E-Business
Signal Alliance Says Local Content Essential for Indigenous Companies’ Survival
Adanma Onuegbu, chief executive officer, Signal Alliance, has identified local intellectual property (LIP) safeguard as essential in achieving the country’s economic and technological advancement.
Onuegbu who spoke to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek at the Company’s Customer Week Workshop (CWW) held in Lagos during the week, opposed the cravings among individuals and organization that caused avalanche-influx of foreign products into the economy.
According to her, with an official rebase of the GDP last year the need to diversify, innovate and grow as a strategic template can be applied to guide decision makers and realign the economy, while local content policy implementations must not be neglected.
Founded in 1996, Signal Alliance, an end-to-end IT Company which specializes in systems integration, has grown to be a most vibrant, forward moving ICT company in Nigeria.
For four years now, the Company schedules a-week long activities to celebrate the customers and beam torchlight on matters deserving attention in the Nigerian cum global IT space.
The theme for this year is, ‘Diversify, Innovate and Grow’; this according to the CEO was chosen in order to further draw attention to the challenges and opportunities in the Nigerian economy.
On challenges faced by the private sector in the industry, she said, “One of the challenges we have is the influx of other multinationals to Nigeria. Why am I saying this? We have this mentality that, ‘if it were not done by a foreign company, it is not genuine’. We have to groom our intellectual property and see values in what our local industries are doing. People tend to think it is only when you products from China, India, etc or companies from there that you have genuine products, but it is beginning to change. For instance, agencies like the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), which tires to encourage the growth of local contents by ensuring no matter what you have, even if it is not available in Nigeria, you have to partner local companies to deliver it. Such means will boost the local partners’ growth and global relevance.
“Nevertheless, we are doing what we can in the local contents, because no matter what they do out there and they come to deliver in Nigeria, the support has to be done locally.
On specific industry solutions which Signal Alliance had pledged to help deliver, for instance, to the electricity distribution companies (DISCOS), Onuegbu said, “Signal Alliance has a range of solutions that we can deliver alongside OEMs like SAP and Cisco to the customers. The DISCOs at the moment still have a lot to do before they can ensure of stable services. They are still in the teething stage, but in no distant time, we hope they will overcome. We are looking at a situation they can use software to address the metering challenges. But we discovered that the funds are not there yet for them to move to the next level.
“The infrastructure they inherited were not in the optimal state; and they had to revert to borrowing from banks and venture capitals to sponsor their programmes.
This is the fourth edition of the customer week. We use the opportunity to celebrate our customers for the year as a way to say ‘thank you’ while assessing the business climate.
“If you look at what has been happening since last year when the oil price started dwindling, economies are going down in a lot of places and it gives us the initiatives to think inwards. Business is not as usual. What it means is that we need to think outside the box, looking at other ways to reinvent ourselves.
“It is either you grow with IT or you depreciate without it. Businesses are dying for the sheer reason of neglect of IT potentials. Technology changes every facet of life today. So, through the workshop we have looked at improving our services to ensure the customers get 100% satisfaction, so that business continuity can always be there.
She said, the theme is not just about Signal Alliance but any entrepreneur that is thinking about survival.
On Signal Alliance’s input, helping organizations to cater for their IT solution needs, and inject skill sets into the industry, she said, “What we have done over the years is that we started an Internship programme for instance, to bridge the skills gap in the industry. This programme was targeted at fresh graduates. We give them about two year intensive training afterwards they are retained or released to be engaged by other companies.
“We have seen the impact of the training on the industry too. It brings out the best in them. Other companies are looking at that model too. We shouldn’t be waiting for only those who have gotten experience to be engaged for work. You have to spend and groom the people. We believe other service providers can try the model too”.
Several activities were lined up for the week which includes, customer interactions, workshop on Nigeria economy & technology, CSR programme and Customer appreciation / award ceremony.
With solid industry experience spanning across the major sectors of the Nigerian industry, Signal Alliance offers services in the areas of Technology Support, Network Infrastructure, Enterprise Applications and Service Assurance.
The Company boasts of highly skilled and certified consultants as well as major strategic partnerships with World industry giants such as Microsoft, Cisco and CA Technologies.
The company prides itself on its ability to gain a thorough understanding of clients’ businesses and using appropriate technology as a bridge between where the client is and where it wants to go.
Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.
The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.
The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.
In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.
“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.
Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.
“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.
He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework. He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.
According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.
Earlier in her opening remarks, Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.
Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.
“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”
Guinness Nigeria Sustains Growth Momentum in Q4 Amid Market Headwinds
Moody’s Upgrades Ecobank’s Outlook to Stable
Airtel Africa Grew Customer Base to 169m as Q1 Revenue Hits $1.4 Billion
SEC Grants “No objection” to N323Bn First Holdco Shares Deal
FintechNGR Rejigs Nigeria Fintech Week with Multi-location Model
E-Financial3 days agoKuda Unveils New Wallet for Multiple Currencies
Telecom3 days agoTelcos Resume SIM Card Sales after 2-Week Halt
Telecom3 days agoNigeria, Others Achieve 84% Adult Mobile Phones Penetration
E-Business3 days agoHow AI Alert by Airtel is Transforming Mobile Security in Africa
E-Business3 days agoNITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content
Telecom2 days agoGlo Launches Nigeria’s First-of-its-kind Device Protection Plan
Telecom2 days agoTelcos: How and Why Network Services have Been Poor
News3 days agoHorn of Africa Leaders Seek Enhanced Digital Integration for Increased Regional Growth