The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OEMs

  • Complaints against ISPs, OEMs, others flood NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said its office has been inundated with complaints from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), other government establishments, the organised private sector (OPS) and individual consumers of information technology (IT) goods and services about the poor quality of services being rendered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and others.

    Other service providers that have been reported to the agency include electronic or e-commerce platforms, software vendors, IT enabled service providers such as financial technology service providers (FTSPs), payment terminal service providers (PTSPs), payment solutions service providers (PSSPs), Business Process Outsourcing Service Providers (BPOSPs) and other IT goods and service providers.

    Its Director General/CEO, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, lamented that an assessment carried out by the agency confirmed that such complaints were largely genuine, adding that while NITDA is working with critical stakeholders to ensure an excellent working environment for both indigenous and foreign IT goods and service providers, the agency is also making efforts to ensure that Nigerians are satisfied with IT goods and services consumed.

    He said the agency would do all it could to enforce the rights of consumers who are being underserved by the substandard services they receive from such providers.

    He said: “The poor quality of some IT goods and services is adversely affecting the economy. Some businesses have had to pack up as the value derived from IT was not commensurate with IT investments. Additionally, some MDAs have been repeating expenses on IT goods and services in every budget year because of the poor quality of earlier purchased software and hardware. This has constituted an unsustainable drain on the nation’s resources.

    “We are, therefore, calling on both indigenous and foreign IT goods and service providers to pay attention to quality and customer satisfaction. Terms of licence acquisition, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and contracts with clients and customers must be strictly adhered to. The Agency is setting mechanism in place to monitor compliance and would facilitate the blacklisting perennial defaulters, prosecute them and ensure remedy for consumers.”

    NITDA is an agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications created to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordinate general IT development and regulation in the country.

    Specifically, Section 6(a & c) of the Act mandates NITDA to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardisation, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria; and render advisory services in all information technology matters to the public and private sectors.

  • NCDMB, Shell, OEMs begin work on industrial park

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) have begun work on a mini-industrial park, a major step towards the attainment of Nigerian Content goals.

    It took place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, and it featured three original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) – Alcon, Fiddil, and Prime Atlantic – utilised by Shell for its operations. Each got 1,800 square metres within Shell’s industrial area to build facilities and domesticate some of their services.

    The Shell-promoted industrial park is in furtherance of the NCDMB’s Equipment Components Manufacturing Initiative (ECMI) introduced in 2011, to encourage OEMs and their representatives to set up facilities for manufacturing of spare parts and accessories of equipment for oil and gas operations.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary Denzil Kentebe said the event re-affirmed government’s vision of using Nigerian Content as an instrument for the industrialisation of the economy. He listed the targets of the initiative to include transformation of representatives of OEMs from “marketers to manufacturers and maximize retention of industry spend within the economy, on procurement of equipment, manufacturing, supply, installation and after sales services.”

    Kentebe identified other targets to include reversing the trend of equipment rentals by encouraging Nigerians to acquire equipment for activities, such as drilling and construction.

    He said: “To achieve the ECMI policy thrust, the board introduced the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate (NCEC) as a Local Content Requirement (LCR) for participation in bids connected to the supply or utilisation of equipment in the oil and gas industry. This is to ensure that the full capacities of local manufacturers or owners of equipment are exhausted before any equipment can be imported.”

    He praised  Shell for embracing the ECMI, having obtained approval from the NCDMB in 2012 for OEM domestication scheme. He enjoined others to embrace such collaborative efforts to develop the local supply chain.

    Kentebe said domestication of local manufacturing was key to Nigerian content growth and the platform for value-adding activities, such as research and innovation, processing of local raw materials and establishment of ancillary services; all of which create employment and empowerment for youths and contributes to the gross domestic product.

    SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair Osagie Okunbor described the initiative as a key intervention of Shell Companies in Nigeria to support Nigerian Content development, adding that it would improve cycle time, enhance service delivery and engender long-term economic benefits, including employment for Nigerians.

    He listed key objectives to include increase in control, simplicity and potential for long-term cost saving.

    Okunbor, represented by the Project Director, Mr. Toyin Olagunju, said the OEMs and their Nigerian local partners were issued the NCEC by the NCDMB in 2012.  He said Shell Companies in Nigeria were committed to supporting Nigerian Content and other strategies aimed at increasing the participation of businesses in the oil and gas industry.

    “SPDC supported a Nigerian manufacturer, Egba Split Clamp Nigeria Limited, to refine their products with hydro and pressure tests. Egba clamps are now approved for use in SPDC operations and we are working towards the deployment of the clamps in our operation. We will also continue to support other manufacturing initiatives including pipe mill development, development of drilling fluids and production chemicals,” Okunbor added.

  • Board promises conducive environment for manufacturers

    The Federal Government  will  provide a conducive environment for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to facilitate their jobs, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Ernest Nwapa has said.

    The OEMs are to provide technologies for the refineries, and other vital areas in the oil and gas sector.

    In an interview with reporters, he said the provision of the infrastructure would enable the manufacturers perform well by providing the industry with the required equipment.

    “So, rather than bringing these OMEs to come here and ask them to  start sourcing for land and developing them, we have taken the responsibility to stimulate that by doing some of the basic things.’’ he said.

    He added: “We believe that when we do the infrastructure, when we keep them in a cluster; when we invite them in and use the leverage that we have as a statutory agency of the government to push the operators into the oil and gas parks, the OEMs will then come along with their support system  into this place. We will also inject some Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).’’

    Nwapa said the government would provide basic infrastructure, such as roads and power to make the environment conducive for the OEMs.

    “We will develop the land in phases. We will create basic infrastructure, such as roads, power, water,  telecoms and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities,” he said.

  • Wiko challenges OEMs

    Wiko challenges OEMs

    An obscure smartphone maker in France has created a successful European challenger to tech giants Samsung and Apple. Wiko is majority-owned by Chinese technology group Tinno Mobile and its phones are manufactured in China.  It has also become a popular brand in Portugal and Italy.

    Wiko has eight per cent of the French market, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, which measured “triple-digit growth across Europe” for the brand in the past year.

    The company has plans to take the brand into countries where inroads have already been made by Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE to bring down the price of smartphones.

    It will start selling handsets in the UK this autumn, according to David Garcia, head of International Development at Wiko, followed by parts of Africa such as the Ivory Coast and Senegal, the Middle East and Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

    Wiko was established in February 2011 by a French businessman Laurent Dahan. Its head office, design and marketing teams are based in Marseille.

    Garcia said the heart of the group was in Europe, but there was support from its Chinese partner.

    “There is a European brain and atmosphere that would not be possible if we were based in China,” he said. “You need to be based in Europe to understand European needs.”

    Even so, he admits that making phones would not be possible in Europe. “You can think in Europe but you have to make it somewhere else.

    You need your costs in China to stay competitive.”