The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat says the commercial roll-out of the Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS) will save Africa up to US$5 billion dollars annually.
The Secretary General of AfCFTA, H.E Wamkele Mene, made the remarks at the Commercial Launch of the PAPSS in Accra, Ghana, which held virtually and physically.
Our Correspondent reports that PAPSS is a cross-border, financial market infrastructure enabling payment transactions across Africa.
PAPSS ensures instant or near-instant transfer of funds between originators in one African country and beneficiaries in another.
Mene said, “The great liberation struggle heroes of our continent over 60 years ago had a vision of an integrated market in Africa are rejoicing today because the dream of an integrated Africa is becoming a reality in our lifetime.
“How fitting it is, therefore, that the commercial launch of the PAPSS is taking place here in Ghana, a country that has always been at the intellectual and philosophical vanguard of Pan-Africanism.
“This project is a pioneering effort at achieving a pan-African payments and settlements system which will enable Africa to reduce reliance on third currencies, and more importantly, it has the potential to significantly boost intra-Africa trade.
“The commercial roll-out of the PAPSS is timely and set to boost intra-Africa trade significantly by making cross-border payments less reliant on third currencies.
“It is set to save the continent up to US$5 billion dollars annually, which is the amount currency convertibility costs Africa.”
Mene explained that the African continent had, in the last two years, borne the effects of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to border closures, restrictions and logistical difficulties that had disrupted trade and economies.
“In the midst of this, our Heads of States took the bold decision to commence trading under the very difficult conditions that were caused by the COVID-19.
“Since the commencement of trading under the AfCFTA on Jan 1, 2021, significant improvements were recorded in other key aspects of the implementation of the agreement,” he said.
Mene added: “They include an increase in the number of AfCFTA State parties from 35 (64 per cent) in December 2020 to 39 (73 per cent) at the end of 2021.
“Improvement in the agreement on the AfCFTA rules of origin from 81.8 per cent to 88.6 per cent.
“Activation and operationalisation of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), a key pillar in the successful implementation of the agreement, in April.”
According to the AfCTA Secretary General, the Appellate body was also being constituted.
He also cited the successful hosting of the second edition of the IATF in Durban, South Africa, in November 2021, where a record US$ 42.1 billion trade and trade-related deals were concluded.
“Continuation of preliminary work on the phase II negotiations covering protocols on Intellectual Property, Investment, Competition Policy, Digital Trade (e-commerce), and Women and Youth in Trade.
“All these are a testament to the fact that momentum to implement the AfCFTA Agreement, one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063, to achieve an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, is on course.
“With the launch of the PAPPS, a critical tool of boosting intra-Africa trade, the implementation of the AfCFTA is well positioned to benefit SMEs, young entrepreneurs and those trading across borders in Africa.
“This is by significantly reducing the cost of trading across borders in Africa,” he said.
Shonekan’s death major loss to Nigeria – Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the death of Chief Ernest Shonekan is a major loss to the country, private sector and the international community.
Osinbajo, who was accompanied by his wife, Dolapo, spoke with newsmen after a condolence visit to the family of the late Shonekan on Sunday in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Shonekan died in Lagos on Jan. 11 at the age of 85; he was a statesman, who served as the Head of Interim National Government from Aug. 26, 1993 to Nov. 17, 1993.
The vice president was received by Shonekan’s widow, Margaret and son, Adeboye.
“I think that it’s a very major loss for the country, for the private sector and even internationally.
“Here was a man who made impact; he was one of the first leaders in the private sector to begin to shape economic policy in Nigeria.
“His role in that aspect was significant; of course, many of us know that at various times his interventions in many ways defined the way our economic policy was framed or our economic policy was thrown up.”
Osinbajo said that late Shonekan was very consequential as a leader in the private sector.
“Of course, there is no question at all about the role he played at the very tension filled and uncertain time in the life of the nation, especially as head of the Interim National Government.
“I think that when you look at his role from the private sector to statesman, there is no question at all that this was a very unique individual and I believe that his contributions will be evergreen.
“We are extremely proud of what he has done; we are extremely proud of his life and times and we pray that his memory will be blessed forever,” Osinbajo said.
The vice president had earlier prayed for the family of the deceased and signed the condolence register.
Part of the vice president’s message in the condolence register reads, “we pray that the Lord will comfort the family and may his memory be blessed forever in Jesus name.”
NCC alerts public to new ransomware attacking organisational networks
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has alerted members of the public to a perfected scheme by a cybercrime group to deliver ransomware to targeted organisational networks.
The Commission said, the ransomware uncovered by security experts has been categorised by the Nigerian Computer Emergency Response Team’s (ngCERT) advisory, released over the weekend as high-risk and critical.
According to the ngCERT advisory, the criminal group is said to have been mailing out USB thumb drives to many organisations in the hope that recipients will plug them into their PCs and install the ransomware on their networks.
While businesses are being targeted, criminals could soon begin sending infected USB drives to individuals, the advisory noted.
Describing how the cybercrime group runs the ransomware, the ngCERT advisory says the USB drives contain so-called ‘BadUSB’ attacks.
“The BadUSB exploits the USB standards versatility and allows an attacker to reprogram a USB drive to emulate a keyboard to create keystrokes and commands on a computer. It then instals malware prior to the operating system booting, or spoofs a network card to redirect traffic.
“Numerous attack tools are also installed in the process that allows for exploitation of personal computers (PCs), lateral movement across a network, and installation of additional malware. The tools were used to deploy multiple ransomware strains, including BlackBatter and REvil”, the advisory further explained.
According to ngCERT, the attack has been seen in the US where the USB drives were sent in the mail through the Postal Service and Parcel Service. One type contained a message impersonating the US Department of Health and Human Services and claimed to be a COVID-19 warning. Other malicious USBs were sent in the post with a gift card claiming to be from Amazon.
However, ngCERT has offered recommendations that will enable corporate and individual networks to mitigate the impact of this new cyber-attack and be protected from ransomware.
These recommendations include a call on individuals and organisations not to insert USB drives from unknown sources, even if they are addressed to you or your organisation.
In addition, if the USB drive comes from a company or a person one is not familiar with and trusts, it is recommended that one contacts the source to confirm they actually sent the USB drive.
The ngCERT, however, advised Information and Communication Technology as well as other Internet users to report any incident of system compromises to ngCERT via incident@cert.gov.ng, for technical assistance.
