TECHDIGEST – As part of moves to sanitise the environment, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed plans to commence activities that will result in the formulation of regulations on E-Waste in Nigeria.

NCC noted that today, the global concern for the regulation of e-waste is two-pronged, which includes the acute awareness of the hazardous properties and the potential risk to human health, as well as their capacity to degrade the environment and secondly, is the business case and vast potential for wealth creation in recycling e-waste into more benign and productive uses.

The NCC Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, who disclosed this in Abuja, at the 2023 World Consumer Rights Day with the theme: “Empowering Consumers through Clean Transition,” noted that in line with its regulatory mandate and to keep pace with efforts at managing e-waste-related issues, in a manner that reduces cases of indiscriminate burning of electronic devices with the potential for increased carbon emission in the environment, “the Commission has been working, with other relevant agencies, to develop a regulations on E-waste. 

READ ALSO: Digital Economy: NITDA Boss Assures Ghanaian Counterpart Of Effective Collaboration 

The regulations will represent a holistic intervention aimed at providing clarity and delimiting the responsibilities of various stakeholders in the e-waste value chain within the telecommunications industry.”

While the proposed regulations are industry-specific, NCC said they, nonetheless, key into other initiatives at national and international levels.

Indeed, eWaste generation in Nigeria has reached an alarming state and has continued to rise. In fact, findings by The Guardian in a July 2020 investigation, showed that Nigeria generated 461.3-kilo tonnes (KT) in 2019 to rank the highest in West Africa and second after Egypt on the continent. The 461.3kt amounts to $166, 060, 000 (N64.2 billion).

Specifically, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nation’s arm in charge of global telecommunications, noted that approximately 60,000 to71,000 t of used electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) were imported yearly into Nigeria through the two main Ports in Lagos since 2015.

While this importation lasted in Nigeria, ITU noted that specific e-Waste legislation on the management of it is still lacking in most African countries. According to it, few countries have legislation published in Africa, these include Egypt, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire. However, it said enforcing the legislation is very challenging.

Further checks showed that components of e-Waste include large household appliances (42 per cent); IT communications technology (34 per cent); consumer electronics (14 per cent), while others account for 10 per cent.

It was however, gathered that in Nigeria, the largest form of e-Waste, which is a computer and its accessories, constitute about 60 per cent, while mobile devices follow with 25 per cent. Others like photocopiers and other office equipment account for the remaining 15 per cent.

The ITU, in its Global E-waste Monitor 2020, said e-Waste rose by 21 per cent in the last five years, with a record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt). It noted that e-Waste discarded products, including a battery or plug such as computers and mobile phones generated, went up 9.2 Mt in five years as of 2019.

Breaking down the 461.3kt into value, the Chief Executive Officer, E-Terra Technologies Limited, a private end-to-end electronic waste management company in Lagos, Dr. Ifeanyi Ochonogor, had said “1mt equals 2,000Ib. Therefore, 461,300mt = 922,600,000Ib.1 scrap computer currently cost $0.18. Therefore, 922,600,000Ib of scrap computer is worth $166,068,000. So, 461.3k of e-waste appears to be worth $166,060,000.” With a population of over 200 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country.

Ochonogor said in a country considered one of the poorest in Africa, over 90 per cent of its citizens own and use electric and electronic devices.

“Unfortunately, most of these technology gadgets used by Nigerians are either obsolete or near end of life (popularly called Tokunbo), which naturally means they will not last long before being discarded by users.

“Further, because most Nigerians cannot afford new electric and electronic appliances, it has become a dumping ground for all manner of fairly used electric and electronic gadgets often imported into the country by dealers and repairers operating in Alaba and Computer village in Lagos State. This explains the huge proliferation of e-Waste in Nigeria.”

Source: Guardian

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 By Y. Z. Ya’u, CITAD

TECHDIGEST – Technology enthusiasts like most people are data-selective. When we want to show digital progress, we go for internet penetration figure or the more problematic one of PC and android phone ownership. But another statistical data that could also show progress would be to look at the amount of electronic waste that is generated in the country.

 We will normally not use this because it has negative connotation, but it is an important issue to address. It is one of the crucial indicators of unsustainability of current digitization, the others being having to substitute fossil fuel with cleaner energy sources to fire our digital systems and the need to address carbon emission from the digital devices.

Across the country, in major cities and towns, you are likely to be confronted by the eyesore of heaps and pyramid of discarded computer boxes, out of service printers, scanner rollers, bodies of refrigerators, television cases, etc. 

All of these constitute what is termed as electronic waste or more simply as eWaste. When electronic devices are no longer serviceable, they have to be thrown away as they are no longer useful. The rate at which this waste is produced is a proxy measure of the consumption of electronic goods.

 However, rate of generation of wastes varies with countries that manufacture electronic goods producing far lesser amounts of eWaste than those that merely import for consumption, every other thing being equal, the reason being that imported goods for a number of reasons, have shorter life span than those left in the manufacturing countries.

The International Telecommunications Union defines eWaste as “items of all types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been discarded by the owner as waste” This definition was adapted in Nigeria’s solid waste policy.

READ ALSO: Why Nigeria needs to invest in tech — NASENI

 However, the definition focuses on hardware items such as monitors, handset, etc. It leaves out the non-tangible eWaste such as heat released from the use of ICT systems. In the context of Nigeria, most ICT users will have their generating sets because of insufficient power supply, the emission from generating sets could be significant, thus can be considered a factor in global warming.

 This part of the two-part on eWaste focuses on solid waste.

The increasing pyramid of eWaste across cities in the country is due to two factors. On the one hand is the poor enforcement of the relevant local laws and policies regarding disposal and management of eWaste by the government that that has allowed the importation of second-hand digital devices that are not properly screened, the result of which is that a lot of the import is actually ewaste.  On the other hand, because of the collapse of the national currency, imported new digital goods have become generally affordable only to a few people in the country. 

This has stimulated the demand for more second digital devices. Since secondhand devices have generally shorter life span, they quickly turn to waste and join the growing heaps of eWaste across the country.

There are three sources of eWaste in Nigeria. The first is the obsolesce of equipment and devices. Of recent, this has increased with the importation of second-hand devices as more and more people cannot afford new ones.

 The share of second-hand EEE is significantly increasing in the country. In 2010, a study undertaken for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by Ogungbuyi, O, Nnorom, I, C, Osibanjo, and M. Schluep found the share between new and used EEE was about 50%/50%. 

This ration must have greatly change with second probably nearly 90% today. The increase in second-hand EEE is driven by low purchasing power and poverty.

The second source is the illegal importation of eWaste. While importation of wastes is illegal, there have been instances of such importation. In 1988, Italy shipped 18,000 barrels of toxic waste marked to a village in Delta State. In 2013, a Ship (MV Marivia) with two containers of eWaste was apprehended. Such importation takes place across the ports and are able to get through because of corruption in the port system and only get exposed due to some disagreement or action of whistleblowers. In this context, it is difficult to estimate the amount of eWaste that gets into the country. In addition, about 30% of second-hand imports were estimated to be non-functioning (therefore need to be declared as e-waste). UNEP report estimated that for 2010, at least 100,000 tonnes of e-waste entered the country illegally. 

UNEP survey also found that large quantities of used e-waste are imported with used cars. 

A third contributor to ewaste is the local assembly of electronic goods. There are broadly three types of assemblers.

 The first are those who assemble items like refrigerators, radio, etc. The second ones who came to the scene in the 1990s are assembling computers. These are relatively large-scale organizations producing their brand of computers.

 The last category consists of small-scale assemblers of non-branded computers. What is common to all the three is that they import completely knocked down parts (CKDs) and assemble them in the country.

There are four common ways of dealing with eWaste. One is the collection of the wastes and incinerating them in specifically designated places. 

This seems the easiest but not necessarily the best or the safest. For one, a number of the components of eWaste are neither biodegradable nor fire-destroyable and therefore even after incineration, a lot reminds as waste, occupying space and contributing to continued environmental pollution. In addition, both the emission to the air from the burning of eWaste and the seeping of by-products of the burning into the grounds have serious impact to the environment and therefore leave much to be desired. 

A second option that has been used by richer countries is trading in eWaste in which countries with “wasteland” accept eWaste in return for payment from the countries dumping the waste. Nigeria had in the past had received waste as traded item, although now technically importation of waste is banned. Apart from the difficulty of getting a willing buyer, on a global scale this does not address the consequences of eWaste.

The third is built around the concept of recycle, repair and reuse, which requires the recycling for components from eWaste, repairing those that can be repaired and reusing those that can be used for other purposes.

 This does not necessarily do away with the waste but rather turn some into useful inputs for either elongating the life span of some digital devices or creating new ones. This in a way serves two dual purposes: reducing the waste and also seeding the circular economy, that reducing consumption of materials for producing electronic goods.

READ ALSO: The Necessity of NITDA Amendments for Digital Economy By Fom Gyem

 Elongating the life span of devices in general is a response to the challenges of sustainability because it reduces the consumption of non-renewable resources, that are often obtained through environmentally destructive extractive processes that are in the long run not sustainable. 

In this sense, while recycling, repair and reuse does not do away with waste per se, it implants a consciousness and practices of the move away from the linear economy of extraction and consumption of materials to a circular economy of repeated use and the uptake of renewable resources. 

The 3Rs requires first, an organized and effective system of waste collection, sorting storing. It also requires equipment for pre-processing of wastes. And, finally, it requires skills for the recycling and reuse.

 Luckily, in Nigerians, the recycling sub-sector is growing and has in fact transformed from mere concern with health issues to an economic one in which many people are now engaged in recycling as an economic activity. We need government to improve the situation through appropriate policy making. 

A fourth strategy is the use of renewable and biodegradable materials for supporting the digital system. This once reduces waste and ensure your that infrastructure is based on sustainable basis. For instance, one of current work in adoption is the move away from steel-based telecommunication towers to ones made from bamboo trees.

 Bamboo trees are agricultural product thus both renewable and non-extractive. In addition, wastes from cutting and sizing bamboo are completely biodegradable. This works through careful substitution. Like the 3Rs, government is called upon to support research and experimentation as well innovation to replace extractive components with renewable ones. For instance, it can do a policy to support large scale farming of bamboo in the country and promote its use in the increasing bird-nest of towers in the country. 

We also need to challenge device designers and manufacturers to design with the concept of repair and reuse in mind against the current practice of increased decline in the life span of devices and quick to obsolescence that are embedded in current design practices as a means of maximizing profits for investors.

 They also need to move from extinctive components to non-extractive. We must also guard against the use of proprietary components which makes it difficult if not impossible, for repairers to substitute components from one manufacturer to device produced by different ones.

In addition to taking the issue of the circular economy serious, the government needs to ensure the effective enforcement of relevant regulations relating to eWaste in the country.

 The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), an agency of the Ministry was established by law in 2007 with responsibility “for the enforcement of environmental standards, regulations, rules, laws policies and guidelines”. In 2011, the government approved the National Environmental (Electrical/Electronic Sector) Regulations in 2011 as the key tool governing Electrical/Electronic waste in the country.

In addition to NESREA, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) by virtue of the article on equipment type testing, has power to regulate the quality and standards of devices being brought into the country. Also, in pursuant to the provisions of Sections 4, 70, 132 to be in conjunction with Sections 130 and 134 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, NCC has a window to regulate eWaste in the country.

 At the moment lots of second hand handsets get into the country through grey routes that escape NCC oversight. Similarly, NESREA has not found effective ways of dealing with importation of second hand computers that are merely junk.

Finally, government itself needs to do more in this area. Although Nigeria is a signatory to the ITU, it has not taken measures to implement the decisions of the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU set in 2018 with respect to adapting recycling of e-waste to contribute to a global total of 30%​​ and have e-waste legislation to 50. It needs to act on this.

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TECHDIGEST – Over the years, the global application of technological tools for entrepreneurship engagement in waste management has been gaining momentum, thus becoming a top agenda item.

The recent invitation of Trashpays Services, a Nigerian waste management services startup, to the eleventh session of the World Urban Forum (WUF 11) taking place in Katowice, Poland between 26th and 30th June 2022 aimed at discussing inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable urban future has re-emphasized the need for more awareness of driving the use of technology to achieve waste management in Nigeria.

Trashpays Services has earned commendations for its immense support and contribution in training and organizing workshops on waste to wealth entrepreneurship programmes, and teaching women on ways of recycling waste matters into profitable resources.

READ ALSO: Trashpays:Transforming Waste into Economic

Thus, the use of Information Technology as a tool in converting waste to wealth entrepreneurship goals has become a great initiative that the federal government and stakeholders need to integrate more households, businesses, and industries into the system.

E-waste also referred to as digital rubbish, is unwanted electronic products or any electronic equipment that has been discarded. On the other hand, those unwanted products discarded by society are called solid waste, thus requiring a proper disposition and management.

According to the United Nations, the quantity of e-waste has increased from 20 to 50 million tonnes per year since 2000. The report forecasted that the numbers will more than double by 2050 to reach a staggering 111 million tonnes per year.

In Nigeria, about 1.1 million n of e-waste is generated annually. As a result of the inability to manage such items, 75 percent of it is laying verge thereby causing hazards.

E-waste management in Nigeria includes waste collection, separation, transfer, treatment, recycling, and final disposal, as well as public information campaigns and awareness training which is facilitated by the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme.

With EPR, producers assume significant financial and/or physical responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. To ensure that the EPR scheme remains resilient, manufacturers, assemblers, importers, and distributors contribute to the non-profit E-waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria, to ensure shared responsibility and funding for e-waste processing and recycling.

Nowadays, technology is transforming waste management in many ways. With this, waste is being turned into energy, precious metals are being recycled, route efficiency is being improved, and new collection and disposal technologies are being developed to meet up with the huge waste materials that need recycling.

Electronic and solid waste causes significant pollution and environmental degradation when improperly handled and disposed of. However, they still have numerous benefits when properly managed and recycled into valuable substances, and raw materials, as well as creating opportunities for economic growth.

Among the innovative technologies used in waste management are smart waste bins, waste level sensors, AI recycling/waste sorting robots, garbage truck weighing mechanisms, solar-powered trash compactors, and modern landfills powered by eco-friendly, sustainable technology.

For instance, Fascinate Technologies a startup that introduced the smart waste bin in Nigeria ensures effective waste collection that helps to minimize improper waste disposal, prevent environmental pollution, and the spread of diseases, and promote a greener and more eco-friendly environment.

Meanwhile, smart waste bins are designed to automatically sort recyclables into separate compartments using artificial intelligence. This process helps recycling companies to be able to filter waste and refine it into new goods for consumption and reuse.

The installation of waste level sensors in public bins and dumpsters of all sizes helps prevent overflowing and littering of the surrounding environment. This makes it easy for waste collectors to collect materials for refuse instead of ending up in landmines thereby causing land and water pollution.

It is important to note that recycling more waste reduces waste generation, regardless of its type. As landfills are reduced, more land can be used for agricultural purposes where teeming youth can cultivate and harvest, thus reducing the unemployment rate.

With this development, it is easy to integrate unemployed youths living in rural and major cities into recycling initiatives. When these waste management projects are carefully and properly organized, they will serve as sources of livelihood for unskilled workers.

Again, since recycling allows valuable materials to be recovered, reused, and protects earth’s resources, this, in turn, provides enormous opportunities for innovation and creativity in business models for sustainable solutions.

It is worrisome to learn that youth’s engagement in recycling waste has been undervalued by many because of the dirty image associated with waste reuse. But unknowing to many, the recovery of valuable materials from waste is enough for further investment when properly handled.

Due to technological advancement, polythene bags, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), bottles, and even paper can be recycled by companies that recycle plastic waste into semi-processed raw materials for plastic manufacturers and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) into plastic resins or pellets.

Therefore, it is vital for the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to encourage waste management startups/companies, environmental management agencies, and other relevant private and public sector stakeholders to raise awareness and enlighten more youths to harness the endless opportunities that are yet untapped in this sector.

In effect, more waste recycling companies will emerge to convert waste into wealth to achieve a stable economy and improve the well-being of the people.

Zeenat Sambo
Wuye District Abuja

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TECHDIGEST – Nigeria and other African countries are leading the way in the management of electronic trash, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (e-waste). 

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, stated the information and communication technology (ICT) boom has resulted in a massive increase of “e-waste.” According to Bogdan-Martin, the globe generated a record 53.6 million metric tonnes (MT) of e-waste in 2019, and this amount is on the rise, with experts predicting that the annual creation of e-waste will reach 74.7 Mt by 2030.

Taking on this challenge, she believes, will necessitate a deliberate and coordinated effort from all organizations and individuals involved in the electronics value chain. She believes that producers will need to adopt a new strategy and assume ownership of a product’s entire lifecycle. According to Bogdan-Martin, African countries are leading the way in terms of e-waste management. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, 13 African countries had enacted e-waste policies, legislation, or regulations. She believes their efforts can serve as a model for other countries wanting to enhance their e-waste management systems.

READ ALSO:We’ re set to implement Regulatory processes on E-Waste, says NCC boss

With Nigeria and other African countries producing 2.9 million tonnes of e-waste each year, the ITU chairman explained that long-term e-waste management solutions will necessitate a fair and economically sustainable approach to extended producer responsibility (EPR). EPR mandates that producers – such as makers, importers, or distributors – be responsible for the end-of-life management of devices sold on the market, according to her. Returning products, recycling them, and eventually disposing of them are all part of this.

“Regulation must contain clear and easy-to-understand definitions of the different e-waste stakeholders to avoid confusion. Many African countries have given definitions in their regulations covering e-waste management and EPR. For example, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa place emphasis on a person or persons – rather than on entities – introducing, importing and manufacturing electronics. This makes it more efficient to identify who must register with the associated EPR scheme,” she stated.

According to Bogdan-Martin, Africa’s experience with e-waste management offers fascinating options that all countries should examine when developing an e-waste management system. “Of course, continual improvement is required to ensure that the e-waste management system is capable of adapting to changing conditions.

“Government actions like this help create standards for new ways of working, living, and conducting business. They also emphasize a critical message: that “electronic reuse and recycling should be valued by all stakeholders.”

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TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has powers under Section 70 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA2003) to develop an E-waste Regulation for the telecommunications sector in the country.

This declaration was made by Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of NCC, in his keynote address at the 2021 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue in Lagos on Thursday, December 9 at the Welcome Centre Hotels with the theme: E-Waste in Nigeria: Consumer as key to Circular Economy & 20 years of GSM.

Danbatta, represented by Dr. Ominiyi Ibietan, the head of New Media, said that as at March 5, 2019, based on the Commission’s participatory rule-making procedure, came up with a draft of the E-waste Regulations and Disaster Recovery Guidelines which were hitherto published on its website for comments from the general public, especially telecommunications operators and other stakeholders.

“As required by law, a Public Inquiry on the E-waste Regulations and Disaster Recovery Guidelines was scheduled for March 5, 2019 and a Notice of the Public Inquiry was published in Daily Trust and New Telegraph Newspapers on Monday February 11, 2019,” he said.

The public inquiry, he also disclosed had over Sixty-one (61) persons representing telecommunications operators, interested stakeholders and the media in attendance, which offered him the opportunity to explain the importance of having a proper legal framework to regulate e-waste in the telecommunications sector.

“Considering that e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world and a recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimated that this waste stream increased by about 48.5 million tonnes in 2018,” he said.

Prof. Danbatta defined e-waste as “electrical or electronic equipment that is waste, including all components, sub-assemblies and consumables that are part of the equipment at the time the equipment becomes waste.”

In addition, based on the WEF, over 75% of electronics imported into Nigeria were irreparable and toxic junk, which means that this menace remained rampant due to the low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita/low income and the desperate quest for information by Nigerians.

The prevalence of e-waste, he said, raised a lot of pollution issues which should be managed, because of the resultant effects on humans and the environment.

Further, NCC, in line with its commitment to sustain phenomenal successes recorded in the sector in the past 20 years, also developed the ‘Disaster Recovery Guidelines’ to mitigate disasters that might affect business continuity in the industry and jeopardise the incredible success already recorded.

The Guidelines, Danbatta said, was introduced as part of the Commission’s wider risk management initiatives, aimed at protecting telecoms companies from the threat of emergencies in their operations.

The Commission, he equally said, in developing robust regulations and guidelines are to enhance development of the industry and the entire economy.

In giving general overview of NCC’s e-Waste regulations, Prof. Danbatta said it is made up of 31 regulations structured into Sixteen (16) parts.

Also included in the Regulations, he said, are one (1) Schedule, nine (9) Forms and four (4) Tables, stressing that the Regulations outlined the responsibilities and obligations of stakeholders in the e-waste value chain, such as the manufacturer, collection and disposal facilities agent, vendors, consumers or bulk consumers, recyclers, importers and transporters.

Notable, the EVC said, is that the Regulations applies to all type-approved Electrical and Electronic Equipment and activities carried out by any person in relation to Electrical and Electronic Equipment used in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, NCC bagged the 2021 ITREALMS Telecom E-Waste Regulator Award in recognition of the Commission’s commitment in the regulation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Telecom Sector, according to the Executive Editor-in-Chief of ITREALMS Media, Mr. Remmy Nweke.

The award was received on behalf of the Commission by the Head of New Media, Dr. Ominiyi Ibietan, who represented the EVC and was presented by the National President, National Association of Telecom Subscribers (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo at the 2021 edition.

Source :  Tech economy.ng

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TECHDIGEST – The commitment of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the regulation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in the telecom sector, has earned it the 2021 ITREALMS Telecom E-Waste Regulator Award.

Presenting the award to the telecom regulator, Executive Editor-in-Chief of ITREALMS Media, Mr. Remmy Nweke said over the years, NCC has earned a reputation as a leading telecom regulatory agency on the continent of Africa.

He noted that the Commission strives to catalyze the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT’s) for different aspects of national development. Thus, the creation of several programmes such as State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) and Wire Nigeria Project (WIN) to help stimulate demand and accelerate the uptake of ICT tools and services necessary for the enthronement of a knowledge society in the country.

The event keynoted by the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who was represented by the Head of New Media, Dr. Ominiyi Ibietan, dwelt on “20 years of GSM and e-Waste in Nigeria.”

Created under Decree No. 75 by the [Federal Military Government of Nigeria] on 24 November 1992, the Commission was charged with the responsibility of regulating the supply of telecommunications services and facilities, promoting competition, and setting performance standards for telephone services in Nigeria.

In order to achieve its mandate, the Commission being currently led by the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has put in place some necessary licensing and regulatory framework for the supply of telecommunications services, especially using “ASPIRE 2024” – (A: Advancement through S: Strategy, P: Professionalism, I: Innovation and R: Regulatory, E: Excellence).

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TECHDIGEST – Apex telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) have drummed support for the 2021 edition of the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue scheduled at Adam’s Hall, Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos by 9am next Thursday.

Just as experts from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) and E-Waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON) to name a few, have lined up to dissect the theme of the dialogue “e-Waste in Nigeria: Consumer as key to Circular Economy & 20 years of GSM.”

Confirming these at the weekend, the editor-in-chief, ITREALMS Media group, Mr. Remmy Nweke, said that the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, slated for Thursday, December 9, 2021, at Adams Hall, Welcome Centre Hotels, Lagos would have the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta deliver a keynote address to the occasion.

Danbatta’s keynote, Nweke revealed would focus on “20 years of GSM and e-Waste in Nigeria” while ALTON chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo would share insight on “ALTON: 20 years of GSM and e-Waste in Nigeria.”

Nweke noted that the importance of tackling electronic waste in the country cannot be over-emphasised, as the nation celebrates 20 years of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) which made it easier for inflow of electronic devices and usage in the most populated African nation.

Pointing out that the Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) emanates from the likes of mobile phones, computers, TV-sets, and fridges among other electronic devices have become a set of fastest growing waste streams across the globe.

Nweke also noted that Professor Danbatta as the Chief Executive Officer of NCC is serving a second term of five years in office, following the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020.

Danbatta earned his BEng, MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and received his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).

As a multiple award-winning professor, Danbatta successfully spearheaded the attainment and surpassing of Nigeria’s national broadband target in 2018, and he is currently among those leading the charge for the realization of the new national broadband target of 70 per cent by 2025, after the country achieved and surpassed its earlier national target of 30 per cent penetration in 2018.

In no small measure, Danbatta has strengthened the role of the telecommunications sector as a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and boosted telecoms investment inflows from $36 billion to over $70 billion since 2015, among others.

Prior to his appointment as EVC/CEO of NCC in 2015, Danbatta, was a professor of telecommunications engineering, who worked in academia as lecturer where he supervised over 60 PhD, MEng and BEng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications, rising to the position of Acting Vice-Chancellor in a Nigerian university.

He was the Vice-President of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), an international centre for advanced communications studies established in 2004 by the Commission (NCC) for capacity in diverse areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Further, Nweke said that ALTON is a body corporate, duly registered in Nigeria and recognized by the government of and NCC as the official industry body for all providers of telecommunications and subsidiary services in Nigeria.

ALTON is ably led by Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Communication Network Support Services Limited Group of Companies, whose operations cuts across Telecommunication Network maintenance, Call and Contact Centre Service, Media, Broadcasting, Agriculture, Hotels and Hospitality Services, Medical and Hospital Services.

ITREALMS Media, he said, in commemoration of the International E-waste Day (IeWD) 2021, has advanced plans to host a day discourse on e-Waste in Nigeria: Consumer as key to Circular Economy & 20 years of GSM under its flagship ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue scheduled for Thursday, December 9, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos.

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