General News
National Security: Why we Need Military and Commercial Synergies to be Profitable
At no other time in recent history has Space-based technology played a vital role than it has in the past few years.
A new era of quick response modes, often greatly enhanced by Commercial Communications Satellite technology has become obsolete necessity for national security.
Therefore, we need to transform the way we do communications today. But there is some discussion on how commercial elements fit into this picture.
When you are fighting a war, even in the most built-out Country in the world with an established Communication infrastructure, it can all be suddenly disrupted. We go in prepare with food, water, tanks and ammunition, as well as communication equipment obviously.
So we believe there will be a major need for enhancements from the military community for both their military and their commercial satellite communications, at least in our lifetime.
Commercial entities need to understand military requirements, government planners need to understand commercial capabilities, and civil commercial space firms need a place at the table.
THE FORECAST:
- There is a greater emphasis put on satellite communications and the increased need for more commercials system involvement.
- This procurement increase need to be realized as the nation now addresses the new terrorist threat that has emerged in the arena of national security.
- A report predicts that topline growth throughout the next 10years will be slow and steady with a high priority for procurement over time.
- There are projections that have been done and what they show is a lot of different uses for bandwidth.
- No longer will there just be the traditional communications (Voice and Message) and not just internet of types of applications that are going to be running in dynamic scenarios.
- We also recognize a growing need for a stronger communication infrastructure considering the bandwidth on demand problems currently facing the security and the forces.
- We believe the emergency/Military advantage is linked to the ability to use information and push information from sensors systems to decision makers and from decision makers to doers/shooters, and to do it rapidly and then to do it in a way that they can share that awareness among the operators.
All of that takes bandwidth and we need to have a source for that bandwidth.
- Ubiquitous Satellite Communications and unlimited bandwidth seems the destiny of the world. But most of the time it doesn’t turn out that way.
- Depending on the extent of damaged during a disaster or crisis to the communications infrastructure, the commercial sector may satisfy its appetite (to some extent for voice and message only) for bandwidth largely with fiber optics and terrestrial based cellular phones.
- However, these Services are not directly applicable to many important needs of the expeditionary emergency/military operations.
- This understanding of the need to increase bandwidth for emergency/military use has sprung from lessons learned in the field, channeling data and communications among the active theaters has proven, at times, challenging during the Persian Gulf war-which we still think of as being a pretty high-tech-war an air wing on an aircraft carrier had less access to bandwidth for data transfer than anyone whose home was equipped with a standard telephone modem.
- Today we think that it could take 200 times more bandwidth than that in order to prosecute two major emergencies/wars at the same time.
- In addition to widening the bandwidth for Emergency/Military customers, information satellite imagery produced by the commercial imaging companies is yet another venue where stronger military/commercial synergies can prove profitable.
- Today, with current occurrences in the North-East of Nigeria, NEMA need to order roughly 500, 000 square kilometers of imagery over the crisis region.
- The Agency need to significantly invest to tune up its infrastructure so as to be able to provide the needed satellite imagery very quickly.
- The agencies out-year requirements should not only be imagery, but for satellite-based products as well.
- As the government recognize the value commercial imagery brings to the table, the security sector will grow in terms of geospatial and imagery information products and services
- The key driver in this budget growth right now is this commercial remote sensing industry coming online.
- The Nigerian government needs to as an anchor tenant in this industry as it forms.
- The Future:
- The appropriate role of the government in facilitating commercial space business is naturally an ongoing debate. But the outcome depends on whether the debate more closely focuses on:
- Enhanced Communications
- Military-Specific Satellite programs/emergency operations
- Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) information products.
- We believe that the military and the commercial satellite communications arena ate Linked together at the hip, at least during this time.
- Commercial satellite will always have that reach-back capability that is vital for successful communications during emergencies military operations.
Nigeria’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market is on a fast-growing trajectory and is predicted to be valued $2.61 billion by 2030, up 83% from $1.42 billion in 2024, owing primarily to the rapid emergence of fintechs in the country.
This observation was stated in EnterpriseNGR’s State of Enterprise 2025 report, which focuses on how fintechs are reshaping Nigeria’s business landscape through digital innovations, accessible credit systems, and mobile-first financial tools.
As a credit system, BNPL allows users to stagger payments for products and services, making it a key development driver in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
From 2021 to 2024, the BNPL experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 23.1%. Fintechs have contributed to the rapid growth by providing a range of flexible loan alternatives for e-commerce, retail, and services, bridging financial gaps for millions of disadvantaged Nigerians.
The report highlights how fintechs have contributed to Nigeria’s flexibility and resiliency by simplifying digital payments, automating invoicing and payroll systems, and democratising credit through platforms such as Renmoney and FairMoney.
The report also shows a significant rise in remittance inflows into Nigeria following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2024 policy adjustments.
According to the report, by 2024, Nigeria boasted over 400 licensed digital lenders who extend collateral-free credit to those commonly excluded by banks.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) strengthened bilateral relations with the Netherlands’ government through an agreement targeted at improving migration governance and border security.
This partnership was confirmed during a meeting at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, which was attended by a Dutch team led by Jurgen Bartelink, Chargé D’Affaires of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on increasing bilateral migration cooperation and came after the comptroller general of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, paid a working visit to the Netherlands.
Under the agreement, the Dutch government pledged to continue supporting technology-driven solutions targeted at boosting Nigeria’s border control systems and improving migration management.
During the Netherlands Embassy diplomats handed over essential operational tools, such as Edison Software licence keys and the Passport Examination Programme Manual App.
According to NIS spokeswoman ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, “The partnership focuses on enhancing bilateral collaboration on migration management and reviewing ongoing capacity-building efforts.”
Bartelink, Chargé d’Affaires of the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, underlined the Netherlands’ commitment to helping Nigeria’s continuing border security and migration reforms.
Also speaking, Rob Bokhoven, head of international affairs, repatriation, and deportation services at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, emphasised the country’s strong bilateral relations and announced plans to share a mobile border software solution with the NIS.
Receiving the equipment, Nandap said the delivery of the gadgets would boost West African country’s border security, significantly improve the service’s document verification border management capabilities and support the implementation of Nigeria’s National Migration Policy.
“The engagement will further reinforce the strategic partnership between Nigeria and the Netherlands advancing shared goals in migration governance, border security and international cooperation,” she added.
Peter Enogb, principal country economist, African Development Bank (AfDB), says the rise in global uncertainty, emanating from increases in global trade tariffs, has slowed Nigeria’s projected growth to 3.2% in 2025.
“Without this level of heightened uncertainty, our projections would probably have been somewhat higher. We’ve reduced our projections for Nigeria. We initially were projecting 3.5% – 3.6% growth in 2025.
“But given the current situation, our models are showing that we’re taking a more cautious approach. So that’s why we produced this and, of course, the main driver is uncertainty in the global economy,” Enogb said.
He said this at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Country Focus Report (CFR) on Thursday.
AFDB projected that real GDP growth would hit 3.1% in 2026. Following the 2024 consumer price index (CPI) rebasing, with lower weights for food items, the inflation rate is expected to reduce over the medium term to 24.7% in 2025 and 17.3% in 2026.
As imports start to rise over the medium term, the current account is projected to decline to 3.9% of GDP in 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed for the second consecutive month to 22.97% in May. This is down from 24.48% at the start of the year
This is contrary to the World Bank projection that Nigeria’s economy would record steady growth of 3.6% despite the shift in the global trade dynamics.
Joseph Ogebe, head of research and development at Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), also said that global uncertainty had been very high in recent times, resulting from the Trump 2.0 effect.
“And also with the recent war between Israel and the international community, we’ve seen what’s happening to oil prices. Even with the call-off of the war, we’ve seen the effect on oil prices too, which has implications on the fiscal side. So it has implications for the general economy,” he said.
The head of research at NESG said that rather than focusing on just growth, what should be looked at is a strategy called growth with depth.
“Growth with depth means that your growth must be diversified, export-led, productive, and technologically driven,” he said.
Ogebe said that if the Government works towards adopting a strategy of growth with depth, there is a tendency for the government to move towards its goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The report revealed that the country’s recent policy moves, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and tax reforms, reflect a commitment to long-term transformation.
However, it also pointed out that at about 13%, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in West Africa, noting that fiscal reforms are urgent.
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