TECHDIGEST – The Lagos State Government has reversed its decision to start charging tech hubs across the state a sum of N150,000 annually as a safety audit fee. This followed criticisms of the plan by stakeholders, who felt the government would be stifling innovation by taxing a growing ecosystem.

They also faulted the government for not consulting with the tech community before coming up with the audit fee, which was slated to be enforced between September and November.

However, announcing the suspension in a statement, the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSC) said the decision to charge for safety was not motivated by revenue generation but to cover the cost of safety audits on every facility in the state. It added that it was suspending the fee to engage with facility owners in the state.

Reacting to the proposed fee, the CEO of Jidaw Systems, an IT solutions company, Mr. Jide Awe, told Nairametrics that such a fee, if implemented, would discourage investments in tech hubs and innovation in the State. “All states, not just Lagos state, should be encouraging youth innovation and startup ecosystem activities which are youth-led. Tech hubs provide unique spaces for young people to develop fresh and disruptive ideas and implement them in ways that can improve and transform the state and the country,” he said.

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Meanwhile, the Lagos State Safety Commission in a statement announcing the suspension said: “The growth of co-working spaces is a global phenomenon that is welcomed and encouraged in the State. However, the proliferation of these value-creating entities inadvertently has led to several workplace-related injuries and safety hazards including ill-equipped electrical wiring systems, over-capacity of facilities as well as landlord-tenant disputes related to equipment safety operations such as generator management activities.

“To forestall these rising incidents, the Safety Commission commenced the safety inspections of all co-working spaces in the year 2020 in the State to identify potential hazards and proffer solutions to mitigate such whilst enring a safe working environment for all as carried out in other domains such as restaurants, cinemas, supermarkets, etc.”

“The Safety Audit fee is not arbitrary. This fee is statutorily associated with facilities that engage and welcome members of the public beyond a certain footfall in many business and civic sectors. These include cinemas, restaurants, event spaces, schools, clubs, etc.

“This fee is in no way underpinned by a revenue-generating philosophy but is however a fee to cover the resultant costs from safety inspections and audits with experts and specialized equipment. It is NOT and will not ever be revenue generating fee. Additionally, the Safety Commission’s number one priority is to ensure the safety of residents in their use of these facilities,” it added.

“Consequently, to ensure adequate stakeholder engagement and representation, the Commission wishes to suspend the planned audit whilst providing further necessary training sessions with the facility owners,” the Commission stated.

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TECHDIGEST – The steady increase in internet subscriptions in Nigeria will lead to the creation of more jobs for Nigerians and further boost the country’s economy. This is according to industry experts who spoke to Nairametrics.

The experts observed that more Nigerians are becoming aware of the huge opportunities that could be derived from the internet, hence, many are getting connected every day. The growing embrace of the internet, they said, is driving the growth of e-commerce in Nigeria and creating several internet-enabled jobs.

This is even as they noted that more Nigerians on the internet creates more attention to cybersecurity and data protection issues, which will in turn create jobs for experts in those areas.

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Between January and July this year, data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that active internet subscriptions across mobile, fixed and VoIP networks have increased by over 10 million. Internet subscriptions in the country, which stood at 141.9 million as of December 2021, jumped to 152 million as of July 2022.

Reacting to the internet subscriptions growth in a chat with Nairametrics, the Chief Executive Officer of Jidaw Systems Limited, and ICT solutions provider company, Mr. Jide Awe, said: “The steady rise in Internet subscriptions is an indication of greater awareness of the benefits and opportunities that can be derived from the Internet. Remote working and digital activities accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic may have opened many eyes and contributed to the rise.

Awe, however, noted that the growth in the use of the internet should be made inclusive for all Nigerians.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Mr. Ajibola Olude, said internet subscriptions would continue to rise as the telecom operators are pushing a new agenda of rural connectivity which ensures that more Nigerians are connected. “Internet subscriptions will continue to rise in Nigeria because the government and some private organizations are encouraging digital literacy across the length and breadth of the country.

“This will definitely have a positive impact on macroeconomic variables like job creation because as telecom operators move to unconnected areas to get them connected, banks, insurance, and a host of other businesses will also be moving to those areas and people have to be employed to work in those companies,” he said.

An IT expert, Mr. Adewale Adeoye, described internet access as the bedrock of the digital economy policy being implemented by the government. “Without high internet penetration, there is no digital economy. This is why the rising internet subscriptions is a positive development for Nigeria; an indication that many more Nigerians are being brought into the digital economy space, thus creating more job opportunities,” he said.

Source: Nairametric 

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Tech Digest – As unemployment bears its fangs on Nigerians, especially youths, experts have harped on Information Communication and Technology (ICT) as portent tool for turning things around if deployed optimally.

Although, there has been deliberate effort by government to promote digital inclusion and leverage ICT to improve quality of life of women, persons with disabilities, youths and other vulnerable groups in the country.

Also, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) through the Digital Inclusion Programme (DIP), tasked members to empower all persons regardless of gender, age, ability, or location by promoting ICT accessibility to create a more equitable and inclusive digital society.

To actualise the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government, experts suggested that no one or group of persons should be left behind.

They noted that equal opportunities to accessible ICT and assistive technologies were critical to building inclusive societies.

In realisation of this objective, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in the last 12 months has made digital inclusion one of the most urgent priorities under the stewardship of its Director-General, Kashifu Abdullahi.

The Techdigest gathered that the need to promote digital inclusion has made it more urgent in view of challenges posed by outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

To bridge the digital literacy gap especially among the most vulnerable groups in the society, NITDA trained 200 women in Ekiti, Nasarawa on ICT and entrepreneurship at different times, where they were provided with laptops and pre-installed with the requisite e-resources as support for their start-ups.

The support had created more than 500 jobs while 650 artisans from Warri, Suleja, Okene, Ogbomosho and Owerri have been trained in phone repairs.

Also the agency has commenced a specialised ICT training for Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWDs), where about 30 Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD) were trained in Kano, 100 in July and 130 farmers were adopted in the NAVSA project.

Already, these interventions have created an employment for about 30,000 youths.

While the outbreak of COVID-19 brought a huge setback to the global economy, NITDA under Abdullahi saw it as an opportunity to further accelerate Nigeria’s journey to digital economy through various initiatives.

Speaking on the various initiatives aimed at boosting digital penetration, the NITDA boss said rescue effort in growing Nigerian digital economy post-pandemic was a strategic plan developed by the Agency’s Tech4COVID-19 Committee to support about 100,000 ICT jobs and create an additional 30,000 jobs.

He added that the agency has set up a Virtual Start-up Clinic, mostly for young people to meet with mentors, successful entrepreneurs, investors, industry specialists, business consultants and hub operators to solve problems and challenges they were facing during the pandemic.

Again, under the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) initiative, put in place by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy to take small scale farmers to commercial level using a performance-based approach, the agency has trained and empowered 145 farmers to utilise digital, smart and precision technology to improve farm yield.

Speaking on some of the strides recorded by the agency since his assumption of duty, the NITDA boss said the agency had set up 80 digital capacity training centres across all geopolitical zones within a year and has also established three IT hubs, four innovation and incubation parks, six IT community centres and three IT capacity-building centres in higher institutions of learning as well as in unserved and underserved communities across the country.

According to him, NITDA so far has supported 246 start-ups while 125 IT hubs while ecosystems builders have received support through Nigeria ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vision (NIIEV).

The NITDA boss revealed that the agency has embarked on massive online open courses initiative for Nigeria’s tertiary institutions adding that the outbreak of coronavirus is a challenge to prioritize e-learning in the country.

On future of digital technology in Nigeria, he hinted that the ICT sector accounts for 17.83% of Nigeria’s GDP, saying NITDA is targeting at least five per cent quarterly increase on every achievement in the years ahead.

He hinted that in its quest to boost job creation initiatives, NITDA is already seeking partnership with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

He stated that there is need to stimulate the IT industry through content localisation, rather than importation from other countries especially that the large population of Nigeria consist young and brilliant innovators.

An IT expert and founder Jidaw System, Jide Awe noted that NITDA in the last one year has made some commendable efforts such as establishment of Digital Job Creation Centres, Scholarship programmes, Capacity Building initiatives, building knowledge centres and the creation of the IoT/AI STEAM Unity Board which is particularly useful for fostering important emerging technology skills in education.

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