E-Business
Achieving Digital Ecosystems in Rural Africa Remains a Challenge
Creating a digital ecosystem in rural areas requires collaboration with local suppliers if long-term success is to be achieved.
Jeremy Potgieter, regional director – Africa, Eseye
This is according to Jeremy Potgieter, regional director – Africa, Eseye, a global IoT cellular connectivity and hardware company.
He said that for Internet of Things (IoT) to deliver the services required, an understanding of the end consumer within a rural area is vital: “By speaking to local suppliers to create a tailored cost-effective IoT solution will help us to deliver the most appropriate service possible. In gaining a better understanding of how they will benefit from IoT technology, vendors such as Eseye can create solutions that meet these needs and make a real difference.”
According to Potgieter, people living in the rural areas of developing countries face a range of challenges that threaten to isolate them from the benefits that are enjoyed by the rest of their populations.
Two major examples include accessing essential utilities such as water and power, as well as the challenges associated with accessing financial services and payment credit: “In an urban area, utilities are delivered from a central source. In rural areas however, it’s not quite as simple. To achieve sustainable, long-term solutions, these utilities must be delivered locally.”
However, he said that the economics of delivering electricity to small villages of only 50 people for example, make them far more difficult to implement. It is here that with technological developments in areas such as water purification or solar energy, this can be overcome: “People can then not only enjoy a better quality of life, but these communities are able to source these utilities locally, whether it’s per property or per village.”
IoT has the potential to drastically improve the quality of life for people living in rural areas of developing countries.
Most notably by empowering local entrepreneurs to provide the structures that will allow for vital utilities to be reliably provided to their communities over a longer duration of time.
By supplying them with the equipment to generate and store utilities through the process of daily micro-payments for example, a local entrepreneur is given the means and incentive to create opportunities throughout the entire community, thus providing a major boost to local businesses.
“We have seen some great examples of how IoT has transformed the capabilities of these rural areas. With locally generated electricity for example, paving the way for the emergence of phone-charging shops and even stories of people charging entry to their homes to allow visitors to watch major sporting events. The supplier of the equipment is allowed to manage and maintain their assets because of the integration of IoT technology, which provides them with constant performance updates,” said Potgieter.
Central to the success of any IoT project in a developing country is its ability to be globally connected and highly available.
Furthermore, Potgieter said it must be straightforward for non-IoT experts to construct on a ground level. At the point of deployment, Eseye can securely and quickly enter a device into the cloud.
This helps locals who are setting up the IoT equipment to easily achieve quick configuration.
“As a result of this approach, Eseye is experiencing some success in developing countries, with life-changing projects through partnerships with suppliers such as SolarNow and eWater.”
Despite these successes, Potgieter said that there are still a few challenges to overcome before IoT can be brought on a mass scale.
Firstly, connectivity and coverage lay at the fundamental core of effective IoT solutions.
Without it, the entire success of these projects is jeopardised.
Next, it is crucial to ensure that untrained people in these rural areas feel confident setting up equipment.
The best way to do this is through ‘zero-touch’ solutions, which allow non-experts to easily deploy devices onto the cloud with automatic configuration.
Lastly, there are the logistical challenges associated with operating in rural areas, which can often be difficult to access from city locations: “We’ve heard stories of our African customers being subjected to 14-hour location visits to certain secluded rural locations. This demonstrates just how important it is for these devices to be truly autonomous. Customers have to be confident enough in the service that they can justify sending somebody to these locations to make any necessary repairs,” said Potgieter.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have announced a collaboration on National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to enhance synergy between digital identity, payment ecosystems and secure seamless data exchange capabilities for Nigeria.
l-r: Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of NITDA, and Bisoye Coker-Odusote, Director General of NIMC, during the meeting at the NIMC headquarters in Abuja..
NITDA, which made the announcement on its X handle, said that the collaboration was to further strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,
During the meeting, Kashifu Inuwa, director general of NITDA, and Bisoye Coker-Odusote, director general of NIMC, with some management staff of both organisations, discussed various initiatives, which include building DPI stacks for a secured and seamless data exchange and forming partnerships to transform the national identity system.
This collaboration also aims to harness the potential of the innovative ecosystem and emphasise the use of public-key infrastructure (PKI) to drive digital transformation in Nigeria.
To ensure a smooth implementation, a 12-man committee was set up.
This committee will play a crucial role in kickstarting and harmonising the initiatives and is expected to deliver a comprehensive implementation report within the next 4 weeks.
Noble Ajuonu, head, Sydani Technologies Ltd., has urged the Federal Government to harmonise National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) to tackle crimes and insecurity in the country.
Ajuonu made the call at a media roundtable, organised by Sydani Group in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the roundtable focuses on driving sustainability through a comprehensive analysis of Nigeria’s key development areas.
Ajuonu said that Nigeria could overcome its security challenges and pave the way for a safer, more secure future for all Nigerians by embracing technology and implementing practical solutions,
“We need to harmonise data, prioritise seamless integration of databases like NIN, BVN, and security agency records, establish clear protocols for data sharing and access, with robust safeguards against misuse,’’ expert said.
According to him, the unified data pool will empower intelligence gathering and targeted operations.
He also called for investments in smart surveillance, intelligent video analytics software, training of personnel in data analysis, interpretation of data in real-time to combat crimes.
“There is need to implement a legal framework for call interception in criminal investigations, with strict oversight to prevent abuse, encourage community cohesion, training of tech savvy security personnel with tech-enabled tools.’’
Ajuonu also urged the government to address infrastructure deficit in technology, saying that technology was all encompassing to address insecurity.
“According to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as of December 2023, only 104.2 million Nigerians had been enrolled for the National Identity Number (NIN).’’
Ajuonu added that over 122.2 million citizens left uncaptured for NIN were people in rural areas where enrolment centres, digital services were limited.
“Most crimes are being perpetuated from rural communities and this lack of comprehensive identification creates a gap where elements not captured in the national database can constitute public nuisance, crimes.
“There is the inadequacy in the integration of NIN, BVN and Voters Identification Number (VIN).
“Advanced call interception and analysis tools, used successfully in other countries, could provide invaluable insights into criminal networks and operations but infrastructure is lacking,’’ he said.
Also, Mr Godfrey Petgrave, the Agricultural Expert, Sydani Group, called for empowerment of smallholder farmers with access to finance and training to enhance productivity.
According to Petgrave, Nigeria requires policy reform and institutional strengthening to improve agricultural practices and embrace digital agriculture solutions to address food insecurity.
Mr Akolade Jimoh, another expert of the group on health, advocated for expanded community-based health insurance programmes for rural and underserved areas.
Jimoh added that the country needed to encourage Public Private Partnership to revolutionise products design and quality improvement on health services.
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