Nigeria Searches for Fortunes in ICT

As Oil Revenue Dwindles, Nigeria Searches for Fortunes in ICT

It was definitely not the first time stakeholders in the Nigerian ICT industry would gather to brainstorm on how to move the industry forward, but it was the first of its kind where a Minister would stay with the stakeholders for two days and where every stakeholder would agree that indeed, the country is in dire need of ICT to rescue her from economic woes. From over 400 participants, roadmaps, plans, strategies were harmonised for rapid development of ICTs in the country. Will this be the beginning of CHANGE in the Nigerian ICT landscape? SAMSON AKINTARO reports.

Now that the Party is Over

Thoughts around the need for diversification of Nigeria’s economy has for years remained a matter of rhetoric. Rather, the country has maintained her age-long dependence on oil, accounting for about 95 percent of the country’s revenue.  Perhaps years of windfalls from crude oil occasioned by soaring prices at the international market had blinded the government to the reality that the party would not last long and there was need to develop other sectors of the economy and build alternative sources of income to oil.

But now, the reality is stark naked for all to see. The fears of those who had been pinching the government on the need to diversify the economy were based on the feeling that ‘one day, the oil would dry up, and the country would be left with nothing’. But here we are, the oil has yet to dry, but the value has dropped significantly, the revenue from oil has now become peanuts, such that all the states that rely on the largesse from Abuja are now unable to pay workers’ salary.  No doubt, the country is now seriously broke, except that the government has not declared it officially.

Of course, without official declaration, the 2016 budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly had reflected a nation experiencing cash crunch with the proposition to borrow N1.84 trillion to finance government’s spending for the year. And at this moment, it seems the government needs no pontificator anymore to diversify the economy.

With eyes on Agriculture, Solid Minerals and others, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) stands prominent as a pillar on which every other sectors being considered for diversification rest. Perhaps that was the reason the Honourable Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu thought it wise to bring all stakeholders in the ICT industry together for two days to brainstorm on the strategies to elevate ICT as the next revenue spinner for the country.

Central and also critical to discussions at the retreat was how the industry would become the largest job creator in the country, hence, the theme: Repositioning the Nigeria Communications Sector as the Key Driver of the Nigerian Economy. Leading to the retreat, the Communications Minister, in his avowed determination to reposition the Communications Sector in tandem with the Change Agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, since assumption of duties as Minister of Communications, was said to have embarked on various inquisitions and fact-finding exercises, the result of which culminated in the o retreat held in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State.

According to a statement from the Ministry, in the course of inquisitions, it was discovered that considerable efforts made in the past to mainstream ICT into vital aspects of life in the country, have unfortunately been undermined by the lack of an integrated framework for utilization of ICT for socio-economic development.

“In the ensuing scenario, the Minister of Communications had to re-examine the status quo ante in order to formulate new strategies for doing things differently so as to fast track the realization of the vision of a new Nigeria, hence the all-inclusive retreat.”

Towards this end, the 2016 Communications Sector Retreat was designed to achieve among others: Define a Strategic Roadmap for Government on ICT; Provide a Common Platform for Sector Stakeholders to Share Common Vision for ICT development in Nigeria and to form a precursor for the Minister to unveil his vision for the ICT sector that will be beneficial to all. The fulcrums of the Minister’s new initiative are job creation, revenue generation, efficient service delivery and infrastructural development”.

With the above agenda shared among stakeholders before the event, it was not surprising that virtually every individual, organisation and agency that matters in the Nigerian ICT industry found their way to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the venue of the event in Ibadan. At the sight of the industry big wigs that filled the event hall, there was no doubt the industry meant business. One after the other, the stakeholders, especially, from the private sector voiced out their ideas, pointing to the flops of the past and the areas the government needed to retrace its steps and take actions. Issues of how to create millions of jobs for millions of unemployed Nigerian through ICT were passionately discussed. At the end of the two days, it was written all over the faces of the participants including the Minister of Communications, that indeed, they have had fruitful deliberations.

Of course, the choice of Ibadan as the venue of the all-important retreat might have come as surprise to many, considering that cities like Lagos and Abuja play host to most ICT companies and stakeholders, however, the serene and business-like atmosphere at the IITA would prove that no other venue would have been better for such important discussions. Beyond that, it was discovered that the concentration and full commitment displayed by the stakeholders could not have been gotten if the event were to be held in either Lagos or Abuja as many would plan to leave early to return to their businesses, surprisingly in Ibadan, the hall remained filled even as at 7 pm.

But the questions are: Will the Ibadan retreat mark the beginning of accelerated ICT growth in Nigeria? Will ICT be able drive the economy as envisaged? Will the brainstorming sessions not end up as the usual rhetoric that has characterised many developmental plans in the country? These are questions that will be agitating the minds of many, considering that many stakeholders’ forums, meetings and summits have been held in the past without any tangible impact. But the answers to these questions will definitely come; it is a matter of time.

Shittu Unveils Agenda for a ‘Digital Smart Nigeria’

For most stakeholders that attended the maiden edition of Communications Retreat in Ibadan, they went with high expectations of getting the policy direction of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on ICT, which many had anxiously awaited as a guide. Certainly, no other person would unveil such except the Minister of Communications himself, and the moment Shittu mounted the podium to deliver his keynote at the opening session of the retreat, the stakeholders listened with rapt attention.

For 42 minutes, Shittu reeled out plans and strategies in a speech titled: Continuing Innovation and Innovating Continuity: Creating a SMART Digital Nigeria. According to him, successive governments had presided over varying degrees of growth in the sector to the point where ICT as a liberalised sector is politically neutral, hence, continuing with existing programmes is crucial. “It is precisely the belief in and continuous application of a liberalised market policy that has produced the explosive but uneven growth in the sector so far. The issue now is how to nurture that explosive growth to make sure that it reaches every farm and factory, and to every hamlet and home in Nigeria, the Minister said.”

“The time has now come to leverage the bountiful opportunities in the Communications Sector to generate additional revenue for government, now that the prices of oil have been on rapid decline at the international market, create employment for our teaming youths, improve access and enhance quality of service delivery and affordability in the country. Undoubtedly, this will ultimately enhance transparency and good governance in line with our CHANGE agenda on which this government rode into power” he said.

To create a SMART Digital Nigeria, which would bring the ‘Change’, Shittu said the government had identified five steps to be taken, which include: Building on ICT sector Growth by Improving Infrastructure and Quality of Service; SMART government to deliver ICT and broadband penetration via Government, soft infrastructure, commerce, broadband penetration, security, information accessibility; Increasing revenue and reducing waste while fostering transparency and accountability using ICT; Policy innovative continuity for private sector led continuous innovation and growth; and migration to a digitally SMART Nigeria through capacity building, job and wealth and creating enabling environment for entrepreneurship to flourish.

On the administration’s roadmap for the sector, the minister said that the Federal Government is poised to reduce both the public and private infrastructure deficit in the country’s ICT sector for substantial improvements in quality of service, stressing that inadequate infrastructure is the bane of ICT development in the country and a leading cause of quality of service deficiencies.

Shittu, who also disclosed that the Federal Government would invest in a second back-up satellite for NIGCOMSAT and would also encourage foreign investors in the sector, said: “We will also explore the investment in a second back up satellite for NIGCOMSAT and actively engage other global infrastructure providers to invest in the sector.  The minister said that 550 post offices in different local councils of the country would soon start engaging in financial services like Internet services and call services apart from the traditional letter posting.

Bridging Infrastructure gap

Speaking extensively on infrastructure, the Minister said: “The first Step the Roadmap intends to address is to reduce both the public and private infrastructure deficit in Nigeria’s ICT sector for substantial improvements in Quality of Service”. According to him, inadequate ICT infrastructure has been the bane of ICT development in the country and a leading cause of deficiencies in quality of service.  “From broadband penetration to last mile-fibre-optic-connectivity, this infrastructure deficit is preventing all Nigerians from gaining affordable and reliable access to ICT services.  Lack of affordability, due in part, to the proliferation of taxes, fees and levies and associated costs further inhibit investments in infrastructure.  Consequently, our priority would be to ensure effective and productive acquisition by stakeholders of the infrastructure required to support and grow our boisterous ICT market.”

“It does not need stating that the availability of infrastructure has significant impact on the development of ICT. In addition to catalysing infrastructural development, we will pursue Government and Private sector time-bound investments in good quality infrastructural facilities and services, led by our agencies like Universal Service Provision Fund and actively supported by both local and international investors. We will also explore the investment in a second and, possibly a third backup satellite for NIGCOMSAT and actively engage other global infrastructure providers to invest in the sector.  I can assure this gathering that we are already holding preliminary talks and negotiations with potential international financiers and investors on this matter.”

In addition, he said the government would expedite action and deepen the implementation of the National Broadband Plan. “Efforts will also be made to promote investments towards last-mile-access. Furthermore,   improvements in the quality of existing networks would be addressed with all the seriousness and urgency that they require. To our private sector “infrastructure” partners, we recognise many of the challenges you currently face. We are accessible. We make you this pledge, to listen to those critical issues and challenges” the Minister promised.

Lets Replace Oil & Gas with ICT – Ajimobi Urges

From the mouth of the Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, came words of realities over the need to move away from dependency on oil and gas and focus on ICT which is capable of turning things around for the country. To this end, the Governor challenged all stakeholders in the ICT industry to exploit new ways that will take Nigeria out of the doldrums to boost its economy. The governor said the ICT is useful in virtually all aspects of human life, especially now that crude oil price is experiencing a free fall in the international market, thus impacting negatively on the nation’s economy. Ajimobi, while declaring the retreat opened, noted that the retreat was auspicious coming at a time the country is facing dwindling oil revenue and therefore the need to have a shift in revenue and job creation policies. He said it was his belief that the ICT sector is capable of generating revenue and also arrest the menace of unemployment in the county. To this end therefore, Governor Ajimobi enjoined stakeholders to work together to ensure that the country benefits fully in the opportunities that are abound in the ICT sector of the nation’s economy.

The Governor, who quoted the National Bureau of Statistics, said that ICT was a major contributor to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with 8.68 per cent. Positing  that ICT is pervasive and that it is useful in all aspects of the people’s endeavours , Ajimobi added  that the illiterate of tomorrow will not be somebody who cannot read nor write but somebody who does not have a knowledge of the ICT and what it stands for.

To emphasise the importance of ICT in today’s economy, the Governor quoted Mark Zuckerberg (CEO, Co-founder Facebook, noting: “The economy of the last century was primarily based on natural resources, industrial machines and manual labor. Many of these resources were zero-sum and controlled by companies. If someone else had an oil field, then you did not. There were only so many oil fields, and only so much wealth could be created from them. Today’s economy is very different. It is based primarily on knowledge and ideas – resources that are renewable and available to everyone.”

According to Ajimobi, “unlike oil fields, someone else knowing something doesn’t prevent you from knowing it, too. In fact, the more people who know something, the better educated and trained we all are, the more productive we become, and the better off everyone in our nation can be.” The governor, who cited the examples of United States of America, China and some Asian countries which, he said, had used ICT to re-launch their economies, pointed out that the time had come for Nigeria to transit from an agrarian economy to a knowledge-based one, with ICT serving as the driver. “I like to call on all stakeholders to come together to device a realistic blueprint for growth and improvement in employment rate. America, China and many other Asian countries have used ICT to re-launch their countries and their economy,” he said.

He called on participants at the retreat to develop realistic strategies on how to use ICT, which he described as an imaginative and innovative sector, to create employment or to convert youths to employment generators.

“We are in the era of change. Ours is a government of change. Let us all come together to make ICT a change agent,” the governor said. He added that this could be achieved by encouraging Nigerians through regular enlightenment on the benefits of information technology, as well as by fashioning out appropriate legal framework by the National Assembly to develop ICT.

Strategy for Creating Two Million ICT Jobs Yearly

In tune with the primary focus of the retreat to reposition ICT as a major driver of the nation’s economy, jobs creation dominated discussions and it was indeed one the key take homes from the retreat that the government is looking up to ICT is the springboard for its job creation promise. According to the Communication Minister, Information and Communication Technology today creates more jobs than oil and gas. And to further drive this was the crux of his visit to China recently, from where he said a commitment of $15 billion investment had been secured and which could create about two million jobs.

Emphasising the potentials of job creation in ICT, the Minister noted that that Information Technology (IT) outsourcing and e-Commerce sector alone could employ over 40 million Nigerians and contribute billions of dollars to the economy when appropriately channelled and nurtured. He added that given the absence of fiscal buffers in a time of low oil prices and rising unemployment rate, ICT, which already employs more Nigerians than the oil and gas sector, was poised to drive growth. “We believe we can considerably increase government receipts within the sector,” he said, adding that a technology savvy workforce and SMART government play pivotal role in raising revenue for government, improving efficiency, eliminating waste and generating employment for Nigeria’s teeming masses.

But that was not just the target, but how to create at least two million jobs every year from the ICT industry, and that formed the topic of discussion at one of the strategic sessions held at the retreat. With the Managing Director of Omatek, an indigenous computer manufacturing company, Mrs Floreence Seriki as the lead discussant and Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, Chairman of Teledom Group as moderator, the session dissected the industry and posited that less than 10 per cent of ICT job creation potentials has been explored in the country. Specifically, Mrs Seriki noted that while little efforts are being made in the area of software, not much has been done in the area of hardware, which she said has lifted economies such as China and Japan.

According to her, Nigeria with her huge population is also well placed to develop huge human capital like China to produce all kinds of hardware in the country. But she blamed the current state of ICT in the country on lack of policy continuity by successive governments. This she said has led to a situation where many states in the country have ICT Parks but nothing is happening there. She also identified lack of special purpose ICT fund as problem, nothing that countries like China invested hugely on their start-ups and today the Chinese economy is better for it.

To create jobs with ICT however, she said the Nigerian government key into the target and back it up with policy. She identified broadband availability as a key tool that can get many youths engaged in the country, adding that the government must first make broadband as ubiquitous as mobile phone. She also suggested a re-establishment of interface between the industry and the academia, whereby students can be directly attached to IT companies for training and research while in school. This, she said would prepare the students for the real world outside the classroom and getting a job would not be difficult for them after school.

Smart Villages, Not Smart Cities

As a consensus, participants at the strategic session advised the government to consider what they called ‘Smart Villages’ rather than Smart cities, which would encourage rural-urban drift and also increase unemployment rate in the cities. According to them, the government needs to embark on ICT projects across all the 774 local governments in the country.

With this, they said most rural dwellers would become knowledgeable in ICT, get engaged and would not need to go to the city for any reason. According to the stakeholders, connecting the rural areas and raising ICT awareness among the people is the only way through which the government’s policy can have a lasting impact on the people of Nigeria.

Communique from the Maiden Communications Sector Retreat

In order to ensure that our SMART Digital Nigeria initiative is stakeholders-based, all relevant stakeholders including Members of the National Assembly Committees overseeing the sector, key Ministry officials, Chief Executive Officers of Agencies under the Ministry, ICT industry captains and major stakeholders met in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital from 22-23 January, 2016 where the maiden Communications Sector Retreat was held. The two-day retreat, with the theme: Repositioning the Nigeria Communications Sector as the Key Driver of the Nigerian Economy, was held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, drawing no fewer than 400 industry stakeholders and policy makers.

After extensive deliberations, stakeholders, in line with the SMART Digital Nigeria initiative:

1. Agreed that although a number of strides had been recorded in the ICT sector, there was need for repositioning in order to ensure that Nigerians benefit optimally from it;
2. Identified challenges to ICT development in the country to include: inadequate infrastructure, poor human capacity development, inadequate/disconnected legal and regulatory framework, poor implementation of the local content and other laudable policies;

iii.        After exhaustive deliberations, the participants recommended the following strategies to address identified gaps:

1. Implement fully the National Broadband Plan as the foundation for infrastructure development;
2. Implement a policy to encourage service providers to use renewable energy for powering Base Transceiver Stations for improvement of Quality of Service and Access;
3. Engage with the Ministries of Education to ensure mandatory ICT education at the Primary level and alignment of the ICT educational curriculum through Research and Development and to meet current global trends;
4. Accelerate the bridging of the Knowledge Skill Gap in the Nigeria ICT Skills ecosystem;
5. Encourage implementers of e-services to incentivise users to migrate from lower to higher technologies in order to promote ICT utilisation and exploitation across all sectors;
6. Promote initiatives that will advance innovation and creativity;
7. Create a sustainable funding framework for the implementation of the e-government master plan and other ICT initiatives of government through active engagement with the private sector;
8. That with effect from July 2017, all ICT terminal equipment (fixed or mobile telephone set, laptops, i-pad, tablets, desktops) manufactured in Nigeria or imported must be equipped with solar power charging features inserted or direct input ports for external solar bay.
9. Enforce implementation of the Local Content Guidelines to ensure patronage of indigenous products and services, as well as increase participation of Nigerians in the ICT economy; including patronage of NIGCOMSAT by all government MDAs and the private sector.
10. Implement the National Addressing Policy to promote national security and support e-commerce;
11. Accelerate the passage of Nigeria Postal Commission Bill to optimise the capacity of NIPOST to be relevant for improved and diversified service delivery, and bridge the digital divide towards inclusive development;
12. The need for the National Assembly to expedite action on all matters requiring legislative actions such as ICT development and cybercrime laws;
13. The Federal Government to ensure that ICT infrastructure across the country is declared as Critical National Infrastructure as applicable in the Power, Oil and Gas sectors;
14. Enforce mandatory regulation of equipment specifications and standards in order to reduce Cybercrime and improve Cyber Security.
15. Harmonise incidence of multiple taxation across Federal, State and Local Government Councils, including obstacles on Right of Way across the country.
16. Ensure that subscribers get value for money; address the vexed issue of unsolicited text messages, credit deductions and exploitative tendencies of telecoms service providers.

Participants further identified a number of high impact projects and initiatives to be implemented by Government in the roadmap. These include:

1. Free Hotspots across the country in partnership with service providers as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility;
2. Free broadband should be provided by TETFUND & UBEC for higher educational institutions across the country;

iii.        IT parks, innovation hubs and labs for employment creation;

1. Subsidisation of cost of data for access to government e-services; and

v.         As a priority, implement the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) to cover budgeting, procurement, monitoring & evaluation and all other government processes in order to reduce cost, ensure efficiency and transparency.