News
Huawei, Others Suggest How Digitalise Nigerian Economy
Tank Li, managing director of Huawei Technologies Nigeria, has that said a robust ICT infrastructure is the bedrock for digital transformation in Nigeria.
He spoke during a one-day forum organised by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in collaboration with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria and Huawei Technologies Company (Nigeria) Limited in Lagos, the technology giant said ICT infrastructure is crucial to economic digitalisation.
Li added that to unleash the digital economy potential in the country, issues of availability and affordability needed to be addressed through sound policy and programmes.
He said: “In order to foster digital transformation of the economy, policies and programmes to increase ICT infrastructure and ensure wide-spread coverage both in urban and rural areas should be prioritised to make voice and data services available. At the same time, strategic measures of infrastructure sharing, investment-friendly regulatory framework and preferential taxation policies are needed to reduce sites acquisition and broadband deployment costs in order to bring down the cost for users to really encourage application of ICT across the industries and the whole society.” Li said.
The conference had: Africa-China Cooperation in ICT and Digital Economy as its theme and was well attended by representatives of government, foreign partners, and stakeholders in power and technology sectors at the Sheraton Abuja Hotel.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Lanre Osibona, Special Advisor on ICT to Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo stated there is an urgent need to overcome challenges facing the nation in leveraging ICT to fuel the fourth industrial revolution that brings about digital economy.
“Africa must develop its skills. We must know how to scale workforce and move away from business base outsourcing to knowledge base outsourcing. Data is the future and new hope. For us as a country we must invest heavily in capturing data,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr. Zhon Pingjian, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, he said his country will continue to share its development opportunities with African countries and welcome them on board the train of China’s development.
Digitalisation, widespread adoption of digital technologies and applications by corporates, government and consumers, is beneficial for an emerging economy such as Nigeria. According to study by PwC, constrained digital economies can potentially realise a 0.5 per cent increase in GDP per capita for every 10 per cent increase in digitilisation. The study also highlights that digitalisation also has a significant impact on job creation in the overall economy: an increase of 10 per cent in digitalisation reduces a nation’s unemployment rate by 0.84 per cent.
EFCC
The African Development Bank Group last week approved an investment of €6.5 million in the Saviu II fund in order to support technology start-ups through their seed phase and first institutional fundraising, mainly in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
The Bank will invest €4.5 million as equity and €2 million as a first-loss hedging tranche on behalf of the European Commission, under the Boost Africa Programme.
This participation of the Bank Group will enable the Saviu II fund to give priority to companies with a strong technological or digital component.
Saviu II, the second investment vehicle of Saviu Partners, plans to invest between €500,000 and €3 million in about 20 technology or technology-oriented business-to-business start-ups in the seed phase or carrying out first institutional fundraising.
The Saviu II venture capital fund aims to make at least 60% of its commitments in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa: Côte d ‘Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The fund can also co-invest in promising technology companies in East Africa that have a strong team and business model, and whose strategy includes entering the market in French-speaking West African countries and establishing a strong presence there.
In addition, the fund will devote a dedicated envelope to pre-seed investments, focusing on minority equity investments, usually in co-investment with studios, incubators or other ecosystem partners.
Nigerian Government has signed a $1.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) via the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to fund an alumina refinery, national geoscience mapping, and a strategic investment vehicle for mining growth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, said the refinery will process one million tonnes of bauxite yearly using a modern Bayer process, powered by an on-site gas-fired cogeneration plant.
Minister Dele Alake called it a transformative milestone boosting GDP, aligning with reforms that improve investment climate, regulations, and licensing to attract private capital. He directed agencies to fast-track permits.
The 20-year project at 95% utilization eyes 19 million tonnes total output, $1.2 billion annual GDP addition, $25 billion economic impact, and $8 billion forex earnings, per feasibility studies.
SMDF Executive Secretary Fatima Shinkafi termed it the agency’s biggest funding deal, supporting value-addition policy.
The partnership extends to geoscience mapping for mineral data, de-risking exploration, and a joint vehicle for mining assets.
Permanent Secretary Engr. Farouk Yabo praised the reforms. Shinkafi signed for government; AFC’s Franklin Edochie for the corporation, witnessed by AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Tomori positioned it as Nigeria’s largest private mining investment and FDI magnet.
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