Telecom
Stakeholders @PIAFo Identify Obstacles to FG’s 90,000km Fibre Project
Stakeholders in the telecommunications industry have said the Federal Government’s plan to deploy 90,000 kilometers of fibre optic cables across the country will face several obstacles, especially from state governments, that might truncate the project.
L—R: Executive Director, Broadbased Communications Limited, Chidi Ibisi; National Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo; Chief Operating Officer, WTES Projects Limited, Chidi Ajuzie; Chief Executive Officer, Skymax Integrated Networks Limited, Engr. Chidi Charles Agukwe; Deputy Director, Policy, Competition and Economic Analyses, Nigerian Communications Commission, Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett; the Convener of Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo), Mr. Omobayo Azeez; Lucky Anumaka, Manager, Managed Services and Operations, Zora Communications Limited; Co-founder/Executive Director, Infratel Africa, Dr. Tola Yusuf; and the Chief Executive Officer, Open Access Data Centre, Dr. Atotunde Coker at the sixth edition of PIAFo on Digital Economy held on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to them, without addressing the current issue of Right of Way charges, multiple taxation, and levies, which are under the control of state governments, the project which is to be implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be an exercise in futility.
The stakeholders, who spoke during the Sixth Edition of the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFO) in Lagos on Wednesday, which was a focus on Nigeria’s renewed strategic agenda for digital economy.
They stressed the need to ensure the successful implementation of the project which was announced recently by the Federal Government to complement existing connectivity for universal access to the internet across Nigeria and provide the Nigerian digital economy with the backbone infrastructure it needed.
Addressing the obstacles
Presenting a paper on the topic, ‘Harmonizing Nigeria’s Fibre Deployment Strategies for Effective Implementation’, Executive Director of Broadbased Communications, Mr. Chidi Ibisi, said while the government’s SPV initiative is a good plan that could help the country bridge its current digital infrastructure gap, the government would need to address current challenges.
“The issues of high cost of Right of Way (RoW), destruction of fiber by road construction companies and vandals all need to be addressed for this new SPV initiative to be successful,” he said.
Highlighting some of the challenges telecom operators face when deploying infrastructure, the Group Chief Operating Officer of WTES Projects Limited, Mr. Chidi Ajuzie, said the biggest challenge to fibre cable laying in Nigeria is the informal RoW by hoodlums in states.
“For states, a formal right of way is set and some states are adopting it but the informal side of the right of way is where the complexity has come today.
“If I’m trying to lay fibre in some communities here in Lagos, the first thing that happens is the so-called land owners (omo onile) come out and a different set of people will keep coming from one street to another and they charge you. How do we achieve adequate broadband infrastructure in this kind of situation?” he said.
Role of state governments
According to the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, for the 90,000 kilometres fibre project to succeed, the state governments have to take ownership.
“For the project to succeed, I think the governments at sub-nationals should take ownership. This issue of state governments seeing right of way as IGR should be a thing of the past. We can’t talk about the digital economy on one side and the government is seeing those who provide the services as sources of revenue.
“The government has always come up with good policies, but the implantation, particularly when they are tested far afield, is the biggest problem. Governors will go to Abuja and say ‘in my state, I will give the right of way free of charge.’
“When you go to such a state, they may give you the right of way for zero or one Naira, but they will give you developmental levy, education levy, state impact levy, ecosystem levy. When you add all of these together, it is more than the right of way charges. So, who is playing who?” he said.
Making vital contributions at the forum, Dr. Ayotunde Coker, the Chief Executive Officer of Open Access Data Centre (OADC) stressed the need for the fibre project to be executed by the private sector even as the World Bank is expected to fund it with up to $3 billion.
He said: “the World Bank can put money into the government but it needs private sector partnerships as the execution engine and that’s what we’ve been pushing in Africa.
“The key thing is that when the World Bank puts the money in, it should engage the private sector, figure out the policies that it needs to do and enable the private sector to execute them effectively and make it as open as possible. With that, they can achieve what they are trying to achieve.”
He further stressed that for the success of the project, Nigeria should learn lessons of what didn’t work in the past, to achieve the new broadband penetration targets with the fibre range that is required.
“Meaningful broadband is what we need, rather than just a huge set of megabits per second implementation. We need superhighway fibres. We need the distribution of these backbone that allows us then to fan out.”
He further urged state governors to be part of the project by providing an enabling environment for infrastructure roll-out, adding: “if you are a state governor and didn’t participate in it, the state won’t grow and it’s going to impact your state.”
Earlier in his opening address, the convener of PIAFo, Mr. Omobayo Azeez, said the conference was to create a midpoint dialogue platform for digital economy stakeholders across both the public and private divides to brainstorm, exchange perspectives, clear grey areas, harmonize thoughts and create a sense of collective responsibility towards accelerating our collective prosperity through technical efficiency.
The event focused on Nigeria’s renewed strategic agenda for digital economy. According to him, the new digital economy blueprint of the federal government does not only sustain existing policy directions and targets, “it also challenges us on the possibilities of attaining new frontiers with a view to “Accelerating Our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency” which is the theme of the summit.
WIOCC, Africa’s Carriers’ Carrier, has partnered with Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB), a leading digital infrastructure and shared services provider, in a strategic infrastructure collaboration aimed at enhancing high-speed internet connectivity across the country. This partnership supports digital inclusion and drives Nigeria’s digital transformation.
By combining WIOCC’s extensive wholesale fibre network and expertise with GBB’s national fibre footprint, the collaboration will improve scalability, efficiency and service delivery for businesses and government institutions. It also aims to bridge the digital divide by expanding broadband access to underserved regions and foster partnerships with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to advance Nigeria’s digital economy.
A signing ceremony was held at Galaxy Backbone’s Corporate headquarters in Abuja, with Darren Bedford, Group Chief Development Officer at WIOCC and Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju.
They highlighted the strategic alignment of both organizations in driving digital transformation to accelerate Nigeria’s digital future, setting a benchmark for innovation and connectivity that addresses the evolving needs of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem..
Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju stated, “Our mission is to provide robust digital infrastructure that underpins Nigeria’s digital economy. This partnership with WIOCC is a testament to our commitment to enabling digital inclusion and providing a platform for collaboration that transforms how businesses, governments and communities operate in today’s world.”
Darren Bedford added, “This collaboration with Galaxy Backbone reflects our shared vision for driving digital transformation. Together, we are creating a platform for innovation and economic growth that will benefit the country with world-class connectivity.”
Schneider Electric, has reiterated its commitment to accelerate growth in the data centre market across East and West Africa regions that have become vital due to rapid digitalisation and increasing Internet penetration.
Commitment on the company’s drive, End User Sales Director, Anglophone Africa, Schneider Electric, Rohan de Beer, said, the African data centre market is witnessing unprecedented growth, creating a fertile ground for resellers and distributors to enhance their capabilities and foster stronger relationships with local end users.
De Beer explained that previously, Schneider Electric relied solely on external channels for market development, which sometimes led to missed opportunities and increased competition.
He noted that the new dual approach adopted by the firm seeks to address these gaps by enabling closer engagement with end users to influence technology decisions and secure a larger share of the market.
He added, “Crucially, these engagements will still be fulfilled through Schneider Electric’s extensive channel network.This strategy allows us to influence project lifecycles at an earlier stage while maintaining our channel-driven fulfilment model,” explained De Beer. “Our goal isn’t to increase direct business but to expand our market presence and share while empowering partners.”
“In addition to self-paced learning resources, we are hosting instructor-led training sessions across the Anglophone cluster. The first half of the year saw successful training completions in East, West, and Southern Africa, focusing on technical solutions for partners and distributors,” De Beer added.
By Tolu Aderemi-Cole
This year’s France–Nigeria Investment Forum, a major highlight of President Bola Tinubu’s visit to France, ended on a sound note and was mutually rewarding for both countries.
For some of us who have attended a few such forums in the past, this year’s edition stands out as the best from a Nigerian perspective, especially because of the organization and selection of relevant, successful Nigerian entrepreneurs who attended.
Though it was a government-to-government outing, the event was largely driven by the private sector, including experienced foreigners who functioned as moderators. In the past, the Nigerian government would showcase CEOs of companies that foreign investors found it difficult to connect with.
Also, this year, Nigeria’s leading women CEOs were presented to the French and global investment communities. I was impressed with the confidence Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji, the CEO of Zenith Bank, Dr. Owen Omogiafor and Jumoke Oduwole, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment exhibited during their respective presentations. This is good for the Tinubu administration and the Nigeria economy and in tandem with emerging global trends where women have been raising the bar in entrepreneurship and leadership.
However, what was exceptional to me as a Nigerian UK-based property investor, was the presentation of Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman of Zinox and Konga Group as he was introduced.
He gave a completely different perspective to the event, speaking with confidence on the technology capacity of Nigeria to support foreign investors. He assured the foreign investors of the existence of world-class IT professionals in their thousands who are available to support these investors.
He pleaded with French investors to invest in the educational sector and partner with some Nigerian educational institutions to produce graduates who may become global citizens in the corporate world. It was a great eye-opener for the packed hall as he personally gave an example of what his companies have done in the tech sector for French companies in Nigeria over 30 years ago. Most of these companies had their CEOs present at the event.
Ekeh’s confidence was infectious, and you could gauge the impact of his audacious presentation from the faces of both the foreigners and Nigerians in the audience. I am sure there are many companies with the profile of Zinox and Konga Group that are yet to be showcased to the world.
People left the hall very impressed. Though I was unable to reach him as he had a few persons engaging him, and I left immediately after his presentation, I spent time on Google to check out this Nigerian who presented the Nigerian technology roadmap over 30 years back.
One of his most impactful impressions in his presentation was when he said that you cannot anticipate future investments anywhere in the world without technology as your enabler.
Google revealed a lot about this humble Africa’s leading tech icon. It was a great expose for a Nigerian who pioneered many tech initiatives on the continent. Very touching was what led him to transition Nigeria from analogue petrol dispensing pumps at filling stations to today’s digital dispensing pumps when he was cheated at a petrol station, amongst others.
His profile also mentioned how he lost over $28m in one swoop on an AI and Robotics investment that failed after he acquired the largest warehouse in the city of Lagos to install the intelligent, high-end project over eight years ago.
As I was travelling back to UK, I was reflecting on opportunities that abound in Nigeria. Today, we celebrate Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who has an African background but who made his money outside Africa, but I wager that Musk could not have made as much money if he had stayed back in Africa. Never!
Ekeh’s reason for not hitting the jackpot is that he is operating out of a very limited Nigeria economy with structural challenges and several infrastructural deficits.
The young Minister of Technology and Digital Economy Dr. Bosun Tijani, should be encouraged to produce more Dr. Ekehs to guarantee the future of Nigeria.
Ekeh in his narration talked about how as a young man he returned to Nigeria over 37 years ago with a vision to launch what he called ‘Digital Democracy’ by digitalising elections and electoral processes in the country. He also narrated his effort at consolidation of data through digital census to guide planning and investments to achieve his ambition of promoting Nigeria to the status of an economy the world can trust.
He may have achieved his vision for digital elections with massive tech deployment which his company handled, but I am not sure how he could achieve a trusted economy where 80% of successful persons in the country are in oil and gas, cement, road construction, all brutally controlled by government both directly and vicariously.
Tech is the present and the future, and the Nigerian government must be intentional by patronising and helping to grow indigenous players to ensure they remain competitive on the global stage. I must say that I am proud of Dr. Ekeh and his achievements as a serial tech entrepreneur. His work inspires confidence in Nigeria’s potential. However, the next two years will be pivotal in proving that this progress can be sustained.
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