The Nation Newspaper

Category: Infotech

  • ‘Nigeria not investing enough on R&D’

    The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has decried the low investment by the government on research and development (R&D), arguing that no nation can grow without the application of science, technology and innovation to respond to emerging socio-economic challenges.

    “Research must be an essential element for Nigeria to use technology and innovation to respond to socio-economic challenges. Nigeria, however, underinvests in research and development,” Jide Awe, chairman, Publicity, Events and Trade Services Committee of NCS, said, adding that the body had concluded plans to host a forum on computer science, information technology, and R&D in Lagos.

    Scheduled to hold between November 14 and 16 at the University of Lagos, he said: “NCS is again rising to the occasion to address the key challenges in the nation’s research environment to improve R&D performance and contribution to the national development agenda.”

    According to a statement by NCS, the main goal of the workshop is to build collaborative, purposeful and rigorous research effort towards national development, adding that major activities during the workshop will include: exposure to modern computer science/information technology research, methodologies and tools, Grant seeking proposal writing techniques, information about grants, fellowships and scholarships, mentorship, formation of research groups, research collaboration, interactions among IT professionals, interactions between the industry and academia, Interaction between IT professionals and government, exhibition of research outputs, presentation of excellence in research awards.

    Lecturers in computer science/IT, postgraduate students in computer science/IT, IT consultants/researchers, departmental and units heads, academia, government/public and private sectors, IT industry players, business development, executives/managers, brand Image developers, IT consultants/researchers are targets.

    Key facilitators include: Prof. Zachariah Tanko – Champlain College, Burlington, VT. USA, Dr. Richard Boateng – International Center for Information Technology and Development (ICITD), Southern University, Baton Rouge, USA, Prof. Charles Uwadia – Centre for Information Technology & Systems, University of Lagos, Nigeria, and Dr. G.M.M Obi – Lead Research Consultant, International Business Systems Limited, Lagos, Nigeria, among others.

  • States delay Fed Govt’s emergency call centre project

    Efforts by the Federal Government to build emergency call centres to mitigate the impact of natural disasters, domestic accidents, violent crimes and even sudden illnesses may just remain a pipe dream as some governors are yet to provide land for it.

    A source close to the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) told The Nation on condition of anonymity that Rivers State is leading the pack of other states that are resisting citing the project in their states for no reason.

    According to the source, the frustration comes either by way of not granting approval for land to build the facility or approving a peice of land to the NCC in an environment that is not congenial for that purpose.

    The source disclosed the buildings structures had been put in place in 28 states, equipment were in 18 states while the others would come in phases, adding that Airtel, Glo and MTN have already keyed into the initiative.

    But, Lagos State said it has made land available for the project. Mr Adebiyi Fatai Mabadeje, state Commissioner for Science & Technology, said approval for the building of the call centre had been given by the government since 2010, adding that it is not clear why the NCC has not started work.

    Mabadeje disclosed that the managemnt of Command Centre, an initiative of the state government to bring emergency relief to the citizens, has been outsourced to a firm, saying the centre has been reciving and acting promptly on calls that come in to the centre.

    The multi-million naira project is being undertaken by the NCC for the Federal Government. It is expected to be handed over to an independent agency of the government or a private organisation to manage.

    Rita Nwachukwu, senior project manager, NCC, who disclosed this, lamented that the development was delaying the project and sought the intervention of members of the Communications Committee of the House of Representatives to intervene.

    Nwachukwu, who in company of Adenuga Temitope, Operations manager, Infrastructure Engineering, NCC, received Honourable Oyetunde Ojo, said some states were not cooperating, she requested the intervention of the lawmakers in getting these states to allow reason to prevail. She, however, said the NCC has not lost hope as it has kept engaging the states.

    Accoording to her, a certain percentage of the revenue of telecoms service providers in the country is supposed to be deducted for funding the centre, which will eventually be handed over to the Federal Government that will determine its fate. “If you dial 112, it is an emergeny number, you don’t pay. Originally, the main design of this centre is that a certain percentage of the revenue of the operators should be deducted and used for funding the project,” she said, adding that the legislators should use their position to ensure that a law is enacted to make the dream come true.

  • Many faces of Computer Village

    Many faces of Computer Village

    For visitors and residents of Lagos, the Computer Village in Ikeja is different strokes for different folks. Oluoma Omeihe, who has been following the trend of business in the market, reports.

    When Olubunmi Akomolafe lost the power pack of her HP laptop, she was advised by her friends on the campus to visit the Computer Village, Ikeja, for a replacement any time she visited Lagos. An undergraduate of Ekiti State University,Ado Ekiti, the opportunity for Olubunmi to visit Lagos came recently, and she took it.

    Being a first-time visitor to the market, she was assailed by a horde of traders. While some operated in shops, many, especially young men and women, plied their trade at the fringes, preferring to stand by the roadside canvassing clients.

    After a long moment of indecision, she was assured of quality and a good deal for her money. She followed one of the many female ‘canvassers’ to a shop and picked a power pack. “It was tested in my presence and it worked perfectly. I paid N4,000 and left. When I got to my uncle’s house at Agege, I still used it and it worked. I was excited that, at least, I had got a replacement for my faulty power pack,” she told The Nation.

    But her joy was shortlived as the power pack packed up after two weeks. She could not return the item because it was not covered by warranty and she couldn’t risk another trip from Ado Ektiti to Lagos, about four hours drive; it was not worth the deal, especially now that the roads have become death traps. So, she resigned to fate, kept the power pack in the hope that whenever she visited the city, she would go and lodge a complaints to the person who sold it to her. “I did not have an opportunity to come back to Lagos until the end of the semester exams, that was about three months after. So, when I came, my uncle advised me not to bother myself as I was not likely to meet the person in the shop again,” she said.

    If Olubunmi’s power pack lasted for only two weeks, the handset Patrick Chukwudi bought never worked at all. According to him, he had heard so much about a firm selling handsets in the market and made up his mind to go and buy from there. When he alighted from the Danfo bus that brought him to the market, somewhere in front of Awolowo House, Ikeja, he was attracted to the stand of a group of boys who displayed phones in a container under a canopy close to Safegate Microfinance Bank Limited on Awolowo Way, Ikeja.

    “It was as if I was hynotised. When I got there, I saw very attractive handsets but they were not in their packs. They persuaded me to buy one of them, telling me the phones were all in perfect working condition and that all I needed to replace was the battery. So, I paid for one of them and left. I bought a battery and charged it for three hours when I got home. Afetr that, I tried fruitlessly to power it but to no avail,” he recounted, adding that when he got there the following day, the young man that sold the handset to him did not show up. “I cannot imagine myself leaving Itele, Ogun State, to Ikeja to go looking for somebody that, even if I see now, I can scarcely match his face with the transaction,” he said

    Olubunmi and Patrick are but a few of the thousands of unsuspecting people who have fallen to the antics of unscrupulous elements in the market in which handsets and other electronic valuables allegedly collected from their owners at gun point have been found.

    Perhaps, this development and the fact that the market community has become an embarrassment to the environment prompted the Lagos State Government to shut the gate of the market a few years ago. The situation has since improved as officials of KAI, an agency set up by the state government to enforce environmental law, now virtually has a ‘standing army’ in the market, ensuring that the place is kept clean.

    Like in every human community, Computer Village is not all about fraudsters. There are honest young men and women who, through hard work and dedication, are making the market tick.

    When Asuquo Daniel had problems with his laptop recently, he lost hope that it would ever work. A friend had introduced him to one of the engineers in the market. “I was working when the screen of my laptop suddenly went dead. I was confused because I did not immediately know what to do. So, I packed it into my bag and went home. When I discussed it with a friend, he introduced me to a young man called Rotimi in the Computer Village who fixed the problem perfectly,” he said.

    For traders at the Computer Village, doing business in the market has not been a bed of roses as their products face stiff competition from cheap ones imported from China and other Asian countries. For them to keep afloat, they must reduce the prices of their goods, which affects their profit margins. They also have to contend with power problmes as they pay heavily, running their shops on generating sets.

    Nelson Ogeide, sales manager, Seaman Group of Companies, dealers in handsets and other accessories, identified ‘price war’ as a great challenge besetting his business. “We have to cut down our prices. This will eventually eat into the profit margin. The government should do something about the influx of substandard handsets into the country,” he said.

    On customers, Ogeide said the challenge his organisation has to contend with is warranty and repairs. According to him, once a customer is told that there is a year or two years warranty on the device and the device gets spoilt, they will return it, adding that in most cases, it is always a physical damage that the devices suffer. “Most of the faults do with physical damage and we try to explain to them that our warranty does not cover physical damage but factory fault problem. In such cases, the customers try to make us look like we are not living up to our responsibilities and so we have to collect such gadgets and try to repair it and if it cannot be not repaired we give them new ones in return,” he explained to The Nation.

    According to him, there was a time the firm had issues with returned goods and recorded a great loss up to N3.5b million because the goods couldn’t be returned to the importers.

    Another challenge which the firm faces is running the place on power. “Owing to the power problem in the country, we run diesel generators for up to 12 hours that is 8am-8pm daily. Diesel costs a lot of money. Coming to work during public holidays is also a challenge because of transportation problem,” he added.

    On what the state government could do to assist the traders, he said the business has got nothing to do with the government, so government funding is not possible. “The only way government can help us is hastening the repair of the main road leading to Simbiat Abiola Way so that customers will be able to park their cars in front of Seaman instead of going around Computer Village in search of parking space,” he told The Nation.

    For Sylvester Onuoha, salesman at Sultech Computers, his worry is the low patronage he faces due to cut-throat competition from the big-time computer sellers.“My major challenge is having to compete with large-scale computer sellers. Customers would prefer to go to a large scale business man to coming to my little shop to purchase computer because they are scared of buying fake computers,” he said.

    John Oboro, general secretary, Computer and Allied Products Dealer Association (CAPDAN) said the body has mechanisms in place to ensure that people who are short-changed in the course of business transaction get redress. Yes, this Computer Village is the single largest concentration of hardwares in the entire West African sub-region. Anybody that feels aggrieved in the course of doing business can report and CAPDAN will act,” he assured.

    Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Science & Technology, Mr Adebiyi Fatai Mabadeje, has assured that Computer Village will move from its present location to another befitting site. The commissioner who addressed ICT editors, said the government has been engaging stakeholders about its intention to relocate them. “Though we are engaging stakeholders, there is a legal issue to the relocation,” he said, adding that the land that was initially scheduled to accommodate the traders somewhere in Abule Egba, a suburb of the state, has been encroached upon. He promised that the government would handover a befitting ICT park to the traders. “We ate not giving up on the matter. We will move them, we have plans for that area (Computer Village),” he said.

  • HP: Our products are of global standard

    Hewlett-Pachard (HP) has said its products are manufactured for consumers after carrying out a thorough research and development (R&D).

    Rita Amuchienwa, channel development manager, Nigeria and English West Africa, HP Nigeria, who spoke with The Nation at the launch of the firm’s range of printers in Lagos, said the firm did not engage in the production of goods targeted at a specific market by compromising on quality.

    “It is true that there are products for particular markets, the printers we are launching today are universal products. That is, they are the same everywhere in terms of quality.

    “As an industry leader, all HP products are of the highest quality and we keep to our high standard of reliability and durability. HP’s series of Ink Advantage products are available not just in Nigeria but in more than 80 countries and regions around the world. The markets that offer the Ink Advantage products have demonstrated a demand for a new way of everyday, quality reliable printing at a much lower price,” she said.

    According to her, the printers all have the advantage of the new peinters is that they can do better than what the old ones used to do. “On the colour printer, you can get about 300 pages while you can get about 200 pages on the black spend the same amount of money in buying the old ink,” she said, adding that printers can be deployed to personal use in the office and can also meet the demand of small and medium scale enterprises. She said the printers too were capable of printing pictures with high resolution that last a lifetime.

    The printers are web-enabled that can just be connected to the Internet through an ethernet cable or over Wi-Fi –working without requiring a computer and installation of any device drivers.

    Every printer is assigned a unique email address through which Office documents, pictures or PDFs could be sent and it will get printed. Since the email message is the new Ctrl+P, you can use the printer to print stuff from any device that is capable of sending email be it a mobile phone, a gaming console, an old PDA, Internet-enabled TV or an iPad.

    Apps that can pull web pages and other content directly from the Internet could also be downloaded or installed on the printers.

  • Lagos to establish software institute

    Determined to tap into the enormous potential in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry, the Lagos State government is to establish a software institute to position the state as an ICT hub.

    Mr Adebiyi Fatai Mabadeje, Commissioner for Science & Technology, who disclosed this in Lagos, said establishing the institute is a “concept which the state government is looking into” in line with the government’s desire to explore other means of promoting economic development.

    According to him, the “concept” is being considered “at a more encompassing level, beginning from innovation to incubation. We are focusing on the biggest industry which is mobile. We are looking at how the state can tap into it and chanelling energy into it.”

    He said the state government placed high premium on ICT training, thus underscoring regular training of personnel of the state in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) beginning from basic to knowledge to engineering. He disclosed that the state trains 600 teachers every year on ICT tree, an international standard training recognised globally.

    Mabadeje listed other areas where the state has deployed ICT to include security, through toll-free “767” and “112” emergency lines, revenue collection (ETCC), Vehicle Registration (Autoreg), Health Management Information System (HMIS), Electronic Document Management System (registry computerisation), general personnel administration (oracle data base) and many more.

    He added that the government through the Ministry of Science and Technology has an ICT vision to improve the quality of education in institutions of learning and improve access to information for various research activities.

    The e-learning Centre was upgraded from the then Lagos City Library built in 1964. It embodies a state-of-the-art ICT learning environment utilising the latest electronic and digital technology.

    The structure consists of four floors. The ground floor consists of the reception area, Information Centre and the interactive Children’s Library for kids between five and 11 years.

    On the first floor, there is an e-library which has over one million electronic books, Book Library, and training rooms with multimedia facilities.

    The Pro-metric or Online Testing Centre is on the second floor, for those who want to write professional examinations while the third floor has the Exhibition Hall, the Herbarium and the Video Conference Centre

  • NIPC woos Indian investors

    The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA) have urged Indian investors to explore the investment potential in Nigeria.

    Speaking while receiving a trade delegation from India in Abuja, the Executive Secretary, Alhaji Mustafa Bello, said the commission would provide assistance to prospective Indian investors.

    The purpose of the visit was to invite Nigerian businessmen and investors to the sixth Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit scheduled for January 11 to13, 2013.

    Bello said Nigeria has made giant strides in economic reforms, hence, the need for investors to take a look at the opportunities in the country.

    “There is a better business environment and favourable global economic arena, combined with improved policy formulation, implementation and coordination to generate a stable macroeconomic environment and increased investment.”

    He said Nigeria was the fifth fastest growing economy in the world and home to the emerging world’s largest cement companies, so, it could not be ignored by investors. According to Bello, the forthcoming event in India provides prospects to the State of Gujarat to display its strength and investor friendly climate.

    The NIPC boss called on Nigerian investors to explore investment opportunities provided by the summit, while promising to facilitate the trip for investors from Nigeria and other West African countries.

    President, ABUCCIMA, Dr Solomon Nyagba, called on the Federal Government to emulate India in the area of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as the surest way to economic growth.

    Nyagba said Nigeria has to transform from a consumption economy to a producing one and called on Indian investors to establish firms in Nigeria.

    “We need to produce majority of the products we consume, our colleagues from Gujarat can come here and manufacture and create wealth and employment. We have to close that gap between import and production because most of the security challenges we are facing are caused by unemployment.”

    He listed areas of potential investment as transportation, water supply, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, ICT, education and power.

    Earlier, Mr Pankaj Kumar, the leader of the delegation, said Gujarat was the gateway to the Indian economy with a huge market size and consumption capacity. Kumar said that the summit would provide opportunities for exchange between investors across the globe.

  • Adopting India’s IT model to boost local content

    Adopting India’s IT model to boost local content

    Worried by foreign domination, local firms have launched a campaign to take over the ICT market by learning from countries with a robust and strong industry, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE

    For stakeholders, there is only one way to boost local participation in the information communication technology (ICT) industry and that is by learning from other countries with a strong industry. The stakeholders are seeking increase in local expertise, transfer of knowledge, software development, patronage of ICT products, among other issues that would engender growth in the industry.

    Some of the stakeholders, such as Ministry of Communication Technology, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN), Internet Services Providers of Nigeria (ISPN), Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), Computers Professionals Council (CPN), Association of Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ATCON) and Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTCON) argue that there are capable local firms that can run the industry better than foreigners.

    The bodies had at several fora called for stronger local content policies to help drive the sector, stressing the need to develop the huge potentials in the industry, and further make it one of the best globally. Leading the initiative was the Ministry of Communication Technology. Since its establishment one year ago, the ministry has introduced a number of far reaching measures to promote local content. Under the leadership of Mrs Omobola Johnson, the ministry has rolled out a local content agenda to ensure wider participation of more Nigerian companies in the industry. The agenda is anchored on five goals namely – promoting local software and services, production of devices, card manufacturing, ICT infrastructure inputs and skills development.

    Of note is capacity development, an issue that is gaining ground among the stakeholders. They believe the country must have a strong workforce to be able to drive the local content policy. They said an improved, efficient, and reliable workforce is necessary, if Nigeria wants to achieve its local content objectives. Proponents of these arguments said United States, Britain, Germany, China, India among other countries were able to record huge successes in the area of ICT through local initiatives, arguing that Nigeria cannot be an exemption.

    They said the ICT sector is growing faster in Nigeria, and that the country needs to learn from countries that have grown their ICT industry to an enviable height. Little wonder that the Nigerian ICT’s operators initiated exchange programmes with their colleagues in other countries abroad. Recently, the information Technology Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Computer and Software Companies of India (NASSCOM) organised a conference in Lagos.

    The theme of the conference was: “Empowering and Resuscitating Local IT Entrepreneurs via Local Content Development and Funding.” The forum attracted delegates from Nigeria and India. It also provided room for cross-fertilisation of ideas among the operators. A major objective of the conference was to enable Nigerian operators learn from their Indian counterparts, and seek ways of replicating the knowledge in the industry.

    The reason is because India has recorded tremendous growth in the area of information communication and technology. The country is not only outsourcing ICT services to United States, but also deriving huge revenues from the industry. Reports have it that the bulk of contributions to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from ICT industry.

    Speaking at the event, the President, Association of Telecom Operators of Nigeria, Mr Lanre Ajayi said India has been growing its ICT industry well, and therefore needs to assist the country in this regard. Ajayi said India has advanced greatly in the area of information communication and technology, arguing that the country has become a force to reckon with globally. He said India is one of the leading nations in the area of development of ICT’s infrastructure, arguing that Nigeria need to learn from the country.

    He said: “What we are doing today is to learn from our India counterparts and further improve capacity. The Local content policy cannot achieve its objectives, unless we develop local capacity. The only way to achieve this, is to learn from India, among other countries that have a well developed ICT’s industry. India’s achievements can be attributed to its citizens in Diaspora. Britain granted independence to India several decades ago. After independence, many Indians stayed back in Britain. These people have helped in transferring knowledge to India to grow the country’s ICT industry. Today, India has become one of the best ICT’s countries.

    “Nigeria would have achieved a lot in the area of ICT if its citizens in Diaspora have taken after the Indians. Since Nigerians in Diaspora have refused to come home and impact necessary ICT knowledge on us, we have to learn from a country like India that has recorded a robust growth in ICT. What I know is that one must learn from those that are superior to him. And that is what we are doing to spur growth in the industry. We believe that the idea will help in promoting the growth of local content agenda in the future.”

    Also, the President, ITAN, Mrs Florence Seriki said the issue of local content development is important because it would create jobs and revenue for the economy. She said there are lots to learn from countries that have carved a niche for themselves in the global’s ICT market, arguing that the collaboration between Nigeria and India would further grow the industry. She said operators are encouraging students to use locally manufactured computers, laptops, and Personal Computers (PCs), adding that the development has paid off. She said through the partnership, the two countries would be able to transfer skills that would strengthen the growth of the sector.

    The President, National Association of Computers and Software Companies of India, Mr Som Mital said the two countries would learn from each other and collaborate on the issue of investing in Nigeria. Mital said efforts would be made to forge lasting partnership arrangements between the two countries in the area of ICT development. He said investments in ICT industry in India is worth $300 billion, adding that the country has generated huge revenues from IT outsourcing services.

    “India boasts of a larger percentage of ICT’s market globally. The development has created a lot of value chains in India, and other countries where we have considerable influence. Through this collaboration, India and Nigeria will benefit from each other. With time, Nigeria will declare ICT as the biggest employer of labour. What the country needs to do is to open up its ICT’s industry for growth. The reason is because it can create capabilities, and further make the government to be more transparent. Mital said the two countries would benefit from each other, arguing that Nigeria would gain more in the area of capacity building.

    The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Johnson Omobola said efforts would be geared towards policies that encourage the patronage of locally developed software. Represented by her personal assistant, Mr Ola Ogunleye, Omobola said the government would continue to promote the establishment of ICT incubation centres that operate in a private sector/ entrepreneurial setting.

    “Included in this initiative is the promotion of a venture capital fund that would provide alternative and more appropriate means of funding for software and other ICT entrepreneurs especially in the start-up phases, as well as providing avenues for the commissioning of bespoke software by the business community. Government has directed that computers and laptops of a certain configuration purchased through appropriated funds must be locally assembled or manufactured in Nigeria. Likewise, local card production and consumption has been institutionalised to drive local content policy. For example, government insistence on local manufacturing of recharge cards has been successfully done and jobs and values have been created,” she said.

    The minister said appropriate guidelines and standards for IT products/ services, as well as campaign for the patronage of “Made in Nigeria” products have been launched. She said the ministry is working on providing regulatory framework that will protect intellectual property rights and privilege of the local entrepreneurs. She stressed that entrepreneurs would enjoy incentives such as tax-breaks, tariffs/levies concessions. The minister said the collaboration between ITAN and NASSCOM would encourage the growth of the ICT industry in India and Nigeria respectively.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • An industry in search of a present and a future

    An industry in search of a present and a future

    Some weeks back, the Nigerian government started inking the final roadmap for the development of one of the country’s most ignored but excessively acknowledged industry to leapfrog the economy: the local software and applications industry. Through the country’s IT guardian, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), government is seeking to put in place a National Software Policy “that can stand the test of time and adequately position software made in Nigeria in the forefront of global ICT market” as emphasized by the Director General of NITDA Prof. Cleopas O. Angaye, who is also a software developer with many patents and a professor of Computer.

    Nigeria is looking to the Indian example to justify its need for a forward looking official thrust at encouraging explosive growth in the local software industry where more than a 100 companies jostle for existence and opportunities to grow beyond ‘verandah companies.’ Some of the biggest earners in the budding industry include Computer Warehouse Group (ExpertEdge Limited), SystemSpecs, Programos Software Group, CSA, Precise Financial Systems (PFS) Limited, Signal Alliance Group and Infosoft among several others in the top earning league in excess of $80 million (about N120 million).

    But that is as far as the local companies could go in an industry heavily dominated by foreign software companies particularly of Indian origin who mop up the billion dollars in terms of monetary gains and brand acceptance. Market has remained a perilous ground for the local companies in the absence of clear-cut government support and a mix of factors that tend to erode sustainability and brand acceptability including unwillingness of corporate Nigeria to pay huge sum for locally made bespoke software.

    India offers a classic example of how a country could rework its economic fortune in the new world order. The authors of Nigeria’s new national software policy are clearly looking at the strong points. Last year, India made some $20 billion (about three trillion naira and in excess of Nigeria’s entire national budget) from software export to consolidate on its position as one of the biggest earner in global software and applications market. In the last half a decade, the $20 billion figure has become an annual gain-point that Indian software companies and the Indian government have sought to consolidate and expand on as part of the India’s economic growth indices.

    From 2007, the Indian software with auxiliary industry alone employed more than two million people and contributed about 4.8 per cent of India Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the last 10 years, India software export impact on nearly 95 countries to prove reach and acceptability. In contrast, and according to the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Nigeria losses about $1 billion (about N150 billion) annually to software importation majorly to India where Indian software applications virtually run the banking sector. With a potential market potential of $6 billion (about N900 billion), many experts think the Nigerian software industry lies in limbo because government has failed to see economic potential beyond the oil industry.

    Perhaps, the new drive under NITDA at providing a national software policy offers the most convincing attempt in official circle to support a most ignored sector for well over a decade, where practitioners have ceaselessly called for clearly defined support for the indigenous software industry. In the last 10 years, government has approached oiling the local industry with woozy statements and hazy actions including the establishment of a national software park, National Software Development Initiative, National Software Development Taskforce and the national IT policy, and un-patterned public-sector patronage often leaving the local practitioners confused and vulnerable to manipulation by public establishments. For instance, a leading software company which got a World Bank aided deal to run locally made software application that would manage the country’s civil service got the deal terminated in its second phase by a government ministry in favour of a foreign company for reasons the World Bank considered objectionable. The local company would rather sulk than fight its case because there is no official policy thrust it could rely on to push its case on merit.

    In the hardware sub-sector, practitioners such as Zinox Computers and Omatek Computers Plc have been able to push for a clear-cut policy that encourages the patronage of local computer companies first before their foreign counterparts. But the Nigerian local software companies have never been able to muster sufficient public consciousness to pressure government to adopt policy that will affect its growth in spite of the existence of an umbrella body: the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON). While companies like Zinox, Omatek and even smaller players such as Beta Systems and Balogtek have been able to be primal gainers in government’s multibillion naira spending on computer hardware in the last eight years, the software market has gone to the Indians and other foreign companies.

    In their 2004 survey report titled: A Profile of Nigeria’s Software Industry, Abimbola Soriyan and Richard Heeks observed that “Nigeria’s software industry is an industry that has been disappointingly neglected to date in work on software in developing countries, despite Nigeria’s size and both economic and political importance. The survey found there are more than 100 firms active in the industry, principally clustered around the South-West of the country and virtually all private-owned. Most firms are small enterprises (11-50 staff) and most professional staff have at least a first degree. Customers are drawn almost exclusively from the private sector and from the domestic market: software exports are few and far between.

    “The majority of work focuses on providing services – such as installation, customisation and training – related to imported packages, and there are signs of decline in development of locally-written software. Strategic analysis of the industry according to Heeks’ quadrant model shows that Nigeria needs to bolster such local development work. For this to happen, firms must target market segments with some degree of protection from imports. They must also strengthen their software development practices, something that will be partly dependent on improvements in the provision of software education by local universities.”

    Much of that observation has not changed almost eight years later as policymakers make to chart a new course for the industry. Angaye is convinced that with the new thrust, positive change is in the offing. His words: “I strongly believe that we shall come out with a credible National Software Policy that can stand the test of time and adequately position software Nigeria in the forefront of global ICT market.” But his optimism is depended on government’s change of attitude as one stakeholder puts it: “Government, who controls bulk of the economic activity in this country, has to be ready to spend the right amount of time, energy and money into software development.”

    So, where does the future lie with government support? Quality production of software, graded and tested by a body certified to do so which invariably offers market confidence to the products and ultimately encourages patronage for the local brands.” Development of these strategic positions can only be properly achieved if software project processes and methods are of sufficient quality. Without that quality, there will be shortcomings in locally-produced software, which will turn customers off, and push the industry further towards foreign products to continue the vicious circle. On the other hand, if acceptable quality can be built, then locally-produced software will be more effective than imports in meeting customer requirements.

  • BoI to create special funds for ICT entrepreneurs

    BoI to create special funds for ICT entrepreneurs

    THE Bank of Industry (BoI) will provide special funds for the information communication and technology entrepreneurs that meet its requirements, its Managing Director, Ms Evelyn Oputu, has said.

    Speaking in Lagos, Oputu said funding was the major problem of many operators.

    The bank, she said, did not have a special desk for ICT, despite the industry being one of the major contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent times.

    She said: “We do not have sector specific for ICT. As situation arises, we give loans to ICT firms that have shown willingness to do business and achieve results. We take seriously every sector that has impact on the people. ICT is one of those sectors, though its yet to realise its potentials in the country.

    “At the Bank of Industry, we reject any aspect of the economy that do not impact on the country’s Gross Domestic Product. We lay emphasis on value added creations. We have a lot of schemes in the bank. That is why we are coming out with a unique way of lending to businesses. However, the funds would be given to only the serious ICT entrepreneurs who have shown a lot of commitments to his/her businesses. I wants you to be rest assured that you have a banker that would support you, may be at a single-digit rate or very close.

    She urged entrepreneurs to come out with transactions that are deserving and above- board, adding that the bank would not hesitate to finance such business owners.

    “Our responsibility is to support any transactions you are bringing, but would vet them and see whether they are qualified for loans. Once you are coming with your technology and capacity , we would give you funds to scale up your operations. What we are trying to do is to get those funds out there back to BoI, for onward lending to entrepreneurs in the ICT industry at a single-digit rate,“she added.

    She said the bank would see lend to the industry to create value propositions, and further attract foreign investments into the country.

    According to her, the decision to support ICT entrepreneurs was based on their growing contributions to the nation’s economy.

  • Teachers get 45,000 computers

    ABOUT 45,000 teachers in Lagos State will benefit from the first phase of computer ownership scheme powered by Brainfield educational software solution.

    The firm, in a statement, said it distributed about 500 computers during the first phase of the scheme, adding that the remaining 40,000 would be given out during the second phase. It said the development is part of the e-learning programmes of the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT). It said the application will contain 42 subjects, over 10,000 theorems, definitions and formular for the e-gadgets.

    It said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed to make computers available to teachers in a flexible payment scheme.

    He said, with this development, beneficiaries will move away from traditional teaching to e-teaching practice.

    Commissioner for Education Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye said the scheme would help improve teachers’ standards. Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Education District 1 Lagos State, Mrs Victoria Mopelda Peregring during the launch of the scheme in Lagos, Oldunjoye said the capacity building project is a welcome development.

    “I commend Cinfores for developing the innovation software that powered the Laptops. It will help teachers adapt in the virtual learning environment which is not a global practice. With the project, Lagos teachers will now be part of the best practice in e-learning which is replacing traditional learning,” she said.

    According to her, any teacher who fails to take IT education serious will be left behind in the knowledge-based society.

    For the the State Chairman, NUT, Comrade Sampson Kayode Idowu, in his speech said as implementer of education policies, it was the occupation of NUT Lagos chapter to add value to the efforts of the government to ensure significant improvement in the overall quality of education in Lagos State.