Fadekemi Ajakaiye
The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria is concerned that the sector is too fragmented, calling for collaboration of all players for the economic advancement of the country.
President of the Association, Mr. Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere stated this in his keynote address, “Addressing Nigeria’s Digital Future Industry Leadership in Infrastructure Investment and Innovation”, at the Nigeria Telecoms Forum held in Lagos recently.
Emoekpere said the discussion at the Forum, “Is not just about technology, it’s also about economic transformation, national competitiveness and digital inclusion. So, it is how we as an industry can take ownership of Nigeria’s digital future, and I hope that that is what should be at the back of all our minds as we discuss here. How we as an industry will take ownership today of our sector. “The telecom and technology sector, is the backbone of Nigeria’s future economy. There is no gain saying that, but we need to make it stronger. “And what do we need to do? We need to collaborate. As an industry, some of us have been championing the fact that our industry is too fragmented. We have too many small players. We need to come together. We need to collaborate. We need to see where we can all work together to push this industry forward. And I think there are three fundamental pillars that we should be looking at, basically infrastructure. That is, expanding broadband and fiber networks across the whole country and also, of the certain areas, investment creates a business friendly environment that attracts capital, which is the key, no capital, no business. And lastly, I think we do very well in this area, innovation. “We need to leverage emerging technologies to drive efficiency and also this digital inclusion we’ve talked about. So let me just do a small synopsis. I think Nigeria is relatively connected with what the industry contributes. We have actually increased from 2022 which is about 22% to 38% on GDP. The data was a bit, you know, topsy turvy, but kudos to the regulator, who has actually more or less cleaned up that, and we are as at December, as they were supposed to be, at 45.57%. Good improvement, but still a long way to go. Nigeria, the first country in West Africa to have 5G, Kudos to Nigeria. And as much as we complain, fiber has actually expanded tremendously across our country.
“However, we still have, of course, challenges. We have over 40 million Nigerians who cannot even connect to anything called broadband or anything called Digital Service, over 40 million right-of-ways still an issue. Some states have been friendly. Some states have not been. “FDI has dropped in our sector, and then we see how this issue about vandalizing and damaging communication infrastructure.”
The CEO of Eventhive, Mr. Jamiu Ijaodola, the Convener of the Forum, stated in his welcome address that theirs is to provide an appropriate platform for businesses to brainstorm for development.
Ijaodola said, “Eventhive hosts companies and exhibitions across sectors. We do this in tech, in oil and gas, and power. We do this in various states both local and international. Last year, we hosted about 12 events across Lagos, London, Kigali and Nairobi.
“So, some of the events you are probably familiar with, from Lagos State fest to Lagos real estate fest and more. We also organise the annual UK Africa business outlook in London, we’re back in London next month, March 26 for the fourth edition of this event. We are also planning to launch new portfolio events in London, we encourage you to join us for the flagship edition of paymenthive.
“So ideally, Eventhive helps businesses connect with their target markets through our conferences and institutions. We do this in small scale. We do this in large scale.
We are hosting Lagos tech fest for its fifth edition. Next week, we need to get over 2,000 people at Landmark and, of course, quite the number of other events that we are looking to do this year.
“We have launched the amazing edition of the Nigeria telecom because ideally telecoms form a critical part of Nigeria’s economy, as much as we put together industry leaders to deliberate across other events. I believe it’s a good thing for us to equally launch an event that contributes very significantly to Nigeria’s GDP. I mean, for stakeholders wanting to highlight challenges in the industry, and it’s equally important to also spotlight opportunities that exist.
This is why Eventhive exists. In order to launch this kind of event, by helping stakeholders understand things that will shape their industry, helping them understand latest opportunities across industry, and of course, having daily discussions and networking across various verticals. Today, we are looking at having discussions from the regulation to driving the investment into Nigeria digital infrastructure, to conversations around data center and, of course, to financing digital infrastructure in Nigeria. We’ve gathered some of the greatest minds across the industry that are expected to help us in having multiple discussions across these events.”
