TECHDIGEST – Google’s first West Africa Director, Dr. Juliet Ehimuan has announced her resignation from the company.

She announced her departure on LinkedIn on Friday where she expressed her intention to pursue a broader role within the regional technology landscape.

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Before her appointment as Google’s West Africa Director, she served as the company’s Country Director for Nigeria.

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TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Google Global Services Nigeria have agreed to work together in order to achieve the national target for Nigeria’s broadband access as part of the country’s digital transformation policy.

The agreement aligns to NCC’s strategic vision plan on strategic partnership with stakeholders to achieve its regulatory objectives, said the commission in an official statement signed by Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.
The two organisations made the commitment when a delegation from Google paid a courtesy visit to the NCC in Abuja recently to explore collaborations for digital transformation across the country.

Receiving the Google delegation, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the commission’s expectations, initiatives, and vision towards increasing broadband penetration, quality of service, advancement of a digital economy and commitment to improving national security through technological advancement are at the front burner of its regulatory interventions.

Underscoring the importance of such synergy between the commission and Google, Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services (ECTS), NCC, Engr. Ubale Maska, said the NCC looked forward to making the initiatives impactful for all parties.
Danbatta expressed optimism that Google’s investment in the subsea cable, Equiano, which is expected to land in Nigeria by end of April 2022, will be more impactful in driving NCC’s ongoing implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025, aimed at increasing broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025.

“I am hopeful that Equiano will have additional landing points in the hinterlands through collaborative efforts with the licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to reduce retail data prices significantly and thereby complementing the Commission’s efforts at ensuring affordable Internet services are available to boost the Commission’s ongoing broadband policy drive,” he said.

Earlier in her remarks, the Director, Google West Africa, Juliet Ehimuan, who led the delegation to NCC, commended the NCC for its consultative approach in formulating regulatory policies, as engine room for optimal delivery of telecommunications services that will in turn impact the digital economy drive of the government.
She particularly applauded the commission for its seamless, fair, credible, impartial and successful auction of the 3.5 Gigahertz spectrum for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) in Nigeria, stating that it is evident that both the NCC and Google share a common goal.

According to Ehimuan, demands for internet services have increased the need for more capacity, and sustainable collaborations with all relevant stakeholders within the public and private sectors. She asserted that Google’s commitment of $1billion across five years in various interventions will support digital transformation in Nigeria and across Africa.

Ehimuan stated that research has proven that Africa will have an additional 300 million Internet users and Nigeria will lead in that number, given its current statistics of over 141 million internet subscribers and broadband penetration of over 40.88 percent as at January 2022.

The Equiano cable system is the third private international cable owned by Google and the 14th subsea cable invested by Google. Equiano connects Portugal and South Africa, running along the West Coast of Africa, with branching units along the way that can be used to extend connectivity to more African countries. The first branch is expected to land in Nigeria by end of April 2022.

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TECHDIGEST – Internet giant Google has assured Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, of its commitment to supporting the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria.

Led by the Director of Google West Africa, Mrs. Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, the Google team was in Abuja this week to further explore how to strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy.

Ehimuan-Chiazor, who commended Pantami for his efforts at promoting Nigeria’s digital economy in a way that has increased its impact across sectors, said Google’s Office in Lagos serves all the countries in the West African sub-region.

She reaffirmed Google’s commitment to invest $1billion in Africa over the next five years, which includes funding for the Equiano subsea cable.

The Equiano cable is expected to enable a five-fold increase in average Internet speeds in Nigeria and create 1.6 million jobs.

The Equiano sea cable derived its name from the 16th century epical travels of Olaudah Equiano, a historical figure of Nigerian extraction.

The 21st century Equiano undersea cable has been launched in nearby Togo to begin its phased landing across Africa.

According to Ehimuan-Chiazor, Nigeria is a major landing point for the cable and the launch of this major milestone is expected to take place in April 2022.

She said Google remained committed to supporting the tech ecosystem in Nigeria through skills development programs and grants. For example, the Google Startup Accelerator program has benefited 82 startups, including some of the startups that are now the leading unicorns in Africa.

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According to her. about six million Nigerians have also benefited from other digital skills initiatives and the target is to reach 10 million Nigerians. About 30,000 citizens have participated in the Africa Developer Program and provision has been made for cash and non-cash grants of over $100 million.

Pantami while commending Google for its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), affirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari has unwavering commitment to improving Nigeria’s ease of doing business.

He assured that Nigeria will continue to promote regulations that support, rather than stifle, development and innovation.

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TECH DIGEST – Google, today, kicks off a series of programmes, rolling out throughout the month of June, which will not only support the growth and recovery of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Africa’s post-COVID economy but will help them thrive.

On the continent, SMBs account for around 90% of all businesses forming the backbone of the economy. While these businesses account for 80% of the region’s employment, the COVID-19 pandemic and restricted business activity over the past year have had, and continue to have, a significant impact on them and the livelihoods of millions.

According to Google’s head of Brand and Reputation for Africa, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde: “As more consumers start their journey looking for products and services online, we want to do more to help retail small businesses digitise and better leverage online tools for growth. One thing we know for sure is that when small businesses recover, African economies rebound and do well and this benefits everyone”.

Activities planned by Google for International Small Business Month include:

The launch of a new Google for Small Businesses portal to help small businesses find the solutions and guidance they need to get online and grow.

A series of SMB skills webinars aimed at helping small businesses use digital tools to connect with and grow their customer base. SMBs can register for free webinars available on 9, 16 and 23 June at goo.gle/smbwebinars

Shop Small Fridays – a social media video series highlighting and celebrating small businesses across the continent. Those interested can follow the #ShopSmallFriday series on our Google Africa Twitter account

The Google for Small Business portal has been developed as a one-stop shop for small businesses to get started on the web and to grow their digital presence, helping them choose the appropriate tools for online success and the achievement of their business goals.

“This portal is all about supporting businesses as they get online. In a competitive business environment, digital technology helps to drive economic growth and job creation, while delivering valuable services to people in Africa,” continues Aderemi-Makinde.

This move comes less than a year after Google committed to helping more than 500, 000 businesses, jobseekers and vulnerable people with support packages including free business tools, training and grants.

These programmes are an illustration of Google’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that small retail businesses on the continent have the right tools and skills to bounce back from the impact of the pandemic and drive the continent’s economy once again.

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