A seamless digital nucleus in Nigeria from out of Africa to the world may sound like some fairy tale; but that is precisely the assignment one man has given himself to actualise. By MKPE ABANG
It is usually very difficult to find a business person who is driven entirely by altruistic tendencies in making investment, especially huge investments, on an on-going basis. And finding such people who are driven by the concern to develop man and country in a nation where profit dominates as first consideration in business, like Nigeria, becomes near impossible to achieve.
Having founded 21st Century Technologies in 1997, at a time when the thought of a telephone company let alone a technology company, was far into the imperceptible distance, not many saw the wisdom, first in establishing a telephone company cabling lines to subscribers, and second, giving it such a futuristic name.
But that perhaps is one of the many characteristics that set Mr. Ajisebutu apart: an uncanny ability to visualise into the future, dream lofty dreams and pursue them unperturbed by environmental and social challenges.
Ten years ago, for instance, Mr. Wale Ajisebutu dreamt a data centre dream in and for Nigeria. At the time he spoke about data centre being a core infrastructure for supporting and ensuring seamless service delivery especially as a basis for outsourcing, not many people were familiar with the critical nature of such an infrastructure. A few years after he launched, data centre became a phenomenon embraced by many.
Now, however, like continuing on that path of self-service for a digital Nigeria, with even larger dream than hitherto, Ajisebutu is silently fashioning out what may well turn out to be the most expansive, most comprehensive and biggest e-commerce platform for West Africa and ultimately for the entire Africa.
Set to emerge out of Nigeria, Lagos is indeed the initial epicentre of this impending digital earthquake – albeit one that will throw up benefits on end: from software incubation and development, to business-to-business, to e-commerce, to seamless payment platforms, to development of apps for any and every social activity, the goal seems to be: it is possible; why not make it here and now!
In Lagos alone for instance, IT & Telecom Digest can authoritatively report that the company has lined up multiples of infrastructure being deployed on 20,000 square metres in Lekki, another 14,000 square metres in Apapa, a similar one in Ikeja area and others. They will house data centres, training facilities, software incubation centres, medical record and research laboratories and call centres, among others.
Still keeping much of his plans to his chest though; yet, it was learnt that by the time the entire picture unfolds, so much that surrounds e-commerce today as mythical will be broken down for the understanding and practical application of and by all and sundry.
A most fascinating man, soft spoken and gentle, and making no fuss about anything; hence, it is a tough job to unravel what lies behind Ajisebutu, what propels him and what keeps him ever ahead in his thoughts on putting Nigeria ahead in technology. One thing seems apparent though: his ceaseless interest and desire to develop the young and talented Nigerians for them to operate in the global arena.
It is interesting to note that of all the private telephone operators that dotted the Nigerian telephony landscape in the 1990s before the advent of GSM in the country, 21st Century Technologies, owned by Mr. Ajisebutu is the last one standing – and waxing strongest.
Name them: the very first of them, Multilinks, Emis, Intercellular, VGC Communications, Zoom, Starcomms; they’ve all given way. The latest to give way is Visafone, which was recently bought by MTN. Thus, 21st Century Technologies stands strong, breaking new grounds, thanks to the visionary founder of the company, Wale Ajisebutu.
Although it has moved completely away from the consumer end of the business – by downplaying sale and running of cables to connect telephone lines to individuals homes and offices – the company is a major player in the corporate area, being one of the leading providers of the best digital experience for the corporate world, serving banks, governments and multinationals. The company even serves and provides backbone and data centre services for some GSM operators in Nigeria!
This ability comes from a robust fibre optic infrastructure, which Mr. Ajisebutu has massively invested in over the last decade and half.
For a company founded in the 20th century, taking on the name of the current century is perhaps a fitting pointer to the futuristic and visionary founder.
Imagine connectivity to make all your shopping, directly accessing your bank account without going through any of the current switching companies! And, this you will be able to do irrespective of your bank in Nigeria. That’s the promise 21st Century Technologies is making. Already, whole-new look terminals – more like mini-desk top computers – made to purpose, to be used as point-of-sale terminals, to be used in malls and the likes, are available in the country.
But that is just a tip of the iceberg, as details are already emerging that other terminals, more like the smartphone in the palm of your hand are also on the drawing board. And indeed, the real promise is to turn every smartphone into a PoS terminal, to simplify operations.
Thus, Africa may well be seeing the biggest e-Commerce platform on the continent. Quite unlike the likes of Alibaba in China, which has no infrastructure of its own, 21st Century Technologies prides itself as a company with one of the most solid and most robust information and communications infrastructures in Africa.
Elsewhere, rare breeds like Mr. Wale Ajisebutu are protected and regarded as angels out there to help the majority – with their ideas, their investments, their resource and their undying vision into the future. Hopefully Nigeria will begin to accord such people similar attention and respect even if for the legacies and shining examples they are bound to leave for posterity.
The Company
21st Century Technologies Limited was founded in 1997 as licensed Information Communications and Technology Services Provider in Nigeria. It has a pedigree from the beginning of being a fully mobilised and perfectly company positioned to build converged, multi-service and efficiently managed communications networks in Africa.
The company owns and operates unarguably one of the most extensive optical fibre cable metropolitan networks in Nigeria with speeds up to 10Gbps, high-speed Corporate Dedicated Internet Access of 10Gbps, fully redundant International subsea fibre capacity using two separate vendors.
The company stands out as a leading commercial Data Centre Service Provider in Nigeria, while also specialising in the commercial protection of off-site data, server hosting, indexing, records archiving, and so on, in its state-of-the art facilities that meet strict measures of security, stability and fire prevention. Our high security data centre is strategically located to provide rapid disaster recovery services at various levels of security with 24/7 protection and surveillance. 21st Century Technologies offers bespoke service solutions to government, businesses and homes with a redundancy and multi-homed network backbone.
All of this enables the company to provide the best coverage of all major metropolitan areas in Nigeria, complemented by satellite services ensuring that there isn’t one square metre within Nigeria that we cannot connect and providing a one-stop-shop for all of your ICT requirements.
What more? With a mission statement “To use State of the Art Infrastructure to provide world-class solutions to our valued customers through highly motivated talent and strategic alliances,” and a vision “To be the foremost integrated ICT solutions provider in Africa,” the upcoming technology tsunami the company is about to unleash on the continent can only serve to underline the 21st Century Technologies’ credo: “Advancing ICT Solutions… Beyond Imagination.”