Telecom
Pantami Says FG’s Digital Economy Policy Well-Conceived, on Track
The National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 28, 2019, is well-conceived, on track and built on objectives that will boost development of digital skills in both private and public sectors in Nigeria, according to Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the minister of Communications and Digital Economy.
L-R: Fredrik Kapper, Senior Policy Adviser, International Affairs at the Swedish Embassy; Dr. Bo. Andersson, Chief Economist, Post and Telecom Authority, Sweden (PTS); Peter Ogundele, Director, Ericsson; Carl-Michael Grans, Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria; Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy; Prof. Adeolu Akande, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC; Kerston Borgon, Director, Swedish Programme for ICT Development in Emerging Regions (SPIDER) and Oluwatoyin Asaju, Director, Special Duties, NCC during the event.
Pantami, stated this at the opening of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) regulation workshop organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in partnership with the Swedish Post & Telecoms Authority (PTS) – sectoral regulator for posts and telecommunication; and the Swedish Programme for ICT Development in Emerging Regions (SPIDER).
In his opening remark at the three-day workshop taking place at the Communications and Digital Economy Complex (CDEC), Mbora District, Abuja, the Minister stated that the workshop directly resonates with the first, second and seventh items of the eight pillars of the NDEPS.
The three items are developmental regulations, digital literacy and skill acquisition, as well as digital society and emerging technologies respectively.
Participants at the workshop included the staff of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE), NCC, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).
The Minister reiterated that it is high time the country focused more on skills acquisition rather than certification in order to harness and enjoy derivable benefits from the rapid advancement in the ICT. He enjoined the participants to maximise the opportunity of the workshop to horn their digital skills for effective regulations of the ICT industry.
Pantami commended the Swedish government for its support in hosting the capacity building for the ICT industry regulators in Nigeria.
Earlier, Carl-Michael Grans, Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, who has concurrent accreditation to Ghana, Cameroon and ECOWAS, told participants that the workshop was a follow-up to one which held in November 2019, in Stockholm, Sweden. He stated that the focus is to explore how new technologies can best be used to improve the society.
Reflecting on the history of communications technology, Grans said ever since Ericsson opened an office in Sweden in 1876 to address the challenges of telegraphy, successive Swedish authorities have tapped into advancement in ICT to enhance the growth and development of the Swedish society.
According to him, Sweden is recognised today as a global flagship in the deployment of ICT for development. He said in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Sweden is seen as a leader in digitisation because ICT has played a significant role in the advancement of the Swedish society.
“This leadership is usually measured in digital competence, digital innovation, digital security, digital infrastructure and digital management,” he said.
Grans, who was accompanied by other partners including Kerston Borgon, Director, SPIDER; Peter Ogundele, Director, Ericsson; Dr. Bo. Andersson, Chief Economist, PTS; and Fredrik Kapper, Senior Policy Adviser, International Affairs at the Swedish Embassy, also stated that across the world, the challenges of ICT deployment are basically the same with the most challenging ones being “rural infrastructure management and cybersecurity.” He, therefore, enjoined participants to be mindful of the challenges as they participate in the workshop.
Prof. Adeolu Akande, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, NCC, emphasised the significance of the workshop in the context of the recently-unveiled NDEPS and the new National Broadband Plan 2020-2024 which, he said, would soon be unveiled by the Minister.
He enjoined the participants to give the workshop rapt attention because their participation constitutes “the fulcrum of all the vision of the government for digital literacy and skills acquisition.” Akande thanked PTS, SPIDER and the Government of Sweden for the significant assistance.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman (EVC) of NCC, noted that Nigeria is going through the process of digital transformation and that it is a learning curve that the country must accomplish. “I, therefore, thank the PTS. SPIDER, the Swedish Government and of course, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital economy for supporting the Commission in making this capacity-building workshop a reality.”
Nigeria will criminalize the destruction of broadband fiber cables following repeated complaints by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and other telecommunications companies that they are losing billions of naira, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal ministry of works, which supervises federal road constructors, is finalizing the regulation that will be signed as an executive order by President Bola Tinubu, said the people, asking not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to comment.
While there are presently laws against vandalism, the authorities are aiming to regulate construction firms more closely.
The order will enforce stiff penalties on offenders, said the people, declining to provide more details or say when it will be signed.
“Telecom assets are critical backbone that supports the economy across sectors,” said Temitope Ajayi, a senior presidential aide, who noted that the Association of Telecommunications Companies (ATCON) has been demanding the classification for years.
New rules will provide “further assurance that the Nigerian government will protect their investments against vandals and criminal elements.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) estimates that the sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5% in the third quarter of last year.
The move will help alleviate pressure on the telecoms sector, which is facing increased operating costs and sales pressures from a sharp depreciation in the currency and a threefold increase in energy prices.
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables is estimated to have cost the sector almost 27 billion naira ($23 million) last year alone, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show. On Feb. 28, a cut on its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than 11 billion naira – enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines to areas without coverage.
A presidential order on the matter would be welcomed, said Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.
“When it comes to communication infrastructure, they are destroyed at will, so we are eagerly awaiting the president’s order,” he said. “It would be a great boost to the industry, and it will also encourage investment.”
Telegram, the messaging giant founded by Pavel Durov and headquartered in Dubai, anticipates hitting a remarkable milestone of one billion active monthly users within the next year.
Durov’s departure from Russia in 2014, prompted by governmental pressures to stifle opposition communities on his VK social media platform, underscores Telegram’s commitment to neutrality despite geopolitical challenges.
With 900 million active users currently, Telegram stands as a beacon of free speech in the digital realm, particularly influential in former Soviet Union republics and pivotal during conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine standoff.
Durov’s staunch advocacy for freedom of expression and opposition to censorship by tech giants like Apple and Google reinforces Telegram’s status as a neutral platform.
Opting for the UAE as its base, Durov cites its neutrality and openness as conducive to Telegram’s ethos, serving both opposition groups and governments alike while maintaining impartiality.
In Durov’s vision, the pursuit of freedom eclipses material gain, shaping Telegram’s trajectory as a bastion of digital liberation.
To further strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have announced a collaboration on National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to enhance and create synergy between digital identity, payment ecosystem, and secure & seemless data exchange capabilities for Nigeria.
During the meeting between the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, with some management staff of both organisations, they 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. It is expected to deliver a comprehensive implementation report within the next 4 weeks
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