Telecom
Glo Recruits over 2000 Agents for Mobile Money
Globacom, telecoms service provider, has rounded off Town Hall trainings for prospective Glo Xchange agents with sessions in Sokoto, Katsina, Ekiti and Ebonyi States, bringing the total number of agents recruited nationwide to over two thousand.
The last batch of training sessions held over the weekend were attended by enthusiastic prospective agents who thronged the various sessions for capacity building lectures on how to function as Glo Xchange mobile money agents as well as mode of operation and how the agents can start the business in their locality.
A cross section of participants commended the Glo Xchange network designed to bring mobile money services to the end users, especially unbanked Nigerians, describing it as a veritable platform to tackle unemployment.
Olaigbe Temitope of M5 Direct Limited who spoke from the Ado-Ekiti centre of the town hall meetings said that the project was good for Nigeria’s cashless policy as it would make business transaction much easier while Ogunsakin Ganiyu of Lemissco Communications Iyin road, Basiri, Ado-Ekiti opined that the Glo Xchange scheme would simplify money transfer.
From Sokoto , Alhaji Abdul Malik of Sokoto South Local Government said. “with Glo Xchange the issue of filling bank tellers and several kilometres’ trip to banks from our various villages will become a thing of the past”.
Mallam Yusuf Maidama of Tangaza Local Government Area, Sokoto enthused, “My old parents in the village will no longer be worried about how to get money from banks which are located several kilometres away . I also will not have to join long queues to send money to my suppliers to buy my wares” .
At the Grace Court Hotel, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Akwa Okorie from Ishiagu said Glo Xchange “… will help make monetary transaction easier, especially in rural areas while Aja Godspower from Afikpo concurred that it will ease the problems associated with unavailability of financial institutions in the rural areas”.
Ezeugo Jennifer from Nkaleke in Abakaliki called it the most “thoughtful financial and business platform innovation of 2014. This will not only simplify financial transactions but will also go a long way to make business transactions much easier,” she enthused.
The Glo Xchange mobile money has the unique advantage of servicing the about 140 million unbanked Nigerians who may however be part of the 129million telephone subscribers in the country.
Telecom
Telcos Record N27Bn Loss from Damaged Fibre Cables
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables are estimated to have cost Nigeria’s telecom industry almost N27bn ($23m) in 2023, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.
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 in 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 N11bn —enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines in areas without coverage.
Broadband fibre optic cables form the backbone of modern communication infrastructure, enabling the high-speed data transmission that underpins a wide range of personal, business, and societal activities.
On several occasions, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator, has acknowledged this challenge and expressed willingness to work on measures to address it.
These measures include stricter regulations to deter vandalism and improved collaboration between telcos and government agencies responsible for construction activities.
According to the NCC, the telecom sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5 per cent in the third quarter of last year.
Telecom
NCAIR Relaunch: Pantami, Tijani Fight for Credit
Isa Pantami, former minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has voiced his discontent over the relaunch of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) by Bosun Tijani, his successor.
Tijani announced the revitalization of NCAIR, highlighting enhancements in its capacity and partnerships with global tech firm Cisco.
However, Pantami took to social media to assert that NCAIR was already established during his tenure in November 2020, dubbing it “the first of its kind in Africa” and emphasizing its effectiveness in training numerous Nigerians.
Tijani responded by detailing the new initiatives accompanying the relaunch, including increased computing infrastructure, dedicated research labs, and remote connectivity for AI hubs across the country. He also unveiled outcomes from the Ministry’s National AI Workshop, such as the country’s first Multilingual Large Language Model and partnerships aimed at accelerating AI development projects of national significance.
The exchange between Pantami and Tijani underscores ongoing efforts to advance AI research and application in Nigeria while navigating questions of continuity and leadership transition within the Ministry.
Telecom
ABoICT Lecture 2024 to Focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) In A Digital Economy
This year’s Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership lecture will focus on the role of artificial intelligence in a digital economy with the theme: “Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Good, The Complex and The Anticipated”.
The lecture which will herald Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Awards hold on May 25, 2024 at Four Points by Sheraton.
The sixteenth edition of the award ceremony according Ken Nwogbo, editor-in-chief of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek the organizers of the event, “is a special edition to recognize and celebrate organizations and individuals in the ICT industry that have been distinguished in delivery innovative services in the sector.
“Most of these organizations and individuals have consistently being voted by our readers as leaders in their areas of operations and we have decided to reward them in this especial edition”.
He added that, AI is considered to have the potential to instigate a fourth industrial revolution,1 and is dramatically changing people’s patterns of interaction and economic activities.
“The traditional factors of production and physical capital and labour may no longer promote substantial economic growth. It is generally believed that AI will be one of the most important factors determining future economic growth.
“However, unlike traditional machines, which replaced the use of human and animal labor for simple manual work and heavy or dangerous activities, AI-related inputs may change the type of human work in a comprehensive way.
“In contrast to previous industrial revolutions, AI does not simply involve the invention of a new machine or technology. Instead, AI has similarities to the accumulation of human capital, as it can learn and accumulate knowledge by itself,” he said.
The Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture is designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global Information and Communications Technologies map.
The lecture series however is reserved for distinguished achievers in the ICT sector.
Past lecturers included Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Dr. Jean Luc Fort, CEO at OR System France and a specialist in Counterparty Risk; and Professor Chris Nwagboso, Chairman, Knowledge Factory International, United Kingdom.
Others are: Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; Peter Adedayo Arogundade, managing director and chief executive officer, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited; Dr. Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode and John Obaro, CEO and founder of Systemspecs; Prof. Isa Pantanmi, minister of Communications and Digital Economy; among others.
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