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Signal Alliance Says Local Content Essential for Indigenous Companies’ Survival

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Adanma Onuegbu, chief executive officer, Signal Alliance, has identified local intellectual property (LIP) safeguard as essential in achieving the country’s economic and technological advancement.

Onuegbu who spoke to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek at the Company’s Customer Week Workshop (CWW) held in Lagos during the week, opposed the cravings among individuals and organization that caused avalanche-influx of foreign products into the economy.

According to her, with an official rebase of the GDP last year the need to diversify, innovate and grow as a strategic template can be applied to guide decision makers and realign the economy, while local content policy implementations must not be neglected.

Founded in 1996, Signal Alliance, an end-to-end IT Company which specializes in systems integration, has grown to be a most vibrant, forward moving ICT company in Nigeria.

For four years now, the Company schedules a-week long activities to celebrate the customers and beam torchlight on matters deserving attention in the Nigerian cum global IT space.

The theme for this year is, ‘Diversify, Innovate and Grow’; this according to the CEO was chosen in order to further draw attention to the challenges and opportunities in the Nigerian economy.

On challenges faced by the private sector in the industry, she said, “One of the challenges we have is the influx of other multinationals to Nigeria. Why am I saying this? We have this mentality that, ‘if it were not done by a foreign company, it is not genuine’. We have to groom our intellectual property and see values in what our local industries are doing. People tend to think it is only when you products from China, India, etc or companies from there that you have genuine products, but it is beginning to change. For instance, agencies like the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), which tires to encourage the growth of local contents by ensuring no matter what you have, even if it is not available in Nigeria, you have to partner local companies to deliver it. Such means will boost the local partners’ growth and global relevance.

“Nevertheless, we are doing what we can in the local contents, because no matter what they do out there and they come to deliver in Nigeria, the support has to be done locally.

On specific industry solutions which Signal Alliance had pledged to help deliver, for instance, to the electricity distribution companies (DISCOS), Onuegbu said, “Signal Alliance has a range of solutions that we can deliver alongside OEMs like SAP and Cisco to the customers. The DISCOs at the moment still have a lot to do before they can ensure of stable services. They are still in the teething stage, but in no distant time, we hope they will overcome. We are looking at a situation they can use software to address the metering challenges. But we discovered that the funds are not there yet for them to move to the next level.

“The infrastructure they inherited were not in the optimal state; and they had to revert to borrowing from banks and venture capitals to sponsor their programmes. 

This is the fourth edition of the customer week. We use the opportunity to celebrate our customers for the year as a way to say ‘thank you’ while assessing the business climate.

“If you look at what has been happening since last year when the oil price started dwindling, economies are going down in a lot of places and it gives us the initiatives to think inwards. Business is not as usual. What it means is that we need to think outside the box, looking at other ways to reinvent ourselves.

“It is either you grow with IT or you depreciate without it. Businesses are dying for the sheer reason of neglect of IT potentials. Technology changes every facet of life today. So, through the workshop we have looked at improving our services to ensure the customers get 100% satisfaction, so that business continuity can always be there.

She said, the theme is not just about Signal Alliance but any entrepreneur that is thinking about survival.

On Signal Alliance’s input, helping organizations to cater for their IT solution needs, and inject skill sets into the industry, she said, “What we have done over the years is that we started an Internship programme for instance, to bridge the skills gap in the industry. This programme was targeted at fresh graduates. We give them about two year intensive training afterwards they are retained or released to be engaged by other companies.

“We have seen the impact of the training on the industry too. It brings out the best in them. Other companies are looking at that model too. We shouldn’t be waiting for only those who have gotten experience to be engaged for work. You have to spend and groom the people.  We believe other service providers can try the model too”.

Several activities were lined up for the week which includes, customer interactions, workshop on Nigeria economy & technology, CSR programme and Customer appreciation / award ceremony.

With solid industry experience spanning across the major sectors of the Nigerian industry, Signal Alliance offers services in the areas of Technology Support, Network Infrastructure, Enterprise Applications and Service Assurance.

The Company boasts of highly skilled and certified consultants as well as major strategic partnerships with World industry giants such as Microsoft, Cisco and CA Technologies.

The company prides itself on its ability to gain a thorough understanding of clients’ businesses and using appropriate technology as a bridge between where the client is and where it wants to go.

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

E-Business

Kaduna, Google Launch First AI Training in Hausa Language

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Kaduna State Government, in partnership with Google and Data Science Nigeria (DSN), introduced the inaugural “AI for Beginners in Hausa,” marking the first instance of artificial intelligence (AI) training in a local language.

In Northern Nigeria, various challenges can impact access to tech education and career opportunities. These include diverse socio-cultural dynamics, infrastructural limitations, and language barriers. Photo: @Gov Uba Sani X handle

Sen. Uba Sani, Kaduna State governor, expressed profound gratitude to the partners for building support for women to use technology in harnessing the socio- economic development of the state and the country as a whole.

Represented by Dr Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor, at the launch of Arewa Ladies for Tech and the mural unveiling of the AI for Beginners Learning Video series, Sani, said AI is not just the future; it’s the present.

According to him, Google pledged a $1.5 million grant to empower 20,000 Nigerian women and youths from underserved communities with essential 21st-century skills. This includes a plan to train 5,000 women and girls in areas such as data science and artificial intelligence through the Arewa Tech4Ladies initiative.

Mr. Olumide Balogun, director of Google in West Africa, said in his welcome address that Google’s mission was to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Balogun said that this initiative was a commitment to enhance the representation and inclusion of women in the tech sector.

Dr Bayo Adekanmbi, chief executive officer of DNS, explained that by making AI education accessible in Hausa, the partnership was creating opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact.

Presenting a paper tagged, “AI in Education”, Dr Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), said a lot had been missed because AI was not being taught in the local language.

The DG was represented by Dr. Ahmed Tambuwal, head of the Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department of NITDA.

 

 

 


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Chowdeck Secures $2.5M Seed Funding to Optimize On-demand Food Delivery in Nigeria

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Chowdeck, Nigeria’s on-demand delivery service, has secured $2.5 million in seed funding to optimize its operations and support expansion into more cities across the country.

The seed funding round included investment from YCombinator, Goodwater Capital, FounderX Ventures, Hoaq Fund, Levare Ventures, True Culture Funds and Haleakala Ventures. Simon Borrero and Juan Pablo Ortega (co-founders of Rappi – Latin America’s largest online delivery platform), Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi (co-founders of Paystack – one of Africa’s leading fintech companies. Acquired by Stripe for $200m), Sudeep Ramani (Sportybet), Ayo Arikawe (Thrive Agric) and Karthik Ramakrishnan (Amazon) also participated as angels.

Since launching in October 2021 after the COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos, Chowdeck has acquired more than 500,000 users and more than 3,000 riders (typically earning the same as senior civil servants in Nigeria) that serve 8 Nigerian cities (Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Ilorin, Benin City, Abeokuta and Asaba).

This new funding will enable Chowdeck to double down on its market leadership in these cities and lay the groundwork for further expansion into other Nigerian cities.

Driven by a combination of increased smartphone and internet penetration, improved payment systems, evolving consumer preferences and a range of other factors, there has been a significant growth in on-demand delivery services in Nigeria in recent years.

For example, heavy traffic in major cities makes it challenging for people to shop for groceries, meals, or other goods, increasing the attractiveness of delivery services that can save time.

This growth trajectory is poised to continue as many of the challenges that hampered previous attempts at providing on-demand delivery services are fixed.

Chowdeck is the fastest delivery service operating out of Africa today, allowing consumers to buy food and have it delivered to their doorstep in 30 minutes, on average.

The startup has built an effective logistics operation that food vendors can leverage to seamlessly deliver meals to customers while also providing consumers with an easy platform to order meals from their favourite restaurants in their city.

The startup has also partnered with a wide range of leading quick-service restaurants such as Chicken Republic, Burger King, Bukka Hut and more to drive sales, provide logistics infrastructure and other services to enable enhanced customer experiences.

Femi Aluko, CEO and co-founder of Chowdeck, said, “We know that Nigerians love good food, and we just want to make it as easy as possible for them to access the food they desire.

Chowdeck was birthed to fulfil this purpose and we are committed to delivering truly excellent experiences for our customers, vendors and riders. We are pleased with the success we have achieved to date and excited to have raised these funds that will enable us to replicate that success in more parts of Nigeria, and add value to our customers, vendors, and riders in as many ways as we can.”

Shola Akinlade, CEO and co-founder of Paystack said, “Chowdeck is not only addressing the crucial need for an efficient and reliable on-demand delivery service in Nigeria, the team embodies innovation and a commitment to excellence.

It is a privilege to be part of their journey and I look forward to celebrating more success with them in months and years to come.

Apart from investing financially into the company, our experience with building Paystack puts us in a great position to provide a lot of practical support and I am excited to see what it is to come from the Chowdeck team.”

June Angelides, Partner at Levare Ventures, said “Chowdeck has quickly become a household name across Nigeria, priding itself on very high standards of execution. They are addressing a large and complicated problem, especially in Africa, delivering goods at record speed.

I am excited that they have proven that the opportunity is there beyond restaurants and supermarkets. The team have secured landmark partnerships with Shoprite, Chicken Republic and KFC, a sign of their grit. Their customers love them, their riders love them. There’s so much more to come and I’m excited to be with them on the journey”.


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Konga Launches Tech Month with Incredible Discounts

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Konga, Leading e-commerce giant has announced its highly anticipated Konga Tech Month starting from Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 31, 2024. This good news is not only for tech enthusiasts and bargain hunters but also for home appliance lovers, as this year’s edition goes beyond gadgets to feature home, office and lifestyle essentials.

Konga Tech Month has become a major event in the Nigerian shopping calendar. This annual sales extravaganza is widely regarded as one of the biggest gadget sales in the country. It offers a treasure trove of tech devices at unbeatable prices, attracting a massive audience eager to snag incredible deals on a wide range of products.

This year’s Konga Tech Month boasts an impressive selection of devices across various categories. Whether you need a reliable laptop, phone or a professional upgrade to your office and household with authentic appliances, Konga Tech Month has something to suit every need.

Throughout May, Konga’s customers will stand the chance to take advantage of special discounts on original printers, dependable power solutions and generators from companies like iTEC and iPower Inverters, mobile phones, refrigerators, inverters, and much more at up to half the price. Many freebies and deals will also be on offer for the fastest fingers in the Konga Flash Sale.

“Konga Tech Month is a testament to our commitment to providing Nigerians with access to high-quality yet affordable tech products,” said Mr Nnamdi Ekeh, CEO of Konga. “This year’s event promises to be even bigger and better than last year, so we are thrilled to get started. Thanks to Konga Tech Month, we can accomplish our mission of making cutting-edge technology available to everyone no matter their budget.”

The competitive pricing and special deals offered during Konga Tech Month are available for students, institutions, and organizations. Whether it’s outfitting a computer lab, updating office technology, or providing students with affordable laptops, Konga Tech Month offers a cost-effective solution.

A satisfied shopper from the last edition shared her excitement saying, “The Konga Tech event last year was incredible! I was able to get the high-performance laptop I’d been eyeing for months and at a price I couldn’t believe. The discounts were amazing, and the selection was huge. Plus, being able to choose between online shopping or visiting a Konga store was convenient and made shopping easier. I’m looking forward to Tech Week this year. I’ve been eyeing a new microwave and phone, and I know Konga will have the finest deals in town.”

Konga Tech Month offers a smooth shopping experience for everyone. Customers can browse the extensive selection of discounted tech products online at the Konga website (https://www.konga.com/) or visit any Konga retail outlets nationwide to experience the deals firsthand.

 


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