Connect with us

News

Gwandu Urges Ethiopia to Learn from Nigeria’s Telecom Deregulation

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Dr. Bashir Gwandu, non-executive chair of the Commonwealth ITU Group (CIG) and the former commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),  has advised Ethiopia to learn from Nigeria as it moves ahead to liberalize its telecommunications industry for private sector investment.

Dr. Gwandu stated this while delivering his lead keynote speech at the opening of the Innovation Africa Digital Summit (IAD) 2019 in Addis Ababa last week graced by telecoms executives and governments from Africa and around the world.

Senior executives from Vodacom Group, MTN Group, Etisalat, Safaricom, France Orange, Vodafone, ZTE, Huawei, Ericsson, Cisco, Airbus, Helios Towers, OneWeb, Mastercard, Intelsat, Thuraya, IBM, IFC, and several others attended the summit which also attracted Ministers from Africa, most especially the West and East Africa sub-regions.

The summit was opened by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accompanied by some of his Ministers. It was anchored by Extensia of the UK -co-organiser of the IAD Summit. The period of the conference coincided with the time a proclamation is being tabled before the Ethiopian Parliament for debate and consideration to liberalise the country’s telecom sector.

According to Reuters, Ethiopia’s telecoms market is considered to be ‘the big price’ and the last greenfield site in a push to liberalise, and end a state monopoly as well as open-up one of the world’s last major closed telecoms markets.

In his speech at the conference, Dr. Gwandu dissected the telecoms market privatisation and liberalisation processes breaking the issues logically from the point of producing succinct legal frameworks for both the privatisation, and that of the telecoms regulation, right down to the market design and to the choices available to the government when it comes to competition planning up to the spectrum management and eventually service providers regulation.

He stated the need for strong and good regulatory framework, encompassing sensible set of rules that encourages investment and protects the consumer and requiring, effective, professionally competent and sufficiently empowered as well as sufficiently financed regulatory institution.

He emphasize that “Good enable laws are not just sufficient but government support must be total and not half-hearted, coupled with adequate funding that would attract good manpower to the regulator.”

Dr. Gwandu, a former acting executive vice chairman at NCC opined that government role should be restricted to policy formulation whilst a strong, independent regulatory authority should provide stable, transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory access to telecommunications resources in a timely manner.

He said the legal framework apart from guaranteeing independence of the regulator, must enable flexibility of the regulator whist remaining predictable, efficient, effective and accountable. “It should be the role of the regulator to ensure the existence of competition in all segments of the market devoid of market abuse or the exercise of significant market power by the participants” he said.

Gwandu emphasized that, “Liberalization of telecom market is essential for rapid network growth as experienced by other countries and private sector participation is essential for attracting investment. Innovation and new technologies in the telecoms sector is fast moving, it cannot wait for slow government bureaucracy to be approving investment funding and yet compete effectively.”

Bashir Gwandu stated that in looking holistically at the telecoms market, international segment should be examined where the complimentary options of international optical fibre and satellite links can be made available in a competitive manner.

According to him, international gateway liberalization and national backbone planning should ensure ubiquitous availability, open access, and finally on the last mile the spectrum remains key in view of the lack of sufficient last-mile fixed infrastructure.

He further stated that “Mobile is the largest technology platform in human history and mobile broadband is the most dynamic segment of the last mile market. Spectrum is a critical resource for mobile broadband but is only valuable if it is effectively deployed to enable appropriate networks and services for socio-economic benefits to citizens.”

Gwandu emphasised further that as wired infrastructure is limited in Africa except perhaps in South Africa, it is expensive to install. Wireless technology on the other hand is easier and faster to deploy and remains critical to expanding broadband access, and spectrum access is critical for wireless broadband deployment, and capacity.

“Robust wireless broadband requires various bands and appropriate slots size for assignment, the slot size determines how many towers an operator will need to cover the area, or re-use pattern or indeed how soon break-even will happen, how sustainable or profitable the telco will be etc” he said. He cited the mistake made by Nigeria in providing just over three megahertz (MHz) to Code Division Mobile Access (CDMA) operators and expected them to perform.

At the international level, he encourage Ethiopia to participate actively in the  International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and African Telecommunications Union (ATU) activities to enhance regulatory harmonisation, thereby promoting economies of scale and enhancing cooperation on roaming, interoperability, Internet exchange points, and development of backhaul infrastructure.

He posited that Ethiopia should align spectrum release and technology neutrality roadmap to enable flexibility in investment, and in spectrum auction process, he advised the government to set objectives properly and to balance pricing of spectrum with rollout obligations.

“For rapid expansion of networks, Ethiopian government which controls land across the country should streamlined approval for Right of Way (RoW) and site acquisition, and to make the process a simple and one-stop shop activity” he admonished.

He also stated that tax holiday has proven to be useful in some markets but even more importantly, multiplicity of sector specific taxes should be avoided and that the multiplier effect of deferred-taxation will lead to more tax revenue from the sectors that are supported by the telecoms.

Furthermore, Gwandu stated that competition planning should be examined carefully so that resulting companies should remain sustainable –and in selling spectrum, the regulator should ensure appropriate sizes, and also not to sell out all available spectrum at once, which will reduce chances of corrective measures in respect of future competition corrective-intervention.

The Ethiopian government thought it wise to invite telecoms experts from around the world, potential Investors and other market players to partake in the unique forum that examined the best practices that the country can learn from, in its quest to restructure and open its telecoms market for foreign participation.


Kindly share this post

Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

News

Detained Binance executive drags EFCC, NSA to court

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has has dragged the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to court alleging violations of his fundamental rights.

Binance

In a filing dated March 18 and presented by his lawyer Olujoke Aliyu from Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan sought redress before Justice Inyang Ekwo, requesting five reliefs. Similarly, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager who escaped custody on March 22, initiated a separate suit before Justice Ekwo.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, in the suits marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, had sued the Office of NSA (ONSA) and EFCC as 1st and 2nd respondents.

Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, alleged that his detention and the confiscation of his international travel passport violated Section 35 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, constituting a breach of his fundamental right to personal liberty. He further requested the court to order his immediate release and the return of his passport. Additionally, he sought an injunction preventing further detention related to any Binance investigations and demanded a public apology from the respondents, along with costs incurred.

Gambaryan stated that he visited Nigeria on February 26 alongside Nadeem Anjarwalla, representing Binance, in response to invitations from ONSA and EFCC. Despite attending the meeting as requested, both were detained afterward without formal charges.

During the court proceedings, T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, representing Anjarwalla and Gambaryan, informed the court of the respondents’ absence despite being served. Krukrubo also mentioned their notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla, filed on March 26.

Justice Ekwo noted the withdrawal of legal representation and adjourned the matter to April 8 to allow the applicants to seek new representation and give the respondents an opportunity to appear.

In Gambaryan’s case, Krukrubo stated that although the processes were served on ONSA and EFCC, they still had time to respond. He requested an adjournment, indicating that the respondents’ deadline to file their applications would expire the following week.

Consequently, Justice Ekwo scheduled the next hearing for April 8 to continue proceedings.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

AXA Mansard Empowers Female SMEs with Financial, Digital Skills

Published

on

Kindly share this post

AXA Mansard, a member of AXA has empowered 200 female Small and Medium Enterprises with financial literacy and digital business skills.

In collaboration with SME 100 Africa, the two-day training, which was held in Lagos, is part of AXA’s lined-up programmes to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

Speaking, Olusesan Ogunyooye, Head of Marketing AXA Mansard, said the training was aimed to empower female SME owners with skills to improve business output and position them for the increasing economic opportunities available in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Ogunyooye noted that the move was in line with AXA Mansard’s sustainability agenda, explaining that the company was convinced that support for women through its inclusive protection programmes was pivotal to its purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters and its mission of moving from being a payer to a partner.

He further said that focusing on digital skills was important because the company realised the importance of digital skills to the growth of the SME sector in Nigeria and wants to ensure that women were empowered enough to be a consequential part of that growth.

“It’s almost trite to say that SMEs are the engine for economic growth, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where over 45 million adults are business owners. What needs to be continually discussed is how Nigeria is going to unlock that potential for economic development and how much of that potential will be unlocked by women and for women.”

“For us at AXA Mansard, we are aware that digital will play a major role in unlocking these current opportunities and Nigeria’s economic future. So, to ensure that women are equally represented in unlocking these future potentials, that’s why we have collaborated with SME 100 Africa to support them in developing the required skills”.

“Our choice of digital and financial literacy skills is deliberate. We understand the power of the duo. We understand that helping these SMEs with the skills to attract more customers will be a faster means to empower them.

“We see that they have amazing products and services, but they need to understand how to attract value for themselves by attracting the right customers, and you will agree with me that virtually all customer segments are online in one way or another today.

“So, if we can empower them with digital business skills, we would have helped them with the heavy lifting of trying to find and attract customers”. Ogunyooye explained.

According to him, AXA Mansard believes that for the world to experience progress truly, there must be an equitable distribution of creation and access to opportunities for men and women. This quest for balance informed the SHE for Shield initiative, a women-centred inclusive protection programme of AXA Mansard.

SHE for Shield is a group of initiatives designed for the Nigerian woman. The goal is to see them grow, add value, and help them mitigate risks at every step.

According to the company, research has found that access to health care is one of the most important things to Nigerian women, regardless of their economic segment. They desire to be financially independent, secure, and respected in the community.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

IFC Invests in New 4DX Ventures Fund to Support Tech Startups in Africa

Published

on

Kindly share this post

IFC is investing $10.5 million in a new fund by 4DX Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage African technology companies across a broad set of sectors, including fintech, e-commerce, edtech, climate tech, and health tech.

IFC’s investment in 4DX Ventures Fund III will come from IFC’s $225 million venture capital platform, which was launched last year to strengthen emerging VC ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan.

Africa is among the regions least served by venture capital, receiving just 2% of global venture deal volume in the third quarter of 2023. Access to capital on the continent has been further exacerbated by a slowdown in global venture capital investment.

Tech ecosystems are nascent, or even nonexistent, outside of more established markets such as Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

“IFC and 4DX Ventures share the commitment to supporting tech entrepreneurs with innovations that will help Africa leapfrog in critical areas such as climate, health care, fintech, e-commerce, and education,” said Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and General Partner of 4DX Ventures.

“We look forward to partnering with IFC to help promising tech startups build transformative businesses and realize sustainable development impact on the continent.”

4DX’s new fund will invest in companies with tech solutions that can improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness across Africa. The firm’s first two funds invested in companies such as Egypt-based e-commerce platform MaxAB, an IFC portfolio company; Ghana-based health tech firm mPharma; and Kenya-based B2B e-commerce platform Wasoko, formerly known as Sokowatch.

“By supporting the development of tech ecosystems in emerging markets, IFC’s venture capital platform aims to improve access to key services, boost business competitiveness, and promote job creation through digital transformation,” said Mohamed Gouled, Vice President of Industries at IFC.

“Our investment in venture funds such as 4DX Ventures will help African entrepreneurs access more financing and resources they need to scale tech innovations and bolster sustainable growth across the continent.

In addition to providing capital, IFC will work with 4DX Ventures to implement their environmental and social management system.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending