The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • ComTech minister sees local content driving internet

    ComTech minister sees local content driving internet

    Communication Technology Minister, Dr Omobola Johnson, has identified local content as the future driver of internet penetration in the country, adding that over-reliance on YouTube and other such channels will not do the magic.

    Speaking as a panelist at the Ericson and Alliance for Affordable Internet (a4ai), programme at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, she said: “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”

    The minister’s position  contrasted with that of other panel members gathered from across the world that saw the social network channels as doing magic.

    Executive Director, a4ai, Sonia Jorge, in her presentation said Nigeria’s improved performance was buoyed by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecoms sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.

    Dr Johnson said the decision of the Nigerian government to create the Communication Technology Ministry underscored the importance attached to ICT as critical to economic growth and job creation.

    In the report of the research, Jorge explained: “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies such as Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia. The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country. Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission, plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally. The first two of these were awarded early in the year to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and Northcentral states.

  • ‘Nigeria cornerstone of Archos’ operations’

    ‘Nigeria cornerstone of Archos’ operations’

    The Country Manager (Nigeria),  French mobile devices major, Archos Soicete Anonymes,, Ademola Olukotun has said Nigeria will be the cornerstone of the firm’s operations in Africa, adding that a mix of qualitative and expanding infrastructure as well as tremendous growth opportunities makes the country to stand out as preferred investment destination.

    Speaking during the launch of the products of the firm in Lagos at the weekend, he said the firm has operated in other parts of the world, promising to replicate its success story in the country.

    He said: “Archos is the pioneer in the Android Operating System (OS) space with the first ever Android tablets. It has now combined its technical know-how with its creativity to provide a complete range of innovative smartphones and tablets. Archos has a strategic technical close relationship with operating system partner (Google certified). All our Android smartphones have complete access to Google play store and Windows Storetn. Today, we offer our own line of Android tablets and smatrphones as well as a full line of OEM devices.

    “After years of successful consolidation of our presence in Europe, Archos is now in launching its brand in several countries in Africa and the Middle East and Africa. About six months ago, we launched in Egypt and last month, in Senegal. So, Nigeria is a continuation of our African expansion project and coming to to Nigeria has given us an exciting challenge and we are poised and determined to to present Achos tablets phones and connected objects at affordable prices yet with world class quality and aesthetics.

    “A mix of qualitative and expanding infrastructure as well as tremendous growth makes Nigeria very appealing and cornerstone of our strategy.”

  • Partnership with UNAIDS touching lives, says Airtel’s CEO

    Partnership with UNAIDS touching lives, says Airtel’s CEO

    The  partnership betwwen the telco and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) will further open new vista of opportunities to deepen its commitment to touching the lives of Nigerians positively, especially in the area of quality healthcare services delivery, the Chief Executive Officer,  Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, has said.

    He spoke in Lagos during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between UNAIDS and Airtel to eliminate Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV in Nigeria.

    He said Airtel has a track record of supporting and empowering young people, who are the future leaders of our country.

    He said Airtel has adopted and built schools for children; provided several interventions in the area of healthcare for hundreds of kids, adding that the  Touching Lives programme has even offered the company a more elaborate platform to reach and connect with underprivileged children.

    “Indeed, Airtel is intensely interested in impacting society positively as this underscores our corporate philosophy of becoming the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians.”

    UNAIDS Country Director for Nigeria and the UNAIDS Focal Point for the Economic Community for West Africa (ECOWAS), Dr. Bilali Camara, said: “Eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV and keeping their mother alive do not only improve the wellbeing of children and their mothers. They impact positively on the general maternal and child survival.”

    Director-General, National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA), Prof John Idoko, praised telco for its leading role in providing practical, relevant and continuous assistance in the fight against the dreaded HIV/AIDS.

    Idoko described Airtel as a trusted, reliable and committed partner that has stood behind NACA since 2005 when the agency first launched a call centre to assist people living with HIV/AIDS.

    Explaining why Airtel was supporting NACA, Idoko who was represented by the Director, Resource Mobilisation, NACA, Dr. Emmanuel Alhassan, said: “It was in 2005 when we first partnered with Airtel to activate hotlines (interactive telecommunications platform) with the sole intention of providing both guidance and counseling to Nigerians vis-à-vis HIV/AIDS and other related health issues.

    “Back then, we rolled out what could be termed a pilot National Call Contact Centre. And the experiment was extremely successful: the public literally went agog as feedback/responses poured in on the pilot project.

    “In 2012, Airtel also provided the network backbone for our ultra-modern call centre, which was inaugurated by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. The facility, which is fitted with toll free lines and has capacity, to process calls from about 30 callers simultaneously is offering Nigerians irrespective of their location access to accurate information and benefit from public enlightenment on HIV&AIDS and other diseases such as Tuberculosis and Malaria.”

    Idoko recalled how Airtel ‘painted the town red’ during the 2005 edition of the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), saying that the telco did not just add immense value to the international conference but made it colourful and classy.

    The NACA boss noted that it wasn’t a surprise when Airtel indicated its interest to partner with UNAIDS to eliminate Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV.

    The deal will allow the telco’s subscribers to benefit from information on prevention of HIV services. This shall be disseminated through text messages

  • Firm wins award

    Firm wins award

    Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG) has been recognised as the Solution Provider of the Year and Renewals Partner for the Year in the West East and Central Africa (WECA) at the yearly VMware Channels awards held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Organised by VMware, CWG’s Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partner, it is meant to recognise the dedication of her partners, acknowledged for outstanding achievements in sales, performance and customer satisfaction every year.

    In a statement, the company said: “The VMware Channels Award is to celebrate outstanding partners and the continual investment they make in developing their skills and capacity in order to better support VMware customers.”

    Head, Partner and General Business Lead, VMware, Mark Reynolds, said  the awards portrays that “VMware appreciates the critical role  partners play in helping its customers move to the cloud, embrace the software-defined Data centre and plot their path to the hybrid cloud”.

    CWG received the recognition alongside 16 other prominent firms across Africa. They include foremost global technology outfits IBM, Royalty OEM Partner of the Year (WECA);  HP, as Royalty OEM Partner of the Year (South Africa), Dell as the highest Revenue contributor of the year (South Africa), Ubuntu as the outstanding OEM reseller (South Africa) amongst others.

    CWG, however, is the only IT firm from Nigeria that was recognised.

  • 2.3GHz spectrum: Bitflux blames delayed roll-out on insecurity, policies

    2.3GHz spectrum: Bitflux blames delayed roll-out on insecurity, policies

    The Chief Executive Officer of VDT Communications, Mr Biodun Omoniyi, has blamed investment challenge occasioned by insecurity and government policies for the delays in rolling out service through the 2.3gigghertz (GHz) spectrum licence it won from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last year.

    VDT is the driver of Bitflux, a consortium of VDT Communications, Bitcom Systems Limited and Superflux. The firm had defeated second national carrier, Globacom, to clinch the wholesale licence during an international auction in Abuja.

    Omoniyi, who spoke in Lagos on the sideline during the unveiling of the International Standards Organisation Certification, (ISO) 20000-1:2011 the firm got from the British Standards Institute (BSI), said the business operating environment has no incentives  for foreign direct investments, lamenting that the firm had to postpone its initial plan to roll out in the first quarter of this year.

    He said: “Bitflux won the 2.3GHz spectrum licence that was auctioned by the NCC last year, and VDT Communications is the major driver of Bitflux, which is a consortium of VDT Communications, Bitcom Systems Limited and Superflux.

    “The truth of the matter is that we are eager and ready to roll-out the service across Nigeria, and we would have done that earlier, but for the investment challenges in the country. We are, however, ready to roll-out, having signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an international vendor to supply equipment that will facilitate service rollout.

    “Initially, we wanted to rollout in the first quarter of the year, but that plan has been shifted by two weeks, which means we have a new date to commence service by April, this year.”

    He said in the past one decade when the firm began operation in the country, it has invested a lot of money in building a world-class technology firm that has become a pride, not only to the country but the international community.

    According to him, the continuous growth in technology solution has kept the firm at par with foreign service providers, adding that because the firm competes favourably with foreign firms, its customers are proud to do business with it. “We are not losing customers in anyway; instead, our customer base is increasing by the year,” Omoniyi said.

    “We have invested so much in this business to grow it to the level in which it is today. In 2001, when we started, we had only three branches, but today we have 46 operating branches in all the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja.

    “A company we promoted paid $25 million, which is more than N5 billion in the dispensation of our naira value just to acquire operating licence. The company needs at least, four times of that amount, which is about N20 billion to roll out services and that is a lot of money, and that is the kind of industry we are into. It is quite capital intensive,” he added.

    On the certification, he said: “The struggle to earn international certification is an unending one. About three years ago, we earned the certification for ISO 9001, which is a certification for quality management service. But today we are celebrating our ISO 20000 certification, which we recently earned, and which is an advanced certification to ISO 9001.

    “What this means is that as the business grows and expands, we will be getting more certifications and also consolidating on the ones we already have. The ISO 20000 is not a destination, but a journey because we are still eyeing more certifications like ISO 27000, ISO 28300 and many more that will still come up.

    “The truth is that we must continually improve on previous certifications because the British Standard Institute, which offers the certifications, will continually carry out audit surveillance on previous certifications to find out if the holders of such certifications are operating in conformity with the standards of the certifications.”

  • ICT skills vital for better opportunities, says New Horizons CEO

    ICT skills vital for better opportunities, says New Horizons CEO

    Managing Director New Horizons Nigeria Mr. Tim Akano has stressed the need for the acquisition of information communication technology (ICT) skills, arguing that such skills brightens the chances of a better future for the youths in the country.

    Akano, who spoke during the inauguration of a N50 million ICT Centre for the students of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, said the world started with agricultural revolution, then followed by industrial revolution, adding that in the 21st century, it is ICT that is ruling the world.

    He said: “For any person to make great impact, he/she must have ICT skills. Whether you are studying nursing, business administration, accounting, medicine, biology, law and others, you need ICT skills.”

    He said the company has extended globally recognised IT certifications which are sought after by employers across all sectors to almost all the private universities in the last 10 years training over 50,000 students nationwide.  He urged the students to avail themselves of the opportunity presented by the resource centre by taking serious their coursework and strive to get the certification.

    “We felt that Adeleke University should not be left behind because the internet has turned the world to a global village. You will compete for employment with people from China, India, USA, etc even as the job market is looking for people with the requisite skills irrespective of where they come from. You owe it a duty to put Nigeria on the global stage. With your IT and e-business certification you can be a millionaire as well as an employer,” he said.

    Akano informed the students that  world economy is being ruled by the IT industry. He said: “60 per cent of the richest people in the world and USA in particular are in the ICT industry such as the founder of Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Twitter, and others who are billionaires. In the next 20 years, Nigeria’s crude oil will no longer become the major revenue earner. The services industry will depend on ICT for revenue and it is here you come in.”

    Its Vice Chancellor, Prof Oluwole Gideon Amusan, said it would enable every student irrespective of his or her discipline have minimum of four international skills certifications at 90 per cent subsidised rate, before graduation from the university. It will position them in global software development industry, e-banking, e-medical/telemedicine, e- government, e-legal administration, oil and gas as well as telecoms sector with attendant employment and self employment opportunities.

    He said:“It will provide skills that make our students more marketable and relevant to the demands of the job market. Today, ICT has made scholars to redefine literacy. Man will return to the Stone Age if ICT is removed from learning. Adeleke University deems it fit that all our students should have certifications in CCNA, Oracle, Java, Microsoft and other globally acclaimed IT and e-business professionals courses.”

    The school’s ICT Director/Head, Department of Computer Science Dr. Longe Olumide, thanked the governing council and management of the university as well as New Horizons, for the gesture. He said the ICT certifications will make the students digital natives, place the school at the top among the likes of Harvard University.  He urged the students to make use of the opportunity and entrench the young university among Nigeria’s leading institutions.

  • Telcos fret over govt’s economic policies

    Telecoms operators have again raised the alarm that they may be constrained to stop offering services flexibility and added benefits to subscribers, given the state of the economy.

    Oil prices have been falling.This has affected the value of the naira against the dollar and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has restricted the importation of telecoms equipment, generators and other items by directing that foreign exchange be sourced through the interbank only. The efficiency level of services rendered will be affected, according to operators.

    The operators, acting under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), lamented that those government policies will impact negatively on the cost of service delivery.They however, hope that they would not be forced to pass the cost of the impact to the end users.

    ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo told The Nation  that since the software and hardware that oil the engine of the telecoms industry are import-dependent, it  follows that when attempts are made to constrain access to the funds   required to keep the industry up and running, there is bound to be negative impacts.

    He said: “Certainly these policies will have grave impact on the industry. All the things we use in the industry, to a large extent, most of the hardware and software are import-dependent. So, once you tamper with the source or access to foreign currency, you tamper with the direct effect and, by extension, the cost of service provision. So that ultimately will have its impact.”

    Adebayo said naira devaluation would make cost of service delivery to go up relative to prices end users pay for such services. He added that this would inevitably determine what the operators could do and what they could not do.

    Experts say the resort to interbank for foreign exchange sourcing to import hardware and software for the telecoms industry will increase cost and hamper expansionary drive. This is against the background that there is a huge deficit in infrastructure provision in the country with its attendant effects on quality of services (QoS).

    Adebayo said: “The second is the issue of service prices relative to (the cost of offering the services). All these will have direct impact on the cost of service provision and what we can do (as telcos) and what we are expected to do. It will certainly have impact on our services, but we are hoping that it would not be so significant that we will have to transfer it to the end users.

    “If we don’t have increase in end user tariff, we may not be able to introduce other benefits in terms of areas of flexibility on services. If tariffs are not increased, it will impact on the features and added benefits that we can give to subscribers.”

  • MTN surprises Lagos don

    MTN surprises Lagos don

    For his consistency in the discharge of his diligence and professionalism, former Dean of Student Affairs, at the University of Lagos, Professor Harrison Oloruntade Longe has got a surprise gift of a brand new KIA car from MTN Nigeria.

    Professor Longe was among the University Dons that got nominated by their students during MTN’s Surprise a Profcall for entries in its campaign tagged: ‘Season of Surprises.’ The compelling story of how Longe used his office as Dean of Students Affairs, University of Lagos (UNILAG), to resolve students welfare issues ranging from accommodation to security, improved facilities and many more, stood him out as the most deserving Unilag Don to be surprised.

    With the decision taken after a rigorous process of evaluation and selection, MTN’s management team led by General Manager, Consumer Marketing, Richard Iweanoge, stormed Unilag to reward the deserving Professor, who was kept in the dark about the development.

    The only thing ProfessorLonge knew about MTN’s presence on the campus prior to receiving the car that day was his being called upon to present gift items to some of his students who won iPhone 6. The students were given the presents for nominating their Professor in MTN’s Surprise a Prof.

    Shortly after the presenting the gifts to the students ProfessorLonge got the greatest shock of the day as he was announced the beneficiary of the star surprise of the day, a brand new 2014 KIA car.

    Obviously surprised by the turn of events in split of seconds, ProfessorLonge said: “This is the best gift I have ever received in my life. How will I explain this to my wife? How? They just told me that I have to come and present gifts to some of my students, and it turned out that I am now a proud owner of a brand new 2014 KIA car.”

  • NIMC to accelerate collection of e-ID cards

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has concluded its two-day 2nd International Vendors’ Summit, which was aimed at ensuring that citizens who have enrolled for their National Identification Number (NIN) get their National e-ID Cards on time, and draw a road map for the cards personalisation phase.

    The summit held at the NIMC Headquarters, Abuja, the nation’s capital, and had in attendance top executives of all NIMC Vendors’, partners and stakeholders; both local and international.

    A statement by its General Manager, Corporate Communications, Abdulhamid Umar, explained that a major consideration of the summit was for the commission to interface with the vendors and further examine the inputs of each vendor in the NIMS project.

    The interactive session was also a means to discuss strategies to ensure the swift distribution of the National e-ID Cards, and to fast-track the process for post issuance update for citizens who have already received their cards.

    Also, a review of the applets in the phase ‘1’card issuance, its successes, challenges and the way forward, was also part of the agenda, even as NIMC prepares for the activation of eight other applets on the National e-ID Card.

    “The key consideration for the second International Vendors’ Summit is to ensure that Nigerians are issued their cards on time. It is imperative to bring all stakeholders, who are involved in the National Identity e-ID Card project together to brainstorm on steps to make all the applets on the card user friendly,” the Acting General Manager, Information Technology/Identity Database (IT/IDD), Mr Chuks Onyepunuka, said while making his report.

     

  • Power central to optimising ICT potential

    Stable power supply remains central to the optimisation of the huge potential the information communication technology (ICT) sector holds in the country, a company chief has said.

    The Managing Director Africa, Electrical Sector, Eaton, Shane Kilfoil said though Nigeria has emerged Africa’s largest economy with less than 4000megawatts (Mw) of electricity, beating South Africa with 45000Mw, there is still much to be done if the country is to take full advantage of its enormous potentials.

    Kilfoil, who cited data centre as an example, said the country with its big subscribers’ figures will continue to witness boom in data, lamenting however, that the power sector challenge would compel operators to choose the generator option, which he described as “not economical”.

    He spoke on the sideline when the power management company, Eaton, hosted its inaugural West Africa Technology Day at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, to showcase its solutions spanning five industry segments including Data Centre and IT, oil and gas, electrical utilities, mining, solar and wind.

    Speaking at the occasion, its West Africa Sales Manager, Electrical Sector, Charles Iyo said: “The sustainable growth of the ICT sector in Nigeria and West Africa is dependent on developing innovative technologies to solve the sector’s toughest power management challenges.

    “Our vision is to establish Eaton as one of the premier power management companies in the region providing customised, innovative solutions that enable our customers in Nigeria and West Africa’s burgeoning telecommunications sector to use power more reliably, efficiently, safely and sustainably.”

    The Technology Day was officially opened by Eaton’s Guest of Honour, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce & Industry, Mrs. Olusola Senapon Oworu. The one-day event combined an exhibition floor showcasing Eaton’s power management solutions and products, alongside eight technical seminars run by the power firm’s leading experts from Africa and around the globe. Over 100 customers and partners from the region attended. Representing Eaton at the West Africa Technology Day were its most senior leaders in the region including, Kurt McMaken, President Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Frank Campbell, President Electrical Sector EMEA; Shane Kilfoil, Managing Director Africa, Electrical Sector, Yishay Weissman, and Sales Manager sub-Saharan Africa, Eaton Hydraulic Sector.

    Kilfoil said: “The West Africa Technology Day represents another key milestone in Eaton’s 78-year history in Africa.