Chief Technology Officer, Apex Web Network, David Efemena Ominiabohs has urged companies to adopt bug bounty programmes and prioritise cybersecurity from the product design stage to protect against rising cyberattacks.
Ominiabohs, who has over a decade of experience driving fintech innovation, made this known recently in Lagos, during the Apex Tech Summit themed “The African Digital Economy: Building the Infrastructure for the Next Billion Users.”
Ominiabohs called for greater adoption of bug bounty programmes, which invite ethical hackers to test systems and report vulnerabilities.
“There’s something called bug bounty programmes where hackers locally can come to your platform, try to infiltrate your system. If they find out something, they’ll tell you immediately. That is something that we don’t practise in Nigeria,” he said
He explained that such proactive measures help companies fix flaws before they are exploited by malicious actors.
Call for early integration of security
Speaking on cybercrime mitigation, Ominiabohs said many companies fail to consider security during product design, until after product launch, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.
“They learn late because they don’t put that into consideration while building. So, by the time they realise… then they now start taking measures about it,” he said.
He warned that security breaches could severely harm a company’s public image.
“If your company was hacked based on cybercrime whatsoever, it has a bad image for every entity. And you don’t want that to happen,” he noted.
The fintech expert emphasised that strong cyber defence begins within an organisation. He advised that companies must instil internal vigilance, citing phishing attack simulations his team runs to keep staff alert.
“That small link that you click can be the reason for our downfall. So, you always have to take security seriously,” he said.
Local data storage to curb cyber risks
Ominiabohs stressed the need for local data centres rather than storing sensitive information abroad to reduce the risks of data leaks and build public confidence in how data is handled
“If we have several data centres in Nigeria to store Nigerian-based data… that would reduce the risk of possible data leaks and trust issues,” he said.
He noted that banks traditionally relied on on-premise networks to protect customer data before the adoption of cloud systems, citing the need for similar caution in fintech and other sectors.
Compliance and building in Africa
The Apex Network CTO, David Efemena Ominiabohs, advised new founders to first build in their immediate markets before attempting to expand.
“I always advise new builders to first of all build in their local area, for example, their country and state. Understand the market first before you scale,” he said
He also addressed the challenges African startups face, particularly in meeting strict compliance requirements compared to their European counterparts. He explained that while compliance hurdles are high, African entrepreneurs have the advantage of being able to test ideas quickly, iterate, and scale before pursuing full regulatory certifications.
“You have an idea, just build it, see what comes out of it, wait for it, improve on it, and before you know it, you’ve broken into the Nigerian market. It took us like 4 years, 3 years down the line to start packing up all of these compliance certifications, licences, and all of that,” he said.
He revealed that Apex is already operating in seven African countries but is still focused on deepening its presence and understanding regulatory frameworks within the continent before venturing outside Africa.
“There is still a lot of work in expanding in Africa and understanding the compliance fully. We are going into a more regulated market, so we need to be ready.”
According to him, gaining compliance readiness in Africa will better prepare the company for the stricter regulations it will encounter in international markets.
