ICT regulator in Kenya fails to enforce guidelines for phone brands
Brands such as Samsung are now selling phones in Kenya without chargers, which is against the regulator’s guidelines. In 2018, Kenya’s ICT regulator, the Communications Authority (CA), published guidelines on features and technical specifications for mobile cellular devices imported into and distributed in the country. The guidelines outlined the basic requirements and technical standards that mobile cellular devices imported and distributed in Kenya must meet. The regulations covered a wide range of mobile cellular devices, including handheld devices like smartphones and feature phones, portable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, RF interface cards, and modems that connect to public mobile cellular networks using various technologies such as GSM. It’s important to note that the guidelines were not limited to the mentioned devices but encompassed a wider scope. Phone manufacturers are breaking the rules, and the regulator has done nothing much. The guidelines cannot be found on the regulator’s portal, meaning they must have been removed. Nonetheless, enforcement would have made more sense now when people in Kenya and other markets purchase devices without key accessories described in the document. For instance, the guidelines state, “A mobile cellular device shall be equipped with a wired or wireless earpiece facility.” These are earphones that customers use to listen to music or answer phone calls. Most devices officially sold in Kenya no longer ship with wired or wireless headsets. Another controversial decision that phone makers have made is selling phones without a charging brick. According to local regulations, this is not supposed to be the case. “The AC Adaptor for a mobile cellular device shall be fitted with a suitable and appropriate power supply cord and mains plug that meets the standards established by the regulatory body in charge of electricity in Kenya,” reads part of the regulations. The trend was started by Apple in 2020 when it launched the iPhone 12 series, which was sold without a charger. Other companies have followed suit, including Samsung, which started selling its phones in Kenya, such as the S23 lineup and select A-series smartphones without a charger in the box. The companies have mentioned environmental concerns for dropping chargers and earphones from phone packages. They argue that they are trying to reduce their environmental impact by reducing the amount of packaging and waste generated when they ship their devices. This helps to reduce the amount of e-waste that is produced. However, the major reason is cost savings. Smartphone brands save billions of dollars by not including chargers and earphones in the box. They do not have to pay for manufacturing and shipping these accessories. Phone brands are also in the business of making a killing from selling accessories to consumers. Apple started the trend with wireless earbuds (AirPods), which other brands replicated. The companies popularised Bluetooth audio, and removing earphones from packages forced consumers to spend more on wireless earbuds. The same argument can be made for chargers. For instance, some Samsung smartphones support up to 45W charging speeds but do not ship 45W bricks. Customers have to spend more on fast-charging bricks, which would have the same environmental impact, but at least manufacturers make money from the purchase. All is not lost because some manufacturers such as Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like BBK Electronics (OPPO, vivo, and others), Transsion (TECNO, Infinix, and itel) and Xiaomi, among other brands, still ship their devices with charging bricks, cables, and earphones. We hope they will not follow the trend set by established brands and abandon packaging key accessories for their customers. TechCabal reached out to the CA via different channels to clarify why the guidelines are not being followed but received no response when filing this report. What do you think about our stories? Tell us how you feel by taking this quick 3-minute survey.
Read MoreWith SA experiencing a cybercrime epidemic, startups are coming to the rescue
Cybercrime attacks are becoming a fairly regular occurrence in South Africa, with some research pegging the cost at R2.2 billion annually. What is causing this surge in attacks and how can this problem be tackled? Last week, streaming platform Showmax confirmed that a hacker had accessed 27,000 customers’ data, mostly login credentials, eventually offering them for sale on a hackers forum. Prior to this incident, JD Group, one of South Africa’s largest retail conglomerates, was also hacked, with over 500,000 customers’ personal data exposed. Hacking incidents in the country have become quite frequent, with the likes of Shoprite, DisChem, Liberty Insurance,TransUnion, and even government departments falling victim to cybersecurity breaches in recent months. “The reason attacks seem to be getting more prominent nowadays is that attack time is a lot quicker than it’s ever been before and the reason for that, among others, is encryption technology, which is now so progressive and available to businesses and consumers, is equally as available and can be leveraged by bad actors. This technology is so much faster than it’s ever been, meaning that security breaches can also happen much quicker. Back then, the dwell time for attacks, which is the time an attacker needs to make a break-in, was in the 290-day ballpark range. Nowadays, this has been reduced to about 84 minutes on average,” said Kate Mollett, senior director of southern Africa operations at Commvault, a cybersecurity firm. Mitch Adams, a cybersecurity professional who has done cybersecurity work for some of the country’s most prominent tech startups and corporates, believes that the advent of COVID-19 which pushed more people online and tough socio-economic conditions like unemployment, are the main reasons for the surge in cybersecurity over the last two years. “During COVID-19, work from home became so common, and it still is, which saw people taking their work away from firewalled work computers to at home with no any security whatsoever. Additionally, South Africa has high unemployment rates and technology professionals who cannot get a job can sometimes be tempted to exploit lax security measures in order to try to earn a living,” Adams told Techcabal over a call. According to INTERPOL’s 2022 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment report [pdf], South Africa leads the continent in the number of identified cybersecurity threats, with 230 million total threat detections. In second place was Kenya with 72 million. Phishing attacks, ransomware attacks and business email compromise (BEC) attempts were identified as the leading modes of breaches in the country. Research by Accenture also illustrates the severity of the cybersecurity landscape, with the country recording the third highest number of cybercrime victims worldwide, at a cost of R2.2 billion a year. The scale of cyber criminality in the country is further evidenced by the fact that the country is estimated to suffer 577 malware attacks an hour. The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) reported [pdf] that “gross fraud losses on South African-issued cards increased by 20.5% from 2018 to 2019” due to CNP fraud and banking malware attacks, putting South Africa as second only to Russia in this regard. Crypto fuelling the fire The mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies over the last three years seems to have fuelled the occurrence of ransomware attacks in the country, with retailer Shoprite falling victim to such an attack last year. RSAWeb, Transnet, and most recently, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, have been hit by ransomware attacks. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a victim’s data and synchronises it to a remote node or blocks its access while a ransom is demanded. The average ransom demanded for the data is at least $300,000, mostly in crypto. “Ransomware criminals exploit the international nature of virtual assets like cryptocurrencies to facilitate large-scale, nearly instantaneous cross-border transactions, sometimes without the involvement of traditional financial institutions that have anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CFT) programs. Criminals further complicate their transactions by using anonymity enhancing technologies, techniques, and tokens in the laundering process, such as anonymity enhanced cryptocurrencies and mixers,” says the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Another growing cybersecurity concern for South Africa involving crypto are scams, in which threat actors seek to defraud victims of their cryptocurrency. Over the last two years, South Africa has recorded two large-scale crypto scams. The first was a Ponzi scheme where thousands of investors were allegedly scammed out of $588 million in Bitcoin by the company Mirror Trading International in 2020. The second case involved the trading company Africrypt, whose founders allegedly absconded with $3.6 billion from investors in April 2021. Cryptocurrency scams seem to be quite lucrative in South Africa, one of the top ten countries worldwide where threat actors received the highest volume of cryptocurrency from illicit addresses. Additionally, South Africa was second only to the US in the list of countries from which most crypto scams emerge. Staying safe amidst the wave of attacks According to Mollett, the best way for businesses to stay safe during this wave of cybercrime attacks and breaches is to treat cybersecurity measures as a necessity for each and every business, not a privilege reserved for big companies only. “The prevalence of smartphones, through which both your staff and customers do everything from accessing emails to using banking apps, means that there is a huge risk factor for a breach and just education and awareness will not suffice. As a business, a breach always reflects back on you, so it’s best to take proactive measures to ensure safety. Recovery is great. What is so much better than recovering from something is preventing it in the first place. So Commvault made a key acquisition early last year of an organisation called ThreatWise, which is able to assist organisations with something we call “active defence”. And what that does is it provides early warnings of an attack within your environment before it even happens,” added Mollett. Adams also believes being proactive in combating attacks before they even happen is crucial in the fight against cybercrime attacks. “The
Read MoreKCB bank, Visa launch NFC-powered payments in Kenya where Safaricom One-Tap failed
KCB and Visa have partnered to offer contactless payments powered by NFC. Telco Safaricom had launched a similar service backed by M-PESA but failed more than five years ago. Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) will now offer customers contactless payments using Android smartphones or Garmin wearables. The product is a first in Kenya, as other similar contactless solutions are not based on smart devices but a card such as those offered by Absa and Standard Chartered. Michael Kungu, KCB’s acting director of retail banking, said, “Eliminating the need for a dedicated terminal and enabling the merchant to use their cellphone to accept card payments is revolutionary and a significant game changer within the digital payments ecosystem.” Why is this important? Kenyans use mobile money services to settle bills at various retail stores. Debit cards are also another way to make payments. However, these two payment channels are not the quickest because of the friction involved. Cards, for instance, must be swiped and then authenticated with a PIN. Mobile money payments such as M-PESA are even slower because customers have to enter a pay bill number and authenticate the settlement with a PIN. Contactless payments overcome these issues since they offer convenience. They are effortless and speedy to use, as you don’t have to input a PIN code for all your frequent and minor transactions. Contactless payments offer advantages to multiple stakeholders. Issuing banks, in this case, KCB Bank, benefit from increased revenue as customers prefer using cards for low-value transactions rather than cash. Retailers enjoy faster check-out processes, improved security by reducing cash handling, and enhanced customer experience due to shorter queues. Readying contactless payments KCB, Visa, and Thales have partnered to introduce a new service for in-store payments using the KCB app and near-field communication (NFC)-enabled smartphones. Customers need to digitise their KCB Visa card through the banking app as a one-time setup to use the service. Once the card details are stored on their mobile device, customers can make payments by opening the app, selecting NFC payments, tapping their phone on a contactless-enabled payment terminal, and entering their PIN to complete the transaction. The PIN will only be needed for large transactions or less frequently accessed stores. The only issue that can be pinpointed is that a customer’s smartphone must be equipped with an NFC chip for the service to work. While many modern phones have NFC, some manufacturers skip the chip for cost-cutting purposes. “We are continuously working with our partners in the banking sector to enable new and enhanced experiences for consumers. We congratulate KCB for pioneering this technology in Kenya, which we believe will offer customers secure and convenient payment experiences. It builds on the work we have done to expand contactless payments, which has grown substantially over the last three years. This milestone is also indicative of the continued investment Visa is making in safe, reliable, and seamless digital payments as part of our mission to help individuals, businesses, and economies thrive,” said the country manager of Visa Kenya, Eva Ngigi-Sarwari. In 2017, Safaricom launched a similar product powered by M-PESA and NFC. The telco provided an NFC tag that could be attached to smartphones for M-PESA payments at retail stores. The One-Tap product did not pick up and was later discontinued. READ MORE: Kenya boosts payments interoperability with state-backed QR codes The use of bank cards to make payments is on the rise in Kenya. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), there were only 676,275 transactions made with bank cards in August 2014. By May 2022, that number had grown to 4.4 million transactions. What do you think about our stories? Tell us how you feel by taking this quick 3-minute survey.
Read MoreArtificial intelligence can help scale inclusive digital public goods in Africa
The recent popularity of generative AI programmes has become a hot topic in conversations about society and technology. Allowing users to harness the power of cutting-edge technology in dreaming up remarkable creations, some see these applications as the next step in the history of technology while others see it as a danger to humanity. In the coming years, AI technology will likely remain at the centre of topics such as employment, copyright, finance, law, human creativity, and democracy. Al has another dimension beyond tackling transactional efficiencies: integrating AI-based applications with digital public goods. AI’s power for democratisation and inclusion has not been fully harnessed so far. If used properly, AI solutions could create a fairer world in which everyone can produce art, find legal advice, write software, and access information to an extent never before possible. Moreover, the ease with which AI applications can be used and their cloud-based nature could be essential in narrowing the digital divide. Consider financial inclusion, a perennial hot topic in discussions on banking across the Global South, where most inhabitants are unbanked: AI could prove a great disruptor. The cost of rolling out financial programmes is often too much for public sector institutions to bear. Still, the application of AI integrated with public digital ID and trusted data systems can provide sound financial advice to the low-income segments of society at minimal cost and bring millions into the economic mainstream. To broaden this, embracing a digital economy has become a prerequisite for leapfrogging legacy issues and moving into the next economic and social development phase. But for that to happen, the playing field of digital public goods must be expanded. Foundational rails Defined by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Roadmap for Digital Cooperation as “open source software, open data, open AI models, open standards and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable laws and best practices, do no harm, and help attain the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs”, digital public goods are an integral part of the open architecture of the internet. I like to describe digital public infrastructure as a set of rails on which you can run all sorts of trains—slow, fast, and bullet trains. The rails form the standard foundation on which the industry can design applications for various sectors, all with their own rules and regulations. Once this system is in place, you can’t deny anybody access to digital services because it is a public good. To participate in the financial digital public good, you only need access to the internet, a digital identity, a mobile phone number and a bank account. We need to identify the parties involved and ensure that the data is verifiable and that both parties consent to that data being exchanged. Once this is established, financial transactions can take place, and you can then move money and data at low cost with enormous benefits in efficiency and output. Putting a digital public infrastructure in place is worth the cost. In one of the world’s most successful projects in this regard, India has managed to build the infrastructure for 1.5 billion people at the cost of a dollar per person. Aadhaar is the world’s largest biometric ID system and was described by World Bank chief economist, Paul Romer, as “the most sophisticated ID programme in the world”. The benefits are already apparent. India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said that for the billion-plus dollars they had spent, they had already realised US$27 billion of benefit. The time is ripe for a digital economy This conversation might already be old hat in Africa, where mobile money is widespread, with Kenya’s Safaricom rolling out several telco-based products, such as the ubiquitous M-PESA, which several countries have adopted. It is an excellent system but they do not have a regulatory framework as robust as in financial services, such as banking. Nevertheless, given the public’s familiarity with digital transactions and their trust in it, as well as the advantages brought about by the African Continental Free Trade Area, African financial regulators can come together to align their thinking towards the creation of interlinked digital public infrastructure. Doing so would ensure that it is accessible, affordable and inclusive for all users to reap the benefits of increased digitalisation. Globally, Singapore has demonstrated the approach and has been working to establish multi-jurisdiction-linked digital services by linking its payment service PayNow with the faster payment systems of other countries, such as PromptPay in Thailand and UPI in India. Further, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is collaborating with several central banks on Project Nexus to establish a framework to develop multi-jurisdiction payment connectivity, and five countries in ASEAN, including Singapore, are part of this effort. Regardless of today’s popular diverse opinions regarding the future of AI, there is no doubt that AI is a massive boost to the speed, efficiency, accuracy, and security of day-to-day transactions. This is especially evident when AI takes advantage of the foundational new generation of well-structured and digital public good software deployed by countries such as Singapore and India. The software is also helping nations develop and diversify their economies more rapidly and raise growth while creating millions of jobs. What remains clear is that digital public goods will shape the evolution of finance across the coming decades, and we shall all be the better for it. —Sopnendu Mohanty, is the chief fintech officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and chairman of the board, Elevandi.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Google’s newest BFFs
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning The WhatsApp edit button is now live! Now, for up to 15 minutes, you can edit any text you send on WhatsApp—just about enough time to rethink all your ill-timed ILYs. In today’s edition Nigerian companies pay for data violation Google grants 25 African startups $4 million Pepsal appeals tax case in Kenya E-hailing drivers may go on indefinite strike The World Wide Web3 Event: The Moonshot Conference Opportunities Cybersecurity Nigerian orgs pay for data privacy violation In today’s episode of costly lessons, 100 banks and institutions in Nigeria have paid over ₦200 million ($289,885) as penalties for violating the data privacy of Nigerian citizens, per The Nation. Image source: YungNollywood Data privacy violation? The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) didn’t name the institutions involved. However, it did disclose that the violations included banks wrongly capturing customers’ data, resulting in customers being unable to access funds or experiencing unauthorised deductions from their accounts. Some others like universities and insurance companies were also found guilty of enabling data breaches details of which the NDPC didn’t specify. There’s more. The NDPC has also urged every institution to get a data protection officer who will prevent future breaches or risk getting penalised according to the country’s new data protection law. What new law? Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has signed the Data Protection Bill 2023 into law. The bill provides a legal shield for personal data of Nigerians online and offline. It will also provide guardrails regulating how personal data is processed. Moniepoint ranked 2nd fastest-growing African company Moniepoint is Africa’s second-fastest growing company, as shown in FTs latest report. We also processed 1 billion transactions worth $43 billion in Q1 alone. Read all about it here. Funding 25 African startups receive $4 million in Google grants Image source: Google Google is granting equity-free funds to startups in Europe and Africa through its Black Founders Fund (BFF). This year’s cohort showcases remarkable diversity, with 25 out of 40 startups originating from Africa, and an impressive 72% of them being led or co-founded by women. What is the BFF? The BFF provides cash awards—without giving up equity in return—and hands-on support to help Black entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses in the US. Google’s BFF grants 25 African startups $4 million in funding and support. Each startup will receive up to $150,000 cash, $200,000 Google Cloud credits, mentorship, and valuable connections. Who’s in BFF: Nigeria leads with 10 grantees, Kenya with five and South Africa with three. Ghana, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Senegal each have one grant recipient, completing the list. Herconomy,Tushop, Excel At Uni, and TruQ are a few of the selected startups. See the full list here. The funding will enable companies to expand, create jobs, and seize new business opportunities. Fintech Pesapal appeals $561,500 tax case with the KRA Pesapal has lost to the taxman, but it isn’t ready to give up. Kenyan payment company Pesapal will appeal a Kenyan court ruling that says that the company owes Ksh46,598,267 ($332,488) and Ksh32,329,913 ($230,680) in taxes and penalties. Image source: Pinterest Why? Pesapal is saying that it doesn’t owe the Kenya Revenue Authority such money. In the high court, Pesapal may argue that its services are distinct from that of traditional financial institutions and that its services fall within the scope of services exempt from VAT. Is this true? The VAT Act clearly defines what constitutes financial services. Whether Pesapay’s payment services align with the parameters established by the VAT law remains to be seen and will be determined at the high court. So keep your eyes peeled, as we’ll bring you the news as soon as it lands. Mobility Indefinite strike looms for Nigerian Uber and Bolt drivers Image source: Channels News Yesterday, e-hailing drivers in Nigeria announced that they could be driving off into the sunset soon. The Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transport Workers of Nigeria (AUATWON) threatened an indefinite strike as a result of the app-based companies’ failure to negotiate and comply with its demands. What are the demands? The drivers have requested a reduction in the companies’ 20% commission, along with a minimum 200% fare increase by ride-hailing companies. They are also demanding an end to driver deactivation when refusing to work due to low fares and unprofitability. Additionally, the union aims to gain recognition of AUATWON as the representative body for their interests. ICYMI: On June 7, ride-hailing drivers in Nigeria began a warning strike due to a dissatisfaction with Bolt and Uber’s insufficient response to the hike in fuel prices within the country. Following the strike, a seven-working-day ultimatum was issued to suspend the strike and allow for dialogue between both parties, but all efforts to reach an agreement proved abortive. Yesterday, the seven-working-day ultimatum expired. Zoom out: According to sources from the AUATWON, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, labour representatives and ride-hailing companies made a commitment to meet and involve drivers in meaningful engagement yesterday. However, the meeting never happened and it was postponed till June 26. The chairman of the media and publicity committee of the union, Jossy Olawale, says that the result of the meeting will determine their next line of action. Win $50,000 as an Ecobank Fintech Fellow Calling all Africa-focused Fintechs ready to scale! Apply for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2023 for a chance of to win $50,000 and become an Ecobank Fintech Fellow to leverage Ecobank’s 35 African markets to expand.. Apply at https://bit.ly/EFC23TC by July 21, 2023 Crypto Tracker The World Wide Web3 Source: Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $28,765 + 6.66% + 5.97% Ether $1,815 + 4.81% – 0.09% BNB $251 + 3.33% – 19.16% Solana $16.79 + 1.73% – 17.22% * Data as of 06:10 AM WAT, June 21, 2023. Events The Moonshot Conference This is Moonshot by TechCabal. Moonshot is a conference that will bring together Africa’s tech ecosystem to network, collaborate, share insights and celebrate
Read MorePesapal appeals $561500 tax case with Kenya revenue authority
Pesapal’s tax case has been dragging on for months, and today, it was revealed that it had lost to the taxman. Undeterred, the payments company has appealed. Payments firm Pesapal will appeal a Kenyan court ruling that the company owes KES 46,598,267 ($332,488) and KES 32,329,913 ($230,680) in taxes and penalties. Agosta Aliko and Barkley Odhiambo, Pesapal’s founder and legal and compliance manager, respectively, told TechCabal that the company will move to the high court to seek a new ruling. “We refer to the ongoing tax dispute with Kenya Revenue Authority. The matter is at the Kenya high court. As such, we cannot comment further. Pesapal is committed to fulfilling its legal obligations and cooperating fully with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) throughout the process. We assure all our stakeholders that we will continue to operate in a professional manner while this dispute is being addressed,” says Agosta Aliko in a statement to TechCabal. Based on the ruling, there is still an argument to be made for exemption from VAT. The payments company could argue that its provision of financial services falls within the scope outlined in the first schedule to the VAT Act, and, therefore, it should be exempt from VAT. Pesapal may examine the specific distinctions between the services provided by the company and traditional financial institutions. Besides, the VAT Act clearly defines what constitutes financial services. It may choose to contend that the payment services offered by Pesapal align with the parameters established by the VAT law. TechCabal understands that Pesapal’s business will not be affected by the ruling. “Pesapal has appealed the decision to the high court. There will be no implications on Pesapal’s business until the high court decides the substantive appeal,” says Pesapal. Pesapal is clearly refraining from expressing an opinion on the case’s merits. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the high court’s determination in the coming weeks.
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With no connection to the global crypto company, how did Binance Nigeria Limited get registered?
Nigeria’s financial regulator, the SEC, banned the wrong Binance last week. How was the entity registered without any connection with the global crypto company? Last week, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed Binance Nigeria Limited (BNL) to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever. According to its circular, the financial regulator said the entity “is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal”. At the time, news reports mistook the company for a subsidiary of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Already embroiled in regulatory challenges in the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia, it seemed that Nigeria’s financial regulator had extended the same scrutiny to Binance. However, on Sunday, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, called Binance Nigeria Limited a “scam entity” and said that Binance had issued a cease & desist notice to the company. According to public documents, a lawyer, Ahassan Ifzal Mughal, is responsible for registering Binance Nigeria Limited. Although BNL was called a scam by Zhao, Mughal said that he has not been up to anything sinister with Binance Nigeria Limited and confirmed that the company is not affiliated with Binance. He said that he registered the company in the hopes that he could sell the incorporated name to Binance. “We are willing to hand over full control of Binance Nigeria Limited to binance.com should they choose to legally enter into the Nigerian market, and are further available to provide our legal services to them in obtaining legal regulatory compliance in Nigeria,” Mughal told DL News. A search on Nigeria’s company registry shows that BNL was registered in December 2019 and is currently “inactive”. This contradicts the SEC’s circular, which states that BNL had been “soliciting the Nigerian public to trade crypto assets on its various web and mobile-enabled platforms”. What are the legal implications? In isolation, what Mughal planned to do is not illegal. There are no records of a website or app for Binance Nigeria Limited, and Mughal asserts that he only registered the company to sell the name to Binance. His actions can only be considered illegal if he intended to establish a connection to Binance by either marketing or operating in the same field, and this would be considered a fraudulent misrepresentation. However, this episode brings to light how lax Nigeria’s laws are when it comes to registering companies. “I think this would be a great time for us to make our regulatory agencies more circumspect in the registration of companies because it is very interesting that Mughal did not need to prove a connection to Binance,” Zikora Okwor-Wewan, a partner at Springwoods LP, told TechCabal.
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How to edit chats on WhatsApp 2023
WhatsApp is arguably the most popular messaging platform worldwide, and it offers a wide range of features to enhance your chatting experience. While editing messages after sending them was once impossible, WhatsApp has now joined the likes of Slack as it now allows users to edit their chats, fixing typos, mistakes, or adding missing information. In this article, we will guide you through the process of editing chats on WhatsApp. 1. Update your WhatsApp to get the chats edit feature The first step to take before you can edit your Whatsapp chats is to have the latest Whatsapp version. So head to the app store or Google Play Store and update your WhatsApp. 2. Open Whatsapp and locate the chat you want to edit Launch the WhatsApp application on your smartphone. Once opened, navigate to the chat conversation that contains the message you want to edit. Please note that this feature only works with individual chat messages. In other words, you can’t edit a message sent to a group. So scroll through the chat until you find the specific message you wish to modify. 3. Long-press any of the WhatsApp chats you want to edit To begin editing, long-press on the WhatsApp chat or message you want to edit. This action will highlight the message and at the top right, you’ll find 3 dots. Click these dots and you’ll see a prompt menu of options at the top of your screen. Look for the “Edit” button and tap on it to proceed. 4. Select the edit option As earlier mentioned, from this menu, select the “Edit” option. WhatsApp will now open a text box where you can make the necessary changes to the message. Edit the content as desired, rectifying any errors or adding the missing information. 5. Save and send the edited message After making the necessary edits, review the modified message to ensure it conveys the intended meaning accurately. Once you are satisfied, tap the send button (usually represented by a check icon) to save and send the edited message. WhatsApp will update the chat with the edited content, and the recipients will see the corrected version of the message. Final thoughts on how to edit Whatsapp chats WhatsApp’s chat editing feature provides users with a convenient way to correct mistakes or update information after sending a message. But the drawback is the absence of the feature for group messages. However, you can enjoy more comfortable and seamless communication with the latest handy feature on WhatsApp.
Read MoreUnclear provisions leave lawyers unconvinced about the Nigeria Data Protection Act
The Nigeria Data Protection Act, signed into law by President Tinubu, is touted as a game-changer for data protection in the country. But lawyers aren’t particularly convinced. Last week, President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Bill 2023 into law. The new law—which repeals the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR)—provides a legal framework for protecting and regulating personal data in the country. The Act also establishes the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. While this is good news, lawyers who spoke TechCabal said there are still grey areas in the law that its drafters should reconsider. Unclear provisions But despite being touted as a game-changer, the Act has some unclear provisions. Though the law establishes that no data can be processed without the consent of the data subject—a person whose information is being collected, Section 43 (1) (c) however allows the cross-border transfer of personal data without consent. Samuel Ngwu, a lawyer and privacy professional, told TechCabal that the implication of this clause is that it gives the data controllers or processors the freedom to misuse personal data, thereby jeopardizing the rights of the data subject. “Since the exemption will be seen as an option instead of an alternative when adequate decision and appropriate safeguards become impossible,” he explained. Section 32 of the Act provides that the data controller of major importance—defined as one that is domiciled in Nigeria—must have a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who can either be an employee or engaged by a service contract. However, the independence of the DPO is under question as such an individual is expected to report to the data controller in question, despite being a contact point for the Commission. Oyindolapo Olusesi, a lawyer and Data Protection Officer at Kora, a fintech startup, told TechCabal, “The provisions on DPO could have been better since the DPO is at the helm of ensuring internal compliance within an organisation. Safeguards like approval by the Commission, of the appointment of a DPO; ensuring that a DPO can only be fired with notice to the Commission would better help to ensure that the companies take the role more seriously.” Is the Commission truly independent? Another brewing concern with the Act hinges on the independence of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. First, the appointment of the National Commissioner by the President is upon the recommendation of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. The Act also establishes a Governing Council whose Chairman and the non-ex-officio members of the Council will also be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister. The underlying question is the extent of the powers of the Minister which include the appointment of council members, remuneration, and removal. This brings to mind the last-minute amendment of the Nigeria Startup Act by the former Minister, Prof. Isa Pantanmi, a move that was met with a torrent of criticism from stakeholders. Olumide Babalola, a lawyer and author of “Privacy and data protection law in Nigeria”, said that it is safe to say that the Commission does not have any assurance of independence. “What makes it worse is the provision that empowers the minister to give directive to the Commission on ‘matters of policy’,” he told TechCabal. What’s different with the Act? According to stakeholders, the NDPR was laden with inconsistencies, hence the Act is presumed as a significant improvement from the defunct law. Babalola told TechCabal that the Act settles the legitimacy issue hovering around the establishment of NDPB. “With the Act, data protection can now be principally enforced as another cause of action. The Act and the little noise around it will drive awareness and increase regulatory compliance with data processing obligations from a business perspective,” he said. For Olusesi, the Act has ensured some harmonisation around the legality of data protection in the country. He said, “The issue of whether “legitimate interest” was a valid lawful basis because it was not in the NDPR but in the Implementation Framework has now been laid to rest. The Act now clearly includes legitimate interest as a lawful basis. And, that clears any previous confusion.” While the Nigeria Data Protection Act provides a comprehensive framework for data protection in the country, it is however imperative for its drafters to address the aforementioned concerns as they raise serious questions about the genuine intention behind the creation of the Act. What do you think about our stories? Tell us how you feel by taking this quick 3-minute survey.
Read MoreCan Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MNVOs) challenge Nigeria’s big telcos?
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licenses will allow a new class of telcos to compete. Can they provide competition to Nigeria’s established telcos? This month, 25 firms acquired Nigeria’s first Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) licence. Unlike regular telecom operators, virtual mobile operators don’t have to own tower infrastructure or spend millions of dollars on spectrum. Instead, they use the infrastructure and services of existing telcos like MTN. This cost savings is essential because MVNOs are expected to cater to underserved customers. MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, for instance, spent a cumulative amount of ₦115.36 billion ($176,869,618) to renew their 2100MHz spectrum licence for 15 years. MNVOs avoid these costs and build on the existing infrastructure of telcos. The barrier to entry is also relatively low with licence fees ranging from ₦35 million ($53,813) for the lowest tier to ₦500 million ($768,757) for the top category. Per NCC licensing framework, MNVOs can issue SIM cards and register subscribers. They can also provide data services. The essence is that the service should be at a reduced price since they do not maintain network spectrums. Can MVNOs compete with the big four? Experts are not convinced that MNVOs will be able to compete with the big 4 Nigeria telcos– MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile. Charles Awuzie, a telco expert told TechCabal, “Usually MVNO impacts the market by driving prices down. Their ability to focus on a niche gives them more brand visibility in specific demographics.” A market researcher, Samuel Oyekanmi believes that MNVOs cannot compete against big telcos. “One major advantage that they bring to fore is that they would be able to go to some rural areas where some of these telcos could not get to and onboard more people into the digital space,” he told TechCabal. Oyekanmi said the virtual operators would rather compete amongst themselves to get the cheapest rate from the telcos and onboard as much as customers as possible. Oyekanmi and Awuzie agree that MNVOs are good for the market, better for underserved areas, but still not big enough to take on the big four telcos. Statista ranks MTN as the leading market operator in Nigeria, with a market share of 37.9%. It is followed by Globacom and Airtel, with around 28% each. Earlier this year, MTN had an influx of 20,123 subscribers that ported from other networks into its network from January 2022 to December 2022, increasing its market share to 40%, according to another report. Airtel maintained a market share of 27.03% Globacom, 27.13%, and 9mobile, with a market share of 6.78% within the period. What do you think about our stories? Tell us how you feel by taking this quick 3-minute survey.
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