General News
NCC, other Telecom Regulators Set to Combat e-Fraud, Standardise Regional Roaming Tariffs
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other telecoms regulators under the auspices of West African Telecoms Regulators Assembly (WATRA) are set to develop technical and regulatory modalities aimed at combating rising wave of electronic frauds, and standardising regional roaming tariffs in the sub-region.
Group photograph of participants at the two-day meeting organised by WATRA in collaboration with the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), which started on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at Rockview Hotel in Abuja.
Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, director Public Affairs, NCC, in a statement issued on Wednesday said that this was the crux of a two-day meeting organised by WATRA in collaboration with the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), which started on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at Rockview Hotel in Abuja.
The meeting, which was attended by representatives of telecoms regulators from countries across West Africa, provided a platform for key participants and stakeholders to deliberate on building a unified market in telecommunications services in West Africa, to combat roaming and cyber-related frauds, and achieve the standardisation of roaming tariffs among ECOWAS member-states.
Addressing stakeholders at the meeting, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC, who is also the Chairman of WATRA, underscored the centrality of the meeting by emphasising that, as businesses move online, the fraudsters are also going digital.
Danbatta, who was represented by Bako Wakil, director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, said, based on this fact and in order to give West African citizens and businesses the confidence to fully take advantage of the enormous benefits of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), there was a need for regulators to tame and outpace the fraudsters.
“About 75 per cent of trade within ECOWAS is informal, and thus poorly recorded. Therefore, digitising this trade through employing many forms of electronic payments is a significant step towards formalising, governing and boosting intra-ECOWAS trade activities.
“Our ambitions are to formalise informal trade, including agricultural commodities as well as boosting intra-regional trade and this requires us to improve collaboration on combating electronic fraud,” Danbatta said.
Danbatta informed the delegates to the forum that electronic fraud is not just an African or a West African issue but a global phenomenon.
He cited studies that revealed 54 per cent of consumers in the European Union said they are most likely to come across misleading/deceptive or fraudulent advertisements or offers on the Internet.
On the regional roaming service, the WATRA Chairman said the Assembly has the vision of a ‘Digital ECOWAS’ where improved sub-regional roaming regulation can help to facilitate an economic integration in the region.
“Our citizens, traders and companies will trade better when they can use their telephones to call contacts in other ECOWAS countries and when they can use their data subscriptions at no extra cost while travelling or doing business within the region.
“So, reducing and eventually eliminating the cost of roaming will also be a very significant contribution towards boosting trade within the region,” Danbatta said.
The EVC expressed satisfaction at the level of collaboration among national regulatory authorities in the sub-region on the one hand; and between WATRA and ECOWAS, to achieve a common goal, on the other hand, describing such synergy as a great indicator of progress and internalisation of best global practices.
“I am very pleased to see the excellent collaboration and the sharing of workload between the telecommunications body and personnel within ECOWAS and WATRA.
“Their roles have become complementary and mutually reinforcing-policies legislative frameworks that have been designed at the ECOWAS level, while WATRA does the follow-up work of information-sharing, dialogue and learning dispersal amongst regulatory authorities. It is indeed becoming a well-articulated symphony,” he added.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Aliyu Aboki, emphasised the value of a trusted digital economy to any nation.
He cited a study by Accenture, which concludes that “a trusted digital economy would stimulate 2.8 per cent additional growth for major firms, with the new transactions generated totaling $5.2 trillion of value creation in the economy,” hence, the establishment and operationalisation of national and regional anti-fraud committee.
Aboki commended ECOWAS for “allowing this regional sharing of the enormous task of building Digital ECOWAS to work very well through WATRA, which is a regional manifestation of this collaborative structure”. The WATRA Chief restated that WATRA, as a mechanism for regional regulatory collaboration, will work in unison and ensure its vision is speedily executed by making sure that no nation in the region is left behind.
Speaking at the forum, Dr. Raphael Koffi, acting director, Digital Economy and Post, ECOWAS, noted that while e-fraud in the provision of communication services has always been an issue being collectively tackled, variance in termination rates agreed in commercial roaming agreements has also constituted an obstacle to harmonization of roaming tariffs which, he said, collaboration between WATRA and ECOWAS is set to achieve.
Participants at the event were updated on the status of the implementation of the Removal of Surcharges on International Traffic (SIIT) on ECOWAS countries; establishment of a uniform tariff cap for roaming call termination in the ECOWAS region, among others.
Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general and chief executive officer, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has advocated Franchising as a sustainable business model for the South East entrepreneurs.
Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, DG/CEO, NOTAP
She made this call during a one-day sensitization and unveiling of the NOTAP Franchising Guidelines for south east stakeholders and entrepreneurs for a successful franchising business.
The DG who was represented at the event by Mr. Emeka Orji, head of Department Corporate Planning (CP) Department, NOTAP, said that franchising business model had globally been proven to be successfully sustainable due to low business risks associated with it.
She defines franchising as a contractual business relationship between a licensor (the franchisor) and a licensee (the franchisee) that allows the business owner to use the licensor’s brand and methods of doing business to distribute products or provide services to consumers.
She added that in essence, the franchisee pays the franchisor for the opportunity to use his established business model and brand name in running his business.
Dr. Amadiobi said the essence of the workshop was not just organised to explore the possibility of adopting franchising as a strategic platform to transform local dreams into national and global business realities.
She described the programme as an opportunity for business owners and intending entrepreneurs from the Zone to latch into the huge and untapped potentials provided by franchising business models in becoming business and brand ambassadors.
With over 800,000 franchise establishments across the globe, generating trillions in revenue, she described Franchising as a pathway to economic empowerment.
General News
FG Launches Online Citizenship, Business Management Portal to Enhance Transparency, Service Delivery
The Federal Government has launched a new Online Citizenship and Business Management Platform, in a bid to boost transparency, operational efficiency, and service delivery. The initiative, unveiled by the Ministry of Interior, is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The platform is designed to simplify and accelerate the processing of citizenship and business-related services, allowing individuals and corporate entities to carry out transactions seamlessly from anywhere in the world.
According to a statement issued by Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the digital platform represents a significant milestone in the Ministry’s ongoing reform agenda.
It noted that the new system would drastically reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks, enhance user experience, and improve turnaround time for applications. “The Ministry is committed to promoting a more efficient, transparent, and secure framework for citizenship administration.
“This digital transformation is a testament to our resolve to improve public service delivery through the use of technology”, the statement reads.
Members of the public, private organisations, and other stakeholders can now access the platform through the Ministry’s official website: https://interior.gov.ng, or directly via the portal: https://candb.interior.gov.ng. For technical support or inquiries, users can contact: candb-support@interior.gov.ng.
The Ministry emphasised that the launch of this platform is just one of several digital initiatives aimed at transforming the nation’s administrative processes and aligning them with global best practices.
Observers believe the platform could become a game-changer in reducing red tape and promoting a more investor-friendly environment in Nigeria, particularly in areas involving citizenship acquisition and business operations.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said that the 18 community IT centre the agency has built in the past two years are meant to be a beacon of calls and catalyst of change in those communities where they are cited.
He sated this at the commissioning/handing over of IT centre at Akesan area in Lagos. He noted that the IT centres, Innovation hubs among others are part of digital literacy programme of the agency.
“This center is designed and build to help Akesan community to be part of the digital economy, because the President is big and loud when it comes to national prosperity and inclusivity.
“Our target is to build more than 1600 across the country. We want every community every Nigerian to be part of this national prosperity and inclusivity when it comes to digital economy.
“Today, we are here to commission it, to ensure and encourage you to put it in a good use, because we call it a community center means that we want everybody to be part of it. We don’t want it to be suited in a school where the school will lock it for only students and the staff.
“That’s why we located it in the community. Schools can be part of it. Our senior citizens can be part of it. Our religious centers also can be part of it to learn.
“We want it to be a beacon of call as well as a catalyst of change in this community. We want to see more information technology gurus coming from Akesan community. So, I want to encourage you to also come with a sustainability model so that the center will be on. It is on because when you invest in this kind of infrastructure, we don’t want to be called when there are small things that we should come and fix it. That’s why we are handing it over to the community so that the community can put it in a good use. The community can find a way to make it self-sustaining,” he said.
Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, the NITDA Community Centre in Lagos, a space that is more than just a building. It is a strategic extension of our national mission – a bridge between the Federal Government’s digital economy policies and the unmatched energy, ingenuity, and innovation that Lagos represents.
The minister who was represented by Mr. Johnson Bareyei, director, e-governmance in the ministry, added that his ministry is committed to promoting inclusivity through capacity building initiatives like the 3MTT programme.
“We are also developing the National Digital Economy & e-Governance Bill, which is a robust legislative framework that will help guide our everyday engagement online.
“Our work at the Ministry also includes Project BRIDGE, our ambitious effort to improve interconnectivity by deploying 90,000km of fibre-optic cable across Nigeria. This is a critical imperative as we work towards making Nigeria a $1trillion economy powered by innovation, infrastructure, and inclusive growth,” he said.
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