By Adeyemi Adepetun

TECHDIGEST – One major landmark event that brought Nigeria to the global stage in 2022 was the launch of the Fifth-Generation (5G) network. Aside this development, the telecoms operators also began their recovery after a tortuous 2021 occasioned by the impact of the NIN/SIM exercise. ADEYEMI ADEPETUN, reports

In the next 72 hours, the year 2022 would have become a history and 2023 beckons. Globally, for the information and communications technology sector, it has been historical, going by the various events that shaped proceedings in the year.

From the deployment of the Fifth-Generation (5G) networks to inventions by startups; relocation of technology experts across the globe to mass disengagements by multinationals organisations; increase in various cyber attacks to online compromises, among others.

Indeed, Nigeria was not left out! After a successful auction of two lots of the 3.5GHz spectrum on December 13, 2021 in Abuja by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under the leadership of Prof. Umar Danbatta, year 2022 was set to bring in new waves of transformation.

The 5G journey

By the end of December 13, 2021, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited had won the licences to deploy 5G technology in Nigeria. This came after about two trials of the network by MTN earlier in 2021.

On or before February 24, the duo of MTN and Mafab had coughed out $547 million to the Federal Government as required by the information memorandum (IM) for the award of the 5G spectrum licences. From there, ground works started for the full deployment by August, going by the timetable. While MTN, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, began deployment on a pilot basis in August and commercial launch in September, this enabled some 81 clusters in Lagos witnessed the service, while other cities including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri were penned down for later part of the year into 2023.

Historically, the MTN launch in Nigeria enabled the country to rank among the first three countries after South Africa and Kenya to have started 5G on the African continent.

The second winner, Mafab Communications, was, however, granted a five-month extension to roll out over delays in obtaining its unified operational licence (UASL) and Numbering Plan from the NCC. It only secured the two vital documents at the end of July.

While there are reports that Mafab would deploy the service before the year ends and beats projections, Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the service from the company.

Chairman of Mafab Communications, Dr. Mushabu Bashir, had said in a statement that the company remained resolutely committed to the deployment of the technology.

“We are fully committed to bringing the benefits of 5G services to Nigerians and deploying a network that will drive economic development with increased broadband capabilities nationwide. I have no doubt that the service will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities and entertainment.

“The goal remains to launch before the five-month extension period and we will be sharing more information in the near future,” he had said.
For emphasis, the 5G is expected to offer Nigerians higher data speed, improved reliability and availability. The benefits are far reaching, as the service will enable Nigerians to achieve more with broadband and increase the nation’s broadband penetration, quality of service and capabilities.

Airtel joins the 5G race

After initial preparation for the second round of auction for the remaining lots of the 3.5GHz spectrum for more 5G licenses in the country, scheduled for December 19 in Abuja, the NCC announced that by the close of business on December 5, only Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel) and Standard Network & Connections Limited (Standard Network) had expressed interest in the auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum band.

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However, only Airtel paid the Intention to Bid Deposit (IBD) as stipulated in the IM whereas, Standard Network sent an email appeal for the deadline to be extended by 12 working days, which was not acceptable in view of the auction timetable. Having met the provisions in the IM, Airtel therefore, emerged as the sole bidder.

Weathering the NIN/SIM challenge

Tortuous for subscribers and operators to say the least was the process that compelled the linkage of the National Identity Number (NIN) to Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards in the country, especially when COVID-19 was at its fiercest.

Now almost two years after, some 93 million NINs have been issued and linked to various SIMs. However, 2020 into 2021, close to 20 million lines were barred. By the start of 2022, operators had to deploy several means, including wooing through various promos to encourage Nigerians not to permanently dump their SIMs for economic reasons to all the parties involved.

Indeed, there have been massive boost in mobile lines in the country. The number of connected lines across the mobile networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile continued to grow, rising to 321 million in October, according to the NCC. However, only 214 million of these lines were active.

MTN sustained its dominance accounting for 38.85 per cent with a total of 83.2 million active subscriptions. Globacom maintained its second position with a market share of 27.82 per cent, having recorded 59.6 million active lines in the period under review.

Airtel’s market share stood at 27.37per cent with 58.6 million active subscriptions. 9mobile, on the other hand, had only a 5.96 per cent share of the mobile market with 12.7 million subscriptions.

Telecoms sector’s resilience

The resilience of the telecoms sector cannot be swept under the carpet. The industry continued to be the pillar of the nation’s economic growth as the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.25 per cent in the third quarter of this year with its strong support.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which released the figure, said the economic growth rate however, declined when compared to 4.03 per cent growth achieved in this period of last year.

It attributed the reduction in growth to the base effects of the recession and the challenging economic conditions that have impeded productive activities.

Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, Prince Semiu Adeniran, said data for the analysis were obtained from the quarterly establishment survey conducted by the NBS. He said the third quarter economic growth was driven by the non-oil sector, which grew by 4.27 per cent in real terms.

He explained that the rate was lower by 1.18 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of last year and 0.50 per cent points lower than the second quarter of the year.

“This sector was driven in the third quarter of 2022 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication), Trade, Transportation (Road Transport), Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions), Agriculture (Crop Production) and Real Estate, accounting for positive GDP growth,” the report said.

According to the report, in real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 94.34 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the third quarter of 2022, higher than the share recorded in the third quarter of 2021 which was 92.51 per cent and higher than the second quarter of 2022 recorded as 93.67 per cent.

Enters the ‘Japa’ syndrome

As beautiful as the sector moved in 2022, the ‘Japa’ syndrome was very confrontational on the achievements of the sector. With many technology savvy guys having to leave their paid employments in Nigeria for something greener abroad. This almost brought some companies down, especially in the banking sector.

The Guardian had reported on August 29, how software, hardware engineers, system integrators, digital marketers, accountants and auditors were dumping high-paying employment in banking, financial technology, education, insurance, manufacturing and teaching as economic opportunities shrink amid rising insecurity in Nigeria for offers from abroad.

A Chief Information Officer of one of the leading first-generation banks, who preferred anonymity, had told The Guardian that within the first-half of the year, about 750 software engineers resigned their appointments from some of the leading financial institutions in the country to pick what they described as mouthwatering offers from overseas companies. The popular destinations were Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany and the United States.

The Marketing Manager, Eskimi Africa, an AdTech platform that helps brands and agencies to conduct programmatic advertising campaigns, Oluwatobi Adekunle, said the attraction abroad remains very huge.

Adekunle said the attraction is that everybody wants to earn dollars, live in an environment that is comfortable for them to grow and know that the future is guaranteed, which according to him, is missing here.

“For example, a digital marketer in Nigeria at a professional level, who is at the peak of his career, may be earning N800, 000, but outside the country, you can earn between $4,500 and $5,000 a month. Convert that to Naira and you become a ‘big boy’. It is a lot of money. The fact that you can earn a dollar, grow your career among others is enough attraction for anybody to leave this country.”

The Twitter challenge

On April 25, this year, Twitter’s Board of Directors agreed to founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tesla, Elon Musk’s buyout offer of $44 billion, which effectively made the company private. Musk had stated that he planned to introduce new features to the platform, make its algorithms open-sourced, combat spambot accounts, and promote free speech. He also said jobs must be cut.

Job losses took shine of the sector
As expected, Musk didn’t disappoint following his various rash decisions after taken over Twitter. Twitter’s Chief Executive, Parag Agrawal, and the Chief Financial Officer, Ned Segal, were emailed that they had been fired and this led to gale of resignations and mass sack.

Just over a week after closing the deal, he eliminated nearly half of Twitter’s work force, or about 3,700 jobs. The job cuts affected many divisions across the company, including the engineering and machine learning units, the teams that manage content moderation, and the sales and advertising departments.

This gale of mass sack also affected Twitter’s only African office in Accra, Ghana, with almost all the workers laid off. Then came the verification subscriptions. Twitter said it would begin charging customers $7.99 monthly to receive a coveted verification check mark on their profiles. But the rollout was delayed until after the mid-term elections after Twitter users and employees raised concerns that the new pay-for-play badges could be misused to sow seeds of discord.

In the gale of mass sack, Twitter was not alone, Meta (Facebook), Amazon, among others also had their fair share of the challenge. For instance, Meta laid off 11,000 people, about 13 per cent of its global workforce including Nigerian employees in diaspora and in Africa, as it contends with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes.

The message of job cut was communicated in a letter by the Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg to employees across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Massive malwares, ransonware attacks
Cyber criminals also launched several attacks across all platforms. Indeed, in 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) was kept on its toes by a myriad of malware vulnerability reports.

The NCC issued over 10 alerts in the course of 2022, from Somnia Ransomware, Xenomorph Malware, Schoolyard bully malware, Invisible Challenge on short-form video hosting service, TokTok, QBot malware and many others.

In response to the discovery of a new attack that compromises victims’ Virtual Private Network (VPN) accounts to compromise messaging app, Telegram, NCC-CSIRT advised users to adopt two-factor authentication to protect their Telegram accounts and not to download unknown Advanced IP Scanner Software.

Ukrainian cyber experts discovered the attack, which uses Vidar Malware (Vidar Stealer) to steal Telegram session data, which in the absence of configured two-factor authentication and a passcode, allows unauthorized access to the victim’s telegram account and corporate account or network.

The malware, which exploits unauthorized access to users’ Telegram accounts and corporate accounts to steal data, targets platforms across iOS, Android, Linux, Mac and Windows Operating Systems.

“The Ukrainian CERT alleged that a Somnia Ransomware was created to be used on Telegram that tricks users to download an installer that mimics ‘Advanced IP Scanner’ software, which contains Vidar Malware. The installer infects the system with the Vidar stealer, which steals the victim’s Telegram session data to take control of their account.

“The threat actors abuse the victim’s Telegram account in some unspecified manner to steal VPN connection data (authentication and certificates). If the VPN account is not protected by two-factor authentication passcode, the hackers use it to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s employer’s corporate network,” the alert and advisory stated.

Nigeria made ITU Council membership
During the year, Nigeria was re-elected as a Council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency that oversees global telecommunication operations. Nigeria will serve on the Council again from 2023-2026.

The election of Nigeria and other countries into different regional groups that constitute ITU Council, was the highpoint of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22) held in Bucharest, the capital city of the Republic of Romania.

The Nigerian delegation was led to the global event by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami. Other members of the delegation included Chairman, Board of Commissioners of NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, and the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta.

At the conference, which was held between September 26 and October 14, 2022, member states voted on the composition of the next ITU Council and the 12 representatives to serve on the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the next four years.

The 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the Council also saw the election by member states, of Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States (US) as the organisation’s next Secretary-General.

Like Nigeria and the countries elected into the Council, Bogdan-Martin, as the first woman to lead ITU in its 157-year history, will begin her four-year term from January 2023, when Houlin Zhao would have completed his second final term of four years in office as ITU Secretary General.

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TECHDIGEST – A total of 49 telecom-based research grants have been awarded to academia out of which 10 prototypes have been successfully developed, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed.

The Commission’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Ubale Maska, who disclosed this at a gathering of vice-chancellors and professors from universities in the southern parts of the country in Lagos, stated that the idea behind the grants is to engender innovations and build indigenous technological capabilities that would strengthen the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) ecosystem.

“We are hopeful that these sessions will culminate in the development of a common framework that would facilitate the commercialisation of the existing prototypes and future research outcomes (prototypes) for the benefit of the economy and the industry,” Ubale, who was represented by Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the Commission, Bako Wakil said.

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Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Adeolu Akande, has restated the commitment of the Commission to commit more funds to research and prototypes resulting from grants from the Commission to academia.

This is coming at the backdrop of the recent revelation that the Commission has committed more than N500 million in funding research across the Nigerian universities.

“We want to use this opportunity to assure you that the Commission will continue to give support to the educational sector in the interest of national development. We will also continue to encourage research and innovation in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions,” Akande said, explaining that the essence of the roundtable was to dialogue with the academia, industry and other stakeholders on how research efforts and prototypes can be transformed into commercially-viable products that solve real-life problems.

“Consequently, the Commission will continue to allocate the requisite resources to research, development and innovations necessary for the industry to continue to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country,” Akande said.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, represented by the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services of the Commission, Josphine Amuwa, said academia is a key driver of innovation in all spheres of human endeavour.

He said this is why his leadership at the Commission is determined to not only give grants to academia but also support the commercialisation of the prototypes developed to deepen the indigenous technological capabilities which would support the overall development of the industry.

Coming shortly after a similar roundtable in Kano for the northern region, the event organised by the research prototypes and Development R&D Department of the Commission, was aimed at bringing together Resources persons, business savvy industry experts, the academia, relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), entrepreneurs and renowned individuals who have successfully commercialised their inventions to brainstorm on the way forward for research output commercialisation.

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TECHDIGEST – The mass media whether print, broadcast, online, or other specialised genres, will remain central and strategic stakeholders to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in its commitment to delivering on its regulatory mandates as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 and other policy instruments.

Professor Umar Danbatta, The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, stated this on Tuesday in his remarks as he received a delegation of the topmost echelon of the Management of National Economy, a media organisation, that paid a courtesy visit on the Commission at its head office in Abuja.

Speaking through Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Danbatta said NCC remains irrevocably committed to deepening its already established relationship with media.

Danbatta explained that there is no gainsaying the fact that the Commission, by virtue of its regulatory activities in the telecom ecosystem, occupies a strategic position in the official architecture instituted to enhance national economic development.

The EVC said by the reckoning of stakeholders the Commission has performed well, and it recognises the role of the mass media in its successes.

He noted that the relationship of the Commission with the mass media has been cordial over the years, and the Commission will never take the media for granted nor act in any manner that may rupture the relationship.

Recalling the significance of media support in the accomplishments of NCC, the EVC asserted that, the positive, prominent, accurate, timely and adequate reporting of the Commission by a broad spectrum of the media agency, eased Commission’s burden in putting its activities in the public sphere and enhanced its effort to enlist the support of other key stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem.

The EVC further stated that the Commission has a deliberate policy of constructive engagement with the media and other stakeholders because it understands the centrality of providing a platform for continuous interface toward positioning and projecting the Commission as a flagship public sector brand in Nigeria and a leading light of telecom regulation in Africa and globally.

Danbatta thanked the media for its superlative response in reporting telecoms notable contributions to GDP, particularly the significance of the sectoral feat in taking Nigeria out of recession.

In addition, the EVC recalled with gratitude the noteworthy media reportage of the processes emplaced for the deployment of 5G services in Nigeria, especially the successful auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum for the roll out of the 5G services.

He urged journalists and other communication professionals to amplify Commission’s voice in its publicity and sensitization of the citizens and all stakeholders on the importance of the new generation network towards the economic development of the nation.

The NCC Chief Executive stated that the Commission looks forward, very enthusiastically, to a robust collaboration with all stakeholders in communication practice, in order to ensure goal-oriented reporting of the unfolding national developments in the digital economy sector, because of the derivable benefits to the citizens, businesses and the nation at large.

While thanking the Management of National Economy for the visit, commendation and support to the Commision over the years, Danbatta also expressed NCC’s commitment to sustaining its favourable relationship with the media.

The delegation from the National Economy was led by Chief Mike Okpare, Vice Chairman. His colleagues the delegation are Kirk Leigh, Chief Operating Officer; Fadilah Ismail, Head of Advertisement; Bayo Amodu, Head of Stories; and Cees Harmon, General Editor.

Source: Tech economy.ng

Link: https://techeconomy.ng/2022/02/masscomm-media-will-remain-strategic-partners-to-ncc-danbatta/

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TECHDIGEST – Professor Umar Danbatta, the executive vice-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has identified major benefits in promoting digital literacy in the country.

Delivering the first Annual Lecture of the Bichi Emirate titled, “Digital Literacy as a Veritable Tool for Social and Economic Transformation” in Bichi, Kano State, over the weekend, Danbatta challenged actors in both public and private sectors to key into the programme.

He noted that digital literacy provides the confidence required by individual citizens to utilise digital contents and tools, adding that it also helps citizens to effectively collaborate in creating digital content and becoming innovative problem-solvers within their socio-economic ecosystem.

The EVC pointed out that technological changes have now assumed an unprecedented dimension in pace, scope and depth of impact, emphasizing that harnessing the progress is the surest path for Nigeria in her quest for economic diversification, especially the elevation of 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

“The policy thrust of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in this direction is encapsulated in three key policy documents, namely: Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025; the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2010-2030; and, the National Policy on Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian telecommunications sector, ” Danbatta pointed out.

He said one of the underlying goals of the three policies was the development of the Nigerian economy through digital technology enhancement and increased contribution of the telecom sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In demonstration of its recognition of the importance of digital literacy, Danbatta said that the NCC has, over the years, implemented various programmes to support adoption and application of digital skills in Nigeria.

The programmes, according to him, not only provide the necessary digital tools but also support the provision of digital infrastructure, training, connectivity and other incentives to facilitate the development of digital literacy skills.

Through its Projects Department and the Universal Services Provision Fund (USPF), Danbatta observed that the NCC has been providing interventions such as the School Knowledge Centres (SKC), Wireless Cloud and Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), among others, across the six geo-political zones of the country.

Speaking specifically on NCC’s interventions in Bichi Emirate, Danbatta said that, of the eight local government areas that constitute the Emirate, the Commission has, through the USPF, identified about 1,900 square kilometers of land, populated by 462,222 individuals as unserved.

“In order to cover that gap, the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have installed 212 BTS of which 112 are Second Generation (2G)-compliant, 73 are Third Generation (3G) networks and 27 are Fourth Generation/Long Term Evolution (4G/LTE) technology, with all providing broadband connectivity which is the bedrock of digital literacy.

“The USPF has also provided interventions to secondary schools, tertiary institutions and hospitals in the emirate via its SKC, Tertiary Institutions Knowledge Centre as well as E-health initiatives; a total of seven of such projects have, so far, been executed since 2015 on my assumption as the EVC,” he explained.

Speaking further the NCC boss also harped on the Commission’s seven interventions under the Advanced Digital Awareness Programme among others, stressing that all the interventions are in line with NCC’s equitable distribution of projects across all geo-political zones in the country.

In recognition of the need to continue to foster the rapid development and growth of the Nigerian telecommunications marketplace and digital economy, the Commission established the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) in May 2004.

He noted, however, that since its creation, the Institute has grown to have six campuses, one in each geo-political zone.

These campuses, which are in Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Asaba and Yola have some of the best training facilities and faculties in the country and have provided various training to individuals and corporate organisations, thereby making the Institute an invaluable institution to digital literacy in Nigeria.

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TECH DIGEST – The initiative by the Nigerian Communications Commission to establish information, communication, technology parks in all six geopolitical zones, will further boost the digital economy drive of the federal government.

In order to complement the efforts of the federal government in creating a digital economy for Nigeria, through its digital transformation initiative, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has commenced the establishment of information and communications technology (ICT) parks in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country and it is in the process of completing the first phase of the project in four of the six geopolitical zones.

The four zones include: Abeokuta for the South-west; Enugu for South-east, Maiduguri for North-east and Kano for the North-west.

According to NCC, when completed, it would boost digital skills acquisition among youths, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teaming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital transformation agenda of the federal government.

Chairman of the Board of NCC, Prof. Adeola Akande, who disclosed this, said the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), which is controlled by the NCC, is presently undertaking many projects to boost telecoms service, in collaboration with telecommunication companies.

“All these programmes are designed to meet the objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari, who re-designated the Ministry of Communications as Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. A digital economy is impossible without the widespread availability of telecommunications services and training facilities, which the ICT Parks seeks to address,’’ Akande said.

The ICT Park is an initiative of the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, to provide innovation labs and digital fabrication laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.

The Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) will provide a commercial hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills, create employment and entrepreneurial activities and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial Complex.

The ICT Park, when completed, will also provide capacity building to ICT startups and entrepreneurial activities across the country.

The parks are designed to provide fast broadband internet service and constant power supply. It comprises an area or location with concentration of all ICT facilities, which enables a concerted leap into the digital age by creating a dynamic environment in which local talent is incubated, cultivated, and shared.

ICT park is best tested and trusted institutional mechanism to address the needs of technology-intensive, knowledge-based Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The ICT Parks involve the construction and equipping of fully-functional modern training facilities, designed to drive digital skills for digital transformation.

Speaking on the ICT Parks project recently, Danbatta stated that the project was conceived and designed to support the federal government’s ICT-related policies and programmes by facilitating the availability and accessibility of ICT services across the country, promote their usage across all sectors and ultimately address youth unemployment in the country.

Designed to propel socio-economic transformation in the country, Danbatta said the ICT Parks would help build capacity for the teeming population of Nigerian youths in the areas of skill acquisition and innovation by complementing existing initiatives geared towards accelerating socio-economic transformation of Nigeria.

“The whole idea of putting the skill acquisition and innovation at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and for other Nigerians,” he said.

Danbatta explained that based on its national structural spread, no part of the country would be left out as beneficiaries of the initiative. “The NCC ICT Parks Project is another move by the current leadership of the Commission to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the federal government,” he said.

He added that the parks would support software development, incubation and hardware development. “We also hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the Commission is deepening in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies,” Danbatta said.

He therefore urged the potential and would-be beneficiaries of the project, especially the youths, to be ready to leverage the initiative as it promises to empower them socially and economically.

“I would like to send out a very important message to our youths, especially those who are currently occupied with various innovative applications, those who have acquired the skills but are looking for where to put the skills into fruitful engagements, by incubating them, commercialising them, or giving publicity to these excellent initiatives, to be ready to leverage the facilities,” Danbatta said.

The NCC has been commended on the parks. The latest commendation came from the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, when he recently visited the Kano site of the ongoing construction of an ICT Park by the Commission for the North-west zone.

The governor acknowledged the efforts and commitment of the Danbatta-led NCC in ensuring increased digital access for fast-tracking digital innovation across Nigeria and the North-west in particular, saying the initiative will trigger socio-economic transformation of the area in no distant future.

According to Ganduje, “Realising that a major project that resonates with the global vision for the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is being vigorously driven by NCC leadership, shows the kind of socio-economic transformation we should expect through ICT across Nigeria in the next few years.

“For the ICT Park being built in Kano to serve the North-west zone, the government and citizens of Kano State are grateful to Danbatta and the NCC team for bringing development to the state and the zone at large.”

He also applauded the quality of the construction work being undertaken by the NCC on the ICT Park and expressed appreciation for the foresight of the NCC for accommodating an expansion plan at the project site.

Shedding more light on the ICT Park project, Danbatta, who recently visited one of the parks being built in Maiduguri, in the North-east geo-political zone, said the NCC decided to embark on the important project in order to decentralise ICT Parks in all the six geo-political zones of the country.

Danbatta, however, stated that the commission started with four zones at the moment. These include the ones located in Abeokuta for the South-west; Enugu for South-east, Maiduguri for North-east and Kano for the North-west.

The projects, he said, are being implemented with a view to building capacity, exposing Nigerian teaming youths to capacity building initiatives in the areas of skills acquisition and innovation.

Danbatta said the project, which is consistent with global best practices, has targeted areas of in each of the zones with large concentration of youths.

He promised that, because of its design to have a national spread, the Commission would ensure that no part of the country would be left out of the initiative and insisted that every part of Nigeria would experience the initiative at different times.

Speaking on the expectations from the ICT Parks, Danbatta said: “As I said, we have four ICT parks, which are at different stages of development. Going forward, we hope to see software development, incubation, including, even, hardware development. Above all, through the NCC ICT Parks, we hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the NCC is trying to deploy in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies.”

According to the NCC boss, as the commission deepens broadband access to achieve the 70 per cent broadband penetration target by 2025, as enshrined in the current National Broadband Plan, the Commission, through the ICT Park, would build a pool of digital skills and literacy in line with the country’s National Digiotal Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

“As you may be aware, one of the eight pillars of the NDEPS is Digital Skills and Literacy and in this regard, NCC is supporting this critical pillar of the digital economy agenda. This is because, when we provide resilient broadband infrastructure platforms, there is a need for us to encourage local technology products and applications that will ride on the infrastructure toward developing the country’s overall socio-economic ecosystem in a sustainable way,” he said.

Optimistic that the ICT Park initiative will benefit Nigerian youths immensely, Danbatta encouraged them to take advantage of the initiative to acquire the digital skills needed for digital transformation.

According to him, “These centres will be used to showcase innovations to the global community and very soon, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. These various initiatives by the youths in areas of apps development, and other initiatives, will be achieved through the ICT Parks.”

“This is because the ICT Parks will become centres where Nigeria will be showcasing, not only to potential investors in this country but also to the international communities, who definitely will be interested in some of these important applications from Nigerian youths,” Danbatta further said.

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TECH DIGEST – Nigeria says it is committed to promoting digital economy and has significantly created the right policy environment for digital investments.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, this week in Barcelona, Spain while addressing the GSMA Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) Roundtable, said the country’s political leadership led by President Muhammadu Buhari envisions a new Nigeria modelled on the digital economy and not solely depended on crude oil export.

The minister, who made a presentation titled ‘Accelerating Digital Transformation – A Case Study of Nigeria’ as part of his official engagements in the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC), during the GSMA SSA Roundtable, said Nigeria has an encouraging level of infrastructural and policy frameworks to ensure investors in the digital economy are able to gain significant tractions.

The GSMA SSA Digital Transformation Roundtable was attended by ministers from other African countries and international stakeholders in the GSMA ecosystem.

Nigeria’s digital transformation journey has not been without its challenges, the minister told the audience while noting that the country’s success has been hinged on factors that include:

“The stakeholders and members of the ecosystem are indispensable in the drive to transform the digital landscape of any country.

“Having the buy-in and support of the top leadership is critical to sustainable success.

“The support of Mr. President [that]has made a lot of difference. We are always ready to partner with sister ministries and stakeholders.”

The Global System for Mobile Communications or the GSM Association (commonly referred to as ‘the GSMA’) represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting over 750 operators with near 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

The minister is the leader of Nigeria’s official delegation that include the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, to the annual Barcelona GSMA gathering.

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TECH DIGEST – Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), will not rest on its oars until the existing broadband access gaps in the country are closed, the Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, has promised.

Danbatta made the pledge last week while addressing ICT reporters in Lagos, stressing that the Commission has been making cautious effort to ensure these clusters of broadband access gaps and underserved are plugged.

The Commission working with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) succeeded in reducing broadband access-gap clusters in Nigeria from 207 to 114 cities representing about 55.7 per cent and thereby deepening digital inclusion in the country.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission said this was achieved through the efforts of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).

Hitherto, some 38 million Nigerians were affected by access gap clusters.

According to the Danbatta, NCC is mindful of the fact of what ought to be done in areas that are underserved or un-served clusters which are mostly areas that lack economic viability.

“Therefore, you find infrastructure not deployed in those places. The Commission is making a cautious effort to ensure these clusters of access gaps and underserved are plugged.

“We are trying to improve the rate that we can be able to plug these clusters of access gaps. We hope that one day, we pray to wake up to see that all the clusters have been plugged into the mobile networks.

“So far, we have succeeded in bringing the number from 217 to 114 clusters. We have also succeeded, through this effort, in bringing the telecommunication service to Nigerian who hitherto did not have access; the number has gone down from 30 million Nigerians to 25 million. Even with that number, it is not acceptable.

“No part of the country should be denied access to telecommunication services consistent with that important stipulation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which is inclusiveness in the provision of telecommunication services.

“Therefore, these services should be ubiquitous or pervasive”.

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TECH DIGEST – Last week was quite an eventful one for the ICT sector in Nigeria beyond the announcement of paternity leave granted to staff of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The action-packed week became even more thrilling, going by the plethora of heartwarming news emanating from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and some of its key agencies under the supervision of the Minister, Dr. Isa Pantami.

Apart from NITDA, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Galaxy BackBone, and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), all have a common thread binding them together.

The agencies received a huge boost to redouble their efforts towards the delivery of a successful Digital Nigeria Programme, one of President Buhari-led government’s key initiatives geared to empower innovators and entrepreneurs with skills required to thrive in the country’s emerging digital economy.

The six agencies are responsible for empowering Nigerians to develop skills and build innovative solutions to tackle challenges within our local environment.

As the minister in charge of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami has demonstrated consistency in galvanising all agencies under his supervision to implement people-oriented projects to advance the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government.

It was a week the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Garba Umar Danbatta presented the newly elected Executive Secretary of West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), Engineer Aboki  to the Honourable Minister. Nigerian’s nominee for the post was endorsed by the minister strictly on the basis of merit, considering his proven expertise and skills in the sector.

Pantami’s advocacy for the improved condition of service of staff in all agencies under his Ministry became a reality when he personally presented the new scheme of service for NITDA, as approved by the Federal Government, to the management and staff of the agency.

In an interview with Economic Confidential sometime in September 2020, Pantami had spoken on the need for government to give adequate budgetary allocation to agencies that generate more revenue.

He said: “We have been generating more funds and revenue for the government. So, any institution that has been generating more revenue for the government should be encouraged to do more by adequate budgetary provisions. I have been agitating for that, that any sector doing well should be supported by giving them more funds.”

Presenting the new Employee-Centric Condition and Scheme of Service, the minister explained that the document presents a comprehensive approach to the development of NITDA and the wellbeing of employees and the approved skills and certifications required for appointment and promotion in the agency.

Henceforth, NITDA workers are entitled to numerous benefits, key among them being transfer benefits, home ownership loans, compassionate leave and paternity leave, which have been described as novelties.

But that was just the tip of a most eventful week of good tidings in the ICT sector.

A major event was the announcement that President Buhari has approved N5 billion as the capital budget for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enable it deliver on the national digital economy project, with appropriate infrastructures, and attractive conditions of service.

The approval showed an upward review of the capital budget of NIMC from between the a meagerly N500 million and N700 million in the previous years to about N5 billion this year as part of the President’s commitments to digitising the economy.

As if that was not enough within the week, the minister broke the cheery news that the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has been authorised to collect stamp duty after it initial feud with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on the same last year.

The minister had decried the unfair treatment meted to NIPOST and swore to pursue the issue by reporting to the minister of Finance, the Attorney General of the Federation, and the President.

Until the latest development, NIPOST carried the burden of over 12,000 staff and was unable to fix its dilapidated offices spread across the country because it had not received any capital budget for several years.

In the same interview quoted above, the minister had said that “I am not worried about some institutions collecting money. It is just that I cannot stand injustice. And it is my nature that I always fight for the oppressed. So, what provoked me is the injustice.”

Indeed, Pantami’s vision, zeal for excellence, and leadership style has reinforced the synergy and cooperation between the Ministry and its agencies in creating a robust digital economy for enhanced diversification of the nation’s revenue-earning resources.

From the foregoing, in the last one week, the operations and structure of agencies under the ministerial supervision of Dr. Pantami have witnessed tremendous adjustments and proper repositioning to function as valuable players and partners in the development of Nigeria’s evolving digital economy.

For the benefitting agencies, these newly introduced incentives should serve as additional stimulus for them to redouble their commitment and effort in fulfilling the country’s vision of emerging as a leading player in the global digital economy.

Inyene Ibanga, Managing Editor of TechDigest writes from Wuye District Abuja, Nigeria

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