Telecom
RCCG Holds First Faith-based Hackathon
The Redeemed Christian Church of God, a trailblazer and a frontrunner in driving innovation that is positioning the Church and Africa as a global stakeholder in solving one of the greatest global epidemics – poverty, through its Young Adults and Youth Affairs has successfully held the first ever faith-based hackathon in Nigeria and second of the few in Africa.
The event tagged ‘Kingdom Hack’ was held from November 1st till 3rd 2018.
The objective of Kingdom Hack is to drive social change through technology.
This year’s focus was on addressing the challenge of poverty through redistribution of wealth.
Hackers from different parts of the country came together and were tasked with the responsibility of developing tech products and innovations that will enable redistribution of wealth and greater generosity.
Nine teams mentored by experts competed for the ultimate prize and at the end of the three-day event, Team Credital won the Hackathon ahead of team LinkUp and team Wagro. The three top teams were trailed by the six other teams.
Team credital developed a peer-peer lending platform aimed at exploring the lending market place in Nigeria with a bid to help accelerate the growth of small and medium scale enterprises and in turn, create a chain reaction of wealth redistribution and fight poverty in the process.
Speaking earlier at the beginning of the event, Bayo Adekanmbi, Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria, spoke about the dangers posed by poverty and its effect on national productivity as he challenged participants to position themselves as the game changers in driving the change of narrative.
He also took the participants through an inspiring session which focused on how to develop innovative products that can address the subject matter with many eye opening case studies.
Pastor Precious Akingbade, The National Young Adults and Youth Pastor of RCCG, spoke about the strength of the Youths and Young Adults as a major tool that can create wealth and reduce poverty if properly harnessed as the Redeemed Christian Church of God is currently doing.
In his remarks, the International Director of Programs, RCCG Young Adults and Youth Affairs, Pastor Oluwadamilare Adeboye congratulated the participants whom he described as the pioneers of a landmark initiative focused on solving a problem that has held the world in ransom for too long.
He further stressed that Kingdom Hack is one of the major initiatives through which the church is living up to her responsibility as a key stakeholder in driving social change.
The event also featured judges who are experts in various subjects’ matter in the tech community within and outside Nigeria.
Busola Oyefeso, CEO Tailorbricks, Kayode Adeyinka, Co-MD Jumia Ghana, Babajide Asegbeloyin, Techspace Ecosystem Business FCMB all added colours to the event as they employed their expertise and experience to determine the winners of the event.
At the end of the event, the winner, Team Credital walked home with a whopping sum of One million naira, while the first runner up, Team LinkUp walked home with seven hundred and fifty thousand naira while the second runner-up, Team Wagro, smiled home with five hundred thousand naira.
Telecom
FG Plans EO to Criminalise Fiber Cable Damage Costing Telcos Billions
Nigeria will criminalize the destruction of broadband fiber cables following repeated complaints by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and other telecommunications companies that they are losing billions of naira, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal ministry of works, which supervises federal road constructors, is finalizing the regulation that will be signed as an executive order by President Bola Tinubu, said the people, asking not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to comment.
While there are presently laws against vandalism, the authorities are aiming to regulate construction firms more closely.
The order will enforce stiff penalties on offenders, said the people, declining to provide more details or say when it will be signed.
“Telecom assets are critical backbone that supports the economy across sectors,” said Temitope Ajayi, a senior presidential aide, who noted that the Association of Telecommunications Companies (ATCON) has been demanding the classification for years.
New rules will provide “further assurance that the Nigerian government will protect their investments against vandals and criminal elements.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) estimates that the sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5% in the third quarter of last year.
The move will help alleviate pressure on the telecoms sector, which is facing increased operating costs and sales pressures from a sharp depreciation in the currency and a threefold increase in energy prices.
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables is estimated to have cost the sector almost 27 billion naira ($23 million) last year alone, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show. On Feb. 28, a cut on its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than 11 billion naira – enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines to areas without coverage.
A presidential order on the matter would be welcomed, said Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.
“When it comes to communication infrastructure, they are destroyed at will, so we are eagerly awaiting the president’s order,” he said. “It would be a great boost to the industry, and it will also encourage investment.”
Telecom
Telegram Eyes 1Bn Users amidst Political Pressures
Telegram, the messaging giant founded by Pavel Durov and headquartered in Dubai, anticipates hitting a remarkable milestone of one billion active monthly users within the next year.
Durov’s departure from Russia in 2014, prompted by governmental pressures to stifle opposition communities on his VK social media platform, underscores Telegram’s commitment to neutrality despite geopolitical challenges.
With 900 million active users currently, Telegram stands as a beacon of free speech in the digital realm, particularly influential in former Soviet Union republics and pivotal during conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine standoff.
Durov’s staunch advocacy for freedom of expression and opposition to censorship by tech giants like Apple and Google reinforces Telegram’s status as a neutral platform.
Opting for the UAE as its base, Durov cites its neutrality and openness as conducive to Telegram’s ethos, serving both opposition groups and governments alike while maintaining impartiality.
In Durov’s vision, the pursuit of freedom eclipses material gain, shaping Telegram’s trajectory as a bastion of digital liberation.
Telecom
NITDA, NIMC Announce Collaboration To Strengthen Digital Economy
To further strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have announced a collaboration on National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to enhance and create synergy between digital identity, payment ecosystem, and secure & seemless data exchange capabilities for Nigeria.
During the meeting between the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, with some management staff of both organisations, they discussed various initiatives, which include building DPI stacks for a secured and seamless data exchange and forming partnerships to transform the national identity system.
This collaboration also aims to harness the potential of the innovative ecosystem and emphasise the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to drive digital transformation in Nigeria.
To ensure a smooth implementation, a 12-man committee was set up. This committee will play a crucial role in kickstarting and harmonising the initiatives. It is expected to deliver a comprehensive implementation report within the next 4 weeks
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