ICT

Founding Fathers’ Dream achievable with Innovation & Creative Technology, says Osinbajo

Published

3 years ago

October 28, 2021

With the advance in digital technology and the progress attained by innovators in the continent, the dream of Africa’s founding fathers of building a continental economic powerhouse and the prosperous continent is now attainable, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this Wednesday evening in Abuja at the 10th-anniversary dinner of AfriLabs – a network organisation supporting Innovation Centers across African countries since 2011.

Speaking about how technology and innovation hubs are now able to bring the vision to fruition, the VP said “our advantages are obvious, we are the youngest continent on the planet, the vast majority of our population are digital natives, born in the digital revolution.”

His words: “barely 60 years ago, the first leaders of independent African states dreamt of a united and prosperous Africa. They spoke of one continent, one people, a people capable of becoming a political and economic powerhouse. As it turned out, that objective is yet to be attained.

“But today that dream of Africans working in collaboration to create an economic powerhouse is achievable and at hand. The key lies in a planned digital future, innovation, and the creative use of technology for enterprise and development.”

Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo explained that “despite developmental constraints, Africa is still on course to disrupt the fourth industrial revolution itself with the sheer numbers of youthful talent and energy available. This has been proven with the disruption we continue to see across various sectors.”

On the progress made in the technology and innovation space, the VP noted that “in 2015, African start-ups struggled to raise about $200million, but in 2021 we have more than 6 Unicorns. In FinTech alone, we have Flutterwave, Paystack, Opay, and Interswitch, all valued at more than $1billion each.

“In e-commerce, we have Jumia, Ashraf Sabry’s Fawbry, an Egyptian e-payment company that allows customers to settle bills online and digitally, and is now on the Egyptian stock exchange with about 30 million customers.

“MNT-Halan, Egypt’s largest lender to the unbanked has about 1 million monthly active users and has disbursed $1.7billon in loans to date. Tala, a start-up in Kenya that helps the traditionally underbanked borrow, save, and grow their money has expanded to India, the Philippines, and Mexico and has disbursed close to $3billion of credit, and has more than 6million customers.

“And here in Nigeria, we have Piggyvest, a wealth management platform that at the end of 2019, had helped about one million users save about $80million. And in Senegal, Wave, a mobile money provider that became Francophone Africa’s first unicorn when it received a $200million injection of funds,” he added.

Prof Osinbajo then noted that “while Africa’s FinTech unicorns are payments-focused today, in the future we can expect more variety; digital lenders and insurers. Invest-tech and blockchain are also likely to feature.

“Of course, we should also expect unicorns to emerge in other sectors—companies that will help to address the continent’s key challenges in relation to healthcare, schooling, trade, and so on.”

The VP however called on stakeholders, especially governments across the continent to support the revolution taking place in the sector, noting that ‘‘much of the growth of African startups has been organic. Mostly operating as individual enterprises or at best as city initiatives. The national effort is still usually missing.”

Said the VP: “there is now a need for positive action, proactive and intentional policies by governments to create the environment for startups and technology-based enterprises to thrive.”

Highlighting some efforts of the Buhari administration to support the technology startups, he disclosed that “one of the first actions that we took in 2015 as an administration was to work with development partners to conduct an innovation mapping exercise across Nigeria.

“We did this by engaging the ecosystem across the country, including AfriLabs at the time, and this process led to the report titled “Catalyzing Growth in Nigeria through Innovation”.”

“Armed with the results of this exercise, we supported more than 12 private sector-led innovation hubs across the country through our social investments programme.

“Working with the World Bank and the Lagos Business School, we supported the establishment of the Nigeria Climate Innovation Center in Lagos, and in partnership with the American University of Nigeria and the International Committee of the Red Cross, we supported the establishment of Africa’s first Humanitarian Innovation Hub in Adamawa State.”

In the area of policy, the VP explained that “we also established the Technology and Creativity Advisory Group as part of our Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.

“Some of the policy initiatives developed from the advisory group include the wide range of licenses issued by the CBN for FinTechs, the collaboration with the African Development Bank to raise $500million to support technology and creative start-ups, venture capital and investments.”

Prof. Osinbajo also cited the hosting of the Aso Villa Demo Day in 2016 with Mark Zuckerberg in attendance, as a major activity in the sector that set the pace for subsequent engagements in the tech ecosystem.

In addition, the VP observed that “we have also made considerable progress in the enactment of the Nigerian Start-Up Act, an effort of stakeholders in the private sector, Federal Government agencies, state governments, and the National Assembly to institute legislative protection for founders and investors in start-ups.”

According to Prof. Osinbajo, he shared those policy actions “not because it is a perfect story, but more to show what is possible and what can be improved on.”

While calling on governments and the private sector across the continent to work together in addressing some of the challenges, Prof. Osinbajo stressed the need to train more, and develop more useful digital skills on the scale.

The highpoint of the event was the presentation of awards to startups across Africa, comprising winners from Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, and Cameroon. Other countries on the continent including Kenya and Senegal were also represented at the event.

Those in attendance at the dinner were the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Katagum; Mr Tomi Davis, an Angel Investor; Board Chair of AfriLabs, Rebecca Enonchong, Board Director of AfriLabs, Moetaz Helmy, including female comedian, Chigurl who was the Mistress of Ceremonies.

Related Topics:Accessmagazine Accessnews Achievable Africa creative Dream of Prosperous Founding Fathers’Innovation NewsUpdate Osinbajo Technology

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NITDA plans to reposition Nigeria’s technology ecosystem – DG

Published

7 months ago

May 16, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says it plans to reposition Nigeria’s technology ecosystem to emerge as a global digital talent powerhouse.

The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCIE, said this on Wednesday at a media parley with the theme “Exceptional Media Relations, Strengthening Bonds Beyond Headlines” in Abuja.

The media parley aimed to discuss NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (2024-2027).

Inuwa said the roadmap was designed in line with President Bola Tinubu’s eight priority areas targeted at diversifying the nation’s economy.

He added that the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy also rolled out five strategic objectives to achieve development in the IT sector.

The NITDA boss said the agency crafted the eight pillars of the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan as a comprehensive document that reflected its commitment to uplifting Nigeria to a premier status in the global digital economy.

He said this would be done by harnessing the potential of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Inuwa said the agency had also developed the National Digital Literacy Framework in line with the first pillar, which was aimed at fostering digital literacy and cultivating talents.

According to him, the framework has an ambitious target of achieving 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030, and that can make us surpass India in technology, among other initiatives.

“We are working with the Ministry of Education to review the curriculum across the formal education, from nursery to university so that we can infuse digital literacy in our formal education.

“By doing that, we can empower Nigerians to have digital skills before graduating.

“We are also conceptualising other initiatives which include the Digital Literacy for All Initiative which will be unveiled soon,” the Director-General said.

He added that the initiative would ensure Nigerians were educated on IT outside the formal education and have access to quality digital content.

The Director-General said that apart from digital literacy, the agency was working to ensure digital sovereignty and develop all digital innovation in the country.

He recalled that India started brain export about 20 years ago, adding that “presently, almost 25 per cent of sea level executives in big technology companies are Indians and they have dominated the global technology ecosystem.

“Nigeria can do the same because we have an even more competitive advantage than India. We have the population, better accent, better time zone and if we position ourselves, we can beat India in technology.”

The NITDA boss added that the agency had a mid-term target of achieving 70 per cent digital literacy by 2027.

He said that the strategic plan intended to position Nigeria as a digitally inclined nation in line with the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of the present administration.

ICT

Tijani Reveals $2bn Investment Needed to Expand Fibre Optics Across Nigeria

Published

1 year ago

December 6, 2023

Matthew Eloyi

Tijani Reveals $2bn Investment Needed to Expand Fibre Optics Across Nigeria

In an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today program, the Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed that the comprehensive installation of fibre optics cables across Nigeria would require an estimated $2 billion investment.

During the interview, Minister Tijani also addressed the state of advanced technology in Nigeria, confirming the presence of the Fifth-Generation (5G) network. However, he emphasized that the infrastructure supporting this technology is not universally accessible within the country.

“We do have 5G in some places,” Minister Tijani affirmed. “The infrastructure that drives 5G is not something that is across the nation. So, if you subscribe to 5G and move into locations where the infrastructure cannot support it, the quality will drop. 5G exists in Nigeria, and there are telcos with the license.”

Highlighting the government’s efforts to enhance connectivity, Minister Tijani outlined plans to increase the length of fibre optics cables in Nigeria from the current 35 to 40 kilometres to an ambitious target of 95,000 kilometres. He estimated the cost of this extensive wiring project at approximately $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

With a vision for transformative progress under his leadership, Minister Tijani expressed optimism about achieving the goal of wiring Nigeria within the first four years of the President Bola Tinubu administration. He emphasized the government’s focus on connecting essential institutions, including schools, hospitals, and government offices, to the fibre optic network.

Minister Tijani also discussed ongoing initiatives to declare telecoms infrastructure as critical national assets, aiming to safeguard against vandalism and ensure the sustained development of Nigeria’s digital connectivity landscape.

Tijani Reveals $2bn Investment Needed to Expand Fibre Optics Across Nigeria

ICT

Truecaller appoints Onwuzurike as Country Manager in Nigeria

Published

1 year ago

October 20, 2023

Matthew Eloyi

Truecaller appoints Onwuzurike as Country Manager in Nigeria

Truecaller appoints Ogochukwu Onwuzurike as Country Manager in Nigeria

A global communications platform, Truecaller, has appointed Ogochukwu Onwuzurike as Country Manager in Nigeria.

Onwuzurike’s appointment was disclosed in a statement on Friday in Lagos State.

According to the statement, Onwuzurike would be responsible for leading the company’s go-to-market function and managing the end-to-end operations of Truecaller’s expansion in Nigeria.

The organisation added that Onwuzurike would be saddled with the responsibility of negotiating and collaborating with vendors, service providers and local businesses, with the ultimate goal of making Truecaller a household name in Nigeria.

“The appointee has over a decade of prior experience across verticals such as banking, payments, fintech and SaaS, with GlaxoSmithKline, Philip Morris International, Interswitch and MetaMap,” the statement read.

It said that she has a degree in Communications from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Business from Emeritus Institute of Management.

The newly appointed Country Manager, according to the statement, said: “A new generation of companies and tools are changing the way we live our lives today.

“On the back of the digital transformation wave across the African continent, there is a need to continue to build the trust, privacy and safety infrastructure. This is what I find fascinating about Truecaller’s mission.

“Creating safe spaces, including digital and communication spaces, is imperative for a prosperous Africa and I am inspired to join Truecaller and other change-makers to build that reality for my continent.”

Nami Zarringhalam, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, Truecaller, said that the company would benefit from Onwuzurike’s wealth of experience.

Zarringhalam noted that Truecaller had wanted to add local expertise and regional knowledge in Nigeria, noting that appointing Onwuzurike would enhance those capabilities further.

“We have clear ambitions to further grow the promising African market, by delivering our class-leading caller ID and spam-blocking functionality, as well as cater to the needs of the diverse businesses that operate in the region.

“Truecaller has seen increased growth coming from Africa, Latin America, as well as parts of South-East Asia in 2023.

“During the last quarter, Truecaller surpassed 100 million users outside of India. The ambition, going forward, is to focus on specific markets like Nigeria by recruiting top talent to accelerate the organic growth even further,” Zarringhalam said.