Nigerian Delegation Visits MTN Group Headquarters to Strengthen Bilateral Relations

Nigerian Delegation Visits MTN Group Headquarters to Strengthen Bilateral Relations

 

A high-ranking delegation from Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently visited the MTN Group headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. The visit highlighted the growing efforts to deepen economic and diplomatic relations between the two largest economies in Africa.

The Nigerian team was led by Rt. Hon. Wole Oke, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and included prominent figures such as Amb. Ahmed Sulu-Gambari, the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, H.E. Alexander T. Ajayi; and other senior officials.

MTN Group’s top executives welcomed the delegation, including Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas; Chief of Staff (CEO’s Office), Jerry Varachia; Executive for Network Design, Amith Maharaj; Executive for Core Mergers and Acquisitions, Annemarie Krijnauw; Executive for Internal Audit, Motselisi Molapo; and Senior Manager for Strategic Public Affairs, Dominic Khumalo.

During the meeting, discussions focused on fostering stronger ties between Nigeria and South Africa. Both parties acknowledged MTN’s significant role in bridging economic and cultural gaps between the two nations. The Nigerian delegation emphasized the importance of private sector contributions to advancing regional integration, while MTN executives reiterated their commitment to contributing to Africa’s shared growth story.

This engagement comes ahead of Nigeria’s President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s planned state visit to South Africa. MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, assured the delegation of MTN’s continued support for the Nigerian presidency’s economic and diplomatic initiatives.

The visit further cements MTN’s role as a key player in enhancing collaboration and fostering goodwill between Nigeria and South Africa. It also underscores the potential of private-public partnerships to drive economic development across the continent.

#DoingGoodTogether

 

South African e-commerce in dire need of better identity authentication measures

South African e-commerce in dire need of better identity authentication measures

 

 

The electronic commerce (e-commerce) market in South Africa has exploded and is expected to continue growing exponentially in the next few years. However, online retailers will not only have to refine their digital strategies, but they will also have to up their security measures, says Gur Geva, Co-Founder and CEO tech innovator, iiDENTIFii.

 

South Africa is only the 41st largest market for e-commerce with a revenue of $5 billion (R75 billion at average rate of $15) in 2021. It is expected to grow 8% annually between 2021 and 2025, surpassing the global average of 6%, according to ecommerceDB. Major global players have shown great interest in the South African market, notably the recent entry of Amazon – who also see this as a gateway into Africa.

 

“We believe every single person will eventually have to be biometrically authenticated to be able to transact online. This is not only to protect them, but also the organisations they are transacting with. There is a huge increase in online fraud by dishonest customers as well as by organised crime syndicates,” says Geva.

 

Digital strategy

Many of the large retail chains  are compelled to increased their online footprint to remain competitive, and need a sophisticated digital strategy to compete with the likes of Amazon. Currently, the biggest player in the South African e-commerce market is takealot.com. The online store had a revenue of US$602 million in 2021. It is followed by superbalist.com and woolworths.co.za as the second and third largest stores with US$85 million and US$57 million, respectively. Estimates suggest that the top three stores account for only 15% of online revenue in South Africa.

 

Online security is still broadly considered to be in its infancy in South Africa and very few retail chains have strong identity authentication measures in place. “The lack of sufficient knowledge about the person or organisation you are transacting with is a serious threat in e-commerce. The uptake in digital identity authentication has been quite slow relative to the exponential increase in online transactions,” says Geva.

 

“The main reason behind this slow uptake is the lack of proper regulations for e-commerce verification keeping up with the increase in transaction volumes. Added to this was the impact of Covid, which forced people to transact online.

 

“The financial sector, however, has made giant leaps with the implementation of enterprise-grade remote digital biometric identity authentication solutions.”

 

This is because of strict know-your-customer (KYC) regulations to combat identity theft, money laundering and terrorist financing. It is only a matter of time before identity authentication will become more regulated in the retail space.

 

Better protection

Some companies are gearing up already for stricter regulations by aggressively seeking out various authentication technologies and solutions. iiDENTIFii says account hijackings, identity fraud and data breaches continue to become more prevalent.

 

Account hijackings (also known as account takeover fraud) are when fraudsters or criminals pose as genuine customers to gain control of an account and then make unauthorized, fraudulent transactions. In the US alone reported cases increased by 90%, costing an estimated US$11.4 billion in 2021 compared with 2020. Around 22% of US adults have fallen prey to account takeover fraud scenarios.

 

Preferred partner

Biometric face authentication helps organisations to prevent account takeover fraud, says Geva.  iiDENTIFii recently raised US$15 million (R272 million) in growth capital which will be used to fund the company’s expansion across Africa.

 

“We’re excited to put the investment to work as we close in on our goal of authenticating every face in Africa. We confidently continue our mission of stopping identity theft in Africa,” says Geva.

 

The investment, led by African investment company Arise, validates the company’s central business thesis that it remains the preferred partner for enterprise-grade identity authentication in Africa. Other investors alongside Arise are private equity firm Sanari Capital and US tech entrepreneur Bill Spruill.

Verified.Africa Lands in Ghana, South Africa and Kenya with ID Verification Services.

Verified.Africa Lands in Ghana, South Africa and Kenya with ID Verification Services.

 

 

Africa’s burgeoning digital identity startup Verified.Africa has launched in Ghana, South Africa and Kenya with its verification services now available to businesses and individuals in these countries.

 

With initial operations in Nigeria since 2021, Verified.africa is making good on its roadmap to achieve digital inclusion for all on the continent.

 

Since its inception, Verified Africa has recorded over 300 thousand digital identity verifications from a thousand plus businesses – enabling startups, banks and SMEs to confirm the true identity of people safely.

 

As Frank Atube pointed out in the company’s blog release, “Ghana, South Africa and Kenya represent key markets for Verified’s roadmap into continental dominance and with this launch, we’re thrilled to open our doors to businesses and individuals in three more countries – bringing the best of digital verification to your shores.”

 

The digital identity industry has never been more important to online security and customer trust. KYC (Know your customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) protocols have become stricter with governments looking to secure economic growth and eliminate loss from fraudulent transactions.

 

Verified.africa through the use of machine learning & facial recognition technologies, facilitates this process for both businesses and individuals by helping them eliminate fraud, onboard online customers faster, and meet KYC compliance in minutes.

 

With this expansion, businesses in Ghana, South Africa and Kenya can now enjoy these benefits as they easily verify IDs in real-time anywhere in Africa using any of verified.africa’s services.

From National IDs to Business Certificates to Tax IDs, Verified.africa connects to multiple databases of identity records across the continent to enable you to confirm that people are exactly who they say they are.

 

The company plans to expand its footprint to other African countries over the next 18 months, becoming the most widely used verification platform on the continent.

 

To get started with Verified.africa, you can sign up on their portal at verified.africa/signup.

 

About Verified.africa

 

Verified.Africa is a product of Seamfix Ltd, a technology partner for thousands of global organizations on their journey of Digital Transformation for business growth and customer satisfaction.

 

Through their Verification Platform, businesses in Africa can easily verify the identity of customers, partners, and employees – helping them grow their customer base faster, prevent fraud and operate with better turnover.