banks have failed to clearly define the benefits customers can derive from using the service, according to speakers at Mobile Money Roundtable 2012. The Lagos event, organised by BusinessDay Media, focused on “Mobile technology and the future of the cashless initiative in Nigeria. Nigeria’s mobile payment market is valued at $7.2 billion (N1.12 trillion) according to Accenture; however the pervasiveness of poor infrastructure is hindering its take-off.  Participants at the conference agreed that the major challenge faced by the mobile payment system in Nigeria, include poor infrastructure, inadequate remuneration for agents, and a value proposition for consumers.

Henrietta Bankole-Olusina, head of mobility for Accenture Nigeria said at the conference that mobile money operators have been unsuccessful in the area of showing Nigerians the value of using the service. "We can invest in infrastructure all we want but if we don't have the right business models, we will not achieve desirable results," she said. An effective business model and a clear customer value proposition is what this sector requires to stimulate growth. We have a myriad of operators offering the same standard of products. Nobody is telling the consumer about what values they can derive from using the service."  Only four out of the 20 licensed mobile money operator are interoperable as the industry is currently fragmented with disparate mobile payment systems that don't talk to one another, she said.

“Traction in mobile payment in Nigeria remains very low. Interoperability is a serious issue. The likelihood of growth is clearly reduced”, she added.  The potential in the mobile money market is huge, but it is a capital-intensive, thin margin business, said Chuma Ezirim, head of e-banking at FirstBank Plc.  “There is need to manage the expectations of some stakeholders especially on the viability of the Mobile payment deployment. The growth period might be longer than expected because of the complexity of the ecosystem. The industry needs strategic ‘partners’ to develop an ecosystem that would provide the needed incremental value to all parties”, he noted. The value of mobile payment transactions is N27 billion, a significant increase of just N200 million last year, according to CBN.

Keleonu Chimene Eme, deputy lead, Cashless Nigeria Project, CBN said mobile money is expected to play a critical role in the attainment of the apex bank's financial inclusion strategy. There were 14 mobile money operators licensed in August 2011 recorded 161,786 transactions valued at N2.41 billion in June 2012. But issues revolving around faulty business models, low customer awareness, interoperability, poor agent network as well as technology constraints have conspired to slow down the growth of the service. Other industry stakeholders in attendance lamented that low adoption of mobile money could hinder the fulfillment of the apex bank's 2020 target of increasing the formal use of electronic transactions to 70 percent -- up from the current level of 36 percent of the adult population. 

For Deji Oguntonade of GTBank Plc, if financial inclusion is important to government then it needs to provide necessary incentives geared towards ensuring that the scheme takes-off. “Success can still be achieved if key stakeholders abide, respect and support the laid down rules governing mobile money. Also, government in its own capacity should subsidise and actively stimulate growth in this direction”. He said mobile money is a veritable tool to provide low-cost financial services, especially to the unbanked.  Kamar Abass, country manager, Ericsson Nigeria said that there is insufficient capacity on telecoms networks to deliver efficient payment services. "We are moving away from SMS based mobile payment transactions to application based transactions", he said. "We stand the risk of running fast as it relates to the adoption of the service that the existing infrastructure on ground can not cope with.”