TECHDIGEST – President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said deployment of digital technology in the 2023 National Population and Housing Census will ensure effectiveness and more accuracy in the figures, while noting that Nigeria could rank third largest in the world by 2050, after China and India.

Speaking at the national stakeholders’ summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census held at the State House, President Buhari said a “reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census’’ will help government in planning purpose for development, especially in bolstering the social security programme that targets more vulnerable Nigerians.

“The country’s inability to conduct a population census in the last 16 years has created an information vacuum as the data from the last census conducted in 2006 has been rendered out of date for planning purposes. It has therefore become imperative for the nation to conduct another national census to produce a new set of demographic and socio-economic data that will provide the basis for national planning and sustainable development.

“Population is a critical factor in a nation’s efforts toward achieving sustainable development. People are both the agents and beneficiaries of the development process. Knowledge of the national population in terms of size, distribution and socio-economic characteristics is required for planning purposes. This, therefore, makes the conduct of census an essential governance activity.

“With a projected population of 216,783,381, Nigeria is the sixth most populous country in the world and the most populous country on the African continent. Due to the rapidly growing nature of the population and large proportion of the youthful population, Nigeria is also projected to be the third most populous country in the World by the year 2050 after India and China,’’ he said.

Despite Nigeria’s high-ranking position on the global demographic map, the President said its population censuses had been conducted irregularly and at intervals, longer than the United Nations recommended 10 years.

“This irregular and long interval of census taking in Nigeria, has denied the nation the huge benefits of comprehensive baseline data for evidence-based decision-making.

“Since our assumption of office in 2015, our administration has introduced several poverty reduction and youth empowerment programmes, which are making concrete improvements in the living standards of our people. There is a need to ensure that further implementation of these programmes will be driven by the 2023 Census data that will improve the implementation of programmes targeting vulnerable populations and ensuring as widespread coverage as possible.

“The nation requires a new data set to drive the implementation of the recently launched revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and other government policies. The 2023 Census data is also needed to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country as it will give an overview of the population, where we are and who we are,’’ he added.

President Buhari called for support of stakeholders, which include State Governments, Local Government Councils, Traditional and Religious Institutions, Civil Society Organizations, Private Sectors, media, Development Partners, Donor Agencies and the general populace for the successful conduct of the 2023 Census.

“Ordinarily, conducting a population census is a routine national event that is the ultimate responsibility of every national government. Census taking cannot be left to the National Population Commission alone,’’ he said.

President Buhari noted that the government would appreciate all support from donors, development partners and the international community in order to ensure that the Commission conducts a census that would be transparent, credible and meet national and international standard.

“Our Administration is convinced that the National Population Commission has the commitment and capacity to deliver to the nation a reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census. We are also satisfied with the deployment of technology by the Commission to ensure the conduct of the first fully digital census in Nigeria as the census methodology will enhance the data quality, inspire the confidence of the Nigerian people and acceptability of the census results.’’

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TECHDIGEST – The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa has disclosed that the agency plans to train one million youths within 18 months.

Inuwa disclosed this while delivering a keynote address at the Ogun Digital Summit on the theme ‘Digital Technology: Key to sustainable Future.’

The DG urged the youths to secure their future by investing in digital skills. He encouraged the youths to see Tech as the present and the future of today’s world.

READ ALSO: Senate Passes Nigeria Start-up Bill

He challenged the youths to take their innovative ideas from conception to impact and commercialise their technologies in order to contribute towards the growth of the Nation’s digital economy.

“Globally, there is a shortage of talents, so, we are creating a mandate to develop a talent strategy because we have a competitive advantage as a country with our vast human and natural resources. Nigeria can seize the opportunity to fill that gap,” the DG said.

The NITDA Boss expressed hopes that some of the participants who were majorly youths of the state will be among the one million developers the agency plans to train in 18 months.

“The government cannot give everyone seed funds or grants at the same time, which is the reason why you need to think outside the box and have something an investor would be interested in, that way, you would have had the needed funds to grow your products and services without the encumbrances of the sometimes tiring government bureaucracies,” he advised.

The DG harped that innovation will help in creating a sustainable future for Nigeria and Nigerians.

“Digital technology provides the source of inspiration for you to be great innovators and solve any problem you can think of,” Inuwa said.

“Data is said to be the new oil, but for me, it is more than oil because data is infinite, the more you use it, the more you create it. So, this is an opportunity for you to tap in to it and so we can achieve the sustainable future we seek,” Inuwa maintained.

Acting on the agency’s mandate, the Director General made a commitment of providing a Digital Centre for St. Peters Anglican Primary School, 1 Isara, Remo North, Ogun State.

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TECH DIGEST – The impact of the global pandemic has been devastating for many industries, and in particular for retail. During the height of the pandemic, many non-essential retailers were forced to close their doors for lengthy period, suffering huge losses and losing huge numbers of employees. This affected not only the businesses themselves but also those working there, which has had a huge impact on the unemployment rate.

The one silver lining for retail businesses has been the availability of online retail and e-commerce capabilities.Statistics show that online shopping has become extremely popular over recent years, and this is something that retail businesses were able to tap into over the past year and the regular closures of brick-and-mortar establishments.

Online Shopping Kept Retail Businesses Afloat

Some businesses – both large and small were unable to survive the challenges of the pandemic. However, there are others that managed to stay afloat as a result of online shopping and digital technology. From supermarkets and clothing retailers to entertainment and electrical ones, all sorts of companies within the retail industry have been reliant on online technology during the past year.

Some of the retail sectors that have been able to use online technology to weather the storm of the pandemic are:

Supermarkets

Many supermarkets used the internet to offer promotions and deals to shoppers with events such asMorrison’s sales and promotions. By offering promotions online, these businesses have been able to benefit from both the popularity of online shopping and the ability to entice shoppers away from rivals by offering better deals. With so many people eager to save money during the pandemic, special offers and promotions from supermarkets have proven extremely popular.

Tech Retailers

Many other businesses have also benefitted from offering online sales and promotions during the pandemic such as tech retailers. For instance, retailers such as Konga have used online technology to provide access to great deals for consumers. With more people than ever going online to shop for these types of products since the outbreak of the pandemic, tech retail businesses quickly realised that this was the ideal way to bring new customers on board with exciting offers and deals. In addition, it enables them to continue conducting business even while their physical locations were forced to close due to the lockdown and social distancing.

Fashion Retailers

Another sector to suffer due to the closure of physical locations during the pandemic was the retail sector. However, many have been able to stay afloat by focusing on online sales and promotions to attract new customers and hold on to existing ones. Retailers like Next have been able to continue making sales over the past year despite their physical stores closing. They have boosted sales by offering great deals and promotions as well as convenient delivery and free exchanges to customers.

These are some of the industries that have been impacted by the global pandemic but have been able to turn to digital technology to help them to stay afloat.

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TECH DIGEST – Digital technology is the most powerful force driving change and efficiency across the global economy today. The transformative nature of digital innovations cuts across every facet of human activity and the environment we operate in. Its impact on lives and the way we do things are enormous and pervasive, because its power transcends physical borders and distance.

The disruptive impact of digital technologies is most evident in agriculture, health, education, transportation, trade and commerce, the banking and security sectors. These crucial areas encompass the art and science of humans living in harmony with the physical environment.

In fact, society remains in an unending race to catch up with the rapid evolution of digital technology. As society is learning to use the latest digital technology, newer and more innovative ones are being introduced.

Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), 3D Printing and Robotics are creating significant social and economic effects in most countries of the world.

These emerging technologies are facilitating rapid growth, efficiency, the effective exchange of knowledge, as well as easier communication among individuals, businesses and nations.

With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (also referred to as 4IR or 4.0), the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological spheres are fast disappearing and would become non-existent sooner than later.

While most advanced and developing countries have adopted the digital mode as the new and enduring enabler of their national economies, others are yet to transit from the conventional economy to the digital one.

Presently, Nigeria is developing a digital-led growth strategy to accelerate growth and upgrade the national economy through the “Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project”, for the sustainable diversification of the economy.

This involves a gradual repositioning of the nation’s economy into one driven by technology and innovation to improve security, check corruption and harness the unlimited opportunities in both the continental and global markets.

With the ongoing implementation of the digital economy, more Nigerian youths are becoming actively engaged in technological and economic activities. Digital technology has opened up a new vista for them to explore and expand their imagination and creativity.

Digital technology offers a veritable platform for the youths to channel their restlessness into productive and problem-solving activities that foster efficiency, create opportunities, boost technology development and innovation.

States and local governments, tech companies, startups, investors, academia, NGOs, among others, have major roles to play towards creating the enabling environment to stimulate software development and innovations for solving our local socio-economic problems.

For Nigeria to produce competent manpower needed to develop the relevant technologies and innovations for solving our domestic problems, it behooves on states government to start replicating the ICT initiatives of the Federal Government within their domains.

Through strategic collaborations with a broad spectrum of stakeholders within and beyond the tech sector, state governments would be able to convince the youth to contribute the resources needed for expanding digital knowledge and expertise.

A case in point was the recent Jigawa Innovative Summit tagged “Creating Viable Innovative Ecosystem for National Development”, organised by the Jigawa state government in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and an NGO, Youth Coalition for Development (YCD).

Speaking to the theme of the event, Governor Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar challenged the youths to leverage digital technologies and build their capacity to serve as solution providers in order to overcome socio-economic challenges and move the country forward.

He advised the youths to focus on critical thinking in order to broaden their minds and transform the opportunities within their local environments into businesses, jobs, and improved economic wellbeing, adding that the more problems are being solved, the more income can be generated for the benefit of stakeholders.

The governor, therefore, urged the youths to take advantage of the vast arable land and irrigation schemes available in the State to develop the agricultural value chain, while also saying that the Informatics Institute in Kazaure has been repositioned to continue producing competent IT professionals for the country.

Also speaking at the event, the minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isah Pantami commended Jigawa State for its drive in the Digital Economy, noting that the State government showed its willingness to support the effort of the Federal Government and collaboration in order to develop the digital economy of the country.

Pantami cited how Netherland used digital technology to boost its agricultural activities, despite having lesser landmass in comparison to some states in Nigeria, and added that if Jigawa State deployed digital innovation to agriculture, it would create many jobs and generate revenue for all the tiers of government.

Presenting his keynote address, the director general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa recalled that the governor showed interest in Jigawa State’s readiness to embrace the initiative, hence the minister endorsed engagement of all the stakeholders to ensure Jigawa benefited from the digital economy.

Evidently, there is so much the state governments stand to gain when they effectively collaborate with private and public sector stakeholders in the technology and innovations. They need to create relevant agencies to drive the tech revolution in their respective states.

State governments should emulate their Jigawa counterpart by cultivating strategic collaborations with relevant NGOs, ministries and agencies such as ministries of Communication and Digital Economy; Science and Technology; NITDA and others to empower youths with the IT skills and expertise and also boost the economic fortunes of their states.

The regular engagement between state governments and the public and private sectors, IT experts, technopreneurs, academia, and other stakeholders would encourage the exchange of ideas on how to exploit the competitive advantage in their respective states and formulate strategies that can help unlock opportunities and create prosperity for their youths.

By the time more state governments undertake deliberate actions to foster accessible platforms for tech enthusiasts and innovators, Nigeria may truly be on course to increasing the number of young IT professionals with the requisite skills to drive sustainable growth in her digital economy.

Inyene Ibanga is Managing Editor TechDigest and writes from Wuye District, Abuja.

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TECH DIGEST – 9mobile and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women have committed to an exciting new partnership to support women in Nigeria to develop the basic digital skills and confidence they need to grow their MSMEs at scale.

From this year’s Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, which held last week, 9mobile pledged to harness its technology and networks to promote the foundation’s award-winning business skills app, HerVenture, to women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

This partnership is expected to deliver on its objectives by leveraging a combination of 9mobile’s technology and technical expertise with the foundation’s products and programmes.

This will enable the upscaled provision of integrated mobile business support services for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

In addition to its tech and network support, 9mobile’s soon to launch Payment Service Bank, 9PSB, will also bring added value to the partnership with its innovative online banking facilities for women entrepreneurs.

Given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the imperative to fast-track the world into a digital economy and create more women entrepreneurs, there is an urgent need to support women to develop the business skills needed to succeed now and post-pandemic.

The Foundation has responded to this need by enhancing the HerVenture app to offer new opportunities in the digital space including e-commerce and digital marketing.

With the support from 9mobile, this offer will be made available to more women in Nigeria and contribute to stronger and more resilient businesses across the country.

Helen McEachern, CEO of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, said: “We are thrilled to be working with 9mobile to help bring HerVenture to even more women in Nigeria. Mobile companies have a powerful role in steering women to the support, products and services they need to grow their businesses and support economic recovery.

“Through working with the Foundation, 9mobile is helping to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs with the essential skills they need to make their businesses resilient and grow when they could very easily go backwards. We are delighted that this is just the start of an exciting new journey.”

Alan Sinfield, CEO of 9mobile, comments: “9mobile recognises the importance of leveraging its technology to support very important segments of society like women, to build and grow resilient businesses through this pandemic and beyond.

“We’re delighted to be working with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to support their efforts to advance women’s entrepreneurship potentials in Nigeria.”

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