Telecom
Google kicks off Digital Skills For Africa program in Aba
Google Nigeria has launched the Digital Skills for Africa program in Aba and other local communities in Abia State.
The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Eldorado Hotel and Events Centre, Aba.
Google’s Digital Skills for Africa program offers training courses to help individuals and communities develop and grow digital skills, find jobs and advance in their careers.
The program provides free online courses, tools, and in-person digital training to students, educators, job seekers and businesses.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in Nigeria as at December 2017 was 18.8% (16 million people) and under-employment at 21.2%.
Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, Head, Brand & Reputation, SSA at Google, said “The youth make up 60% of Africa’s unemployed, developing digital entrepreneurship and creating new job opportunities for them is critical to Africa’s transformative growth.
“We’re doing this because we believe that more needs to be done to empower young Africans to succeed in the digital world.”
Google announced its Digital Skills for Africa initiative in 2016, when it committed to training 1m young Africans within one year.
In 2017 it extended the programme for another 5 years in order to reach 10m Africans. Last year Google announced plans to help more people in Africa prepare for jobs of the future through local community-focused Digital Skills Training programs.
In total over 3m people have now acquired different levels of digital skills in 29 countries across Africa via face-to-face training as well as through the online platform – g.co/digitalskills which is available in English, French and Portuguese.
Barr Chris Ezem, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) representing Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State Governor, at the Google Digital Skills for Africa launch in Aba said that, “The Government of Abia State is excited to have Google introduce the Digital Skills Training to the business community and local manufacturers in Aba, Abia State; noting that it will drive business expansion, help to increase sales and create employment opportunities in Abia State.”
He further said that, “The world is now a global place as a result of information technology and Abia through the Digital Skills Training by Google will be able to key into the digital narrative, giving Aba, the commercial hub in Nigeria, the needed visibility.”
Onyebuchi Nwigwe, President, Association of Tailors and Fashion Designers in Abia State, expressed his appreciation to Google for introducing the Google Digital Skills Training to local manufacturers in Aba, Abia State.
He said that, “The association is opened to receive the training from Google because they know that as fashion designers and tailors they will be able to properly compete with their counterparts across the world after they have adopted and introduced the digital skills to their business models.”
The Digital Skills for Africa programme is designed to address the skills needs of jobseekers and small business owners, and has to date been rolled out in roughly 100 communities across a number of countries including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.
By engaging directly with the communities that can most benefit from the training, Google is able to identify the specific needs of these communities, support their local growth activities and ensure the impact is felt not just on an individual but also at a community level.
Telecom
FG Plans EO to Criminalise Fiber Cable Damage Costing Telcos Billions
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.”
Telecom
Telegram Eyes 1Bn Users amidst Political Pressures
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.
Telecom
NITDA, NIMC Announce Collaboration To Strengthen Digital Economy
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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