Integrated partnerships between agricultural specialists and digital infrastructure providers are essential to achieving these outcomes at scale. “Across nursery and propagation environments, systems like this have demonstrated 40–70% productivity improvements, depending on crop type and growth stage, alongside lower operational risk and more predictable outcomes,” says Joel van der Schyff, AgriLogiq Co-Founder and CGO. The following case study demonstrates what AgriLogiq has already delivered. NEC XON will add the scale, reach, and delivery capability to extend these benefits across the continent.

The Challenge: Legacy Systems and Compounding Risk
A 30-year-old retail nursery in the Western Cape (which supplies a major garden-centre chain) had grown organically, adopting multiple generations of climate, irrigation, and fertigation systems. As often happens, these systems were installed incrementally by different teams, using varying designs and technical rigour. The result was a fragile, tightly coupled environment:

Climate systems were energy-intensive, difficult to manage during power interruptions, and lacked remote visibility

• Water filtration required constant manual intervention, with filters cleaned several times a day during peak season
• A custom fertiliser delivery system caused reliability issues and inconsistent nutrient application
• There were no consolidated analytics to diagnose problems, optimise inputs, or plan improvements

As challenges compounded, staff spent more time “firefighting” while yields, predictability, and confidence in the systems declined.

The Solution: A Holistic, Managed Farming Platform
Rather than a piecemeal approach, the nursery decided on phased modernisation built around integrated control, sensing, and analytics. At the core of the AgriLogiq solution was a centralised, zone-based control system managing multiple climate zones across propagation and hardening-off areas; more than 20 irrigation zones and 30+ valves; and fertigation fully integrated into irrigation workflows.

This was supported by distributed environmental sensing, wireless field hardware, and a cloud-based management platform. Together, these components provided real-time visibility into environmental conditions and equipment status - from pumps and fans to greenhouse openings - accessible remotely through a single interface.
Modernisation extended beyond software and controls. Supporting infrastructure, including misting systems, filtration equipment, motors, valves, and electrical and plumbing components, was rationalised and upgraded to create a coherent, end-to-end system rather than a collection of standalone components.

The Impact: Efficiency, Resilience, and Measurable Gains
The outcomes were material and sustained:

• Fertiliser concentrations reduced by approximately 75% through precision delivery based on in-field measurements
• Energy consumption decreased as high-pressure, energy-intensive systems were replaced with lower-power alternatives
• Manual filter maintenance dropped from multiple times per day to roughly once per month
• Growth rates improved to the point where production had to be deliberately slowed to match available space
• Remote access and analytics eliminated unnecessary site visits and enabled proactive, data-driven decision-making

Scaling the Model: What Integrated Partnerships Make Possible
Says Chris Duvenage, Business Unit Manager Digital at NEC XON: “While this example reflects a single nursery, its relevance extends far beyond one site or geography. It demonstrates what becomes possible when modern agricultural technology is delivered as part of an integrated solution.” Together, AgriLogiq and NEC XON bring:

• Deep expertise in controlled-environment agriculture, automation, and analytics
• Enterprise-grade power, connectivity, sensing, security, and data infrastructure
• The ability to deliver turnkey solutions under a single accountability model
• Access to large-scale government, donor-funded, and multinational programmes

In emerging markets, reducing farming risk is key to unlocking finance, enabling participation, and delivering measurable economic and social impact. As agriculture moves toward hybrid and protected production models, the need for resilient, end-to-end solutions will only grow.

About NEC XON
NEC XON is a leading African integrator of ICT solutions and part of NEC, a Japanese global company. The holding company has operated in Africa since 1963 and delivers communications, energy, safety, security, and digital solutions. It co-creates social value through innovation to help overcome serious societal challenges. The organisation operates in 54 African countries and has a footprint in 16 of them. Regional headquarters are located in South, East, and West Africa. NEC XON is a level 1-certified broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) business. Discover more at www.nec.africa [nec.africa].

Issued by: Michelle Oelschig, Scarlet Letter 
Contact details: 083-636-1766, michelle@scarletletter.co.za

From critical infrastructure to financial services, organisations face a rising tide of sophisticated cyber threats against a backdrop of acute skills shortages. Traditional security operations centers (SOCs) can no longer keep pace. This white paper explores how NEC XON, in partnership with Palo Alto Networks, is redefining the SOC for Africa: embedding AI-driven platforms, regulatory expertise, and local capability into resilient, future-ready security strategies.

The Attack
Recent global research [security.com] indicates that “Ransomware attacks continued to trend upwards in 2024, rising by 3% compared to 2023, underlining the resilience of this particular cyber threat. ”The surge in ransomware activity was despite some major setbacks faced by two of the biggest threat actors. Law enforcement actions in late 2023 and early 2024 targeted two of the most prominent ransomware groups, LockBit and Noberus, leading to a temporary slowdown in attacks during the first quarter. However, this decline was short-lived, as ransomware operations quickly regained momentum, escalating significantly in the latter half of the year.

NEC XON recently showcased its advanced cyber threat detection and response capabilities by successfully thwarting a human-operated ransomware attack targeting a major service provider. The attackers exploited compromised privileged credentials to access a remote service used by the provider for external connectivity. Because this service was exposed to the internet, ransomware operators were able to log in using stolen credentials, setting the stage for a potential large-scale breach.
Once inside the system, the attackers began reconnaissance efforts, gathering intelligence about the organisations' infrastructure and attempting to move laterally to other nodes using the stolen privileged credentials.

The response
NEC XON’s Managed Detection & Response (MDR) team quickly identified the suspicious activity through multiple alerts. Analysing the attack patterns, they determined it was a human-operated ransomware group aiming to encrypt files and extort the provider for decryption keys.
“Cyber resilience is the art of managing digital risks—the ability to reduce risk to a level that is manageable and containable,” said Armand Kruger, Head of Cybersecurity at NEC XON. “We implement advanced AI-driven security solutions and mature cyber anticipation, detection, and response capabilities to proactively identify cyber threats before they pose a significant risk to our customers' digital environments.”
To mitigate the attack and minimise damage, NEC XON implemented swift countermeasures:

• Device Isolation: The compromised internet-exposed machine was immediately taken offline to prevent further lateral movement and blocked from internet access to eliminate any chance of re-entry.
• Identity Isolation: The compromised account’s password was rotated to a more complex passphrase, and its privileges were revoked to prevent further exploitation.
• Adaptive Risk-Based Measures: Additional security enhancements were introduced, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement on all internet-facing remote access services, geo-locking, and increased automation to detect and block threats at the earliest stage.
• Incident Coordination & Communication: Clear communication channels were established to keep the service provider informed about the attack, the countermeasures implemented, and long-term preventive strategies to enhance security.

The outcomes
As a result of this proactive response, NEC XON’s cybersecurity team has fortified the ISP’s cybersecurity by continuously monitoring customer environments for vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

About NEC XON
NEC XON is a leading African integrator of ICT solutions and part of NEC, a Japanese global company. The holding company has operated in Africa since 1963 and delivers communications, energy, safety, security, and digital solutions. It co-creates social value through innovation to help overcome serious societal challenges. The organisation operates in 54 African countries and has a footprint in 16 of them. Regional headquarters are located in South, East, and West Africa. NEC XON is a level 1-certified broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) business. Discover more at www.nec.xon.co.za.
 
Issued by: Michelle Oelschig, Scarlet Letter 
Contact details: 083-636-1766, michelle@scarletletter.co.za ​

Ceres Fruit Processors, established in 1976, is a leading producer of fruit  juice concentrates and purées. The company uses globally benchmarked processes to deliver flavourful and wholesome value to its customers. In response to energy supply challenges in a vulnerable and intermittent supply landscape, NEC XON was tasked with providing a fully integrated solution using innovative technologies.

NEC XON recently demonstrated its considerable cybersecurity capabilities by thwarting a potential ransomware attack targeting a major mining group. The incident began when NEC XON's xCTEM (Extended Continuous Threat Exposure Management) platform identified that credentials for a privileged account, capable of accessing remote services such as VPN, were being sold by an Initial Access Broker (IAB). These credentials were likely to be purchased by ransomware operators known for human-operated ransomware attacks, posing a significant threat to the mining firm's operations.

Maintaining uninterrupted internet connectivity is essential to business operations these days. As NEC XON and other Midrand businesses discovered in February 2024, natural disasters leading to infrastructure failures can disrupt critical communication channels. However, the NEC XON team had an ace up its sleeve - a Low Earth Orbit-based (LEO) low-latency satellite access solution provided by Eutelsat OneWeb, which it had signed a distribution agreement with late in 2023.

In the volatile cybersecurity landscape, the ability to anticipate and prevent cyber threats is paramount. With sensitive data at stake, especially in industries like healthcare, proactive measures are essential to safeguarding against potential breaches. ​