General News
Panacea to Improved Engineering Services In Nigeria

The desire to formulate standard is an intent by a profession to work within a defined and agreed rules and guidelines for improved safety, product quality and service delivery.
Here in Nigeria, we believe we can thrive and profit more where there is no standard and this may not be far from the truth for those that undermines standards. Lack of standard undermines product and service quality and also clients’ safety and satisfaction.
There are several Institutions and bodies from different countries of the world bandying different standards.
However, in all there is a convergent point. The European community has been able to harmonize its standards in practically all fields of endeavor and USA will naturally key in while independently setting a parallel and higher standards for herself.
The most important and generally accepted electrical engineering standard is that of International Electro -Technical Commission, IEC.
Every country of the world is expected to domicile these standards. In doing so, the underline and basic element remains unchanged with only minor variation to meet the country’s environmental condition, cultural and social needs.
Countries subscribe to the Commission with offices of the president and secretary to administer the operations. In Nigeria, the National Electro-Technical Committee, NEC contact office is at Standard Organization of Nigeria, SON, Lagos. Their operation is ad hoc.
Apart from IEC, The International Bureau of Weights and Measures, BIPM is subscribed by nations of the world as well.
Nigeria lost it lower cadet membership due to her inability to sustain her commitment. Member countries are expected to establish the National Metrology Institute in their countries.
NMI in every country handles basic elements of Time and Frequency, Mass, Electricity, Chemistry, Thermometry, Ionizing Radiation, Length and Photometry and Radiometry which are referenced to BIPM in France.
The establishment of the lab is under construction at Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos. The project is counter funded by UNIDO.
It was abandoned for many years but work has resumed and is in progress. The ground breaking ceremony was done recently by Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, secretary to the Federal Government.
SON currently uses a mini or makeshift Metrology Lab pending when the one at Ikeja is commissioned.
The lab will aid in instrument certifications mismanaged by local firms and also save billions of naira in such services rendered by overseas companies. This will greatly enhance service delivery in the country.
However, standard formulation is not the responsibility of SON; they only coordinate or facilitate such process for stakeholders because stakeholders have failed to take up this responsibility in fashioning out standards.
Persons who are concerned about safety, quality of product and services in a particular field and have found the need to address and uphold it are usually the initiators.
They will craft the draft and send it to SON. SON will forward it to all stakeholders for input. The document is worked on till final document agreeable to all is produced and adopted. The document is reviewed from time to time. SON is doing good job filling this gap for all.
The challenges of formulating standards are enormous leaving us as a profession without engineering standards.
Standards formulation requires concerted efforts from stakeholders. The following amount to some of the reasons why standard formulation is a challenge;
Attitudinal: Anything that will regulate our life, change our thinking and the way we do things are usually resisted whether it is for good or bad.
Standard is resisted by politicians, engineering personnel, quacks and everyone benefitting from the status quo.
Documentation: Formulation of standard is a product of research and documented experience. Because field experiences are not documented, experts most time do not logically buttress their positions and draw conclusion on issue of standard.
It is always, even more so, difficult to identify these experts who may sometime not affiliate with professional bodies. They carve a niche for themselves and do their works unnoticed thus, ending up with the years of undocumented industrial experience. When issues on standard are discussed, they seem to be left out for comments and inputs. Documented field experience is the basis for standard formulation.
Academic: There is usually an erroneous belief that the university professor is best suited to develop standard. The truth is the end user; the craftsman, technician, technologist and allied professionals make more inputs than any other. When they are not trained to document their job process the result remain what we have now.
However, we cannot ignore the work of subjecting these field experiences to scientific analysis to produce result which can stand up to close inspection as done by the academic. The academic must also have a tinge of field experience to enhance his work. There must be empirical evidence to support his results. This is grossly lacking.
Funding: Research requires funding but many in this part of world believe it should be sacrificial and selfless. Funding can come from government, corporate organizations, NGOs, Institution itself etc. It is very important to note that every Institution or professional body is supposed to be self- sustaining. Professional bodies build capacity through due, levy and donation.
When we join foreign professional bodies (there is nothing wrong about that if we are equally committed to the local body here) we fund their research with our annual dues, levies and donations. They develop and continue to improve those standards we have to subscribe to. IEC has over 2000 electrical standards which are not cheap to subscribe.
If we have to domicile just 10 of such standards the cost could be enormous for an Institution that has no sustainable income to bear. The cost of working the document by all stakeholders to become an acceptable standard to domicile will have to be included to determine the total and real cost for such an exercise.
Indigenous Technology: We must develop our technology, apply the standards so formulated to it and gradually enlarge and expand it. When we import engineering equipment from different countries, they come with different technical standards of country of origin.
This has made Nigeria a pool of technical standards without any standard. Engineering practice in Nigeria is in disarray, completely comatose by lack of standards and the many Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEM, from Asia, Europe and America will continue to dump their products here with their standards.
Since standard is a global issue we can align ourselves to IEC’s standard to produce our standard and that is expected of every nation like us.
Intellectual laxity: There seem to be intellectual laxity and lack of focus concerning this issue. Companies where draft copy of the documents are forwarded to as stakeholders for comment and input, sometimes keep it for use and make no input.
You can rightly say they have nothing to contribute because there is no documented experience or better still are not interested about developing another standard that will not be in tangent to their products standards.
Haven highlighted this, wide spread and coordinated approach is needed to address this problem. While the Nigerian Society of Engineers through its Codes and Standards Committee is playing its part, the Divisions or Institutions under it have greater roles to play.
Standards formulations require the involvement of all cadets of engineering personnel and the present engineering structures or Institutions should evolve with capacity to accommodate all so as to enable professionals at all level to be identified to address the problem of engineering standards in the country.
Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN whose responsibilities include regulating, monitoring and control of engineering practice will have to continue to wait till these standards are ready for it to function effectively.
Engineer Akan Michael is the chairman, Nigerian Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (NIEEE) Lagos Chapter. He can be reached via akanmichael@yahoo.com
General News
NITDA Makes Case for Inclusive Tech for Special Needs

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has emphasized the importance of developing policies that intentionally include approximately 35 million persons with special needs in digital literacy and technology empowerment initiatives.

Ms. Grace Jerry, executive director, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) and Malam Kashifu Inuwa, director-general, NITDA.
This was stated by Malam Kashifu Inuwa, director-general, NITDA, in Abuja during a meeting with a delegation from the Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), a disability advocacy organization led by Ms. Grace Jerry, its executive director.
Inuwa noted that integrating persons with special needs into these programmes supports President Bola Tinubu’s agenda of economic reform and inclusive growth.
“This has brought to my attention the need to be more intentional in the way we design our programmes because there is no way we can achieve 95 per cent digital inclusion if we exclude 35 million Nigerians.”
“The agency has always been conducting targeted training for people with special needs in various parts of the country in the past.
“We will ensure that we expand our initiatives to all parts of country and our office facility have that in consideration but our programmes going forward will reflect this inclusion,” he said.
The Director General recommended including representatives from the disability community in national ICT committees tasked with setting standards, designing training curricula, and shaping policy frameworks.
He emphasized that their participation would ensure adequate representation and facilitate implementation beyond bureaucratic constraints.
He further advocated for the integration of disability-focused initiatives into national programmes such as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) tech schemes, women’s training cohorts, and other major technology-driven activities. According to him, these platforms offer vital opportunities for networking, skills development, and enterprise support.
“For us, it’s beyond just training. The real goal is empowerment, how we can train people to use IT to expand their businesses and improve their lives,” Inuwa said.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to strategic collaboration and invited disability-focused organisations to partner with NITDA in shaping an inclusive digital economy.
Earlier, Jerry expressed appreciation to the agency for the engagement and highlighted the digital gap within the disability community.
She said the government’s goal of achieving 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030 would only be realistic if it was truly inclusive.
“Digital literacy is fast becoming a foundational skill for employment, and without deliberate inclusion, millions will be left behind,” Jerry said.
The meeting highlighted NITDA’s growing commitment to inclusive policy development, aligned with the nation’s economic reform agenda.
General News
Interswitch, Bank of Sierra Leone Champion Financial Inclusion @ Sierra Leone Fintech Forum 2.0

As part of its sustained efforts to accelerate Sierra Leone’s digital finance transformation, Interswitch, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, in collaboration with the Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) has successfully hosted the second edition of the Sierra Leone Fintech Forum, bringing together key stakeholders across the financial ecosystem to chart a course toward broader access, inclusion, and growth through digital payments.
The event, which held at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown, convened senior representatives from both the public and private sectors, including regulators, banks, fintechs, mobile money operators, and development organisations, for a day of high-level dialogue and engagement.
Building on the success of the inaugural edition, this year’s theme, “Access, Inclusion and Growth – Deepening Digital Payments in Sierra Leone,” reflected a shared commitment to building a more inclusive and resilient financial system through collaboration and innovation.
Delivering the keynote address titled “Building on Progress: Expanding Access, Driving Inclusion, and Fueling Growth for National Prosperity,” Akeem Lawal, Managing Director, Payment Processing and Switching (Interswitch Purepay), reinforced the company’s commitment to co-creating value in the markets it serves.
“Financial inclusion goes beyond launching more apps or issuing more cards, it’s about solving real problems with solutions that are scalable, secure, and grounded in local realities. Since the first edition of the Fintech Forum, Sierra Leone has made clear progress, with strong mobile penetration and a forward-looking Central Bank. What’s needed now is execution that is sustained, coordinated, and responsive to the realities on the ground.
“By applying lessons from multiple African markets and tailoring them to local needs, Interswitch is committed to supporting Sierra Leone’s digital transformation. That means enabling agency networks that function effectively, driving merchant acceptance to reduce cash reliance, and working closely with regulators to co-create policy that drives real progress and inclusive growth.”
In his remarks, Dr. Ibrahim Stevens, Governor, Bank of Sierra Leone, commended Interswitch’s continued investment in the country’s digital transformation journey. He highlighted the Central Bank’s commitment to driving regulatory innovation and building an inclusive ecosystem. He said,
“The Bank of Sierra Leone recognises the critical role of digital financial services in building a more inclusive and resilient economy. Events like the Sierra Leone Fintech Forum, in collaboration with innovators like Interswitch, help accelerate the adoption of technologies that bring more Sierra Leoneans into the formal financial system. We remain committed to creating an enabling regulatory environment that fosters innovation while ensuring consumer protection and financial stability.”
A key highlight of the forum was the live demonstration of Interswitch’s Agency Banking solutions, designed to bridge the gap between traditional banking infrastructure and underserved and remote communities. Attendees experienced firsthand how the platform supports secure, efficient, and accessible financial transactions across Sierra Leone through a decentralised network of agents.
The event featured a series of insightful panel discussions, interactive Question & Answer sessions, and networking opportunities, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange across the ecosystem. As mobile connectivity expands and Sierra Leone’s digital agenda accelerates, the forum provided a timely platform to align actors, surface practical solutions, and build collective momentum toward a more inclusive financial system.
The Sierra Leone Fintech Forum reaffirmed Interswitch’s role as a catalyst for digital finance transformation in the region and across the continent. As the financial landscape continues to evolve, the company remains committed to supporting the country’s financial inclusion goals through innovation, shared infrastructure, and strategic partnerships that power a more inclusive, digital and future-ready economy.
General News
AFC Proffers Action Plans for Nigeria, Africa to Unlock $4trn from Investors to Grow Economy

Nigeria and other African nations can tap up to $4 trillion in capital from institutional investors, an amount that could be used to fund the continent’s infrastructural gaps and engineer much-needed economic growth, according to the Africa Finance Corporation.
While there are as investable domestic capital across banking assets, institutional funds, and reserves, the multilateral lender revealed on Thursday that funds are still being channeled into “low-risk and short-term instruments instead of being channelled into the real economy.”
“Redirecting more savings into the real economy is critical,” said Rita Babihuga-Nsanze, AFC chief economist and director of strategy, speaking during the AFC’s 2025 State of Africa’s Infrastructure briefing. “Africa must build its intermediation infrastructure to match its development needs.”
Nigeria is however demonstrating how Africa can unlock domestic capital for infrastructure, with its pension fund investments in the sector rising from just $6 million in 2015 to more than $155 million in less than a decade.
This milestone, driven largely by reforms and credit enhancement mechanisms like InfraCredit, underscores the growing role of pensions in financing long-term development on the continent.
Data from the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) shows that as of February 2025, Nigeria’s infrastructure-related pension assets had grown to N250.87 billion, representing 1 percent of total assets under management (AUM).
This is a sharp increase from the N1.19 billion recorded in 2015, which stood at just 0.02 percent of AUM.
A turning point came in 2017, with the launch of InfraCredit and Nigeria’s maiden corporate infrastructure bond. The credit guarantee initiative helped de-risk infrastructure projects, attracting conservative institutional investors like pension fund administrators (PFAs).
Chinua Azubike, managing director of InfraCredit said the credit-guarantee institution has helped facilitated bonds to build critical infrastructure, citing the bond raised for the construction of the Lagos Free Zone.
Azubike noted that while perception of risks persists, the company has “zero default rate” despite being involved in well over 12 sectors.
But while Nigeria’s growth is notable, pension allocations across Africa remain largely skewed toward low-risk, short-term instruments such as government securities and money market funds.
In countries like Ghana and Uganda, over 75 percent of pension assets are held in government bonds. Nigeria itself still holds 63 percent of its pension assets in these instruments.
This conservative stance, analysts say, reflects both regulatory caution and the underdevelopment of local capital markets.
In contrast, economies like India and OECD countries show a more balanced allocation, with significant exposure to corporate debt, real estate, and alternative investments. For example, OECD pension funds allocate nearly 20 percent to alternatives, according to AFC data.
To replicate Nigeria’s model, experts are calling for a coordinated effort to deepen capital markets, build risk assessment capacity, and create vehicles that can intermediate long-term finance effectively.
Beyond returns, pension investments in infrastructure have the added benefit of creating jobs, boosting productivity, and supporting economic resilience, critical needs in a post-pandemic, climate-vulnerable Africa.
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