The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • Fed Govt pushes for ICT gender parity

    The Federal Government is pushing for gender parity in the information communication technology (ICT) space. Specifically, the government wants the gap between women and men bridged.

    Speaking during the completion of training for about 100 school girls in Computer Appreciation programme in Abuja to mark the 2017 Girls in ICT Day Celebration at the weekend, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Sonny Echono called for gender balance in the ICT sector at all levels of education and profession. He noted that investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on improved nutrition, health and livelihood for the family and the society.

    The programme was packaged for 16 secondary schools in Abuja and its environs at the Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited (NigComSat) by agencies and parastatals under Federal Ministry of Communication.

    Echono emphasised the key role women play in reducing poverty and promoting social and economic development, buttressing his point by quoting the former United Nations Secretary General, Banki Moon, who once said: “Equality for Women and Girls is not only a basic human right; it is a social and economic imperative. Where women are educated and empowered, economies are more productive and strong. Where women are fully represented, societies are more peaceful and stable”.

    Echono also said ICT is an essential tool for social and economic development of women and girls which can provide education, job training, promoting literacy, improve access to healthcare, enable the exercise of legal rights and participation in government.

    He noted that part of the Ministry’s mandate is to encourage gender balance in the ICT field, stating that ‘The Smart Woman Nigeria Initiative’, was an initiative that includes a wide range of programmes targeted at building the Capacity of Nigerian Women/Girls as well as provide increased access to global information that is able to improve their socio-economic wellbeing.

    One such programme is the Digital Girls Club that is particularly designed to build ICT Capacity among Nigerian Secondary School Girls thus increasing their chances of early interest in ICT and related careers, he added.

    He said: “International Girls in ICT Day is an initiative backed by all International Telecommunication Union (ITU) member states aimed at creating a global environment that empowers and encourage girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICT thus enabling both the girls and ICT companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector.”

  • Facebook to launch attack on TV

    Facebook has kicked its push for TV-like shows into high gear and is aiming to premiere its slate of programming in mid-June.

    Facebook plans to have about two dozen shows for this initial push and has greenlit multiple shows for production, according to people familiar with the discussions.

    The social network had been looking for shows in two distinct tiers: a marquee tier for a few longer, big-budget shows that would feel at home on TV, and a lower tier for shorter, less expensive shows of about five to 10 minutes that would refresh every 24 hours, multiple sources familiar with the plans told Business Insider.

    The new video initiative means Facebook would play a much more hands-on role in controlling the content that appears on its social network with nearly two billion members – and it comes as companies like Amazon, YouTube, and Snap are locked in an arms race to secure premium video programming.

    Facebook sees high-quality, scripted video as an important feature to retain users, particularly a younger demographic that is increasingly flocking to rival Snapchat, as well as a means to rake in brand advertising dollars traditionally reserved for traditional TV.

    Whether Facebook’s users will embrace such programming is unclear. The short video clips that autoplay in Facebook’s News Feed have been a success for most publishers, but there’s no guarantee that consumers will begin to think of Facebook as a destination for watching longer-form shows. Facebook declined to comment on this story.

    The effort to snag exclusive shows is being led by College Humor cofounder Ricky Van Veen, whom Facebook hired in December to be its global creative strategy chief.

    His small team has been meeting with production companies and hearing pitches for episodic shows five to 30 minutes long that would live in a revamped version of Facebook’s video tab.

    Multiple people mentioned Netflix’s “House of Cards” as a representation of the caliber of shows that have been pitched to Facebook for its higher tier, while another cited “Scandal” as an example. As for the lower tier, Facebook is looking for production budgets that fall somewhere between TV and digital shows, similar to the shows on Verizon’s go90 service, one person said.

    One show Facebook has greenlit is a virtual-reality dating show from Conde Nast Entertainment in which people go on first dates in VR before they meet in real life, according to one person who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

  • BPRS scorecard on NCC

    BPRS scorecard on NCC

    Nigeria’s leading agency and ‘engine room’ for integrated reform implementation, co-ordination and harmonisation, the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPRS), has released its report on the Organisational Assessment of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Though the agency gave Platinum Rating to the telecoms sector regulator, it nonetheless made some recommendations to improve service delivery, LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

    Very strong business organisational structure, policies and practices that facilitate effective and efficient service delivery were some of the high points the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) considered before naming the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) tops in institutional work processes in the country.

    Its Director-General, Dr. Joe Abah, presented the report and plaque to the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the NCC Headquarters in Abuja. Highlights of the report:

     

    Strengths

     

    Structures, roles,

    responsibilities

     

    BPSR, in the report, noted that NCC business organisational structure and plans support the organisation’s purpose and service delivery. NCC policies and practices facilitate the delivery of effective and efficient service delivery.

    Accountabilities and responsibilities are appropriately set, clearly documented and well understood throughout the Commission. Example is the development of the Standardised Operating Procedure (SPO) manuals for the Commission’s 19 departments.

    NCC measures its performance accurately and responsibilities of reviewing and reporting performance assigned to named officers, the report added.

     

    Governance

     

    NCC Board sets strategy and performance goals which are aligned to government priorities and policy directives.

    It said a system has been established to ensure that all decisions relating to the use, commitment, exchange or transfer of resources involving board members are documented and records of transactions maintained to ensure proper accountability

    NCC strategic objectives are prioritised for potential impact using standardised principles including the balance score card, its vision, strategy and impacts complement other sector organisational direction; staff can articulate what the Commission wants to achieve, its role and purpose; strategy is considered by the management team regularly throughout the year with a sense of where it is going and how it should get there.

     

    Collaboration,

    partnership

     

    The report stated that NCC has strong sector relationships, understands and is responsive to stakeholders’ needs. Its mechanism for capturing stakeholders’ contribution is quite robust while its strategy and services complement those of other sector agencies, and where appropriate, sector agencies work jointly.

    “NCC has put in place strong partnership agreement including Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) to manage collaborative relationships with other sector agencies,” BPSR said.

     

    Managing organisational

    performance

     

    NCC monitors and assesses its performance and uses performance information to improve policy, regulatory intervention and service delivery while it periodically measures public perception of its performance and impact to provide an indication of the effectiveness of its strategies.

     

    Managing staff

    performance

     

    NCC demonstrates that formal performance management processes are clearly understood, consistently applied and deemed by all staff to be a valuable activity; demonstrates that individuals’ performance targets are clearly aligned with the team, business unit and organisational overall performance targets.

    NCC is able to demonstrate how it rewards and recognises high performance, and this approach either maintains or encourages higher levels of performance among teams or individuals.

    It  has a strong up-to-date Assets and Group Life Insurance Policy to protect the organisation, its assets, vehicles, people and service.

    It also has a comprehensive plan for performance management (PM) including human resource management plan (HR Plan).

     

    Safety, technology use

     

    NCC has well understood and consistently applied workplace safety practices that demonstrably facilitate a safe working environment; it has developed a health and safety policy, including a safety manual. Although the health and safety policy is yet to be signed, it will be useful when fully implemented.

    NCC carries out regular evaluation of the state of infrastructure. It has developed back-up site for its services in case of any risk and evaluates the state of its infrastructure every two years, and when the need arises.

    On information management, BPSR noted that the regulator has an ICT policy based on business needs, and the strengths and weaknesses of available ICT options. NCC technology system cost effectively supports current and predicted service delivery.

     

    Financial management

     

    NCC ensures that effective systems and procedures comply with relevant accounting policies and standards; managers including members of governing board and senior management staff know their financial obligations, meet them and understand the implications of their decisions.

    It has developed a comprehensive internal audit manual that is rigorously applied to monitor and evaluate financial transactions; operational processes and procedures; and proposes improvement to the organisation; it appoints an external auditor in accordance with extant rules and regulation that audit and report on the finances of the organisation.

     

    Procurement, managing change

     

    According to BPSR, NCC has adequate systems, procedures and experienced personnel responsible for executing its procurement activities in line with extant procurement procedure.

    It has a central store at Mbora, Abuja where all procurement records are archived electronically from loss.

    It said the regulator has in place structure for managing change along its desired strategic objectives.

     

     

    Recommendations

     

    The governing board should develop a formal code of conduct defining standards of behaviour to which individual governing board members and employees of NCC subscribe and uphold.

    • Ensure that the governing board establishes an anti-corruption policy with an entrenched whistle blower mechanism.
    • Ensure that the institutional mechanism for junior staff to fearlessly and regularly contribute ideas and experiences are active and effective.
    • Consider including performance data such as information on output and outcomes goals in budget documents
    • Though challenging, the Commission should strive to maintain budget variance (on both revenue or expenditure) at a maximum of five per cent.
    • Make financial reporting more frequent and on time at the meetings of the senior management and governing board to reflect on progress towards goals and to adjust strategy as required.
    • The ‘Enterprise Risk Management Policy’ which the Commission is developing to address the issue of policy on assets should not be generic but specific in nature. The policy should also cover physical assets including buildings.
    • Articulate the main risk NCC faces; including areas of financial risk, and prepare contingency plans to mitigate risk associated with changes in organisational income and funding streams.
    • Ensure that the Commission’s annual procurement plan and general procurement notice are published in the organisation website and Federal Tender Journal.
    • Ensure that the Commission’s procurement staff and other staff of the organisation engage in procurement activities signed an affidavit regarding their commitment not to engage in practices involving a conflict of interest and adherence to the provisions of the PPA 2007
    • Ensure that a robust mechanism is put in place to facilitate regular evaluation of the Commission’s state of infrastructure.
    • Establish a dedicated unit to serve as a clearing house on anti-corruption matters in the Commission.
    • Although the Commission rated itself strong in the area of maintaining an accurate and up-to-date inventory of assets and a functional mechanism for annual planning and budgeting for asset maintenance and replacement, the BPSR validated assessment rated this statement of good practice as a ‘Developing Area’ because this task was last undertaken in 2012.
    • The Commission should ensure that this activity is given prominence in its annual planning and budget for asset maintenance and replacement.

  • Innovate or die, Cisco, Signal Alliance tell lenders

    Two technology giants, Cisco and Signal Alliance have advised deposit money banks (DMBs) to leverage technology in their operations in order to  be more efficient without spending above their budget.

    Speaking at the Signal Alliance-Cisco business engagement session, Signal Alliance Director of Service Delivery, Adegbola  Adesina,  said: “More companies continue to embrace mobility, cloud, analytics, and increase in custom built application on low bandwidth, consuming applications to digitise their businesses. These have made IT teams to struggle in their bid to keep up with the ever-increasing complexity of the network, sophistication of security attacks and growing end user’s expectations.”

    This according to Adesina, has made many organisations to spend huge sums of money acquiring new devices all in the name of upgrade which may not be necessary.

    The Signal Alliance Digital Transformation event was well attended by leading banks in Nigeria. The bankers were shown by experts how their organisations can make do with what they already have, cut down on their IT spend and grow their services in a more secure environment to gain competitive advantage through process digitisation.

    Another speaker,  Yinka Adeosun also of Signal Alliance, spoke on Digital Network Transformation, while Tomi Amao of Cisco demonstrated the new Cisco Security Integrated Architecture.Kaecy Udumukwu’s presentation was on Digital Business Transformation.

    Cisco told participants that traditional networks simply could not scale to meet the increasing demands of the digital business. For this reason, a new network was needed for the digital business; a new network for the digital era; a network designed from the ground up to be flexible, programmable and open; while leveraging on and protecting existing investment.

    Amao said the Cisco Digital Ready Network helps IT to address these demands by moving networking from hardware-centric to software-driven, from manual to automated, and from reactive to adaptive.

    Signal Alliance is a diversified technology company with over 20 years’ experience in the Nigerian technology and business landscape, starting out first as an IT networking company in 1996, before quickly evolving into IT systems integrator. It is a leading Cisco partner in Nigeria who won the 2016 Cisco Global Partner Plus Winner Circle Award for Africa. Signal Alliance also invests and incubates technology startups.

  • How FinTech is disrupting services, by CWG

    Having enjoyed centuries of monopoly, assured by the support of regulation, including through stringent requirements to new licensees, the erstwhile secured future of traditional banks is facing a heightened threat of disruption from financial technology companies (or FinTechs),  founder, Computer Warehouse  Group (CWG), Austin Okere, has said.

    According to him, the FinTechs are exploiting pent-up customer dissatisfaction and new technologies such as blockchain, coupled with the significant boost in smartphone adoption and pervasive broadband to disrupt the sector.

    In a presentation titled: Austin Okere’s Five Forces Model for Analysing the Future of Banking, he said the foundation of the Fintechs’ disruptive model lies in a peer-to-peer model for transactions, without any middleman or central authority in mind, a model that will possibly render the current establishment totally redundant and irrelevant.

    He said: “The biggest threat to the banks has been precisely their seeming success; centuries of relatively significant higher returns, even in the midst of economic downturns that adversely affect the real sectors, have engendered an attitude of invincibility and pomposity, characterised by a loss of touch with their customers.

    “Considered too big to fail, they take it for granted that they will be bailed out with taxpayers’ money in the event of any missteps – a perfect prey for disruption.

    “There are indeed five forces that will define the new face of banking:  The banks – traditional and established, best with cash and ancillary instruments; Fintechs – the new kid on the block, disrupter, mostly telecom roots, best with digital currencies and mobile services; Regulators – Central Banks, regulating traditional banks; and Nigeria Communication Commissions, responsible for telecoms regulation (and thus Fintechs); currencies – traditional, such as cash and cheques; or digital, such as bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies; and customers – the weight and force of their new found voice. Typically, they clamour for whatever will give them convenience and lower costs.

    According to him, customers are the most significant force, and represented by the outermost sector of the concentric circles. As they tend more towards a preference for digital currencies, the Fintechs will tend to assume a more prominent role in the new face of banking, and the Regulatory regime will inadvertently tend towards the Communication Commissions under whose purview the Fintechs fall. This will introduce a regulatory imbroglio, as future ‘Huge Banks’ may fall outside the regulatory ambit of Central Banks (as seems to be the case with the MPESA mobile money platform, through which 25million Kenyans transacted $28 billion in 2015, representing about 44 per cent of the country’s GDP. Safaricom, the telecoms promoter of MPESA ironically falls under the regulation of the Communications Authority of Kenya rather than the Kenyan  Central Bank).

    “If the customers however, maintain a strong appetite for traditional instruments of financial transactions such as notes and coins, cheques etc. then the current status quo will remain. The face of banking will thus be more of the same, and the regulatory authority will continue to be Central Banks. “Between these two positions may be many variants, depending on the appetite and preferences of customers, and the pace at which they are willing to embrace change,” he said.

    According to him, the essence of the model is to enable players equip themselves with the imperatives that will ensure that their business is continuously relevant in the sector. It helps to guide the formulation of their prediction based on whether there will indeed be a disruption; what the disrupted space will look like; the scale of disruption; and the pace of disruption

    He averred that a correct application of Austin’s Five Forces model will define the difference between whether players will continue to be in business, or whether your business model will become irrelevant and redundant.

    “Even though I developed the Austin’s five forces model, primarily to analyse the direction of the future of banking, the model can also be used to analyse any industry which is susceptible to disruption from the pervasive blockchain technology; including real estate; for instance, EY’s Australian operations piloted a real estate blockchain ecosystem that is now being used in the market to trade full, and even fractional ownership of properties. And also government, for example, Ukraine has partnered with global technology company, the Bitfury Group to put a sweeping range of government data on a blockchain platform. Dubai also has an ambitious blockchain strategy to issue all government documents on blockchain by 2020,” Okere said.

  • Bridging budget deficit through telecoms sector

    Bridging budget deficit through telecoms sector

    The Federal Government is thinking of ways to bridge the N2.36 trillion deficit in this year’s budget proposal. It hopes to finance the deficit mainly by borrowing about N2.32 trillion. About N1.067 trillion or 46 per cent of this borrowing will come from external sources; N1.254 trillion will be borrowed from the domestic market. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) are cross pollinating ideas on how to improve revenue generation to reduce the government’s debt burden, LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Nigeria’s budget gap will probably be larger than Federal Government’s estimates this year because revenue from taxes and state companies will be lower than forecast.

    In Article IV report that followed meetings with Federal Government officials, it said the budget deficit may reach 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, higher than President Muhmmadu Buhari’s projected gap of 2.8 per cent.  The gap was 2.8 per cent last year, preliminary estimates show. It was 4.7 per cent on a consolidated basis.

    “The larger deficit would likely have to be financed domestically, further raising yields and crowding out private-sector credit,” the IMF said.

    Buhari’s N7.3 trillion ($23.1 billion) budget for this year to boost infrastructure investment and help the ailing economy recover from a contraction of 1.5 per cent last year, the first such slump since 1991. The economy was weighed down by a drop in the price and output of oil, its biggest export, which led to dollars crunch.

     

    Revenue target

     

    According to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the government has a revenue target of N2 trillion from oil and N1.37 trillion from non-crude sources including tax collections.

    While the government is undertaking tax reforms under the new seasoned tax master, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRSC), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, to increase revenue collection, the impact of those measures will be gradual, the IMF’s Mission Chief in Nigeria, Gene Leon, said on a call with reporters.

    Although the naira has fallen 36 per cent against the dollar since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) removed a peg in June, investors say Governor Godwin Emefiele is preventing it from dropping further through trading and import restrictions and regular sales of foreign exchange.

    The currency is as much as 20 per cent overvalued, Leon said. A depreciation of that size would take it to about 390 per dollar, almost matching the black-market rate of 398.

    The average yield on the government’s naira-denominated debt has risen 424 basis points over the past year to 16 per cent, the highest level among 31 major emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg after Egypt.

    Nigeria will probably raise debt from more Eurobond sales this year, the IMF said. These, together with concessional financing from the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), will make up 60 per cent of external debt. The government will also issue 10-year promissory notes equivalent to 2.2 per cent of GDP to settle domestic arrears, it said.

    This debt is in addition to a $500 million Eurobond sold last month as part of the 2016 budget and $1 billion raised in February.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 21-year $1.3 billion loan with the World Bank, AfDB and other institutions at two per cent, Finance Minister Mrs. Kemi Adeosun told reporters in the capital, Abuja. The money will be used for the new Development Bank of Nigeria that will lend small businesses long-term funding.

    The Federal Government said it expects budget-support loans of at least $1 billion from the World Bank, and a final, $400 million portion of a $1 billion credit facility from the AfDB.

     

    NCC, FIRS initiative

     

    Already, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimates that the telecoms sector contributes about 11 per cent to the GDP but desirous of improving the level of efficiency in tax management and revenue generation through deployment of technology, the NCC and FIRS has set up a Revenue Quality Assurance Committee (RQAC) for the telecommunications sector.

    This was the highpoint of the discussions between Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta and Fowler after a courtesy visit of the tax czar to the NCC Headquarters.

    Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Tony Ojobo, said the joint committee with four members each from the two organisations was to specifically examine and suggest ways through which the level of transparency could be attained via technology in tax management for FIRS and the returns from Annual Operating Levy (AOL) for the NCC.

    The Joint Committee, which is scheduled to meet this week, he added, should also see how workers matters, including payments are addressed. It is also to audit the states and explore the benefits accruable to them in terms of taxes collected.

    The Joint Committee is expected to work out a recommendation to facilitate the Type Approval of telecoms equipment that can be used for a transparent assessment of the operators’ revenues.

    Danbatta expressed concerns over the shutting down of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in the states indiscriminately without recourse to the Commission.

    “This is worrisome as it undermines the capacity to provide telecom services, thereby denying consumers good quality of services,” he told Fowler.

    The EVC cited the resolution of the National Economic Council (NEC) on Multiple Taxation, Levies and Charges on ICT Infrastructure in Nigeria dated March 21, 2013, saying the document is very clear on the issues of multiple taxations, levies, Right of Ways (RoWs) among others.

    Danbatta appealed to the FIRS chief “to help propagate the provisions of the policy to the Joint Tax Board (JTB)”, which he chairs.

    Fowler had earlier expressed worries over the taxes being collected from mobile network operators (MNOs) in the states.

    According to him, the concern stemmed from the fact that MNOs do not remit the Value Added Tax (VAT) already charged as at when due. “While some decide when they will remit it, the law stipulates that such taxes must be remitted to the FIRS between 20/21 of each month. Some too have not fulfilled the annual returns,” he lamented.

    In an earlier working document sent to the Commission, the FIRS had requested the permission of NCC to connect its equipment to the MNOs networks for a direct interface to which Prof. Danbatta had responded that such equipment must go through the Type Approval process.

    He said the NCC sees collaboration with the FIRS as a decision in the right direction.

    This, he added, underscores what  Buhari said about the collaboration of inter-governmental agencies, which saw to the timely completion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja ahead of the time schedule.

  • How to grow mobile commerce ecosystem, by Jumia chief

    How to grow mobile commerce ecosystem, by Jumia chief

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jumia Nigeria, Juliet Anammah has stressed the need to strengthen the democratisation of mobile application  promoting mobile commerce or M-commerce.

    Speaking during  African Mobile Trends Paper to herald the Jumia  Mobile Week Press Conference in Lagos, she said the trend since 2013 was for people to use their mobile phones to browse and look up products and then purchase them on their desktop. Now customers are checking out and paying for orders from the mobile app or the mobile friendly version of the website, adding that this trend will continue growing in the future based on the current figures.

    She said: “Mobile customers (both those who use the Jumia app and those who browse from mobile browsers) account for 63 per cent of all orders on Jumia Nigeria. Across the 15 markets where the study was carried out, that figure is at 47 per cent.  With a whopping 2,236,000 Jumia app downloads from 2015 to 2016 (a 128 per cent increase), Jumia app users form a significant portion of the mobile traffic on Jumia Nigeria. Currently, one out of two mobile visitors in Nigeria comes from the Jumia mobile app.

    “The highest conversion rate recorded in the last year has been on the app. That is the number of completed orders in relation to the number of visitors is higher on the mobile app than on the mobile or desktop versions of the website. This could be driven by the fact that the app is exclusively designed for mobile and therefore has a faster and better shopping experience for users.

    “Hence, the priority for m-commerce for the next few years is to continually democratise the usage of the app and incentivise an increase in usage by maintaining a better browsing experience and lower data consumption.

    Strategic collaborations with phone operators and data providers are also a key factor for enhancing customer experience. For example, the 0 data usage (free browsing) offered to MTN SIM card owners when they browse on both the Jumia mobile site and the app will remain a key feature and value-added service for Jumia customers.

    “Nigeria’s mobile trends for 2017 are positive with a steady growth of smartphones adoption and diversity. These increased offerings deliver more value for customers and cheaper access to internet connectivity. As smartphone brands and mobile operators continue to invest in research and development (R&D) and innovative data packages, and e-commerce providers invest in customer service, logistics and marketing over the next few years, our outlook is for an even more synergised digital ecosystem over the next few years.”

    Speaking on: Browsing in Nigeria: Adapting to high data costs and lower performance smartphones, she said the increased access and affordability of low spec smartphones has also revealed a need for the mobile ecosystem to respond with data-efficient browsers and mobile apps that are optimised for performance and an easy user experience.

    According to Juliet, looking at the mobile internet browsers customers use to access Jumia, 50 per cent of customers in Africa come onto Jumia’s mobile site with Google Chrome, adding that in Nigeria that number is just 28 per cent. Instead, the Opera Mini browser is much more popular, with 41 per cent of the mobile traffic to Jumia Nigeria coming from Opera Mini, she added.

    “One reason for this could be that countries with higher levels of income have been found to have more users accessing the internet with heavier browsers like Chrome – which typically have higher system requirements. Opera Mini is a lighter browser in terms of data usage and is popular among new mobile internet users who have lower incomes and can’t afford costly internet data packs. A recent report from Opera determined the savings on mobile data costs for Opera Mini-users in Nigeria has amounted to about $198 million (N39.5 billion) over a 10-month period, due to its data compression technology.

    “This is a clear example of the ripple effect that customer enjoy when a slight change is introduced by one of the digital ecosystem players.

    “On our end, an immediate key priority is to enhance the desktop user experience (which accounts for almost 30 per cent of Jumia’s traffic and almost 40 per cent of orders placed) by delivering a progressive web application that bridges the gap between conventional web pages and native mobile applications, to give customers a faster web and desktop experience that includes functionalities like push notifications and the ability to browse while offline,” Juliet added.

     

  • Skills not matching jobs, says Vodacom

    The Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, Mr. Lanre Kolade, has said   available skills do not tally with  jobs as the world migrates to Internet of Things (IoTs).

    Lanre, who spoke on: IoT, the Unmissable Opportunity, in Lagos, said 83 per cent of CEOs believe that IoT would give them competitive edge, adding that it would also promote efficiency.

    He said: “The jobs of the next century are not here now.” He explained that in Africa, the opportunities in using the massive data available to the mobile operators (MNOs) are almost limitless, adding that such data could be used to sell personalised services to customers.

    Meanwhile, Vodacom added more awards to its list of accolades, winning The IoT Focused Company and Enterprise Solutions Provider of the Year Awards at the 2017 Beacon of ICT (BoICT) Awards.

    While receiving the awards,  Kolade said: “We are proud of our achievements over the years and are grateful to all our customers who have come to realise the benefits of using our solutions. These awards recognise the leadership position we have established in delivering enterprise-grade total communications solutions in the industry. We will continue to take the lead in leveraging technology to drive businesses growth which will in turn accelerate economic development in Nigeria.”

    The award follows the successful partnership recently established between Vodacom and Kaduna State government to launch an ICT for development initiative. The project supports mass service delivery in healthcare and education in Kaduna State through the deployment of mobile-based solutions to promote greater efficiency in each sector.

  • NCC seeks fight against cybercrimes, others

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has advised the Federal Government and, indeed, other stakeholders in the information communications technology (ICT) field to focus attention on combatting cybercrimes and cyber security.

    Its Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Dambatta, who gave the advice in Lagos in his opening remarks at this year’s edition of Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series at Eko Hotel and Suites, at the weekend, said the youth have embraced technology while government institutions are yet to do same.

    Represented by Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Mr. Sunday Dare, he said focus should be on developing the indigenous software ecosystem and other platforms that would allow the country to fully tap into the limitless opportunities provided by technology.

    He said: “Nigeria’s ICT initiatives must focus on cybercrimes and cyber security, indigenous software development, digital multimedia platforms, amongst others.

    “While our youths  have fully embraced ICT, our government, institutions both public and private are still in the process of adopting ICT in their operations and activities. Yet, the future lies in ICT. Nigeria must make deliberate policies that will accelerate ICT penetration. Our educational curricular must integrate ICT at all levels of education and our systems and institutions must be brought into compliance by training and re-training our people.

    “Thus, we must all see it as a privilege to be part of not just the event, but share in the experience and great possibilities of ICT revolution, revolution with no barriers or frontiers. Nigeria, though already plugged into the ICT ecosystem, is yet to harvest fully the dividends of the ICT revolution sweeping across the world.”

    He said the government has made some commendable strides in adopting ICT in various aspects of its operations, however, a more systematic and accelerated approach will yield more dividends; create more opportunities and jobs for the economy and the teeming youth.

    He said: “NCC is in the forefront of providing education in telecommunications and IT spheres. At the NCC we have embraced ICT. Beyond that, we have invested in it through the establishment of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) established in 2004 with campuses in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Enugu, is modeled after similar ICT universities and institutions and might be in its way to becoming Nigeria’s first ICT university. DBI’s ADAPTI programme has substantially improved the IT skills of many students, public civil servants and members of the private sector and has trained 6000 since its establishment.

    “We are mindful that ICT has today become a one-stop shop for modern tools of development, for innovation, for employment opportunities and indeed for a smarter world. As the world races towards the 5-G revolution and the internet of things, IoT (Internet of Things), Nigeria must embrace fully the opportunities offered by ICT.”

    Speaking on Empowering youth through digital citizenship, the Managing Director, Sidmach Technologies, Mr. Peter Arogundade, said the theme should have been Empowering digital natives to transform to digital citizens. He identified three players in the digital space which include digital natives, digital immigrants and digital citizens.

    He said there was shallow digital literacy, adding that the space is still bedevilled by affordability, illiteracy, language barrier, disparities between rural/urban access and others, adding that there was need to put devices in the hands of the kids.

    He also stressed the need to expand digital citizenship education to include social justice, define and address internet governance and address the digital exclusion orchestrated by unserved and underserved areas. According to him, though the NCC, through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), has been trying to bridge the gap, much still needed to be done.

  • Exploring options to sustain economic development

    Exploring options to sustain economic development

    The Nigerian economy, in its worst recession in over two decades, has started showing signs of positive outlook on the back of increase in oil prices, production and increase in the supply of foreign exchange (forex) to both retail and corporate users, but analysts say the sustainability of growth stands on economic diversification with emphasis on the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector, LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

    For the first time in 15 months, Nigeria’s year-on-year headline inflation dipped to 17.26 per cent in March from 17.78 per cent in February and may drop further in April when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) releases its report. The external reserves continue to grow due to increase in oil production and price stability.

    But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says global governments must prepare the people to compete with machines, underscoring the place of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in sustainable economic development.

    Its Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, said: “There are concerns that automation will progressively jeopardise employment growth in emerging and developing economies.”

    Quoting futurist Andrew McAfee, Lagarde said: “When economic winds shift, we must find better ways of supporting workers. There is no magic formula. But we do know that greater emphasis on retraining and vocational training, job search assistance, and relocation support can help those affected by labour market dislocations.

    “Emerging economies could also design technological solutions, such as advertising job openings through personalised text messages on mobile phones, just to give you one example.

    “Looking ahead, all governments need to do more to help citizens prepare for major technological advances. As the futurist Andrew McAfee put it: ‘The key to winning the race is not to compete against machines but to compete with machines.’”

    “That requires a commitment to life-long learning-from early childhood education, to workplace training, to online courses for seniors. Singapore, for example, offers training grants to all adults throughout their working lives.”

    A South African financial analyst and founder of JC Capital Ltd, Joel Chimhanda said there is need to intensify effort and redirect strategies to adopt an active operational risk management practice necessary for growth and development.

    A renowned expert, Chimhanda is one of the African idealists who strongly believes in the future despite present economic headwinds.

    He said African economy has a positive outlook but has been under the yoke of unforeseen situation such as droughts, fire outbreaks, persistent conflicts causing massive displacement, among many others which are responsible for its underperformance.

    According to him, the non-performance of the economy is further fueled by the little efforts devoted to proactive practices and actions to protect investment that should have scaled up development, especially using ICT tools.

    Chimhanda who is the chairman, Engineered System Solutions (ESS) a Zimbabwe-based firm, stated also that Africa can be the toast of the world if conscious efforts are devoted to protecting her resources and investment jealously through effective operational risk management using ICT tools.

    “Continuous development can only come through sustainability.  Sustainability ensures continuous and incremental capacity building in all enterprises and institutions leading to the roadmap to adequacy, self-sufficiency, wealth generation and value creation .This is applicable to both the private and public sectors of the economy.

    “We have heard of explosions in power plants that are not  even adequate to cater for the power needs of the populace and uncontained markets fires that bring token investments and livelihoods to zero because of inadequate response frameworks. There is massive  building collapse resulting into huge capital losses; road structures with no inbuilt utility service; excessive risk transfer to insurance;  law enforcement agencies that do not know that they are the first responders as well as unmitigated cyber risk. These wastages can actually be prevented through standardisation and professionalism were to be in place.

    “Operational risk management is complex with vast multi-disciplinary interface and context is diagnosis required. This is why we need to do it ourselves. The chain starts from the government policy, project owner and financier through strategy, design, implementation, facilities, and insurance. “The ability to bring all to a table; each having a clear understanding of their risk management role is why we are aiming at  building a community of risk Management Professionals, risk engineering, control and governance all inclusive”.

    Chimhanda who will is the guest speaker at a risk management conference organised by NFPAWA in Nigeria also advised African countries to stick to a business model that is considered relevant in their respective environment.

    “The core requirement for operational excellence is proactive risk mitigation for continuity and profitability. To do so, we must have our own benchmarks and standards development used by Africans who work, live and truly understand our context. Educating our people on the principles as applicable guides is thus strategic,” he added.

    With Sustainable macro economic development: The safety perspectives’ as its theme, the forum is scheduled for between  May 9 and 12  at Oriental Hotels in Lagos.

    Among other issues, the conference and training carry a three pronged agenda, including standardisation, awareness and capacity building, which will focus on health, life environmental and fire safety, while also addressing issues of professionalism and standardisation across all business sectors and government institutions.

    Chimhanda would look at the critical need for operational risk management in life, safety and security as a driver for institutional, corporate and national development in Africa, The African Union rationalisation and why Nigeria should play an important role.

    Consultants from the United States and South Africa are expected to share their thoughts too. The President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Nike Akande and other experts will also be on ground.