Uncategorized
Collocation Reduces Operators’ Headaches- Onakomaiya
Mr. Gbenga Onakomaiya, chief commercial officer (CCO) of IHS, a company reputed for building and managing Nigeria’s Telecom Infrastructure with the highest quality at affordable cost. Onakomaiya has over a decade experience in the telecommunications industry and worked in Motophone where he handled finance and adminstrastion. A very unassuming and consummate salesman, he speaks with passion about collocation and sundry issue in this interview with emeka okafor.
Accident on Duty
Fortunately we have not experienced any casualty in our own case by the Grace of God and after that by the safety measures we put in place, we believe very much in safety procedures we adhere strictly to safety issues and quality issues and that is why we know we are also ISO certified. One of the requirements for ISO certification is to be safety conscious and we do not compromise it with regards to building of sites, we go to the minutest details to ensure that things are secured both for the community and for our staff. It saves a lot of money, because by the end of the day if you don’t do that you spend it ten times more than what you were to spend initially. We don’t compromise safety, if we do, may be our certificate will be withdrawn from ISO. It’s a continuous assessment they are always on our neck, we are always ready for them
Collocation
Economy of scale has shown that you have to do something about collocation. The operators themselves are now seeing the business angle in doing that in the sense that when you, for example you use $6000 dollar per month to maintain a site as a company when you have an option of paying $ 2000 a month sharing location .They are now seeing the economic sense in sharing infrastructure.
Initially, everybody wanted to provide services by themselves but now they are now seeing the economic sense because the sites are growing .It’s now much bigger for them to maintain .They need to digress themselves from these services and focus their attention on the core things they do. The competition has been wonderful and that is what has been keeping us going. We know there is competition and we strive to be the best in what we do because we do not want to be cluttered away, competition is the driving force we have, and without competition we will be relaxed. Since we know more competition is still coming we don’t want to lag behind. We have to make returns to our shareholders.
Problem of Touts and Youth Restiveness
It is very simple. There’s no place all over the world where you don’t have youth restiveness even in India. It is very rampant, but the way you manage it is very important. In IHS for instance, what we do is we have meetings with stakeholders, the community leaders, the youths and everybody. We call them and tell them that we are all stakeholders in the business and as such they should see themselves as part owners of the business and we tell them their benefits. You may be surprised that most of them don’t even know that there are benefits accruing to them. They believe the presence of any telecom project in their area is a national cake which they have to take their own share of but when you tell them the benefits of siting a base station in their community, that it can bring development to them either directly or indirectly because if there’s a base station in a community, there’s good network coverage in that community and you will have a lot of business centres being operated. One other thing we do is that right from the time of construction of any project; we involve the community where the project is located. We engage the local artisans and don’t hire them from outside. At the end of the day we engage two or three of them as security to man the cell site. Periodically, we engage the community in discussions to see how we can develop the community. Then we have conquered that aspect of youth restiveness because we believe in them and take them along in what we do, so they now feel we are part of them.
Leveraging on Shared Infrastructure
Oh very well. They have now seen the need and benefits of it in terms of taking the headache of maintaining, managing and monitoring the sites off them. They can now use their energy in other areas of service which they are providing. It also encourages shared expenses among two or three operators. This reduces the expenses they make and increases their profit which they can now divert in other areas.
Role in Corporate Social Responsibility
What we want to achieve very soon most companies or all the companies will be accessed not only by the profit they make but what they give back to the society. What social responsibility have you been able to do?. If you do not develop community the repercussion will be on you because you have to spend more on developing infrastructure or building infrastructure but if you develop a community you have less money to spend on accessing the community so we know by donating to them we are making things easier for us at the same time building a relationship with the community you are making the community to trust you and believe in what you do. Anytime you need anything, the community will be there to assist you.
State Government Tasking Operators to Share Infrastructure
I am hearing that for the first time that the state government is tasking telecom operators to encourage them to share infrastructure. It’s a welcome development if it is doing that, but then, as a matter of fact most operators have seen the benefits of sharing infrastructure and we are in discussions with some of them to take over their sites so that other operators who are not there yet can also collocate on the site. That is the kind of agreement we are making with them. We are not dismantling any site already built. The site that is already available can be acquired from the operators for us to manage it for them .More operators are coming in and they want coverage in certain areas so they can come in and make use of the base stations that are already in existence.
Capacity to Handle More Operators
IHS has the capacity to accommodate any new company that is coming in and as a matter of fact, we are building based on the imagination of what the future would be like, the number of operators that are coming in or envisaged to come in. We have sites that can take in at least four operators at a time. As a matter of fact, we have our equipment in the country now that can establish 500 sites and by the grace of God we should be building more 500 sites by the end of 2009. We should be commissioning 54 sites any time from now after NCC’s approval.
IHS and Stock Exchange
As you are aware we are through with our private placement and as a result we were given the go ahead to register our shares. We submitted our application to the Stock Exchange to be listed and you will be the first to hear that we have been given approval to list on the Stock Exchange and we will be listing any moment from now officially. We are public limited liability company now and we will be fully quoted so that people can buy our shares and that is why we want to improve and continue to improve for people to be able to have better result on their investments
Best Telecom Infrastructure Provider Award Expectations from IHS
It has given us operators the impetus to work harder and as a matter of fact we have won another award from another IT magazine, IT and Telecoms Digest. It’s a pleasant surprise and another challenge for us to keep on providing good quality service to every body in the industry.
Your Role in Miss Telecoms
We have the urged to encourage the youths. We sponsored the event and gave out the first prize and want to do more than that. The winner of Miss Telecoms will be involved in a campaign that will be announced very soon. The campaign will benefit the society because we want to campaign against environmental pollution.
Why Has IHS Suddenly Become Known
IHS has been in existence since 2001. We are about the first company that went into service delivery in the telecoms industry but we have been working silently because we believe in working and not talking. .We have built the highest number of sites in the industry. When you consider the total number of sites built so far IHS has built at least 30% of all the sites we have today and we believe in quality. It could be because more telecoms operators are coming in that people are beginning to know us but we have been working silently. We will continue to do our work silently but the public will be seeing what we are doing.
Thembi Alfreds was driving home from a soccer match in Johannesburg when she stopped at a traffic light. A thief suddenly appeared and smashed the window of her car, grabbing her phone. She struggled with the thief but they managed to get away with the phone.
The incident left her feeling violated and unsafe. Not only did she lose personal memories, like photos of her children, but her personal and financial information stored on the phone was now compromised.
Phone theft is a serious concern in many countries across Africa, including South Africa, where Thembi’s situation highlights the need for better phone theft solutions.
Smartphone usage is on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, with adoption rates reaching 61% in Kenya, 31% in Uganda, and 24-25% in Rwanda and Burundi. This increased uptake has been accompanied by a rise in cellphone theft, as these devices become attractive targets for criminals due to their resale value and sensitive data within. This poses a significant challenge that can have serious consequences for both individuals and businesses in the region.
According to the GSMA Consumer Survey 2023, 19% of mobile phone users in South Africa experienced theft or loss of their device in the past year.The GSMA reports millions of devices stolen every year, and the numbers continue to grow. With our phones becoming increasingly more valuable & central to storing sensitive data, like payment information and personal details, losing one can be an unsettling experience.
Phone theft can be a traumatic experience, but there are steps that can be taken to reduce the risk and protect personal information. That’s why we have developed and thoroughly beta tested, a full suite of features designed to protect you and your data at every stage – before, during, and after device theft.
These advanced theft protection features are now available to users around the world through Android 15 and a Google Play Services update (Android 10+ devices).
Theft Detection Lock uses powerful AI to proactively protect you at the moment of a theft attempt. By using on-device machine learning, Theft Detection Lock is able to analyze various device signals to detect potential theft attempts. If the algorithm detects a potential theft attempt on your unlocked device, it locks your screen to keep thieves out.To protect your sensitive data if your phone is stolen, Theft Detection Lock uses device sensors to identify theft attempts.
This feature is rolling out gradually to ensure compatibility with various devices, starting today with Android devices that cover 90% of active users worldwide. Check your theft protection settings page periodically to see if your device is currently supported.
In addition to Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock protects you if a thief tries to take your device offline to extract data or avoid a remote wipe via Android’s Find My Device. If an unlocked device goes offline for prolonged periods, this feature locks the screen to ensure your phone can’t be used in the hands of a thief.
If your Android device is lost or stolen, Remote Lock can quickly help you secure it. Even if you can’t remember your Google account credentials in the moment of theft, you can use any device to visit Android.com/lock and lock your phone with just a verified phone number. Remote Lock secures your device while you regain access through Android’s Find My Device – which lets you secure, locate or remotely wipe your device. As a security best practice, we always recommend backing up your device on a continuous basis, so remotely wiping your device is not an issue.
These features are now available on most Android 10+ devices via a Google Play Services update and must be enabled in settings.
Advanced security to deter theft before it happens
Android 15 introduces new security features to deter theft before it happens by making it harder for thieves to access sensitive settings, apps, or reset your device for resale:
- Changes to sensitive settings like Find My Device now require your PIN, password, or biometric authentication.
- Multiple failed login attempts, which could be a sign that a thief is trying to guess your password, will lock down your device, preventing unauthorized access.
- And enhanced factory reset protection makes it even harder for thieves to reset your device without your Google account credentials, significantly reducing its resale value and protecting your data.
Later this year, we’ll launch Identity Check, an opt-in feature that will add an extra layer of protection by requiring biometric authentication when accessing critical Google account and device settings, like changing your PIN, disabling theft protection, or accessing Passkeys from an untrusted location. This helps prevent unauthorized access even if your device PIN is compromised.
Real-world protection for billions of Android users
By integrating advanced technology like AI and biometric authentication, we’re making Android devices less appealing targets for thieves to give you greater peace of mind. These theft protection features are just one example of how Android is working to provide real-world protection for everyone. We’re dedicated to working with our partners around the world to continuously improve Android security and help you and your data stay safe.
You can turn on the new Android theft features by clicking here on a supported Android device. Learn more about our theft protection features by visiting our help center.
Lagos State Government has awarded a whooping sum of N100 million in grants to 26 successful young agripreneurs at the maiden edition of Agrinnovation.
The grant award ceremony took place yesterday, Tuesday 14, November 2024 at Marcelina house Ikeja Lagos, and was attended by top government official from the Lagos State Government and technocrats of renown.
Agrinnovation, was not only the the very first of its kind, but an audacious step which was organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, in conjunction with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and the Eko Innovation Centre and designed to foster meaningful conversations, collaboration, and groundbreaking innovations within the agricultural sector.
Some of the successful young startup agriprenuer who benefitted from the Lagos State Government include; Farmcraft Foods limited, Rehoboth 910, Foodie world, Hommal foods, Ofadahub Nigeria limited, Dharkag Empire limited, D-olivette Renewable Energy and Green Mall.
Others are; Dehydrator hub, Agricfood Technology limited, Corporate farmers international limited, Ultra Farms Integrated Ventures limited, Eti Farms Global limited, Hairat Ajao & Co ( Fisherwoman, Happy Coffee, Ecotutu Limited, Ofadaboy Company, Leky Mills Limited, Yellow fish limited, Ufarmy Ecoedu-Tech Solution Limited, Fauzziyah’s Honey Limited, Green Republic Limited, Price Pally Limited among others.
In his address, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ably represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, stated that the state will not stop until she achieves food security and production serving as an example to other parts of the nation and Africa.
He also said that the gesture is a symbol of what the state can achieve when it trusts the youth to lead and supports them in doing so.
His words, “We gather here with the purpose to build sustainable agriculture and food system for the next generation and to ensure that Lagos not only sustains itself but leads Nigeria and Africa towards food security and agricultural excellence.
“As a government, we understand that agriculture development depends on more than just traditional practices. It requires us to embrace technology, foster collaboration and create sustainable practices that endure.
“I want to commend particularly the creation of the Lagos Agrinnovation Club. This club is not just an initiative, it has become a community of young agriprenuers, a hub of creativity and a platform for those who dare to reimagine agriculture.
“This year’s Agrithon saw 316 business case entries from dynamic startups, championed by young people who are driven by their vision to transform agriculture and build sustainable solutions.
The 26 finalists we honour today have not only made it through a rigorous selection process but have also shown us that the future of food in Lagos is brought. With access to mentorship, network and share of the N100 million Agrinnovation Fund, these entrepreneurs will have the resources to take their enterprise’s solutions further”.
He also said that the young entrepreneurs will be monitored to ensure that they use the grant well. “To our Agrithon finalists I urge you to put this funding to excellent use, as you’ve demonstrated through your impressive and innovative ideas”, he added.
Earlier, in her welcome address, Abisola Olusanya, Honourable Commissioner of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems of Lagos state expressed her appreciation to all in attendance and especially to the jurors who worked tirelessly in the selection process of the 26 finalists.
“We would like to thank everyone for being here, especially our jurors, who worked throughout the rigorous process on the Agrithon programme, helping us with the selection process from 316 business entries to 26.
“We are here to celebrate young entrepreneurs who have not waited for the government to give them opportunities but have looked within themselves and others for inspiration. They have made themselves and their enterprises something to be proud of and we are proud to be associated with them.
“They have shown that agriculture is indeed a pathway towards being prosperous as a nation, they have shown passion and connectivity. We are proud to celebrate them, to encourage other people to come into the state.
“We want newcomers to know that there is a lot to gain in the agricultural space and particularly in the direction that the government of Governor Samwo-olu is going, there is enough to unearth in the coming months. It is up to you newcomers to come in and plug into what is happening in the sector.”
Also speaking at event and charging benefiacries of the grants, was Mr Victor Afolabi, the Founder of Eko Innovation Centre, according to him, it was important that entrepreneurs understand that investments should be meant for businesses and not for personal upliftment.
His words; “It’s very important for founders to understand that you are not a celebrity, when you raise funds, use it for the business that it was meant for.”
Afolabi who is a serial entrepreneur, noted that it was necessary for young founders to embody discipline when it came to work, addding that this was contributing to the demise of many young startups in the country.
Corroborating his thoughts, Aisha Raheem, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Farmz2u, noted the importance of plan and vision.
According to her, many startups lose this vision when they become profitable at the first instance.
This was also echoed by Jummai Abalaka, Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) who noted that it was necessary to have a positive attitude towards work.
She said that this works hand in hand to ensure the success of enterprises in the country. They pressed on the matter of separating work from personal wants.
Also speaking at the event, was Prince SJ Samuel, the Chairman of Origin Tech Group who noted that innovation was facing a lot of challenges in the Nigerian landscape.
He pointed out that the average farmer earns about two thousand dollars and takes home about 40%, with more than half of the earnings going into logistics and other expenses.
He also noted that Inflation is very high in the Nigerian economy and food inflation makes up about 38% of that which serves as a major concern in the country.
The entrepreneur stated that the agricultural space contributes about 37% to gdp of the country. Although he a plauded the current administration for its investment in the agricultural sector in the country, compared to its predecessors.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, Mobile Money (MoMo) services have become essential for managing financial transactions conveniently and securely. MTN’s MoMo service offers a plethora of features that can enhance your financial management.
Here are six effective ways to utilise MoMo PSB (Payment Service Bank) to streamline your financial activities.
Cash Deposits and withdrawals
One of the key functions of MoMo PSB is for cash deposits and withdrawals. Users can easily deposit cash into their MoMo Wallets through authorised ATM or POS agents that support the service.
This feature allows you to manage your cash flow efficiently without needing a traditional bank account. To withdraw cash, simply visit a nearby MoMo agent, provide your wallet number, and receive your funds immediately.
Business Transactions
MoMo PSB recently announced their partnership with Vendy LTD, a marketplace on WhatsApp for business owners to get closer to their customers on their favourite apps.
Interested buyers browse inventory, place orders, get invoiced automatically and pay directly on WhatsApp using the MoMo PSB in app payment. You can now say bye to taking screenshots of payment receipts and say hello to a swift payment method.
Bill Payment
With MoMo PSB, paying bills has never been easier. You can settle utility bills, school fees, and other recurring payments directly from your mobile device using USSD codes or the MoMo app. It eliminates the need for physical visits to payment centres and helps you avoid late payment penalties by ensuring timely transactions.
Airtime Purchases
Another convenient feature of MoMo PSB is the ability to purchase airtime directly from your wallet. Whether you need to recharge your phone or buy data bundles, you can do so quickly without needing cash or credit cards. Simply select the amount you wish to purchase and confirm the transaction using your MoMo PIN.
Peer-to-Peer Transfers
Transferring money between friends and family is seamless with MoMo PSB. You can send money instantly to anyone with a MoMo wallet by entering their phone number and the desired amount.
This feature is particularly useful for splitting bills or sending money to loved ones in need without incurring high transfer fees associated with traditional banking methods.
Linking your Wallet to Other Financial Services
To maximise the benefits of using MoMo PSB, consider linking your wallet to other financial services such as savings accounts or Investment platforms. This integration allows for easy fund transfer between accounts and provides better control over your finances by consolidating all transactions in one place.
By leveraging these five functionalities of MoMo PSB, users can enjoy greater convenience in managing their finances while benefiting from the security that comes with mobile money services.
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