🔥Itel A50C SAFETY ALERT: Overheating defect found in type-approved phone, company silent amidst safety crisis - ITREALMS

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By ITREALMS Investigation Desk

ITREALMS Online has exclusively uncovered a critical and dangerous thermal defect in the popular itel A50C (Model A669L) smartphone, which poses a direct and immediate safety risk to consumers.

The exclusive investigation reveals that the device, despite holding the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Type Approval Certificate No. 592, is suffering from severe operational failure.

Dangote Group leverages advanced technology for company growth - ITREALMS

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Leveraging its position as Africa’s leading conglomerate, the Dangote Industries Limited has instituted a plethora of cutting-edge technology in creating top-notch efficiency for all its companies.

Speaking weekend at the just concluded 46th Edition of the Kaduna International Trade Fair, Senior Advisor to the President of the Dangote Group, Fatima Wali Abdurrahman, said the digitization exercise is a sustained endeavour, stressing that it has helped in speeding up manufacturing and sales.

Ajaokuta Steel Company mismanagement: NANS tasks Tinubu on stealing, corruption, demands probe - ITREALMS

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The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, on Monday expressed concerns about misconduct in Ajaokuta Steel Company and urged President Bola Tinubu to order a thorough investigation into reported mismanagement.

“If there are individuals or group of individuals protecting the corrupt managers of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and hereby shielding them from any form of probe and judgement, it simply means that they are beneficiaries of the ill-gotten proceeds of the mismanagement or they have other personal interests that are not people-friendly and that are tantamount to water down or nullify President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's fight against corruption. These set of people should also be probed. They may even be part of those used by these selfish leaders to loot the treasury of the steel company dry.”

Shell emerges top tax compliant company - ITREALMS

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The Federal Inland Revenue Service has named Shell as a “leading tax compliant organisation in Nigeria for 2021.”

At an award ceremony in Abuja last week as part of the second annual National Tax Dialogue, Shell companies in Nigeria also won the award for ‘remarkable performance in the remittance of various taxes’ in the same year.

Africa Magic viewers say ‘Konga, a company to watch’ - ITREALMS

Sponsors@ITREALMS:

Konga has been described as a company to watch closely as a pride to Nigerian corporates by the viewers of the Africa Magic Viewers, reports ITRealms.

Konga, ITRealms gathered, is Nigeria’s e-commerce giant, was the centre of attention at the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2018 Nominees/Sponsors’ Party held at the impressive Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos on last Friday, 2018.

Hosted by Multichoice, pay-television service provider/operators of DSTV and GOTV, saw the event compere, IK Osakioduwa exposing the echoes from viewers.

The event is a build-up to arguably Africa’s biggest award show attracted the crème of Nollywood, Nigeria’s burgeoning movie industry including a star-studded cast of nominees, celebrities and other elite guests.

Title sponsors Konga put on a memorable display for the distinguished audience in attendance at the cocktail party, with a Wheel of Fortune which afforded nominees a chance to win loads of exciting freebies including shopping vouchers of varying amounts up to N100,000, goodie-bags, refrigerators and the grand prize of a 55’ Smart TV.

Konga which recently re-launched Pay-On-Delivery in August for shoppers in Lagos, also seized the opportunity to reiterate its decision to extend the payment option nationwide very soon.

Speaking at the event, Konga CEO (Offline), Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, disclosed the company’s determination to continue to set new standards and raise the bar in service delivery in the Nigerian/African e-commerce sector by offering shoppers an efficient, seamless shopping experience.

“With Konga, you experience an omni-channel, online and offline, which offers you a wide range of genuine products at the best prices and with a multiplicity of payment and delivery options which guarantees you ease and convenience in shopping, thereby giving you peace of mind. We are probably the only company in Nigeria that takes absolute responsibility for every product sold on its platforms. We also offer you device insurance and support when your device is broken in addition to being the only e-commerce company to guarantee same-day delivery of your orders,” he enthused.

While lauding Multichoice for creating and positioning the AMVCAs as a prestigious initiative to recognize and reward film and TV talent across the continent, Prince Ekeh also heaped praises on the 2018 nominees and other guests for honouring the occasion.

According to him: “Nollywood is huge and one of Nigeria’s biggest exports. Unfortunately, it probably does not get the recognition it deserves. Konga recognizes you, however, and we will keep supporting you and every initiative that puts this industry on the world map.”

Among the celebrities that graced the event were Hilda Dokubo, Adesua Etomi, Odunlade Adekola, Femi Adebayo, Kunle Afolayan, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Funky Mallam, among others. Also in attendance was a strong cast of former housemates of Big Brother Naija.

The event witnessed performances from a host of comedians and entertainers including Kenny Blaq and winner of the maiden edition of The Voice Nigeria, Arese, among others.

The AMVCAs were created to celebrate the contribution of African filmmakers, actors and technicians in the success of the continent’s film and television industry and with the success of the previous five editions, preparations are in top gear for the 2018 edition.

ITRealms further gathered the main event holds on Saturday, September 1^st, 2018.

Admin/GEE

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Africa under threat: Gen II security can’t save your company from Gen V cyberattack

FocusAfrica@ITREALMS: 

Companies simply aren’t equipped to handle fifth-generation cyberattacks. It’s particularly concerning for businesses in Africa – where many countries top the Global Threat Index. This is a significant part of the reason why Check Point is giving the region its undivided attention

For the first time ever, cyberattacks have emerged as one of the top three risks impacting the world. Along with natural disasters and climate change, the Global Risks Report for 2018, tells us cyberattacks are literally one of the biggest threats we face.

It’s hardly surprising when one considers the scale and might of attacks like WannaCry, which affected thousands of enterprises across the world. This fifth generation of attacks, or Gen V as Check Point has dubbed it, is not only large-scale, but also multi-vector and even in some cases, state-sponsored.

Gen V attacks literally have the power to shut down entire countries. And the scariest part is that the average business in Africa is still operating with security solutions equipped to combat more simple Gen II or III attacks.

“While Gen I attacks targeted standalone PCs and were dealt with by antivirus, Gen II saw the start of network attacks, requiring the introduction of firewalls. Gen III then began exploiting vulnerabilities in applications, which was combatted through Intrusion Prevention (IPS),” explains Rick Rogers, Regional Director, Africa at Check Point.

Gen IV attacks focused on polymorphic content and involved hackers sending files embedded with malware. “To prevent this sandboxing and anti-bot technologies were used,” Rogers says.

Not equipped for Gen V

But now to combat Gen V attacks, much more is needed. It’s about prevention (rather than just detection), real-time action and covering the weakest points across cloud and mobile. Siloed security solutions are no longer enough and in order to beat Gen 5, businesses need end-to-end security infrastructure which spans everything from data centres to mobile devices.

“We’ve analysed our clients and while all of them have antivirus and a firewall, very few have the advanced technology needed to survive a Gen V attack,” says Rogers. “The sad thing is though that the technology to protect against these attacks does exist.”

Check Point’s Gen V Protection against Mega Attacks is a case in point. The technology consolidates all of the isolated security solutions which businesses already have in place and covers those touch points which are lacking.

Africa under threat

This level of comprehensive, end-to-end security is a particularly important focus for government and businesses entities operating in Africa. African countries rank consistently high on Check Point’s monthly Global Threat Index. Botswana, for example, has topped the Index for two months in a row.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, there is a significant appetite across Africa for cybersecurity solutions.

Taking on new territory

As such, the company has earmarked the continent as an important region for growth and investment. “2018 is the first year in which Africa will be viewed on its own as a territory, rather than forming part of the MEA or EMEA region,” says Rogers.

Not only is this a highly positive development from an employment and investment perspective, but it also means that clients of the company will have far greater access to the Check Point team and direct services required for more complex security projects.

New tech 

Hackers are exploiting the fact that most organisations rely on older generations of security. As the sophistication and scale of attacks grows, so previous generations of security, which merely offer detection, become less and less effective.

With every successful advancement of malicious activity, a new generation of IT security has been born. Organisations now need advanced real-time threat prevention that protects all networks, virtual, cloud, remote office and mobile operations against the latest generation of cyberattacks.

The need for local businesses to partner with security specialists that can help them remain one step ahead of the game is essential. Check Point is committed to ensuring that organisations have access to a security solution that delivers unprecedented protection against current and potential attacks. Cue Check Point Infinity, a revolutionary security consumption model that enables enterprises to prevent Gen V cyberattacks.

Given the pace at which the cyber security industry operates, remaining future-focused is key. Consequently, as Check Point rolls out Gen V security prevention, it is already focused on the next wave of attacks.

Bring on Gen VI.

Rick Rogers, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point Software Limited.

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SystemSpecs emerges most innovative e-payment company

ITRealms:

SystemSpecs, the owner and operator of Remita, the e-payment platform that has generated over N7 trillion for the Federal Government has emerged as the most innovative for creating the payment platform, edging out Interswitch, Paystack and Konga Pay, reports ITRealms.

Organized by West Africa’s most authoritative business medium, Businessday newspaper, the award seeks to honour companies that have contributed to the sustainability of their customer-base, bottomline, overall organisational growth, and development of the country. Over 125 organsiation made the final list.

Addressing journalists after receiving the award, SystemSpecs’ Chief Marketing Officer, David Okeme, said that the award has shown that the company is winning on the kind of innovation the organisation is introducing into the electronic payment space.

“We see payment as an activity that is a must for everybody. Our mantra is that we are going out of our way to create innovations to simplify payment processes for Nigerians. What we have done is that we have marked about ten payment points for consumers and we are innovating around those payments points to make sure that they are delivered seamlessly”.

Publisher of Businessday, Frank Aigbogun, said the newspaper seeks to advance the philosophy and culture of innovation in our nation space, and to recognize the people and companies that are driving it.

“Today, innovation is a key driver of organic growth for all companies, regardless of sector or geography. Recognising the organization, agencies, and individuals that are driving and advancing the culture of innovation, the award brings together industry leaders across all sectors”, he said.

Special adviser to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN], Emmanuel Ukeje, acknowledged that 2016 was particularly a tough year for many of the companies. He said the CBN’s response to the economic recession was supported by most of the private sector.

“In response to the recession, these companies looked for ways of going round the recession and remain profitable. We are witnesses to what happened”, he added.  

  

Remita has been adopted by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] for the payment and collections of funds on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, and it is used by all commercial banks and over 400 micro finance banks. The platform has helped to revolutionalize the e-payment industry in Nigeria.

Okeme explained that SystemSpecs is wholly owned and run by Nigerian with Nigerian software engineers, meaning that the “energy we talked about is being created by Nigerians”.

According to him, “Remita is the system that is powering the Treasury Single Account [TSA] and it has helped the country to save over N7 trillion. The benefits of this innovation is that Nigeria now has full visibility of its cash asset so there is a lot more security in terms of her assets and deploy its resources better”, he said.

He maintained that Remita app combines the functions of several applications, saying that, it is an app that allows users to connect to all the banks applications with one click. He added that with the app, user can respond to payment requests from restaurants, shopping outlets, schools, family, friends, or other billers by quickly snapping, a QR code from his smartphone or tapping his device against the biller’s to complete transactions.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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Uwaje says Yudala is company to watch

ITRealms:

The former President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Chris Uwaje, has declared that Yudala is a company to watch, reports ITRealms.

Uwaje who made this assertion while interacting with young technology students said that e-commerce company Yudala has the potential of breaking the boundaries of the Nigerian Stock market in the next few years, given its strategic positioning and futuristic combination of online and offline in the Nigerian e-commerce industry.

According to Uwaje, the remarkable achievements and disruptions by Yudala, a fledging start-up launched at a time the Nigerian economy entered the current recession, makes it a company to look out for in the business space.

“Yudala’s achievements should instruct you to anticipate a golden future for your tech-savvy generation. It is important you think outside the box and innovate like the founders of Yudala have done.

“Today, the centre of gravity of the digital knowledge domain resides in understanding the chemistry of IT and Software Development Ecosystem. Humanity today, lives in a 'Software-first' world, where innovation, bold and disruptive creativity have become the centre of gravity of life and significance of human existence where over 3.6 billion people are connected to the Internet, making e-Commerce the ultimate game-changer.

“For example, the Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to connect about 50 billion devices by 2020 at an estimated market value of about $19 trillion USD.  In my professional evaluation, this represents the most constructive, disruptive, and strategic pathway to Africa’s future.  A future dictated by technological know-how and where Nigeria must take the lead and protect her survivability. Our future resides in the mastery, application and sustainable control of our intellectual capital. This is why Yudala has become the most creative and potent milestone in the innovation landscape and a company for major case study in 21st century.

“I encourage you to increase your passion for the technology sector and fuel your hunger to achieve because technology leaders are global citizens. A company like Yudala is essentially a technology company founded on a strong technology backbone, sound human capital and a clear duplex retail roadmap. The company’s impressive strategies and sustained market relevance even where others have failed, is a pride to the nation and I would not be surprised if the company becomes the biggest company on the Stock Exchange in the nearest future.

“If the Yudala business was launched by a white man, it would have been lauded to the high heavens and would have certainly diminished the intellectual confidence of the average Nigerian. So we must take pride in this purely Nigerian company which I hear, was founded by a 23-year old Nigerian.”

Taking the students down memory lane, Dr. Uwaje, a former President of the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN) and distinguished Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), recounted the impacts of notable personalities whose actions helped shape the developments in the Nigerian technology industry. Charging them to study the Yudala strategy, he noted that today’s youth are better placed to surpass the achievements of the older generation.

“When you consider the trajectory of the Nigerian technology sector; our generation started small as we did not have the kind of exposure you have today. People like myself, Chief Don Etiebet and Leo Stan Ekeh, among others, did our best to lay the foundation but your generation is better placed to achieve so much more within a shorter period. You have the tools, access to knowledge and required exposure.

“If the Management eventually decides to go public as was widely published some time ago, I think Yudala has the potential of becoming one of the most valuable companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the near future. And I am sure a lot of you would create even bigger companies and this shall resolve the unemployment challenges, branding issues and stronger future of our nation as a true member of the global community.”

Speaking further, Uwaje called on the Federal Government to see reasons for it to throw its weight behind sterling start-ups in the technology sector such as Yudala in line with the huge potential of the sector as a major employer of labour.

“The problem is for the Government to realize the importance of the ICT sector as a mass employer of labour and support the growth of companies in the sector.

“The current economic recession has taken a huge toll on businesses, with many of them having no choice than to embark on staff cuts or retrenchment. Many companies in the ICT sector have helped to reduce the burden of many families as they not only employed a lot of Nigerians but also refrained from mass sacks throughout this period.

“Companies such as these should get special concessions from the Government as a means of encouraging them to do more. These concessions could be in form of tax holidays or other waivers. This is one way of promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship in Nigeria as the success of a well-structured business holds positive signs for the growth of the Nigerian economy,” he concluded.

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Dell acquires EMC, becomes world’s largest tech company with $74bn

ITRealms: 

The recent acquisition of EMC Corporation by Dell Technologies has positioned the company as the largest technology company in the world that is privately-controlled equity worth $74 billion, reports ITRealms.

This, ITRealms also reports creates a unique family of businesses that provides the essential infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform Information Technology (IT) and protect their most important asset, information.

This combination, which created a $74 billion market leadership with an expansive technology portfolio which tends to solve complex problems for customers in the industry’s fast-growing areas of hybrid cloud, software-defined data center, converged infrastructure, platform-as-a-service, data analytics, mobility and cybersecurity.

ITRealms equally reports that Dell Technologies lays claims to serving 98 per cent of the Fortune 500 and comprises several market leading businesses. The two largest, and most well-known, are the Dell client solutions business and the Dell EMC infrastructure solutions business – both of which are supported by Dell EMC Services.

In addition, Dell Technologies contains Boomi, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware.

This unique structure, ITRealms reports, combines the focus and innovation of a startup with the global scale and service of a large enterprise, thus, Dell Technologies scale will enable it to deliver more innovation and investment in research and development, sales and marketing, services and support and deliver more efficient and cost-effective solutions for customers.

For the Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, Michael Dell, they foresee a new dawn of the next industrial revolution.

“Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things. This is why we created Dell Technologies. We have the products, services, talent and global scale to be a catalyst for change and guide customers, large and small, on their digital journey,” he said.

ITRealms recalls that Dell Technologies promises to blend Dell’s go-to-market strength with small business and mid-market customers and EMC’s strength with large enterprises and stands as a market leader in many of the most important and high-growth areas of the $2 trillion information technology market, including positions as a “Leader” in 20 Gartner Magic Quadrants and a portfolio of more than 20,000 patents and applications.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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Yudala: e-Commerce company of the year

ITRealms:

Yudala has been named the electronic Commerce (e-Commerce) company of the year at the 2016 edition of the Nigerian Telecom Awards, held at the weekend in Lagos, reports ITRealms.

The emergence of Yudala at the award which took place at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre on Saturday July 16^th, saw the overtake of competition from the likes of Konga, Jumia, Payporte, to name a few.

The award, ITRealms gathered was in recognition of Yudala’s ground-breaking entry into the Nigerian e-commerce sector and exceptional innovative strategies through which it has raised the standards in the industry.

Receiving the award, the founder and Vice President, Yudala, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, dedicated the prize to staff who have worked diligently hard in making the Yudala revolution a reality.

Also, he attributed the recognition to customers who have kept faith with the Yudala brand, especially those who believed in the Yudala dream from its inception.

“I am delighted because this recognition goes a long way to justify the huge impacts we have made in the e-commerce sector. This award is fitting reward for all the hard work and winning strategies we have put in to make the Yudala brand one to look out for.

“I dedicate this award to all staff of Yudala who have worked so hard to make the dream a reality. Special dedication also goes to our customers: those who have kept faith with the Yudala brand from day one as well as the many others who later became convinced by our world class service and have remained ardent customers ever since.”

ITRealms recalls that within a year of its entry into the keenly-competitive e-commerce sector, Yudala has successfully raised the standards with a series of pioneering feats including the launch of same day delivery and the first recorded drone delivery in the e-commerce world. This is in addition to a slew of innovative and exciting promotions through which it has expanded the offerings and given the consumer more value-added options.

Some high-profile personalities on attendance at this award include the Honourable Minister of Communications, Barr. Abdul-Rahman Adebayo Shittu; Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Dambatta; Ag. Chief Executive Officer, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Vincent Olatunji; Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya; His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi as well as other First Class rulers and dignitaries from all walks of life.

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Tigo Tanzania pays $2.1m in quarterly profit share to customers

ITRealms:

Leading digital lifestyle company in Tanzania, Tigo, has remitted its quarterly payment to of US $ 2.1million (Tshs 4.4 bilion) about N3.9m to its 4.6 million Tigo Pesa users, the seventh time in a row that the company is distributing profit to its mobile financial services users, ITRealms report.

Speaking at a press conference in Dar es Salaam, Tigo Tanzania Head of Finance and Risk for Mobile Financial Services, Obedi Laiser said cumulatively, the company has paid its mobile financial services users a total of US $ 16. 5million (Tshs 35.5 billion) quarterly payments since September 2014.

The payment is generated from profit accruing in the Tigo Pesa Trust accounts held with major commercial banks in Tanzania, Laiser said.

A press stated endorsed by the Corporate Communications Manager, Tigo Tanzania, Mr. John Wanyancha also noted that Tigo Tanzania was the first telecom company in the world in 2014 to share profit generated from its mobile money Trust Account in the form of a quarterly distribution to its customers.

The revenue share model is in line with the Tanzanian Central Bank (Bank of Tanzania-BOT) which allows the country’s mobile operators to increase e-money deposits and mobile money transactions through new loyalty incentives. 

“This profit share is payable to all Tigo Pesa users including individual customers, retail agents and our business partners each based on the e-value they have stored in their Tigo Pesa wallets,” Laiser said.

He pointed out their excitement to be announcing this profit share distribution for the seventh successive time. 

"The payment underlines Tigo Tanzania’s commitment to provide financial access to our customers and to promote financial inclusion in the country through our Tigo Pesa services,” he said.

Further, Wanyancha quoted the BOT as saying Tanzania has aims at attaining a 50 per cent national financial inclusion of its population by 2016.

The East African country has an estimated population of 45 million people.

 
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