BMW Invests $417 Million in South Africa

BMW AG will invest more than 6 billion rand ($417 million) in the carmaker’s South African operations to start production of the newest model of its X3 sport-utility vehicle.

The X3 will replace the assembly of the German company’s 3-Series sedan at the Rosslyn plant north of Pretoria, the automaker said in a statement on Monday. It will be the first time the SUV has been produced outside the U.S., and the model will be sold locally and exported, including to other African countries, according to BMW South Africa Managing Director Tim Abbott.

BMW’s South Carolina plant, which produces all X models, will be at full capacity in 2016, Abbott said. The company wants to make sure production meets demand, which it expects to grow to be “substantial” in Africa, he said. Carmakers are expanding in South Africa even as economic growth slows and after strikes forced production halts in the last two years.

“28 percent of all the cars we sell around the world are X models, virtually one in three,” Abbott said in a phone interview on Monday. “We see the X3 as being, long-term, a high-demand vehicle in countries like Nigeria or Kenya or Tanzania.”

South Africa’s automotive-incentive program has attracted companies such as BMW, Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG to set up and invest in factories in the country. The government’s statement this month that support will be extended beyond 2020 “was very important to us,” Abbott said.

Production Rising

The number of vehicles produced in Africa’s most industrialized economy is projected to rise to 622,000 this year, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa. The percentage of car exports will probably rise to 68 percent this year, the body said, compared with 55 percent in 2014.

BMW will spend more than 3 billion rand on the Rosslyn factory, plus an additional 3 billion rand on suppliers, startup costs and training. Production of the 3-Series will continue at Rosslyn until the end of the current model’s lifecycle, after which the switch will be made to building the X3, Abbott said, without providing a timeline.

The automaker will continue to produce X3s at its South Carolina plant, which is also earmarked to build the planned X7 model. While the company hasn’t announced projected production volumes for the X3 from Rosslyn, the additional potential markets in Africa will help prospects, Abbott said.

“A lot depends really on the success of X3 worldwide,” Abbott said. “Obviously it’s not our intention to go backward here, we want to be a more successful plant in terms of volume.”

BMW’s Rosslyn facility was the company’s first foreign plant when it was established in 1973. The factory is expected to produce about 70,000 3-Series vehicles this year and produced its one-millionth vehicle in February.

MTN in 'leniency plea' over Nigeria fine

Nigeria's telecom regulator says it is looking into MTN's plea for leniency after imposing a $5.2bn (£2.7bn) fine on the South African-owned mobile firm for failing to disconnect unregistered line, Reuters news agency reports.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) spokesman Tony Ojobo said the mobile phone giant had written a letter on 2 November admitting failure to disconnect unregistered Sim cards and pleaded for leniency, it reports.

The NCC said the fine remained in place but MTN's appeals may affect the payment deadline, which was set for today, Reuters adds.

EU’s preemptive move on African migration

With Europe and the United States each engaged in sharp debates over migrants – whether from Syria or Mexico – it is worth noting a new political consensus to do something about it. Last week, European and African leaders met in Malta and agreed to address the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa.

At the summit, the European Union offered an initial $2 billion for a “trust fund” to help African countries create jobs, curb people smugglers, improve border security, and increase channels for legal migration. Much more money is expected from individual EU states. Ethiopia received special attention as it is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with more than 733,000 refugees.

While the recent flood of Syrian refugees dominates the immigration debate, the EU’s longer-term worry is the flow of “survival migrants” fleeing drought, conflict, and economic stagnation, from Niger to the Horn of Africa. The wars in Syria and Iraq over Islamic State may eventually subside or end. But Africa’s exodus is growing apace. The EU also faces a moral imperative: More than 3,400 people recently perished while making the sea crossing from Africa to Europe.

Convincing African leaders to cooperate on the EU plan was difficult. Their economies benefit from hefty remittances of African migrants working in Europe. Yet the new EU aid could be money better spent – if it is targeted at attracting investment and building infrastructure. Despite its members’ disputes over what to do with refugees, the EU is united in relieving pressure among Africans to migrate.

Aid alone will hardly be sufficient. Ending Africa’s conflicts, especially terrorist threats by groups like Boko Haram, is necessary. So, too, is help for Africa to adjust to climate change in the dry countries of the Sahel.

Britain, France, and other former imperial powers have much experience in helping their former colonies in Africa. This new aid represents a collective commitment by one of the world’s wealthiest continents to assist one of its poorest. More than that, the “trust fund” shows European nations may yet find common ground on their other immigration issues.

Africa's 'next big threat: Cyber-crime

As more people get access to the internet across Africa, governments and businesses are increasing their online presence but there are questions about how secure these websites are. 

The email scam using a message from someone pretending to be a relative of a dead African leader asking for bank details is well known, but now tactics have changed.

Today's cyber-criminals do not need users' approval or awareness to access valuable data, which could lead to the theft of a large amount of money.

For example, a recent cybersecurity report on Kenya says businesses are losing about $146m (£96m) every year to cyber-crime.

Kenyan cybersecurity analyst Freddy (not his real name) showed me how the average Kenyan website lacks adequate protection.

Working on a dummy site with a typical level of security, he showed me how it was possible to hack into it. 

"This will take me about 15 minutes," he said as he typed away, writing code. 

As predicted, in just a quarter of an hour, he had full access to the database and was able to change the administrator password and upload his own material.

Freddy is one of the good hackers who advises companies and defends them from attacks rather than exploits the problems, but he feels the response to the online risks is inadequate. 

This situation is replicated across the continent. 

South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper reported that hackers launched 6,000 cyber-attacks against South African infrastructure, internet service providers (ISPs) and businesses in October alone.

Bright Mawudor, a Ghanaian cybersecurity expert at Pukyong National University in South Korea, says that most African banks, government agencies and ISPs, in the face of competition, prioritise what their website can do and how fast new features can be released to the public. 

Security is an afterthought, he argues.

"These websites are usually outsourced to software development companies who get pressured to deliver quickly," he says. 

"Something that should take about a month has to be delivered in a week and is thus sub-standard. They always make a mistake and the hacker just has to find one." 

Government website threat

Rather than creating their own systems from scratch, there is a tendency to take a shortcut and use existing popular templates, which Mr Mawudor says can easily be breached. 

He says he knows of several African governments that use these for their websites that can contain sensitive information including individuals' personal details, which can be used for identity theft.

According to the recent Kenyan cybersecurity report, most African-based businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, are unable to withstand cyber-attacks. 

"If there was the threat of a physical attack you would see a lot of fences and guards," says William Makatiani of Serianu Limited which was behind the report. 

"Unfortunately with cyber-attacks, very few people can detect them and you can go for up to a year without knowing you've been attacked."

At the Serianu offices in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, big screens show world maps with yellow spots appearing in different countries representing cyber-attacks happening in real time. 

As these continue, Mr Makatiani suggests the main reason some companies are waking up to the threat is because they are losing money, but he says they are only disclosing these incidents discreetly. 

The types of crimes are also becoming more sophisticated - moving from password theft, to stealing credit card details to attacks on computer networks.

Even if the worst-affected businesses like banks and insurance companies improved their security, the ISPs are accused of not doing enough to create sufficient security for the small businesses they serve.

South Africa recently opened a virtual cybersecurity hub in its capital, Pretoria, to help business, government and civil society work together on responses to these incidents. 

Research firm Columinate suggests that South Africa is one of the world's cybercrime hotspots. 

State Security Minister David Mahlobo pointed out that for the country to be adequately protected, there needs to be more awareness of the threats.

Challenging hackers

This situation is mirrored across the continent and has led Mr Mawudor to help found Africahackon, a forum bringing together cyber-security experts, from university to corporate level, to discuss how to take the initiative on these issues, rather than wait for the security gaps to be exploited. 

The group works with a lot of young people with newly-acquired computer skills who might otherwise be tempted to use them for illegal activity online. 

"You can never stop cyber-attacks but you can employ the best practices to curb them," says Mr Mawudor. 

"This will be a process over time and not a one-day event."

Islamic State is plotting to kill Britons with deadly cyber-attacks

The Chancellor will issue the stark warning about Islamist militants using deadly online attacks on Britain's infrastructure and pledge to tackle cyber crime with an additional £1.9bn a year by 2020.

Islamic State has demonstrated its ability to exploit cyberspace to spread propaganda and plan terrorist attacks, he will say, and it is to be expected the group will one day target utilities and air-traffic control.

"They have not been able to use it to kill people yet by attacking our infrastructure through cyber-attack.

"They do not yet have that capability. But we know they want it, and are doing their best to build it.

"So when we talk about tackling ISIL, that means tackling their cyber threat as well as the threat of their guns, bombs and knives.

"If our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost."

It comes as David Cameron promised the Government would spend an extra £2bn on the UK's Special Forces to fight terrorism, in the wake of the Paris attacks at the weekend that left 129 people dead.

The money will not go on recruitment but will fund new weapons and vehicles, including helicopters.

It will also help buy protective equipment and communication systems.

It is a significant increase in spending on the UK's specialist soldiers and reflects the growing threat of terrorism in the UK.

Mr Osborne is to give details of the cyber crime investment during a visit to the GCHQ listening station in Cheltenham - including a new National Cyber Centre to bring together the country's leading experts.

"As a nation determined to live within our means, we are facing painful choices, and the hardest of decisions. You will see that next week," Mr Osborne will say.

"But the Prime Minister, my colleagues at the top of government and I have decided that we have to make a top priority of cyber security, if Britain is to be able to defend itself, now and in the future."

Meanwhile, French hackers from the activist group Anonymous have declared "war" on Islamic State after the Paris attacks.

In a video posted on YouTube, a representative wearing a hood and the group's distinctive Guy Fawkes mask said the violence that left 129 people dead "can't go unpunished".

150 year old maths problem solved

A maths problem, which has gone more than 150 years without a solution, has finally been solved by Nigerian academic Dr. Opeyemi Enoch. 

The Riemann Hypothesis was first proposed by Bernhard Riemann in 1859. As the first person to provide a solution, Dr. Enoch has scooped a million dollar prize.

Microsoft Makes Windows 10 'Free Upgrade

Amidst controversy after controversy, last month Microsoft did something everyone wanted: it promised to change the Windows 10 free upgrade rules for the better. Out would go the ludicrous situation of forcing users to literally upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8 for a free copy (a real pain for anyone hoping to start with a clean install) and in would come the ability to activate Windows 10 simply using Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys. Well now Microsoft has followed through…

As part of the massive Windows 10 ‘Threshold 2’ release last week (which has its own pros and cons) upgraded users can now simply search for ‘Activate’ in Cortana and on the Activation page it brings up there is the option to register a product key.

The lengthier path is: Settings > Update & Security > Activation > Change Product Key

The key can be from any eligible copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8, which means Home or Professional editions (Enterprise and Windows RT are excluded) which have not already had Windows 10 installed on top of them.

Windows 10 will also accept eligible Windows 7 and Windows 8 product keys during the setup process for a clean install which is a great time saver. Previously the only option was: 1. Upgrade your Windows copy to Windows 10 (this created a ‘digital entitlement’), 2. Format your computer, 3. Install Windows 10 again (digital entitlement recognises previously registered hardware). Yes, it was crazy.

Interestingly Microsoft’s own support website hasn’t been updated yet to reflect these changes. At the time of publication, when you visit the Activation Page all you will find is a guide telling you to call a phone number if your digital activation fails. Hopefully this will be modified soon.

Of course, given the positive nature of this change, the obvious question to ask is: Why isn’t Microsoft shouting about it from the rooftops? And here I think there are some less honourable reasons…

Activation Secrets And Outstanding Questions

Firstly, Microsoft would still strongly prefer users to upgrade as originally intended to create PCs based on digital entitlements not keys. Digital entitlements are hardware locked making it harder for users to shift registration to a new computer. Secondly, accepting Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys potentially reinvigorates a black market for them. Thirdly, Microsoft doesn’t yet have all the answers for its product key enforcement plans.

For example, outstanding questions include:

• Can Windows 10 be activated using a valid Windows 7 or Windows 8 key which has already been used on a different machine?
• Would the above course of action invalidate Windows 7/8/ invalid on that machine?
• Can a Windows 7/8/ keys be deregistered from a Windows 10 machine in future to upgrade a different PC – just as Windows keys previously worked?
• Can valid keys be used after 29 July 2016 when the Windows 10 free upgrade offer is scheduled to end?
Of course all these will need answering and they will become pressing as advanced users modify their PCs, mainstream users change machines and the secondhand market for Windows 10 machines gains momentum.
Still all we know right now is Microsoft has promised, and delivered upon, a practical and highly necessary Windows 10 change which should make life on the OS a little easier for everyone. Coupled with a further 10 great secret features in the Threshold 2 release, it’s a start…