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E-Business

ICT Sector this Year from Leo-Stan’s Observatory

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2013 is just two years from 2015, the year set aside for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals,  and seven years from 20 2020, Nigeria’s self set date to join the top 20 economies of the world. 

 

Between 18 and 24 months from now the world would start listing the degrees by which nations attained the MDGs.  

 

Nigeria is not likely to be upset if her name does not come up for mention in 2015 because we have set a superior goal for 20 2020. Coincidentally but unfortunately the sense of urgency has just been deleted from the pursuit of 20 2020 by the declaration from the USA that Nigeria would be a world leading economy in 2030.

 

 The shifting of dates for national development is about to become a national past time. However, that research, from the USA, is suspect because it is coming from the very shores that have predicted the disintegration of Nigeria by 2015.

 

Meanwhile, it is generally accepted that ICT will drive the transformation of Africa, with Nigeria in the forefront, from an agricultural to knowledge society. 

 

Rather than wait for 2030 we can invest in ICT not as a panic measure as we did in 2006 and 2011 salvaging the voters’ registration exercise by importing, assembling, and deploying over 120,000 laptops and data capture machines in a few weeks. 

 

In the process we overwhelmed the volunteer work force that INEC had engaged for the exercise. Come to think of it we tend to have a special liking for panic measures as was recently played out in the now controversial attempt to buy 10 million GSM phones valued at N60billion for rural farmers in Nigeria. 

 

Whether our development as a nation is pegged to any timeline or not, the sober thing for us to do today would be to adopt a long term ICT strategy to ensure that we are ready to leap when opportunity calls. 

 

There are key objectives that ICT professionals must pursue in 2013 as our contribution towards creating a character for the ICT industry while refocusing this nation. 

 

As an IT entrepreneur, let me begin with the objective of education, which I believe is the most daunting challenge facing the development of the ICT sector in Nigeria. 

 

We have not focused enough on education as a people who see ICT as a golden opportunity – computer appreciation for the general public and for first time users, reviewing the content of the ICT curriculum in schools, massive campaign to teach computer literacy to teachers (at all levels) and civil servants, retraining existing professionals to capture recent trends and innovate for the fatherland and setting up incubation centers. 

 

 It would be right to assert that the computer finally arrived in Nigeria in 2001 with the emphatic launch of Zinox Computers. 

 

The wonder-exclamations that the launch achieved from the highest levels of Government to the citizens in the street convinced me at the time that we were right to initiate the Computerize Nigeria Initiative, a company that was dedicated to the creating of awareness for the adoption of the computer as a major tool for work and play. T

 

he scope of work to be done in education further dawned on me when I met distinguished Professors who familiarized themselves with the computer keyboard for the first time ever at a Zinox hands-on workshop.

 

All ICT companies take training so seriously that it should be an integral part of their marketing strategy. Last week I had to cut short a business trip abroad to take part in training for 20 teachers from the North East. 

 

The emphasis is on training the trainer but often we have to train the work force of our Clients’ on how to operate and maintain new equipment. The more people that become knowledgeable about the computer, the more prospects we are likely to have for computer ownership and the fewer ignorance related calls we get for support. 

 

The CNP spent huge sums placing advertisements in the newspapers targeted at governments on the need to computerize their citizenry and operations. However, there is a limit to what one company can do in a country of 160 million people. 

 

In 2013 I would like to see an orchestrated approach that would speed up the building of local capacities working through the schools, professional bodies and the mass media possibly within the framework of the Public Private Partnership. 

 

Closely related to the quality of formal education is the issue of Young Innovators. My regular sponsorship of the National Association of Computer Science Students, NACOSS, provides insight to the immense potentials of these young persons. 

 

Quite recently I had to provide support for a group that is working to make the CBN’s cashless policy the mode in all campuses. 

 

In 2013, I want to see more corporate persons sponsor youth competitions, workshops and fairs. Each State Government should at least sponsor one NACOSS event in 2013.

 

As in previous years the answers to what constitutes local content and how to enforce its imperatives would determine the rate of PC penetration in 2013. Foreign competition, academics and politicians have belabored the concept of local content and deliberately blurred the strands of national interest in the concept.

 

 I am a Nigerian entrepreneur and the new global economy can only be relevant to me to the extent that it helps to grow the financial, technical, and manpower needs of Nigeria. Local content is a concept used to define the extent to which a product or service is locally produced.

 

 It also refers to the ratio of locally produced products and services that are deployed in the day to day running of an organization. 

 

For example, the Zinox brand of computers was developed by Nigerians, designed by us, fabricated with partners in China and assembled here in Nigeria.

 

 The imprint on the product is Made in Nigeria and proponents of local content are saying that the best way to support local industry is through patronage. 

 

They also agree that the only way to tackle the scandalous preference for foreign products is to sanction all those who flout the Presidential directive that MDA’s must buy Made in Nigeria PCs. All those who talk of efficiency, competitiveness, and the new global economy in abstract terms miss the point. 

 

The same academics would point to China, India and Brazil as examples of emerging economies that have got it right but they fail to mention that these countries all had protectionist policies that worked. 

 

China and India together are home to over 2.5 billion people and the need to create employment, wealth and a stable society gave rise to policies that restricted what products can come into their country.

 

 I can tell you that Coca Cola, in spite of its popularity and clout, was not being sold in India when I was a student in the early eighties. Every country with its national interest and security well defined strives to be an exporter and not an importer of goods and services.

 

The industry is pleased with the pedigree of the Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, as a professional who was appointed on the basis of her being an active participant in the ICT sector. 

 

She certainly knows where the shoe pinches. We trust that in 2013 she would concretize her initiatives to improve local content development in the ICT sector. 

 

In particular, we want to see her join issues in the public domain, in the absence of sanctions, with MDA’s who flout the Presidential directive to buy Made in Nigeria PCs; set up a machinery to police the multinationals to ensure that they outsource their business processes to Nigerian ICT companies, national interest would best be served if installation contracts, maintenance, upgrades and procurement are handled by Nigerian companies against the tendency to outsource to Asian companies; the students’ PC ownership scheme requires fine-tuning because no students’ loans scheme has worked in this country, only a stimulus of this nature can guarantee that the IT sector records growth in 2013; force banks and oil and gas companies to compulsorily run Nigerian software as alternative packages in their businesses; ban the importation of all consumer PCs into the country; liaise with her counterparts in the West African sub region with a view to form an alliance that allows a free flow of goods, services, know-how and capital. 

 

I see a very busy but tough 2013 for Madam Minister, an uncharitable course for the delectable lady from Accenture. 

 

There was another lady, within the current democratic experience, who was appointed into the pharmaceutical sector at a time when Nigerians were dying in droves because of fake drugs.

 

 A gun was aimed at her head but rather than run she chose to dig into the trenches and by the time she left office, Nigerian pharmaceuticals were being proudly exported to countries in the West and East Africa sub region. 

 

The issue of quality must be addressed in 2013 by Nigerian ICT practitioners. When I launched Zinox in 2001, Microsoft in endorsing the product said that Zinox had ‘surpassed international quality standards’. 

 

I can tell you that most Nigerian OEMs produce very high quality and world-class IT products because competition is keen and the home environment is skeptical. 

 

Their devices are often fabricated in the same Asian workshops that fabricate for the ignorantly preferred foreign brands. The problem is that the sector is hampered by the lack of human, technical, and financial capital to respond satisfactorily to the realities of supply and demand. Moreover, the trendy pace (sometimes faddish) of international competitors is always pressurizing the logistics and inventory capacities of the local OEMs. 

 

Threatened by regular losses each time the market migrates from one hyped variant to another, the local OEMs are forced to order in small numbers at a time. 

 

The result is the high cost of operations and inevitably higher costs for local brands in a market where there are hardly differentiating attributes between brands. 

 

The local OEMs must pull their resources together, submerge the ego of maverick brands, share know-how, and produce under one or two truly digital plants if they are to survive the challenges facing them and lead this nation to her manifest destiny. 

 

Nigerian OEMs must learn from their brothers in hip hop music – these are the days of the collaboration and it is common to see musicians who are in a feud today, collaborating tomorrow.

 

Let me conclude this piece by expressing my satisfaction with the 2012 NITMA Awards because it threw up for our review some of the problems facing the Awards and Recognitions mechanisms within the industry.

 

I congratulate Juliet Ehimuan Chiazor of Google Nigeria for winning the IT Personality of the Year. Her professionalism must have made a difference for the highly critical membership of the Nigeria Computer Society, NCS, to choose her.

 

The leadership of the NCS also receives my appreciation for permitting Dr. Eugene Juwah, Juliet Ehimuan Chiazor and the CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to be among the personalities shortlisted for the Award. 

 

However, it is important to note that one of the functions of an Award is to use the yearly tracking of performances to tell the story of an Industry. 

 

For example, how did all the nominees for the IT Personality of the Year 2011 crash out of contention in 12 months?

 

Did they give up on the work that recommended them in 2011? I agree that an Award does not follow a succession plan but the chances are that those who were in contention with Juliet Chiazor in 2012 would also be in contention in 2013 unless some rare work opportunity throws up a new personality. 

 

This observation is not meant to cast aspersions on NITMA 2012 but to strengthen its mechanisms as it evolves to be the most authoritative ICT Awards in Africa.

 

In 2013, I would love to see the ICT Publishers Alliance develop a memorandum of understanding that would bring all media initiated Awards in the ICT sector under one powerful, credible, and viable platform. 

 

This is one instance when the phrase ‘the more the merrier’ means bad business. 2013 calls for closing of ranks among all stake holders in the ICT sector if we are to achieve the globally competitive ICT industry of our dreams. 

 

Leo Stan Ekeh, is Chairman, Zinox Group.

 

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NOTAP, REVASS Ink Agreement to Strengthen Tech Compliance

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National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has signed an agreement with Revass System limited to strengthen technology acquisition compliance through its regulatory framework and boost sustainable capacity in the country.

NOTAP, REVASS Ink Agreement to Strengthen Tech Compliance

Speaking during the signing of the agreement in Abuja, Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general and chief executive officer, NOTAP, said that the agreement is to reinforce NOTAP’s core mission of ensuring that technology imported into the Country serves the broader interest particularly in advancing local content development, nurturing indigenous capabilities and ensuring sustainable job creation.

In a statement made available to journalists by Raymond Ogbu, assistant chief information officer, NOTAP,  the DG said that the major purpose of the agreement was for Revass Systems limited to design, develop, deploy and manage a secure and efficient digital revenue collection system for NOTAP that will be in compliance with NOTAP Act, Central Bank of Nigeria CBN financial guidelines, NITDA policies, and other applicable Nigerian laws.

The DG said that the app should enhance transparency, accountability, and operational efficiency in revenue collection and management as well as build the capacity of NOTAP staff through structured training and technology transfer initiatives.

Dr. Amadiobi stated that the agreement reflects a strategic approach to safeguarding Nigeria’s economic and technological independence by ensuring that every technology transferred into the country delivers tangible value to Nigerians.

“This partnership represents a pivotal step in ensuring that technologies coming into Nigeria are not only in compliance with Nigerian laws but also aligned with the country’s developmental priorities”.

“The goal of the agency is to ensure that every agreement NOTAP registers, contributes meaningfully to critical skills development, job creation and growth of local enterprises” she said.

The Director General reaffirmed that the milestone is in consonance with the strategic vision of the supervising ministry, the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (FMIST) as well as the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy driven by local capabilities, productive collaborations, and build globally competitive talents.

“No meaningful developments could happen in critical areas of our economy without the deployment of technology hence the office is making every effort to deploy technology in all its operations to ensure efficient and timely service delivery” she added.

 


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NEPC, NBS Sign MoU on Data Capturing

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Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate data collection from Informal Cross Border Trade.

NEPC, NBS Sign MoU on Data Capturing

Nonye Ayeni, executive director/CEO of NEPC, at the signing ceremony held in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital said the event marked a major turning point in Nigeria’s quest to grow its export trade through the capturing of data in the informal sector.

“Existing trade data primarily capture activities within the formal sector, offering limited visibility into informal export trade transactions, despite their significant volume and economic impact. In 2024, formal export trade records indicate that 7.291 million metric tons of non-oil products valued at US$5.456 billion, were exported from Nigeria. This figure excludes informal export trade data”, she added.

She stated that the Informal cross-border trade is not just a distant, peripheral activity but real trade that fuels livelihoods, strengthens regional supply chains, and contributes significantly to our national and continental economic resilience.

According to her, “Informal export trade representing millions of dollars in goods and services has remained largely outside our official records. Informal export trade data collected by NEPC State offices from major corridors in Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Lagos, Ogun, and Adamawa reveal transactions valued at over $31.8 million in some months of 2024”.

Ayeni disclosed that reports from the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN), shows that over 1.6 million bags worth of the commodity were traded informally to neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Cote D Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, and Niger Republic.

The NEPC boss pointed out that these impressive achievements were not captured in the national export trade statistics thus portending real implications for economic planning for the country.

“It weakens Nigeria’s voice in regional and global trade negotiations, it denies informal traders the recognition and support they need to thrive as well as diminishes Nigeria’s economic potential, especially the vital contributions of women, youth, and MSMEs”.

Ayeni explained that the collaboration between the Council and the NBS was borne out of the desire to correct the imbalance and capture the full spectrum of Nigeria’s export trade activity.

Adeyemi Adeniran, statistician general of the Federation, noted that the meeting of key players from national and sub-national agencies, regional institutions, international development partners, and the organized private sector, reflects the strong spirit of collaboration required to address one of the most pressing challenges in Nigeria’s trade data architecture, capturing and integrating data from informal trade and trade in services into the national framework.

Adeniran was of the view that the data gap severely impedes evidence-based policymaking, limits capacity to engage in fair trade negotiations, and undermines the accuracy of  macroeconomic indicators adding that traditional trade measurement systems have long focused on formal, large-scale transactions while overlooking the vibrancy of informal trade routes.

He disclosed that informal trade in Sub-Saharan Africa contributes between 20 to 40 per cent of intra-African trade, with Nigeria accounting for a significant share due to its long and porous borders.

“These are not just gaps in data, rather, they represent gaps in our understanding of economic life and the well-being of millions of Nigerians who engage in these activities daily”, he said

Adeniran said the collaboration with NEPC, presents a timely opportunity to update and harness current trends, identify new opportunities, and design data-informed strategies to support trade formalization, enhance competitiveness, and ultimately foster inclusive economic growth.

“Capturing informal trade data will also help us design smarter border policies, enhance food security, facilitate small and medium enterprise development, and monitor regional integration efforts,” he added.

 


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Gov. Mbah Tasks Youths to Embrace Technology as Enugu Tech Festival Opens

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The 2025 Enugu Tech Festival being organised by the Enugu State Government kicked off yesterday with the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, describing it as the biggest technology conference that has ever happened in Nigeria.

Tijani said the Tech Festival, which attracted thousands of youths from within and outside the state, was a major leap for Nigeria’s determination to build a robust digital economy, noting that Enugu State under Governor Peter Mbah, had moved from policy to progress to lead the tech revolution in Nigeria.

This was even as Governor Peter Mbah urged the youths to embrace technology, insisting that the future is technology.

Speaking, the Minister said that the Tech Festival, tagged Coal to Code, fitted into the agenda and activities of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, having recognised that the future of digital economy in Nigeria would not only be built in Abuja, but would instead be co-created across all states.

“Enugu is showing how this should and will be done. I have never, never been to a conference on technology in Nigeria that is this big. I founded the first technology hub in Nigeria, the very first in Nigeria. So, I know a thing or two when technology people gather. I can assure you that today, you are part of history because we have never seen anything this big in Nigeria before.

“There is something powerful about your state: the energy, the ambition, the possibilities. Just two years ago, only a few people could imagine this kind of tech momentum. But today, Enugu has not just imagined, Enugu is building it. Under two years, we have seen investment in digital infrastructure, and the innovation ecosystem of the state.

“What is happening today in Enugu is part of something bigger. We are now witnessing a generational rise, not one where people complain and protest, but one where creativity is used to shape the future. Not just with passion, but with precision,” he stated.

While commending the participants for rising to “create the kind of Nigeria the world will pay attention to,” Tijani called for collaboration, commitment, and hard work by all stakeholders to make it happen.

“Progress is not automatic, but needs all of us. It needs the government to continue to be brave. It needs the private sector to invest deeper. It needs mentors, builders, teachers, and it needs leaders,” he concluded.

Speaking, Governor Mbah, while highlighting how his administration had invested in technology to dramatically revolutionise security, land administration, education, among others, noted that the Enugu Tech Festival was part of his government’s wider efforts to build the youth of the state into wealth creators and highly sought-after workforce of tomorrow’s workplace.

“The power of technology and innovation and what we can accomplish is something that I want the youths to be mindful of. If you look at the way things are being done in the world today, we are now talking about an era where people just sit down with great ideas, create platforms where they begin to essentially benefit from that platform.

“An example is the Uber that came and disrupted the city taxi without owning a key. Today, they provide by far the largest traffic just by creating a platform. You can extend that to Airbnb.

Without owning a key, these guys have disrupted the business of those who own several brick and mortar houses. You can also extend that to Tesla. That is the power of technology. This shows essentially that technology is where the future is,” he emphasised.

In his remark, the Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Lawrence Ezeh, said the Enugu Tech Festival, which would now become an annual event, underscored a paradigm shift from the old Enugu known for coal to one that has become a rising force in Nigeria’s tech-driven future, a beacon of innovation, intellectual capital, digital enterprise, and endless possibilities.

“For decades, our identity was built on coal, a resource that powered Nigeria’s industrial rise. But today, we stand in a different kind of power—the power of knowledge, innovation, and technology,” he stated.

Also at the event were the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande; Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu; former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Barth Nnaji; Chairman of Zinox Technical, Leo Stan Ejeh; and the Group Managing Director, Afrinvest, Dr. Ike Chioke, among a host of others.

 


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