The Nation Newspaper

Category: Infotech

  • E-commerce space untapped, says Shopsmart chief

    The e-commerce space in Nigeria is still largely untapped in spite of the coming of several online malls, the Chief Channel Officer, shopsmartdiscount.com, Mr. John Ekwueme, has said.

    Speaking on the sideline during the launch of the online and offline platform in Lagos, he said e-commerce, a relatively new development in the country, if well developed, will promote  job creation and grow the national gross domestic product (GDP).

    He said the new platform just launched will deliver the promise of discount-wholesale and value-pricing to bulk buyers and consumers across the country, adding that the firm will take advantage of its indigenous partners to change the face of online shopping in the country.

    He said it is the first-of-its-kind in the industry as it offers discount-wholesale pricing model for bulk buyers and end-users of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), electronic and fashion accessories, among others, across Nigeria.

    He said: “Shopsmart is an online and offline discount-wholesale enterprise; with a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) model designed to provide a discount-wholesale pricing regime in the retail space for value-pricing benefits to both bulk buyers and end-users of FMCGs, electronics and fashion accessories. To deliver on the promise of discount-wholesale pricing, we have invested in corporate distributorship relationships with manufacturers such as Dufil, May & Baker, Promasidor, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, LG, Samsung, Panasonic and others.

    “These strategic partnerships will strengthen Shopsmart’s position and boosts its capacity to provide deep discounts to all categories of customers. Our objective is to continuously deliver value pricing as a means to sustainable customer satisfaction.”

    According to him, the value offering of the platform include 90 per cent made-in-Nigeria goods and discount wholesale pricing.

    He explained that cooperative societies have been earmarked for special membership cards that will enable them receive benefits such as credit sale (buy now, pay later), discounts on select hotels and airlines and additional membership discounts.

    General Manager, Foods Division, May & Baker, Valentine Okelu, who spoke on the occasion said: “When the Shopsmart value proposition was presented to us, we were excited by its compelling nature.  It is new and innovative, and we want to be part of that story. As such the decision to partner with Shopsmart was an easy decision for us at May & Baker.”

  • Firm launches online oil prices platform

    Compare Energy Prices has launched its online platform; Compareenergy-prices.ng. The platform is designed to connect buyers and sellers of energy products, its founder, Ugonwa Okolo said in Lagos, during a press briefing to launch the online platform.

    She said the platform, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, will focus on deregulated energy products including, cooking gas, diesel and aviation fuel. She added that the platform will provide options for dealers from which buyers can choose from while also exposing suppliers to prospective customers.

    She added that the company was founded to meet a need in the energy products market and help buyers find reputable dealers. She said the company will check what kind of products people are selling and ensure that there is standardisation in the industry.

    “Compareenergyprices.ng is an open online marketplace where prospective buyers can save money by comparing prices of energy products’ vendors, while keeping in mind other factors including, ratings, reviews, payment plans and delivery speed to mention a few. The platform will also enable buyers make their choices, save money and save time. It will serve as a monitoring platform for stakeholders to locate suppliers in Nigeria, get the best bargains and easily order for the products they need,” she said.

    Okolo noted that the goal of the platform is to redefine the purchase and supply of cooking gas, diesel and aviation fuel in the country, adding that most businesses and households use energy products at uncompetitive prices.

    She described the platform as a platform that provides a symbiotic opportunity for energy product vendors to engage buyers.

    “With Compareenergyprices.ng, people now have an array of distributors that they can choose from. The platform will also benefit suppliers because they will have a steady stream of prospective customers for their products. The website will continue to create awareness, so people can place orders and thereby increase market for dealers,” she said.

    Okolo urged Nigerians to take advantage of the platform for their energy needs in order to push their supply businesses forward.

    She added that the platform is safe, convenient and has been streamlined to ensure a seamless transaction for users. “All you need is an internet connection and from the comfort of your homes or office; you can engage buyers or suppliers,” she said.

    She assured users of the platform that only reputable dealers will be allowed on the platform, stressing that it will conduct stringent checks on prospective dealers to ensure only credible dealers are registered.

    “While we invite prospective dealers to register with the platform, we are going to be very stringent about the vendors we allow in and we will ensure that only credible and reputable businesses are on our online platform,” she said.

  • Jim Ovia chairs Digital Africa confab

    Founder of Visafone, renowned banker and entrepreneur, Mr. Jim Ovia, has been named as the chairman of this year’s edition of the Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition.

    In a statement, the Executive Chairman of Digital Africa Global Consult, Dr. Evans Woherem, expressed delight that Mr. Ovia accepted the invitation to chair the event and described the development as a big plus for the event that has become Africa’s version of Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

    “As an advocate for digital technology, and with the aim of promoting the adoption, diffusion, and active development of digital technology in Africa, Digital Africa Global Consult is delighted that Mr. Ovia, one of the biggest promoters of a technology-driven African continent has accepted to chair this year’s event holding in Abuja on June 1-to 3 without hesitation.

    “We are delighted to have him chair DA2016 because we share in common, the same objectives of making Africa an active participant in the creation and use of technology and facilitate the continued, responsible growth of the African economy through the development of the technology industry,” the statement said, adding that the theme of the conference is “Accelerated Development for Africa with IoE.”

  • NCC lifts sanction on MTN Nigeria

    Mr. Tony Ojobo, the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said on Wednesday that the commission had lifted the sanction placed on MTN Nigeria since July 13, 2015.

    Ojobo said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the regulatory sanctions were for 24 identified infractions.

    It said that the lifting of the regulatory sanction was in no way related to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card non-deactivation fine.

    “This is to confirm that NCC has lifted the regulatory sanctions placed on MTN since July 13, 2015.

    “The sanctions were for 24 identified infractions which are not in any way connected with the SIM card non-deactivation fine.

    “These were a number of violations discovered by the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Team of the commission in June 2015.

    “Consequent upon the inability of MTN to remedy the identified infractions, the commission invoked the sanction in its guidelines,’’ the statement quoted Ojobo as saying.

    It said that the sanction meant the denial of regulatory services to the telecommunications company for failing to remedy the infractions in line with NCC’s regulations.

    According to the statement, consequent upon the remediation of the 24 infractions by MTN, the regulatory body’s letter of March 14, 2016, informed the company of its decision to lift the regulatory sanction.

    “It should be noted that this does not in any way extend to the fine for non-deactivation of SIM card case.

    “The case of SIM card deactivation is an entirely different infraction, which is mutually exclusive to the 24 infractions now remedied.

    “This has become necessary in view of the many enquiries being received from concerned stakeholders.
    “This action is without prejudice to the matter which is presently in court. Please be guided accordingly,’’ it quoted Ojobo as saying.

  • NCC to IG: arrest vandals, others

    NCC to IG: arrest vandals, others

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged the Inspector- General of Police, Solomon Arase, to arrest and prosecute persons and agents of states who resort to sealing base transceiver stations (BTS), vandalise optic fibre cables and others, arguing that such persons are contravening the laws of the country.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Prof Umar Danbatta, said these actions, aside being illegal, they violate Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, CAP C39, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. He said the resort to sealing of BTS also has its social implication which is that it cuts off subscribers from communicating.

    Danbatta, who led a team of NCC officials on a courtesy visit to the IGP in Abuja, lamented that in spite of the critical role the telecoms industry is playing in the socio-economic transformation of people’s lives, some persons, including organisations, communities, agencies of the federal, state and local government at times using law enforcement officers, to seal BTS.

    He said over the years, the telecoms sector has grown and now formed the super structure of modern lifestyle, social and economic practices, lamenting that unless something was done urgently, the fortunes of the country may be reversed.

    “Virtually all the financial transactions, mobile money and mobile banking are made possible as a result of the infrastructure and platforms provided by the telecom industry; the vibrant social media industry that we are witnessing today is made possible by the platforms provided by the telecom industry. The telecom and ICT industry currently contributes about 10 per cent to the GDP (gross domestic product) of this country. It is, therefore, evident that telecoms impacts positively on our lives, our families, businesses, governance, security, and even our social lives, and even in our international relations,” he said.

    He said acts of wilful destruction of telecoms infrastructure, such as cutting of fibre optic cable and general vandalism, have become worrisome, adding that this had led to the clamour for the classification of telecoms infrastructure as critical national infrastructure.

    “While we seek your support for urgent actualisation of this law; we wish to implore you to see to the use of the current provisions of the law to ensure that individuals found to be engaged in willful destruction of telecoms infrastructure are timely prosecuted,” Danbatta pleaded.

    The NCC chief recalled that several arrests had been made over the past two years by a combined team of NCC officials and the police of people involved in either the use of pre-registered subscriber identity module (SIM) cards or those perpetrating other criminal acts through the telecoms infrastructure, lamenting that most of the cases were either thrown out for lack of proper investigation or lack of diligent prosecution.

    Arase lauded the role of telecoms in tackling national security challenges, such as kidnapping, an area where the role of GSM has been pronounced.

    While expressing the readiness of the Police to work with the Commission, he proposed the setting up of a special team drawn from the Police and the Commission to handle telecom-related cases.

    Both agencies of the government pledged to collaborate on issues concerning security of telecoms infrastructure and capacity build

  • ‘Internet disrupting digital marketing’

    Explosion in internet penetration in the country is disrupting the digital marketing framework, the Team Lead, Reach360, a creative digital marketing agency, Daniel Iyam, has said.

    Speaking during the digital marketing forum organised by the firm in Lagos at the weekend, he said recent statistics released at Digital Marketing Unboxed 1.0 showed that active internet users in Nigeria have moved to 98.1 million, representing a 54.7 per cent penetration rate.

    He said of these numbers, over 70million users regularly connect to the internet through mobile devices.

    “Brands and businesses cannot ignore the growth of mobile in their overall digital marketing strategy. Responsive is the new buzz word in digital marketing. If your website or email designs aren’t responsive across different mobile devices, you stand the chance of not getting the best out of your digital marketing effort,” Iyam said.

    According to him, the new Google algorithms have also reduced the search page ranking strength for websites that aren’t mobile responsive.

    Speaking further at the event, Iyam identified marketing through wearable technology as the next big thing in the digital mobile space.

  • How to bridge digital divide, by NCC chief

    How to bridge digital divide, by NCC chief

    The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has said the yawning digital divide in the country could only be bridged if the wide infrastructural gap is  reduced significantly.

    Its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof Umar Dambatta, urged the international community in Barcelona, Spain during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) to come and invest in the provision of broadband infrastructure in the country, assuring them of huge returns on investment (RoI) and government’s support.

    He said pursuant to bridging the infrastructure divide, two infrastructure service providers (Infracos) have been licensed-one for Lagos and Northcentral zones including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja adding that the process for issuing licences for the other five zones has started.

    He said: “We want to bridge the digital divide by addressing infrastructure divide and we will be transparent and open about this.

    “The necessary regulatory framework has been put in place to ensure a transparent licensing process because we really want to bridge the digital divide.”

    With over 107 per cent teledensity achieved in the voice segment of telecoms industry, he assured the international community and potential investors that Nigeria remained a sure haven for investments in the information communication technology (ICT) space.

    Danbatta, who spoke during a panel discussion on: Is Closing the Digital Divide in sub-Saharan Africa Myth or Reality?, assured the international community that the NCC’s eight-point agenda unveiled last month was carefully packaged to take care of all aspects of investments, especially the nation transits to the next frontier of ICT revolution which is broadband for internet connectivity.

    The panel discussion was a part of the regional summit for sub-Saharan Africa at the MWC by GSM Association.

    Danbatta told the panel which was moderated by Nigeria’s Shola Taylor who is also the Secretary-General, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) that NCC has put in place the agenda to encourage investors.

    “Two of the prominent goals of the eight-point agenda are related to deployment of infrastructure for broadband and efficient utilisation of spectrum to benefit all Nigerians in all the regions,” he added.

    His audience included Secretary General of African Telecommunications Union (ATU), Mr. Abdoukarim Soumaila, Deputy Minister, Telecoms and Postal Services for South Africa, Prof. (Ms) Nlengiwe Mkhize, Meg. Charles-Horn (Africa mobile Networks), Shiletsi Makhofane (Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa), Mr. Mortimer Hope, Director Africa for GSMA, Alan Marcus (World Economic Forum) and Nkateko Nyoka of Vodacom Group among others, that the NCC will keep fate with the National Broadband Plans and in line with this, the country now has seven zones and each zone will have one operator which will deploy broadband services to every part of that zone.

    Earlier in his presentation, Soumaila bemoaned the general poor connectivity of African continent despite huge investments so far by the 46-member nations of ATU.

    Chief Officer, Regulatory Affairs, Vodacom, Nkateko Nyoka said to bridge the digital divide, emphasis has shifted from voice to data and “we need skills to run sustainable businesses.”  He advised regulators to make clear goals in terms of spectrum allocation.

    For Makhafane, despite the seeming digital divide, there are more mobile phones than TV sets but admitted that “we can reach more people through mobile broadband.”

     

  • Huawei urges global partnership on 5G

    Chinese original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Huawei, says with global momentum moving towards fifth generation or 5G era across all information communication technology (ICT) industries, it is seeking global partnership to build and expand the mobile industry ecosystem to become more resilient and ensure the success of the technology.

    According to the tech giant, as a driving force to lead 5G innovation, Huawei has extended its global partnership initiatives with more than 20 carriers, including CMCC, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, NTT DOCOMO, Telefonica, TeliaSonera and Etisalat, and 10 industry partners, spanning continents in Asia, Europe, and North America.

    The firm said it believes strongly that customers’ innovative orientation with open partnership is the foundation to create the next generation of wireless technologies, adding that over the past years, it has established joint innovation programmes with leading operators and conducted lab tests and field trials with a broad spectrum of 5G enabling technologies.

    During the last Mobile World Congress (MWC 2016) in Barcelona, Spain, Huawei had in partnership with foremost tech firms, showcased technologies such as 5G New Radio Access Technologies (5G New RAT) in a large scale field trial with NTT DOCOMO; 5G Full Duplex Radio Technology with China Mobile; 5G mobile architecture for the Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) applications with Vodafone; and extreme fast 5G mmWave technology at 70Gbps transmission speed, and end-to-end network slicing technologies with Deutsche Telekom.

    Commenting on these milestones, Huawei Fellow Wen Tong, said:  “We will continue to focus our effort to 5G technology innovation. In the spirit of joint innovations with entire ecosystem, we will strive to bring the 5G technologies into maturity and to deliver value to our customer and end users, we are addressing some of the most challenging areas in 5G technologies, namely, the new air-interface with capability to meet all the requirement for the 5G applications, the programmable application-driven-network architecture built on the cloud-native platform and a holistic set of the new capabilities to enable the vertical applications for emerging 5G services and applications.

    “In addition, we are excited to participate the recent announcement of a series China 5G technologies field trial to contribute our effort to commercial 5G launch in 2020”

    In addition to what was showcased at MWC, Huawei collaborated with equipment vendor partners to validate 5G technologies such as Rohde Schwarz to demonstrate the 5G new waveform technologies.

    Huawei said it also collaborated and with Aeroflex, a Cobham Company, to demonstrate the 5G grant free access technologies at MWC 2016, adding that it also launched a number of programmes with vertical industries to explore the 5G-enabled machine type of communications such as massive sensors connectivity, URLLC with applications of self-drive-car and cloud controlled-robot.

    “Industry-wide collaboration and partnership is a proven path to create a successful next generation wireless technologies, as an ICT industry leader, Huawei is expanding the global 5G innovation footprint; Huawei is making effort to leverage the early stage technology innovations and partnership to contribute the global standard,” the tech giant said.

  • ICT can replace oil, says Google

    Nigeria has the potential to use Information Communication Technology (ICT), to restore what has been lost in the oil sector, Google’s Policy and Government Relations Manager, Mrs Titi Akinsanmi has said.

    She said Nigeria has a vibrant technology sector which has lots of opportunities to tap into.

    “We have vibrant ICT companies including the big known companies like Jumia and Konga and the young companies that develop apps that make a difference in the way people live their lives,” she said.

    She noted that applications built around chats and games have huge investment prospects as oil revenues fall.

    She said a research carried out about two years ago on the impact of the internet on the economy showed that ICT sector already contributes at least three per cent GDP in Nigeria.

    “If we can have three per cent contribution from the ICT sector in our GDP where there is no focus in the sector, it means if we focus more on the sector the GDP will increase,” she said.

    She said part of what Google has been doing over the last five years in the country is to work with a range of partners to develop the ICT ecosystem. “We also work with institutions within government; we work with media and the education sectors to enable people contribute to the technology sector. We at Google know that if people have the access and the funds, they will use our products and that is what we are really after, because we are here to make profit in our business,” she said.

    She said there are many opportunities in the ICT sector, including the opportunity to become small multimedia size business online, developing apps for Android operating systems and developing apps around maps.

    She called for training to develop the ICT sector, saying there is a lot of work to be done in that area, adding that if people do not have the skills, they will not be able to take advantage of the opportunities around them.

  • Funding major challenge of ICT startups, says NITDA

    Funding major challenge of ICT startups, says NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)  has identified dearth of seed fund as one of the major challenges inhibiting the growth of startups in the information communications technology (ICT) industry in the country.

    Its subsidiary, Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), lamented that, despite the importance of seed funds in the early life of startups, it remained a big challenge in the development of the ICT ecosystem.

    Coordinator of OIIE Bunmi Okunowo, who spoke at the maiden edition of StartUP Friday in Abuja, however, said the office disbursed N50 million grants to tech-driven startups last year as a demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening indigenous ICT entrepreneurship to reduce joblessness and create wealth for the people.

    He said OIIE gave the grants to incubators and accelerators that have proven records of nurturing and producing startups with growth potential, adding that it is expecting the approval of its budget for this year before implementing this year’s disbursement.

    He said: “One of the major challenges facing startups is the seed funding. That early stage funding that helps the startups to get the idea off ground to prototype, to working product and commercialisation stage. Seed funding is very scarce in our society, despite the increased rates of ICT products and services springing up every now and then. What we are doing is to assist thriving incubators and accelerators with grants in bankrolling the cost of incubating or accelerating promising tech-driven startups to successful businesses,” he said.

    At the StartUP Friday, which hosted over 100 entrepreneurs, Okunowo said the programme was a component of its StartUP Café designed to bridge the gap by enriching the development processes of new tech-driven businesses through “meet-up” which he said, would connect the tech-startup with investors, mentors, technology buyers and enthusiasts in major tech clusters in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu as well as Port-Harcourt, Ibadan and Ife.

    He said StartUP Friday was a product of the feedback got from a study OIIE conducted in last year when it launched an online application for grants. The results of the poll revealed that Lagos State has the highest number of startups that applied, while Abuja and Kaduna came second and third respectively.

    “For us, it was surprising that Abuja was second. This brought questions such as: Where are they? Where do they meet? Where do they go? Is there a forum where they connect and share resources, experiences? We began to strategise on how to create a community of startups, an ecosystem where everyone belongs to just as we have in Lagos. A place where it doesn’t matter what hub or community you belong to, rather where all connect to share and grow. That’s how StartUP Friday came into being,” he said.

    According to him, the event was borne out of the desire for the OIIE to create an environment for startups to learn, interact and, re-scale their business, adding that through the process, startups would also get to socialise with investors, technology buyers, and technology enthusiasts.

    Senior Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment under the Office of the Vice President, Afolabi Imoukhuede, said the development is in line the focus of the government in catalysing the creation of jobs in some sectors, which includes ICT, especially tech innovation clusters across the country.

    CEOs of some of the tech-driven startups spoke on their experiences. The founder of Mamalette, a young ICT-driven business that provides existing and new mothers with technology-driven access to continuous quality content and network with those going through similar experiences, Anike Lawal, narrated her experience on how she kept on pushing against all odds and learning many skills to enable her company take off. Today she has over 80,000 members on her platform, reaching 200,000 people weekly and managing 1,800 registered forum users on the platform.

    Founder of Health Tech Global Solutions, Dr. Neto Ikpeme, also spoke on how he started three businesses that he had to stop until he found this current one. He said: “Rejection from sponsors or buyers should not deter an entrepreneur from pursuing his passion”.

    At the March edition of StartUP Friday, Okunowo said the programme would be expanded to feature pitches from at least ten tech-driven start-ups, product demonstrations, networking and shortlisting for an upcoming incubation programme overseas.