SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Limited, a Nigerian information technology solutions company, and its Managing Director, Isah Kantigi have been sanctioned by the World Bank.

This was contained in a statement titled ‘World Bank Group debars SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd. and its managing director’, which was published on the bank’s website on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.

SoftTech specializes in Big Data and Cloud Solutions, Geographic Information Systems and Mapping, Information Retrieval and Search Engines

The firm was sanctioned for 50 months while Kantigi received a 60-month punishment.

With this decision, both the company and Kantigi are now ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group.

The statement read in part, “The World Bank Group today announced the 50-month debarment of SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd., an information technology solutions company based in Nigeria, and the 60-month debarment of its managing director, in connection with corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.

“The debarments make SoftTech and Mr Isah Kantigi, a Nigerian national, ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group.”

The World Bank said the firm and the managing director were sanctioned for improper payments made to certain project officials.
According to reports, they were suspended for alleged corruption, as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.
The statement read in part, “The World Bank Group today announced the 50-month debarment of SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd., an information technology solutions company based in Nigeria, and the 60-month debarment of its managing director, in connection with corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.

“The debarments make SoftTech and Mr Isah Kantigi, a Nigerian national, ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group.”

The World Bank said the firm and the managing director were sanctioned for improper payments made to certain project officials.

In another development, the World Bank said that the number of poor Nigerians is projected to hit 95.1 million in 2022.

The bank made this known in its poverty assessment report titled ‘A Better Future for All Nigerians: 2022 Nigeria Poverty Assessment’.

The report noted that the COVID-19 crisis is driving up Nigeria’s poverty rate, pushing more than five million additional people into poverty by 2022.

With real per capita GDP growth being negative in all sectors in 2020, the bank said poverty is projected to have deepened for the current poor, while those households that were just above the poverty line prior to the COVID-19 crisis would be likely to fall into poverty.

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TECH DIGEST – To protect the medical data of residents of Lagos State, the Director General National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mal. Kasihfu Inuwa has urged the State Ministry of Health to fully adopt the implementation of all provisions in the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR)

In a working visit to the state Commissioner of Health, Professor Akinola Abayomi, Mal. Inuwa commended the Commissioner and his team on the proactive, professional dispositions and approach in which the State handled and disseminated public information during the Corona virus pandemic crisis.

“Beyond any iota of doubt, our recovery as a nation from corona virus cannot be told without special mention of the work you and your team did and are still doing to keep us safe”, the DG averred.

The DG stated that in the 4th Industrial Revolution where big data, artificial intelligence, internet of things and blockchain technology are the key indices and parameters driving economy globally, it is important to review and improve on the credibility of datasets in health care, a sector which is data driven, adding that Medical Informatics and Data are the bedrock of clinical medicine and research.

He further disclosed that the NDPR, a regulation issued by NITDA to protect data privacy and coordinate safe exchange of personal data is built on all the international principles of data protection such as accuracy, limitation of use, security, confidentiality, availability and integrity of data.

According to him, it is a subsidiary law which limits abuse of power by data controllers as data subjects determine how their data should be handled.

The DG stated that the adoption and implementation of the NDPR by the Lagos State Ministry of Health will make every patient in the health care sector trust the privacy and management of their personal information with the state health care sector. This he stated, implies that the sector will have a privacy policy that gives access to the type of personal information being collected, stored and processed by ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of personal data.

He reiterated that it is imperative to re-orientate health workers in the state on the importance of data privacy and proper disposal of medical wastes to avoid personal sample details being exposed to wrong persons.

He however, noted that the full implementation of the NDPR would cost human, time and material resources but the resultant benefits cannot be overemphasized noting that it is a process that will yield multiple dividends eventually.

He stressed that “by giving an illustration in which a recent study showed that about $100 billion would save by adopting internet of things (IoT) in healthcare. When you consider other technology inputs such as telemedicine, genetic research, electronic medical records, it would be obvious that healthcare would be one of the most technology intensive sectors in a few short years.”

“By adopting and implementing the NDPR, you have begun the journey to a better and more appropriate use of technology in the healthcare sector. Lagos state would benefit a lot if people understand that the state health sector values personal data and makes efforts to protect it. This alone, would boost health tourism and improve the quality of care in the state”, the DG concluded.

Professor Abayomi while thanking the DG and his team for visiting the Ministry expressed confidence that the privacy of sensitive data in Nigeria which is under the supervision of NITDA is in excellent hands.

The Commissioner said that the State Ministry of Health, as custodian of the Lagos State Smart Health Information Platform, has ensured that their clients and partners are NDPR compliant in order to deliver an excellent and transparent service.

“We will continue to work very hard with NITDA to stick with the guidelines which have been propagated by the Agency”, the Commissioner said.

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TECH DIGEST – As the global economy is rapidly transforming through creative innovations, Nigeria has created Big data platform to improve data gathering for service delivery.

The Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Kashifu Inuwa who made the disclosure at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX 2020) taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirate.

As a panellist at the African Investment Forum of the Conference, Inuwa pointed out that the establishment of the National Mobile Big Data Analytic Platform was to efficiently scale up investment in the Digital economy sphere.

He said: “The Platform was created to enable a data revolution in the Nigerian economy by using converging the data collected by local mobile networks and skilled Nigerian data scientists. It would build up a central hub to collect and process location data from mobile network operators; disseminate aggregate statistics on several vital sectors of the economy such as population, security, healthcare, transportation, education and tourism through an open database.”

Kashifu added that through the platform thousands of Nigerians would be trained and mentor on database management, data processing and analysis, service the information needs of MDAs, NGOs and private companies through a data science hub.

The NITDA boss said his agency proactively sought ways to leverage digital technologies for development.

“In the bid to ensure that citizens are empowered with Information Technologies, NITDA has taken proactive policy steps to develop a critical mass of IT proficient and globally competitive manpower in the country.

“In this light, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) was recently established by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); as part of its contribution to the successful implementation of the digital economy strategy.

“NCAIR represents government’s determination to create a suitable environment for technology innovation, incubation and discovery while harnessing the abundant creative ideas of Nigeria’s teeming youth population for national development through the promotion of innovative technologies.

“With the establishment of this centre, the youth segment of the population would be challenged to channel their creative energies towards preparing solutions that seek to address current and future problems or challenges across all sectors of the economy.”

While inviting foreign investors, he said Nigeria is a leading destination for FDI in Africa due to its vibrant emerging market, exceptional geographical position, diversified economy, young and eager labour force, and excellent quality of life and much more.

According to him, Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria is expected to reach $220 Million by the end of this quarter which portends an opportunity for investment in the Digital economy sector.

Digital technologies are rapidly developing in diverse fields—including mobile communications, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of things, and 3-D printing. We are now in the 4th Industrial Revolution and the world is experiencing the profound changes that new technologies bring to the way we live, work, interact, and do business.

“Nigeria holds an enormous potential for private investors and venture capitalist in the Digital economy ecosystem, the question of Nigeria’s potential as a choice of IT investment destination in this century is definitely not in doubt,” he concluded.

PRNigeria observes that GITEX Technology Week is hosting about 1,300 exhibitors, including over 300 start-ups from over 60 countries. There are pavilions from most innovative technological and promising nations, including United States, United Kingdom, France, Israel, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Poland, Romania among others.

By PRNigeria

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TECH DIGEST – The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has facilitated virtual public engagement on the draft Nigeria Mobile Data policy prepared by the National Technical Working Group (NTWG).

The virtual meeting which involves numerous stakeholders sure as Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), security agencies, academia and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) held recently. In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr. Musa Istifanus stated that the objective of the National Mobile Big Data Analytics Program is to enable diverse stakeholders within and outside Nigeria to derive value from the large volume of Mobile Positioning Data (MPD) which is in the custody of the Licensed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Nigeria.

According to him, “Mobile Big Data possess massive benefits for the public good, including arming statistical bodies with new statistical data and insights. The Ministry has taken steps towards realizing these benefits by setting up a National Technical Working Group (NTWG) to articulate a roadmap for the development and use of MPD for official statistics as well as other benefits”. He said the draft policy prepared by the National Technical Working Group (NTWG) on the Mobile Big Data under auspices of the National Mobile Big Data Analytics Program of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMC&DE) which membership includes regulators, MNOs, security agencies and several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that will benefit from the results of mobile big data analytics. In his contribution, the representative of Airtel, Mr. Ifeloju Alakija commended the Ministry for initiating the policy which would help diversify Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP) urging the committee to expand and broaden the scope to include the Over the Top (OTT) player, Banks, Universities, and MDAs. Mr. Anas Galadima (MTN) praised the Ministry for its foresight in the development of the policy that would improve the sector adding that its organization is excited that the government is moving at a speed of light to respond to emerging technology.

The representative of the Nigeria Governor Forum (NGF), Mr. Heman Bassi stated that the forum is more concerned about the poor and vulnerable and how to access them and use data to capture their details. The lead member of the National Technical Working Group, Mr. Bern Ewah (NITDA), Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr. Musa Istifanus, Director (Planning, Research, and Statistics), Dr. Nonye Nwachukwu, and Mr. Kema Bonta during the Virtual Public Stakeholders Engagement on the Report on the Draft Nigeria Mobile Big Data Policy in Abuja.

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