Made in Nigeria Phones Ready in November-PAPDAN

Plans have reached very advanced stage to launch two new Made-in-Nigeria mobile phone brands into the nation’s booming telephony market later this year, the Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association (PAPDAN) has disclosed.

Godfrey Iyke Nwosu, president of PAPDAN, who disclosed the plan, said that the Made in Nigeria phone brands is the outcome of a joint venture among 20 Nigerian investors who have pooled resources to introduce devices that will cater to local market needs.

The two new phone brands will be called iQ and MaxTel said Nwosu, who made this disclosure at the inaugural edition of the monthly Technopreneurship Breakfast Meeting hosted by TECHNOLOGY TIMES for business leaders and SMBs in Lagos.

Nwosu said that PAPDAN has identified a growing appetite for cutting-edge technologies among Nigerian telecoms consumers also says that two Nigerian brands will cater to three market segments in the feature, medium and smart phone segments to offer choice to consumers.

The President of PAPDAN, a group representing the interest of phone dealers in Ikeja Computer Village, the nation’s largest market cluster for technology products ad services, says that its membership today counts over 3000 businesses.

Members of PAPDAN occupy a crucial place in the retail end of the tech market, as they sell in excess of two million units of phones and allied devices monthly into Nigeria and several economies across West Africa, Nwosu said.

The Nigerian telecommunications industry is a booming market for diverse handsets and devices range catering for mobile phone users numbering as the industry grew into 120 million active lines as at July 2013, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator.

The PAPDAN President also told attendees at the event that included major business leaders, CEOs of businesses in Ikeja Computer Village, key market association including the leadership of Computers and Allied Products Dealers Association (CAPDAN), PAPDAN, NACET, among others that the planned introduction of the new phones will provide home-grown solutions for the Nigerian technology market.

Earlier in a thought leadership keynote presentation, Tomi Davies,  acclaimed Futurist and CEO of Technovision, urged the market leaders to be mindful of the fast pace of technology and its impact on their businesses.

According to him, more than 60 per cent of their customers today form part of the 60 per cent of the population who fall below the age bracket of 24.

Miniaturisation, which is one of the key trends driving the evolving technology industry, will define the choice that these new consumers will make and their businesses must continuously adapt to these changes.

Also commenting at the event, Ganiyu Alimi, chairman, Board of Trustees of the Computers and Allied Products dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN), the influential umbrella body for businesses in Ikeja Computer Village, commended Technology Times for creating a platform to promote the key technology market.

 “We must strategise and begin to think about what products we must target to these changing population because we don’t want to be left out”, the CAPDAN BOT Chairman added in response to the changing demographics of the today’s customers.

“Our industry is a vibrant one and we should position ourselves so that we can be relevant every time”, he told business leaders and key market associations from Ikeja Computer Village that attended the Monthly meeting.

Shina Badaru, founder of Technology Times, told attendees that the initiative is part of the drive by the news and information hub on the Nigerian ICT sector to promote new platforms that will further open up local technology businesses to an increasingly dynamic market in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.

According to him, Technology Times is working with CAPDAN, PAPDAN, among other key groups on a new online trading platform that aggregates over 10,000 businesses in Ikeja Computer Village.

The trading will be launched by Q4 2013.

“Our vision is to enable all businesses in Ikeja Computer Village to be able to leverage new platforms opened by technology to expand their business into a new and truly borderless market that enables them trade efficiently, productively and profitably”, Badaru added.