FEATURE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ICT SECTOR IN NIGERIA AND ITS ROLE IN INFLUENCING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
In a chat with Mr Felix Adebayo of First Adsunfix Limited, an ICT expert in Digital Communication Systems (System Design and Implementation, Security and Renewable Energy Systems) he highlighted the problem areas in Nigeria’s navigation towards ICT growth and the challenges in influencing economic prosperity.
We touched on many areas and the problems are numerous. Without listing all the challenges Nigeria faces, this write-up looks at the critical issues and how to turn things around for an Industrialised Nigeria, by looking way ahead of our current realities.
Mr Adebayo began our chat by commenting on the current state of the countries ICT sector; ‘Looking at the ICT developments recorded in Nigeria over the years, there have been several growth spurts in the number of small businesses in that space which is good for Nigeria’s economic growth. The main challenge is the government’s lack of awareness of how revolutionary the Information Communication Technology industry can be. Their attempted interventions mostly influenced by global disruptions of the ICT and Cyber Security sectors are not ‘authentic’ in the real sense; there is so much talk but few deliberate actions to get things going’.
In explaining how a sector which has grown many economies like China, and parts of Europe who lack the natural resources of Africa, he stated that ‘ICT had been underplayed as a misunderstood and neglected option, with non-intellectual people calling the shots in Nigeria’s government for decades. The dwindling demand for oil globally will ultimately require a young and ICT savvy generation of leaders to convert these new opportunities to economic gains...but this is yet to happen at a serious scale in the country, with the old generation with little to offer, clutching tightly to power’.
Most recently in the ICT space, there was a serious talk on the development of more Cyber Crime and Data Protection legislation, influenced by the internet fraud activities which have over the years, earned Nigeria a notoriety for such scams otherwise known as ‘419'. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria had fought cyber-enabled crimes for a while before this Act saw the light of day; which they now describe as a major improvement in their ability to prosecute Cyber related crimes on the law courts. But did the current legislation leave room for innovation and the involvement of Cyber Experts?
Mr Adebayo stated that ‘The enactment of the Cyber Crimes Prohibition Act of 2015 is commendable, but simply policing cybercriminals is not the only aim here, the world right now has acknowledged technology as the future, will Nigeria be a major player in that future? Or will it provide the brilliant minds to run things in other countries, while back home it survives off the leftovers? There are many Technology researchers and cyber experts from Nigeria doing great things globally, but these same people are not accepted as leaders in their own country Nigeria which is very unfortunate. There is so much we could be doing right now with the dedicated experts who are more or less self-thought leaders within the ICT sector in Nigeria. There simply isn’t enough effort to identify ICT/Technology development as a serious revenue earner for the economy on Nigeria’
‘This not the time to dwell on stricter regulation of ICT businesses, but to seek a better understanding and encouragement of growth in the sector; Nigeria appears to have a long gap to fill in meeting up with global standards in influencing growth in its ICT and Technology Manufacturing sectors, due mainly to poor and non-existent infrastructure’
I agree that there is so much more to do now than ever before and taking advantage of the available technological innovations in rebuilding the Nigerian economy can be achieved through the encouragement of ICT initiatives and businesses to produce or manufacture ICT solutions for export to the international market, instead of stifling growth through the enactment of harsh legislation to scrutinise and monitor start-ups.
When I asked Mr Abebayo what Nigerian decision makers should be doing now, he had this to say.
‘The main point is not to get reactive and start immediately collecting unserviceable international loans to build expensive research facilities for the ICT sector but to work with what is already available. There are associations led by ICT leaders and Cyber Security experts, who are influencing major growth in the country like; the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), which actively engages with Nigerian decision makers on the threats and possible solutions in cyberspace; ICT deserves a permanent seat on the decision-making table in Nigeria. The country has the largest number of internet users in Africa and the successful deployment if existing ICT solutions to the populace show how ready the people are for the future...but is the government ready?’
‘Take the commercial banking sector for example, which has largely moved most of its services online for fast transactions without visits to the banking halls. These same financial institutions invest in technology use, but on the flipside deny loans to Technology start-ups; these inconsistencies have affected many businesses in Nigeria in no small measure. With no financial backing in place to keep start-ups afloat, growth will ultimately be stifled’
Attempts to rescue the economy from the recession which crippled exchange rates in 2016, can only work if the people ‘Become the change’ they want to see. And in my opinion, Nigeria has immense potential and the solution is basically to empower the people who are already technologically aware. There are areas that need at least a decade of research and development to break into the international market as a serious contender; take software development which is relatively a new market in Nigeria but has taken the lead, with more and more young entrepreneurs seeking to develop the next best thing for the mass market.
A major growth spurt was recorded in the number of locally developed software applications for Android devices by Nigerian tech entrepreneurs and this is good news. The downside of this is the apparent lack of understanding of the huge potential of the ICT sector by the Nigerian government officials at an innovative level. Technology is not just a quick fix for earning more revenue for the failing economy; it’s the future of the world.
‘Globally, countries are facing peculiar threats which were nonexistent 10 years ago. The emergence of more sophisticated AI, robots replacing humans at work and cyber terrorism snooping around every dark corner of the web, I must say we have only seen a tip of the iceberg.
Oil is becoming the old form of energy for the world and everyone is exploring newer and cleaner energy options, leaving oil-dependent economies scrambling for the next best commodity to trade in. Robots are already taking over jobs from human beings to speed up productivity and technology is disrupting the human brain more rapidly than ever before.’
‘Nigeria already imports almost all its technology which gives billions of dollars away to foreign countries and the sooner it invests in the development of its own technology solutions, there will be no surviving the economic meltdown it will face in the near future. To survive, the leaders must scout for local Technology and ICT experts to revolutionise its economic activities like; agriculture, manufacturing and hospitality sectors. Many of these local experts leave Nigeria to contribute their skills to other economies, so why not identify and harness those skills at home? There is so much to gain from tactfully getting the right hands to change things for a better future. But what we see today are politicians quibbling over words on Twitter and playing dangerous politics.’ Mr Adebayo said.
Looking closely at the reality for Nigeria and Nigerians; the importation of technology and expatriate hands to deploy the technology is a very unpatriotic practice, when local experts are sidelined and discriminated against due to the previous dangerous effects of allegedly using unqualified Nigerian hands at the corridors of power, corruption still remains a danger to Nigeria’s survival in the global playing field; sadly the qualified Nigerian experts with no friends in power, lose credibility before they even get a chance to prove themselves in major projects.
On local content regulations/ legislation Mr Adebayo said ‘There is no local content regulation in place for ICT experts to play the crucial role of developing technologies for the countries’ technological future, this will have very disastrous consequences for the next generation of Nigerians having to work with technologies not created with their socio-political circumstance or demographic in mind. An example of this use of borrowed technology is the cable television service providers who have stuck on old technology, enslaving the majority of Nigerian households to higher fees and poor services without remorse; with the advent of many video streaming services these pioneering local providers felt disrupted and started working on adapting their services to the current disruption. The point is not the disruption, but the failure to innovate for over 3 decades and the absence of enlightened legislation regulating the services of these service providers. This also applies to telecommunication services, with the various services providers failing to innovate at the same rate as their counterparts or branches in better-developed economies. This begs the question, are the NBC and NCC oblivious to global standards in the industries they regulate?’
In concluding our Chat Mr Adebayo was optimistic about the future of ICT in Nigeria ‘Nigeria needs a roadmap based on China’s development of its manufacturing for global consumption. The era of waiting for breakthroughs to be made for our consumption should be put aside. Nigeria has the potential to have an industrial revolution similar to China, but this requires a very dedicated leadership that is willing to look inwards and challenge itself to dominate'.
'Additionally, law enforcement, just like most of the sectors in Nigeria need to be reformed to make adequate use of technological equipment invested in by the government. I personally know of the theft of highly sophisticated surveillance equipment purchased for surveillance of sensitive spots in the country, but due to the lack of use and monitoring by law enforcement, thieves got to them. There needs to be a mass education of Nigerians, starting from the various Public and Private sector players, down to the school children and young people in general; this I believe is more fundamental to the survival of the country in the digital age'.
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