Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida has again restated the fundamental role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in curbing financial crimes ravaging the entire telecom regulatory ecosystem in the country.
He stated this last week at the 11th Annual Realnews Magazines Lecture Series which took place in Lagos where he shed greater light on the importance of leveraging the real time digital advancements so far made as antidote to emerging financial offences in the country.
At the lecture which was delivered on his behalf by the Director of Public Affairs at the commission, Mr. Reuben Muoka, the NCC boss described financial crimes as offences ranging from Insider abuse, money laundering, terrorism financing to fraud, stressing that the malaise had generally wreaked untold havoc on the nation’s economic and social fabric thereby threatening her security, stability as well as posing as potential dangers to the future of nations, enterprises, and individuals.
Dr. Maida stressed that robust ICT systems were critical to preventing and investigating financial crimes especially where telecom regulators emplace and enforce conditions that tackle compliance with extant regulations, real-time monitoring of digital transactions and security data storage.
According to him, technological advancements such Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning had succeeded in significantly enhancing crime prevention and law enforcement efforts, expressing satisfaction that the nation’s telecom sector, in collaboration with financial institutions, were utilizing advanced data analytics and AI to identify suspicious digital patterns indicating possibilities of crime.
“Innovative solutions such as blockchain, instant payments, AI, machine learning, data analytics, and automated procedures are deployed. The NCC, as part of the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), ensures the security of organizations by handling security incidents.”, he said.
He further disclosed that available platforms and technologies such as Palantir’s data analytics platform and Chainalysis’s blockchain analysis tools were some of the most efficient and effective instruments being used to examine massive volumes of data for patterns to indicate possibilities of financial crimes.
Noting that threats to cybersecurity, false positives, algorithmic bias, human capacity issues, regulatory compliance challenges, and technological obsolescence have emerged as identified concerns in the regulatory ecosystem, the NCC boss said that adequate funding was crucial to the continuous evolution and deployment of ICT solutions.
He advocated the closing of the digital gap as a means to ensure inclusive access to ICT services. This, he argued, would harmonize regulations through collaboration among regulatory authorities, continuous improvement and adaptation to stay ahead of evolving criminal techniques as well as fostering international collaboration and cooperation to tackle financial crimes that often transcended borders.
He maintained that ICT played a critical role in combating financial crimes, contending that the evolving nature of technology required ongoing investment, collaboration, and international cooperation.
Striking a balance between using ICT for crime prevention and protecting data privacy, he noted that multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder strategies, public education, and understanding of internet safety were key components in the effective fight against financial crimes.
Dr. Aminu Maida emphasized that conferences like the Realnews Magazines Lecture Series provided a platform for worldwide stakeholders to share knowledge and best practices in preventing financial crime.
