Meta And ‘India AI’ To Foster Advancements In AI Technologies Across India

Recent breakthroughs in generative AI have triggered many conversations on the role of these technologies in fostering innovation and coming up with solutions for the real-world. Advancing its efforts towards an open approach for AI, Meta signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ‘India AI’, an independent business unit (IBD) under Digital India Corporation (DIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, to foster collaboration in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This collaboration will establish a framework of cooperation between ‘India AI’ and Meta in the field of Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies including to make Meta’s open-source AI models available for use by Indian AI ecosystem.The MoU was signed by Abhishek Singh, CEO of ‘India AI’ and Shivnath Thukral, Director, Public Policy, Meta in India.

Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta, said, Meta’s open approach to AI innovation is complementary to India’s leadership on digital issues. Giving businesses, startups and researchers access to these technologies can open up a world of social and economic opportunities. With close collaboration between government and industry, we can strengthen India’s digital leadership and help to ensure AI tools are built for India’s unique needs.

Abhishek Singh, CEO of ‘India AI’, said, India is at the forefront of adopting digital technologies and it is evident that AI and Emerging Technologies will play a pivotal role in expanding the advantages of technology to a broader population. Through this collaboration with Meta, the joint research and development endeavours will tackle large-scale challenges by leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies like Llama and other open-source solutions.

India AI’ and Meta have entered into a collaboration aimed at advancing research and development in AI & Emerging Technologies, seeking breakthroughs in AI technology and its applications. Additionally, both organisations may also consider establishing a Centre of Excellence to nurture the startup ecosystem of AI & other Emerging Technologies. Leveraging Meta’s AI research models like LlaMA, Massively Multilingual Speech, and No Language Left Behind, the collaboration will focus on building datasets in Indian Languages to enable translation and large language models, with priority given to low-resource languages. This effort will foster social inclusion, improve government service delivery, and spur innovation using large language models, Generative AI, cognitive systems, and translation models.

Furthermore, ‘India AI’ and Meta will strive to enhance accessibility to AI compute resources for researchers, startups, and organizations with limited resources. Knowledge sharing and collaboration in AI & Emerging Technologies will be facilitated through workshops, seminars, conferences, and similar platforms.

Additionally, ‘India AI’ and Meta share a common goal of raising awareness about AI’s potential benefits and risks among various stakeholders, including policymakers, businesses, civil society, and the general public. They will also work together to promote responsible AI practices through the collaborative development of comprehensive tools and guidelines.

Meta’s AI Research Models Being Already Being Tested By Indian Academic Institutions

We believe an open approach is the right one for building with AI models of today’s capabilities, and need to work in collaboration with others in industry, government, civil society and academia to advance them in a responsible way, and they need to find ways to bring people into the process as they develop the guardrails that AI systems operate within.

To help build the foundation blocks for translation of low-resource languages, Meta has created and expanded open data sets for research use like ccMatrix, Vox Populi and released benchmarking datasets like FLORES-200, Casual Conversations v2 Dataset for academic use. 

Our AI research model, No Language Left Behind (NLLB-200) enables translation of 200 different languages (including 25 Indian languages), helps improve the way researchers evaluate and expose potential algorithm biases in their computer vision and audio systems.  For some Indian-based languages, NLLB-200’s translations were more than 70% accurate, proving to be a game changer for a country as diverse as India. 

Our research efforts have also made significant progress on expanding speech recognition technologies for low-resource languages with the Massively Multilingual Speech (MMS) project speech-to-text, text-to-speech model for 1,100+ languages (including around 60 Indian languages) for research use cases.

India’s velocity of change on back of adoption of new technologies is inspirational

India has been at the forefront of technological advancements for almost a decade now. With a thriving developer base and third largest start-up ecosystem in the world, India can use technologies like AI to further strengthen its digital governance and applications that have the ability to transform everyday lives of people. As per the OECD observatory, in 2022 Indian developers have already made maximum contributions to the public AI software development projects. 

By making AI models available openly we are giving these developers, businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and researchers access to tools developed at a scale that would be challenging for them to build themselves, backed by computing power they might not otherwise access. This will open up a world of opportunities for them to experiment, innovate in exciting ways, and ultimately benefit from economically and socially.

Conclusion: 

Meta is on the bleeding edge, with world-class research and technical leadership matched with deep investment and global scale. This means our teams are uniquely positioned to work on some of the most challenging problems out there—and to apply that work to building real products that solve real problems.

Throughout our company’s history, we’ve experienced the benefits of an open source approach when innovating in other areas of the business. Our engineers developed and shared frameworks that are now industry standards — like React, a leading framework for making web and mobile applications, and PyTorch, which is now the leading framework for AI. These became commonly used infrastructure for the entire technology industry. We believe that collaborations like the one with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India will be a significant step forward in supporting the development of helpful and safer generative AI too.

Latest SonicWall Report Reveals Stealthier Threat Actor Behaviors: Cryptojacking Soars As Cyberattacks Increase, Intensify, Diversify

* India sees 133% increase in Ransomware and 311% surge in IoT attacks

* India witnessed alarming % age rise in Ransomware, IOT attacks and Intrusion attempts

*  Malware (-7%) and Cryptojacking attacks (-73%) in the negative in India

* Intrusion attempts climb (+21%), with a record surge in cryptojacking volume (+399%)

* Cryptojacking volume in NOAM and Europe jumps (+345%) and (+788%) respectively 

* IoT malware (+37%) and encrypted threats (+22%) also on the rise

* Opportunistic threat actors target education and government verticals with digital barrage

* SonicWall discovered 172,146 ‘never-before-seen’ malware variants

* Lowest first half totals on ransomware attempts (-41%) since 2020, despite big Q2 jump – suggesting a likely rebound over the next 6 months

SonicWall, publisher of trusted cyberattack intelligence and leader of ransomware data, today released the 2023 SonicWall Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report. The bi-annual report uncovers evolving tactical behaviors from digital threat actors as they opt for different types of malicious attacks compared to years past.

Overall intrusion attempts were up, led by the highest year on record for global cryptojacking volume recorded by SonicWall, as threat actors shifted away from traditional ransomware attacks in favor of a stealthier means of malicious activities. The data suggests increased law enforcement activity, heavy sanctions and victims’ refusal to pay ransom demands have altered criminal conduct, and threat actors are targeting other means of revenue.

“The seemingly endless digital assault on enterprises, governments and global citizens is intensifying, and the threat landscape continues to expand,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bob VanKirk. “Threat actors are relentless, and our data indicates they are more opportunistic than ever, targeting schools, state and local governments, and retail organizations at unprecedented rates. The 2023 SonicWall Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report helps us better understand the mindset and criminal behavior that will in turn help SonicWall create the right countermeasures, and help organizations protect themselves by being better prepared and build stronger defenses against malicious activities.”

““The report shows that while India saw a lesser rise in crypto attacks, there has been a huge growth in ransomware and IoT attacks overall.  These rises in cyberattacks pose great risks to India’s economic ambitions, with industries from manufacturing to pharmaceuticals becoming more vulnerable as they continue to digitize operations. SonicWall shares critical cyber data that depicts the dramatic rise in the number of attacks, combined with progressively complex attack methods that are designed to breach and damage organizations. All organizations must be vigilant in defending their infrastructure from digital threats and finding new ways to expand or replacing traditional security systems and provide rapid remediation services when necessary,” said Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President Regional Sales, APJ, SonicWall.

Rise of Cryptojacking; Evolution of Ransomware

Cybercriminals are diversifying and expanding their skill sets to attack critical infrastructure, making the threat landscape even more complex and forcing organizations to reconsider their security needs. Despite the decline in global ransomware attempts (-41%), a variety of other attacks have trended up globally, including cryptojacking (+399%), IoT malware (+37%) and encrypted threats (+22%).

“SonicWall intelligence suggests that bad actors are pivoting to lower-cost, less risky attack methods with potentially high returns, like cryptojacking” said SonicWall Vice President of Product Security Bobby Cornwell. “It also explains the reason we’re seeing higher levels of cybercrime in regions like Latin America and Asia. Hackers search for the weakest points of entry, with the lightest possible repercussions, limiting their risk and maximizing their potential profits.”

Financially motivated threat actors continue to be successful despite challenges. They have pivoted to crimes with greater certainty of success but they will not abandon proven tactics like ransomware; they are simply shifting strategy by target rather than exiting altogether.

Prominent attacks continued to plague enterprises, cities, airlines, and even K-12 schools, causing widespread system downtime, economic loss and reputational damage. While several industries followed the global trend of ransomware volume decline, they saw a huge growth in cryptojacking attacks: education (+320X), government (+89X) and healthcare (+69X).

Threat Actors Diversify Cyberattack Strategies

Cybercriminals are using increasingly advanced tools and tactics to exploit and extort victims. While ransomware continues to be a threat, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers expect more state-sponsored activity targeting a broader set of victims in 2023, including SMBs, government entities and enterprises.

The 2023 Mid-Year SonicWall Cyber Threat Report provides insight on a range of cyber threats, including:

Malware – Total global malware volume dipped slightly (-2%), in the first half of 2023, with the U.S. and U.K. logging the biggest dips – (-14%) and (-7%) respectively. Surprisingly, malware numbers climbed in every other tracked region. Europe saw an (+11%) increase, while Latin America malware jumped (+19%) – suggesting a geo-migration of threat actor behavior as they move from targeting traditional hotspots to more opportunistic locations.

Ransomware – Although overall ransomware numbers saw a -41% decline globally, Q2 suggests a potential rebound, as it spiked 73.7% when compared to Q1. Some countries still felt the sting of ransomware attacks as Germany increased (+52%) and India spiked a whopping (+133%).

IoT Malware – Global volume rose 37%, totaling almost 78 million hits by the end of June. As connected devices continue to rapidly multiply, bad actors are targeting weak points of entry as potential attack vectors into organizations.

Encrypted Threats – Yet another quieter approach embraced by bad actors in the last six months was encrypted threats, which climbed (+22%) globally 

“Every year we see cybercrime increase at a staggering and unprecedented rate, and our customers depend on us protect their most valuable digital assets,” said President and CEO of LAN Infotech Michael Goldstein. “That is why we have partnered with SonicWall for the past 15 years, knowing that they will always deliver cutting-edge products and timely research to provide us with the support we need to keep our customers safe. Reports like the 2023 SonicWall Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report arms the channel with the latest cyber trends and helps us become trusted advisors to provide sound security measures to our customers.”

Patented RTDMI Discovered more than 172,000 ‘Never-Before-Seen’ Malware Variants

SonicWall’s patented Real-Time Deep Memory InspectionTM (RTDMITM) technology identified a total of 172,146 never-before-seen malware variants in the first half of 2023, which is down (-36%) year-over-year, suggesting bad actors are spending less time on research and development, and more time on volume-based attacks – utilizing open-source tools that may be less likely to be intercepted. In addition, threat actors appear to be leverage existing tools – leaning on tools they know will help them be successful.

Despite the dip in never-before-seen malware variants, the threat landscape remains complex, with almost 1,000 strains of new variants discovered each day.

To learn more about SonicWall and get the complete 2023 SonicWall Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report, visit www.sonicwall.com/threatreport.

Entering The Kindness Era – Bumble Reveals How Bengalureans Are Redefining Kindness In Dating And Relationships

* New study* shows 65% of single Bengalureans say they are redefining kindness by being more grateful and expressing gratitude, followed by standing up for others (54%)

When it comes to dating and relationships, there has been a significant change in how people perceive what makes someone desirable and attractive. It's not just about saying the right words anymore. Single Bengalureans are taking it up a notch by redefining kindness in relationships. Bumble’s recent survey revealed that 65% of Bengaluru respondents say they are redefining kindness by being more grateful and expressing gratitude while 54% of Bengalureans say they are standing up for others as a way to show their kindness. 51% of Bengaluru respondents say they are redefining kindness by practising seeing things through other people's eyes and perspectives.

While being nice has to do with being polite or pleasant to others, kindness takes it a step further, describing someone who acts in the interest of others, respects vulnerability, empathy, and compassion.

What are the top defining qualities that Indians look for in a partner?

According to Bumble’s recent survey, an overwhelming majority (90%) of people in Bengaluru are looking for  honesty, emotional availability (75%), empathy and compassion (72%), giving compliments (52%) and generosity (54%).

Speaking on how kindness matters in relationships, Samarpita Samaddar, India Communications Director, Bumble shares, “At Bumble, our mission is to foster kind connections. Kindness goes beyond just being nice and material gestures and we are so happy to see daters in India are redefining kindness in relationships in so many ways! In fact, per our latest study,  37% of Bengaluru respondents are looking for more than the bare minimum.

We believe that leading with kindness results in more equitable and healthy relationships. So next time you’re on Bumble, make sure to put kindness first. You can also use Bumble’s Compliments feature to bring a smile to someone’s face—or just keep honesty, empathy, and equality in mind. We hope that you find the kind and meaningful connection you deserve!”

Bumble’s new campaign, titled Kindness is Sexy, featuring new content with actor Aditya Roy Kapoor, comes at a time when singles in India are more focused on kindness as a key element of their dating decisions. To highlight that kindness matters on Bumble, the app recently rolled out Compliments, a message before match feature that allows Bumble’s community to be even more intentional about starting the conversation in a positive way.

*All data is based on a survey conducted by Censuswide and commissioned by Bumble of 2000 Indian respondents 18+ in June 2023.

Religare-Nasscom CoE Collaborate To Drive Tech Innovation

* REL will leverage nasscom CoE’s  expertise on co-creation and extensive access to innovation solutions from startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the tech sector for industry transformation. 

* The partnership will enable startups to address real business challenges and gain access to strategic investments. 

Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), India’s leading diversified financial services group, and nasscom CoE for IoT & AI, have entered a strategic partnership to strengthen REL’s business processes & solution landscape, making it future-ready through the infusion of cutting-edge technology and innovation. The collaboration will harness the collective strengths of both organisations to enhance customer experience and drive operational efficiencies and data security while creating long-term value within the sector. 

nasscom CoE’s  expertise in co-creation and vast network of startups and SMEs specializing in emerging technologies such as AI,ML, AR/VR, Robotics, Blockchain, Drones, and IoT, will present Religare Group the access to relevant innovators and their technology. The Group will continue to explore potential business collaborations tailored to the company’s specific needs and seize possible opportunities to benefit the enterprise and BFSI sector.   

With the announcement, nasscom CoE has also launched the Fifth version of the Healthcare Innovation Challenge (HIC), a one-of-its-kind initiative to tackle the challenges healthcare providers face in their journey to digital transformation. Religare Group’s Care Health Insurance Ltd, a leader in the health insurance space, will work with nasscom CoE in bringing digital technology solutions for the health insurance industry.   

Announcing the partnership, Dr Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson, Religare Enterprises Ltd said: “Our collaboration with nasscom CoE signifies a significant milestone in our journey towards becoming a 360-degree financial services provider by nurturing, adopting, and integrating technological innovations in our core and future businesses. By harnessing the power of emerging technologies, we aim to strengthen our business operations, enhance diligence, and deliver unparalleled value to our customers and shareholders. It is our vision that this partnership will not only accelerate our digital transformation but also enable us to support other players in the financial services sector to undertake this journey." 

“Furthermore, our vision is to support startups that are born in India and focused on India-specific solutions. In doing so, we are aligning ourselves with the government's vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat - a self-reliant and economically strong nation. Nurturing these startups will enable us to retain talent and ownership of India-centric solutions, thereby strengthening our global leadership in technology and innovations.” 

The strategic partnership between Religare and nasscom CoE encompasses several key initiatives that aim to shape the future of financial services. Religare will gain access to a curated pool of innovators through regular pitch sessions, opening doors for potential collaborations in the near future. Additionally, Religare will have an early advantage in identifying strategic investment opportunities in startups, fostering innovation, and driving growth. 

Emphasizing the potential of this partnership Mr Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO, nasscom CoE said: “Religare and its entities will jointly work on use-cases and co-create solutions with the startup ecosystem that will promote homegrown tech innovation driving significant impact on enterprises and create business value.” 

As part of this partnership, Religare will also have the opportunity to mentor two CoE-incubated startups, leading to the nurturing of entrepreneurial talent. This strategic partnership will propel Religare’s digital transformation journey and position the company at the forefront of the industry, delivering cutting-edge solutions and unprecedented value to its customers. 

About Religare Enterprises Limited 

Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), a Core Investment Company (CIC) registered with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is a diversified financial services company. REL offers an integrated suite of financial services through its underlying subsidiaries and operating entities, including loans to SMEs, Affordable Housing Finance, Health Insurance and Retail Broking. REL is listed on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India. The Religare Group (REL & subsidiaries) reaches over 1 million policyholders in insurance business, 1 million plus broking customers, more than 26,000 customers in MSME finance and over 10,000 customers in affordable housing finance. The Group employs more than 11,000 professionals servicing this diversified customer base with a presence in over 1,000 locations across India. www.religare.com  

About nasscom CoE IoT & AI 

About CoE for IoT & AI An initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and K-tech, nasscom Centre of Excellence IoT& AI is a platform that aims to accelerate the development of the deep-tech industry, enabling inclusion and adoption of the emerging technologies in the ecosystem. CoE for the last six years has been enhancing the power of Artificial intelligence and the Internet of things to bring unprecedented opportunities for Industry, Startups, and Academia.   

About nasscom 

nasscom is the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of the Tech industry in India and comprises over 3000member companies. Our membership spans across the entire spectrum of the industry from startups to multinationals and from products to services, Global Capability Centers to Engineering firms. Guided by India's vision to become a leading digital economy globally, nasscom focuses on accelerating the pace of transformation of the industry to emerge as the preferred enabler for global digital transformation. Our strategic imperatives are to reskill and upskill India's IT workforce to ensure that talent is future-ready in terms of new-age skills, strengthen the innovation quotient across industry verticals, create new market opportunities - both international and domestic, drive policy advocacy to advance innovation and ease of doing business, and build the industry narrative with focus on Talent, Trust, and Innovation. And, in everything we do, we will continue to champion the need for diversity and equal opportunity. 

Photo Caption   Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO, NASSCOM CoE & Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson, Religare Enterprises Ltd "signing the MoU to drive tech Innovation" at Bangalore today.

KPMG And ServiceNow Announce Expanded Commitment To Reimagine Finance, Supply Chain, And Procurement Operations

* Commitment includes significant joint investment in new offerings combining AI, low-code capabilities, and deep industry expertise

KPMG and ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), today announced an expanded commitment to reimagine finance, supply chain, and procurement operations. The expanded partnership part of a decade-long relationship that spans IT, HR, risk, cybersecurity, and environmental, social and governance (ESG), includes investment from both organizations to create new offerings that bring together AI, low-code capabilities, and deep industry knowledge and expertise.

ServiceNow estimates there is a $11B total addressable market by 2025 for sourcing and procurement operations as well as a multibillion-dollar opportunity for finance and supply chain solutions that bring together people, processes, data, and technology on one, simplified platform. While early engagement is critical for procurement to be able to influence spending and enable better decision making, many internal customers are frustrated by the lack of transparency and fragmentation across the procurement and approval processes.

The joint effort combines the breadth of experience and market?leading industry insights of KPMG professionals with ServiceNow’s recently announced AI-powered Finance and Supply Chain Workflows that complements customers' existing procurement and supply chain systems, streamlines processes, and improves the employee experience while helping reduce costs and increasing efficiency. KPMG firms will use the new workflows to modernize their own processes and enhance the employee experience. Further, ServiceNow will leverage KPMG’s advisory expertise to optimize operations within its own finance organization.

“Combining the business expertise of KPMG’s people with ServiceNow’s technologies has already helped many organizations upgrade their digital footprints and stay ahead of the rapid pace of innovation,” said Bill Thomas, Global Chairman and CEO of KPMG. “Through this expanded alliance, we will help to deliver even more value and efficiency for clients—expediting their digital transformation journeys so they can achieve their business goals.”

“In this new era of our long-standing partnership with KPMG, we’re injecting a step-function increase in speed for our customers’ business architecture” said ServiceNow Chairman and CEO Bill McDermott. “Our co-developed AI-driven solutions will maximize productivity and profitability across finance, supply chain, and procurement operations.”

The expanded partnership will build on KPMG’s professional services expertise and ServiceNow’s Finance and Supply Chain Workflows in the following areas:

Intelligent automation: Complex procurement processes, such as IT and professional services, are streamlined using intelligent automation across intake, sourcing, contracting, risk review, and finance. KPMG clients can increase procurement productivity by reducing non-value-added tasks while also significantly improving cycle times.

Low-code: ServiceNow’s Clean Core ERP with App Engine, a low?code development tool that uses AI and identifies legacy ERP technical debt that can be removed, replaced, or automated. Clients and KPMG employees can build custom applications that help to meet their unique business needs, while also creating easy to use experiences.

Generative AI: KPMG firms will embed ServiceNow’s recently announced generative AI capabilities into their operations to help enhance the self-service and work experience for employees and clients. The solution will help to reduce the need for dedicated teams to triage and manage time-consuming, but low value procurement and supplier inquiries allowing more time to focus on more critical business imperatives. ServiceNow’s generative AI capabilities will enable better and faster answers to customer inquiries, unlock insights within the Now Platform®?, and help to improve overall work processes for increased efficiency and business transformation. 

Enterprise risk management: Through KPMG’s deep risk and procurement expertise and ServiceNow's workflows, automated security and compliance monitoring is built directly into the portfolio of joint offerings, helping organizations to continuously track and identify high-impact risks. Using ServiceNow’s risk and compliance solutions and third-party risk management offerings will assist businesses to operate with the confidence that they are consistently meeting regulatory compliance requirements and mitigating issues.

In recognition of KPMG’s work to deliver game-changing digital solutions that help to significantly transform organizations through outstanding value and impact, the company was named the 2023 and 2022 ServiceNow Worldwide Transformation Partner of the Year.

Airtel Africa Plc Announce Results For Quarter Ended June 30, 2023

Strong operating performance driving improved constant currency revenue growth and EBITDA margins despite foreign exchange headwinds in Nigeria.

Highlights

Operating key performance indicators (KPIs)

·       Total customer base grew by 8.8% to 143.1 million, as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving a 22.0% increase in data customers to 56.8 million and a 24.3% increase in mobile money customers to 34.3 million.

·       Constant currency ARPU growth of 11.1% was largely driven by increased usage across voice, data and mobile money.

·       Mobile money transaction value increased by 47.2% in constant currency, with Q1’24 annualised transaction value of $107bn in reported currency.

Financial performance

·       Revenue in constant currency grew by 20.4%, with reported currency revenues up by 9.6% to $1,377m.

·       While each segment’s reported currency revenue growth was impacted by currency devaluation, they all delivered double-digit constant currency revenue growth. Across the Group mobile service revenue grew by 19.1% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.9% and data revenue growth of 29.8%. Mobile money revenue grew by 31.2% in constant currency.

·       EBITDA increased by 22.5% in constant currency, and 11.1% in reported currency to $682m, with an EBITDA margin of 49.5%, reflecting a 69bps margin improvement despite inflationary cost pressures.

·       Profit after tax was negative ($151m) driven largely by a foreign exchange loss of $471m recorded in finance cost before tax and $317m after tax because of the devaluation of the Nigerian naira in the month of June 2023. This impact has been classified as a non-operating exceptional item.

·       EPS before exceptional items was 3.9 cents, an improvement of 3.3%. EPS before exceptional items and excluding foreign exchange and derivative losses was 6.0 cents, up by 16.2%. Basic EPS at negative (4.5 cents) compared to 4.4 cents in the prior period, impacted by $317m net exceptional loss on account of naira devaluation in the month of June 2023.

Capital allocation

·       Capex at $140m is flat compared to the prior period as we continue to invest for future growth.

·       In July 2022, the Group prepaid $450m of outstanding external debt at HoldCo. The remaining debt at HoldCo is now $550m, falling due in May 2024. Cash at the holding companies was $505m at the end of the period. Leverage of 1.3x in June 2023, was broadly stable despite over $500m of spectrum investment in the last fiscal year and the renewal of 2100 MHz spectrum licence in Nigeria in the period.

Sustainability strategy

·       The Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23 was published in June 2023, updating on the Group’s progress against its sustainability goals, continued contribution to the UN SDGs and commitment to sustainability which underpins the Group’s business strategy.

·       Our landmark five-year $57m partnership with UNICEF was launched across eight of the 13 of our markets provid-ing access to educational resources, free of charge, to more than 250,000 children on our way to reaching one million children through our programmes by 2027.

·       We are on track with the Group’s ambition to achieving a near-term target of 62% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 2032 and the long-term target to achieve net zero by 2050. We’re progressing in tandem with our partners and suppliers to formulate our Scope 3 strategy which will contribute to the overall reduction of carbon emissions across our value chain.

Olusegun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer, on the trading update:

‘The Group delivered a strong operating performance with improvement in both constant currency revenue growth and EBITDA margin despite the challenging macro environment. The acceleration in voice, data and mobile money revenue growth is testament to the success of our six-pillar ‘win-with’ strategy. Our continuing investment in network and distribution enabled us to expand our customer base further, driving increased usage on our network. This strong momentum is supported by a continued focus on cost efficiencies, which enabled us to expand our EBITDA margins in the quarter.

Despite the strong operating performance, our results have been impacted by foreign exchange headwinds. This quar-ter saw the announcement of the change to the FX market in Nigeria which resulted in a significant naira devaluation. We have welcomed this reform as very positive for the medium and long-term development of our business in Nigeria, our largest market. The country offers significant untapped growth potential, underpinned by highly attractive funda-mentals. This has supported and sustained a strong operating performance which has seen a five-year revenue and EBITDA CAGR of 23.5% and 27.3% in constant currency, respectively.

We expect the FX reforms to improve liquidity over time, thereby alleviating the challenges faced by international busi-nesses over the last few years associated with accessing US dollars and thus hindering accelerated growth. However, in the reporting period the devaluation has had a material impact on our results. Over the last few years, we have actively reduced our FX exposure across the Group, and this will continue to be a focus area in the future to limit the impact of any future devaluation.

Our focus remains on areas which we can control: the provision of reliable telecom and mobile money services, at affordable rates across our 14 sub-Saharan markets in Africa where demand for these services remains significant. The excellent operating performance over the last quarter highlights this success, and we are well positioned to deliver against the growth opportunities these markets offer, with a continued focus on margin resilience.’

About Airtel Africa

Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa.

Airtel Africa offers an integrated suite of telecoms solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services, both nationally and internationally. We aim to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys.

Ajax Engineering Ltd Visionary Leader, Mr. K Vijay, Recognized With Lifetime Achievement Award At EPC World Awards

Mr. K. Vijay, the esteemed Chairman of Ajax Engineering Ltd., was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Annual EPC World Awards ceremony held at Hotel The Ashok, New Delhi on 24th July 2023. The Lifetime Achievement Award highlights his outstanding dedication and remarkable achievements in the infrastructure and construction domain over the last 5 decades. With a track record of exemplary works and successful projects, Mr. K. Vijay has significantly contributed to the growth and development of the concreting equipment manufacturing industry.

In the presence of distinguished luminaries from the Infrastructure & Construction industry, the award was presented to Mr. K. Vijay, acknowledging his leadership and commitment to excellence. The event was graced by Chief Guest, Shri. Nitin Gadkari, Hon'ble Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, who applauded Mr. Vijay's significant impact on the concreting equipment sector and his unwavering commitment to advancing infrastructure development in the country.

Mr. K Vijay Managing Director of Ajax Engineering Ltd. expressed his gratitude upon receiving the award, stating, "I am truly humbled and honored to receive this recognition from the EPC World Awards 2023. This accolade stands as a resounding testament to the relentless commitment and tireless dedication of the entire Ajax Engineering team in revolutionizing the concreting equipment manufacturing sector. Our pursuit of innovation, unwavering focus on quality, and pursuit of excellence have been the cornerstones of our success. Such recognition reaffirms our belief in the transformative power of the Indian Infrastructure & Construction industry and serves as an inspiration to continue pushing the boundaries of progress and achieving new milestones in the infrastructure landscape."

Mr. K Vijay has successfully led Ajax Engineering  to achieve significant milestones as a leading concrete solution provider in the country. With Mr. K Vijay at the helm Ajax Engineering has become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of self loading concrete mixers (SLCMs). It is because of the strategic excellence of Mr. K. Vijay that the company today is a trusted brand for SLCM, Concrete Pumps, Dumpers, Transit mixers and Concrete Batching Plants in most of the construction projects.

EPC World Media Group, a renowned knowledge information hub for the Infrastructure, EPC, and Construction sector, organized the 10th Annual EPC World Awards. The event aimed to recognize and honor outstanding achievements in the industry based on qualitative and quantitative performance.

About Ajax Engineering:

AJAX is a renowned concreting equipment player, excelling in engineering expertise and exceptional after-sales support. Established in 1992, it has become the global leader in Self-Loading Concrete Mixers. Headquartered in Bangalore, AJAX operates state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Doddaballapur and Gowribidanur. With a widespread presence across 100 touch points worldwide, AJAX ensures comprehensive sales and after-sales support. Its distribution network spans Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mozambique, Philippines, Kenya, Tunisia, UAE, Vietnam, Cambodia, Oman, Uganda, and Egypt. Adapting to customer needs, AJAX strives to be the most customer-centric organization, offering end-to-end solutions for production, transport, placement, and pavement. Its product range includes Self-loading concrete mixers, Concrete batching plants, Transit mixers, Stationary pumps, Boom pumps, Self-propelled boom pumps, and Slip-form pavers. AJAX's strength lies in technology, blending engineering knowledge with effective customer relationship management for unparalleled customer value creation.