Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative (in picture) says that it is clear that ICT policy implementation in the country is more urgent than ever before and the government must ensure that this should be given higher priority because of its potential for accelerating transformation of the society. Photo credit: Elon University

Lagos. December 20, 2012: Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has encouraged Nigerian youth to get engaged in the implementation of the National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy to accelerate the country’s development process.

Sesan made this statement on Monday at the Review of the Nigerian National ICT Policy event orgainised by Mobile Monday, a global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers, and young entrepreneurs in Lagos.

Stating the importance of the ICT Policy, he said ICT’s potential for political, social and economic transformation cannot be overemphasised, adding that it is very important that the nation claims and captures its space of necessitating more investments in the sector.

According to him, it is clear that ICT policy implementation in the country is more urgent than ever before and the government must ensure that this should be given higher priority because of its potential for accelerating transformation of the society.

Sesan notes that cybercrime is progressively increasing; calling for regulated and guided interventions to ICT related issues.

While reviewing the policy, he lists the provision of the national ICT Policy document to include, local content, broadband deployment, research, outsourcing, capacity building, open data and monitoring and reviewing framework.

In the area of capacity building, Sesan says that the Ministry of Communication Technology has started doing quite a number of things around this by engaging the private and public sector.

On the open data side, the policy has been drafted in such a way that it promotes openness and also encourages hackers to build services and application around such.

He also identifies that the research segment of the Policy requires the academia and the industry to work together adding that this area provides an exciting opportunity for Nigerian youths to fully engage and explore their talents.

Government will need to involve young professionals to assist with research and technical support to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ICTs in undertaking governance activities in the country, he adds.

On the monitoring and reviewing aspect, he adds that “this is the point where you need to engage actively. If we are ever going to promote innovation in the ICT sector, we need to get involved and engage with the government.”

“How to do you engage? You engage by writing, showing up at government organised events or meetings and being specific about your idea”, he adds.

With the go-live of Mobile number portability (MNP), mobile telephone users will be able to retain their mobile phone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another. Photo credit: Free Range

Lagos. December 19, 2012: Airtel Nigeria has made a case for speedy implementation of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country saying that the process will promote healthy competition amongst mobile phone operators and improve quality of service.

With the go-live of Mobile number portability (MNP), mobile telephone users will be able to retain their mobile phone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.

Osondu Nwokoro, Director, Regulatory Affairs and Special Projects, Africa, stated this recently while speaking at the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria’s (ATCON) Telecoms Executives and Regulator’s Forum held recently in Lagos.

According to Nwokoro, “Airtel is in full support of the urgent implementation of MNP. We commend the NCC for their efforts thus far and encourage them to push harder for the implementation of the Project. It is our belief that the implementation of MNP will address quality of service issues and also help to put an end to anti-competitive practices in the industry.”

The Airtel Nigeria exec notes that the initiative will benefit telecoms consumers as well as drive operators to improve service delivery.

Nwokoro who was represented at the event by Adeyemi Shola, Airtel’s Head of Licensing and Compliance says that Airtel is currently working with relevant stakeholders to ensure the successful completion of the MNP.

“Right now, the MNP test run is about to commence and Airtel is very prepared for this phase of the Project. We are also working harmoniously with the Interconnect Clearing House and other operators to ensure that the Project commences as scheduled as having too many implementation delays is not in the interest of the industry,” he adds.

Also speaking at the event, Deolu Ogunbanjo, President, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), urges the telecoms regulator to keep to its pledge of implementing MNP in the first quarter of 2012.

He notes that telecoms consumers are currently groaning in pains and MNP will provide soothing relief to them.

In his response, Eugene Juwah, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, assures that MNP would be fully implemented before the end of the first quarter of 2013, without fail.

Juwah also commended the Interconnect Clearing House for an excellent job done so far.

By Ibrahim Olukotun 

According to recent African market subscriber information from ABI Research, MTN Nigeria ranks number one on the list of the Top 7 telecoms powerhouses in the region with a growing subscriber base of 43.2 million. The position makes the telecoms company owned by South Africa’s MTN the biggest telecoms operator in Africa.

Lagos. December 18, 2012: MTN Nigeria and Glo Mobile, the number one and two mobile phone operators by subscriber numbers in the Nigerian telecoms market have been ranked among Top 7 mobile telecoms powerhouses in Africa.

According to recent African market subscriber information from ABI Research, MTN Nigeria ranks number one on the list of the Top 7 telecoms powerhouses in the region with a growing subscriber base of 43.2 million. The position makes the telecoms company owned by South Africa’s MTN the biggest telecoms operator in Africa.

MTN’s rival in Nigeria, Glo Mobile owned by Second National Operator, (SNO), Globacom occupies the seventh position on the continent with over 22 million mobile subscriber lines.

Vodacom, the pan-African mobile telecoms company occupies the second position with 37.7 million subscriber lines while Vodafone Egypt which records 37.5 million subscriptions is the third largest telecoms company in Africa.

The Egyptian company for mobile services takes the fourth place, recording 32.4 million subscriber lines while MTN South Africa and Etisalat Egypt bags the fifth and sixth with 23.5 million and 22.9 million subscriber lines respectively.

According to ABI projections, the cellular market in Africa is expected to grow to 1.12 billion by 2017, contributing 13.9 per cent to take the global cellular market to 8.11 billion.

The ABI report indicates that the African mobile market is very much pulling in new subscribers.

According to the report, in third quarter 2012, the 54 countries in Africa and her 1.08 billion people have accumulated 821 million subscriptions, up 16.9 per cent year-on-year, resulting in a cellular subscription penetration of 76.4 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2013, mobile phone penetration is expected to reduce by 80 per cent given the fact that a significant percentage of prepaid users maintain more than one active prepaid line to minimize interconnection charges. However, there will still be subscriber growth.

Marina Lu, research associate, ABI Research says that, “while Western Europe languishes with barely positive overall growth quarter-on-quarter, Africa managed to generate 4.2 per cent growth in the same period.”

Jake Saunders, VP – Forecasting says that “subscriptions are still very much dominated by voice communications and text messaging in the form of GSM, with 62.7 per cent. 3G subscriptions—both CDMA2000 and WCDMA—still only represent 11 percentage of the overall African market, while 27 per cent of the market still relies on 2.5G access technologies for mobile data access,”

Given the lack of access to credit card and banking facilities, the vast majority of subscribers access mobile phone services through prepaid. In South Africa, prepaid ratios for the operators range from 70 per cent to 86 per cent but most other countries prepaid ratios stand at over 95 per cent, if not close to 99 per cent.

ABI Research is a market intelligence company specializing in global technology markets. The firm unique blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight and actionable, timely, real-world data points for thousands of decision makers in the technology sector every year.

By Olubunmi Adeniyi

Ernest Ndukwe, co-Chair of the Presidential Committee on a National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap (in picture) says that when the work of the broadband team is completed, it will deliver a broad-based plan for the Nigerian government to take advantage of the dividends of broadband, “within the shortest possible time.” Photo: Technology Times

Lagos. December 17, 2012: Ernest Ndukwe, co-Chair of the Presidential Committee on a National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap says the group will deliver an overall blueprint to ensure that Nigeria takes advantage of high-speed Internet services for economic development, “within shortest possible time.”

Goodluck Jonathan, the President of Nigeria, recently set up the group to develop a Nigerian Broadband Implementation Plan with membership drawn from industry and government.

Ndukwe, who is also an ex-Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says that when the work of the broadband team is completed, it will deliver a broad-based plan for the Nigerian government to take advantage of the dividends of broadband, “within the shortest possible time.”

He spoke recently at the software forum organised by the Institute of Software Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON) where he also urged attendees to refocus the benefits of cloud computing.

According to him, cloud computing offers enormous opportunities for developing economies to access computing resources and services located “elsewhere” while this new paradigm driven by the Internet, “takes away the myth from computing, programming or software development.”

However, the co-Chair of the Presidential Broadband Committee says that access to broadband connections is critical to tap these new opportunities while also underscoring those policies in the sector must be dynamic in order to grow the Nigerian ICT sector.

According to Ndukwe, “broadband infrastructure is an area that we should work on making sure it happens within the shortest possible time.”

In September, while inaugurating the 14-man broadband committee in Abuja, Jonathan told the team to use ICT to give Nigeria the headway need to play a key role in the technology revolution.

The President charged the members of the Committee to work assiduously to “perform this task creditably and expeditiously, while stressing that it is a fact that Broadband access and internet technologies are a key enabler of socioeconomic growth.

He emphasises that it is important to start thinking of how to build a digital economy in this era of the knowledge economy. He disclosed that the National ICT policy has set a target of a five-fold increase in broadband penetration by 2017.

He notes that his administration inaugurated the committee to develop a comprehensive broadband roadmap for the country to achieve this goal.

Emphasizing the important role of broadband in economic development, the President mandated the Ministry of Education to incorporate ICTs in the nation’s education curriculum beginning from the primary school level to raise global ICT leaders of tomorrow.

Jonathan, who gave this directive at the inauguration ceremony of the committee, observes that this was necessary to eradicate the current trend of late education in ICT which is as a result of the disadvantage of not getting proper education when they should.

“My administration is laying a proper foundation for a prosperous future. Therefore, the Ministry of Education must incorporate ICTs in our National Education Curricular beginning from the Primary School Level because, if we desire to raise the global ICT leaders of tomorrow, we should not burden them with the disadvantage of starting out late. Celebrated innovators of today, like Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and Mark Zukerberg, founder of Facebook, discovered their love for software development between the ages of 9 and 12,” he says.

Goodluck Jonathan, the President of Nigeria (in picture), who recently set up the group to develop a Nigerian Broadband Implementation Plan with membership drawn from industry and government, says that, “if we desire to raise the global ICT leaders of tomorrow, we should not burden them with the disadvantage of starting out late. Celebrated innovators of today, like Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and Mark Zukerberg, founder of Facebook, discovered their love for software development between the ages of 9 and 12.”

He pledges that his administration will continue to give the necessary support and encouragement to ICT practitioners in Nigeria to empower collective effort in attaining the goal of the 21st century economy.

Taking note of the president’s statement during the inauguration of the committee, Jonathan expresses his administration’s commitment in investing in the deployment and adoption of information of Information and Communications Technologies as a driver of National Transformation.

He adds that, “broadband has the potential to facilitate the creation of new industries and introduce significant efficiencies into existing ones. Education delivery, health care provision, energy management, public safety, government/citizen interaction, and the overall organisation and dissemination of knowledge will also benefit meaningfully from the presence of Broadband.”

The President who commended the Minister of Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson for steering the new Ministry efficiently, disclosed that the Ministry of Communication Technology was separated from the Information ministry to enable Nigeria   leverage ICTs for national transformation.

Ndukwe and Jim Ovia Chairman of Visafone Communications Limited were selected to co-chair the 14-man presidential committee on five-year broadband penetration project.

Others on the committee are: Juliet Ehimuan Chiazor, country manager, Google Global Service Nigeria,  Lynda Saint Nwafor, CTO MTN, Philip Chuwueke, Chair, CDMA Forum, Rasheed Adegoke, CIO, First Bank, Stanley Jegede, CEO, Phase 3 Telecom, Gbenga Sesan, Youth ICT Entrepreneur,  Bala Mohammed, Commissioner for Science and Technology, Kano State, Kayode Jegede, Special Adviser to Ekiti State Governor on Infrastructure and ICT, John Ayodele, Ministry of Communication Technology, Vincent Olatunji, National Information Technology Development Agency and  Junaid Dikko.

The terms of reference of the committee include: articulation of acceptable definitions and perspectives on broadband and related issues that are current and dynamic in the country, evaluation and analysis of the current position of broadband infrastructure and service delivery in the country.

It is also expected to define broadband service in the country and articulate an agenda for bridging the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” within the country and showcasing possible challenges.

Others are expansion and detailing of additional strategic and tactical approaches for reinventing the country as a broadband rich digital haven capable of supporting electronic and mobile architecture for commerce and trade, empowerment among others; and thereby capable of attracting internal and external investments for development.

The committee will also consider and articulate the role of different levels of government; federal, state and local government in ensuring the timely achievement of the roadmap, consider and articulate other related and reasonably connected relevant plans and agenda that are incidental to broadband development in the country and produce a comprehensive National Broadband Road Map for Nigeria.

YEMI IBIRONKE

Nigerian corporations have transitioned onto the world stage on several fronts with strategies, platforms and executions comparable to world-class firms but the adoption of accountability and sound Marketing Analytics by CMOs is required for realizing their marketing investments true potential.

The new competitive advantage

Nigerian corporations have rapidly adopted world-class marketing and customer engagement activities but have lagged in adopting a vital capability: Marketing Analytics. The firms that realise and adopt this evidence-based marketing will dominate their market space. CMOs should lead the charge because the implications are firm wide and the benefits substantial. Photo credit: Technology Times

Marketing Analytics is the art of using rigorous empirical evidence (data) to inform planning, evaluation, learning and continuous improvement of marketing investments. Marketing Analytics involves using data to improve campaign performance, increase marketing accounts for the same level of investment and identify effective customer contact and engagement opportunities. With the expanding volume of data, it is therefore not a surprise that interest in marketing analytics has grown over the past six years.

Using Marketing Analytics, media budget allocation need not be a repetition of previous years’ allocations following the “that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality, nor will it be a process of trial and error. Instead, it will be grounded in sound pro-forma modelling and projections. A marketing campaign will not be judged successful because the campaign was well executed; judgements will be based on whether the campaign achieves specific targets pre-defined as the campaign’s key performance indicators (KPIs).  You read that right. Campaign success will not be evaluated based on the launch of the campaign. Instead success will be evaluated based on whether campaigns attain specific performance targets defined by specific KPIs (also called metrics). These KPIs are derived from the business objectives that necessitated the campaign in the first place. Therefore, the adoption of Marketing Analytics encourages clear performance expectations, rigorous evaluation of marketing investment options and the planning and development of a sound business strategy. In short, Marketing Analytics results in a marketing culture that is fully accountable.

The organisations that have adopted Marketing Analytics into their culture have reaped the benefits in spades. Marketing Analytics has become a competitive weapon for many global organisations. By having access to high quality analytics talents, either internally or through analytics consultants, firms such as Zynga (the super-successful gaming company), Harrah’s (the outstanding entertainment organisation), Google (needs no introduction) and Amazon (the super-successful online superstore) to name just a few, have delivered corporate growth, solid customer value and a return on investment.

Access to marketing data (customer, campaign, or marketing operations data) is essential to ensure meaningful accountability, but Nigerian organisations were previously subject to a few marketing data limitations. The dominance of traditional forms of media such as TV, radio, billboards and print (they all notoriously fail to give off ample performance datasets) as well as poor customer data collection practices have limited any meaningful analytics. Now, times have changed. The rapid penetration of digital channels of information in Nigeria, such as the Internet, email, display advertising, search engines, social media and mobile technology, has changed the game. These digital channels give off so much data that any marketer who actively engages in digital advertising as part of his or her marketing program and complains of not having enough data deserves to be fired.

Common Excuses

Marketing Analytics is a competitive weapon, but the inherent outcome is marketing accountability—how well marketers are making use of the marketing investments entrusted to them. The following are real excuses provided by marketers and exclude the cynical resistance to accountability that may result from corrupt practices. (Do we still have this in the Nigerian private sector with solid internal controls? At any rate, this should be less of an issue among the types of astute world-class marketers and organisations addressed in this article).

• Accountability is a low priority because there are more pressing, more urgent challenges than measuring how well campaigns are performing.
• There is little time to commit to, or to deploy accountability mechanisms because most of programs have aggressive go-to-market timelines.
• There is a lack of access to the technology or tools needed to conduct the analysis.
• There is no data to evaluate because the campaign (or agency) did not provide the required data.
• There is doubt about measurements because measurements are considered bean counting that may limit creative flexibility, which is more important for campaign success.
• There are no analytics experts in the marketing agency currently managing the brand.
• The campaign is low-budget, low-priority and no one cares about its performance.
• There is too much confidence (hubris?) that the study or analysis or model conducted some years back still applies, so marketers feel no need for re-evaluation.
• How Analytics competitors overcome the common challenges
• These could be legitimate, but experience shows that organisations that adopt and win with Marketing Analytics do things a little differently. Here are those same excuses with some solutions provided by marketing managers using Marketing Analytics.
• Low priority, No Time – Bake Marketing Analytics and accountability into the planning process.
• No technology or tools – Prioritise investments into the right tools and seek out partners that can provide the necessary tools.
• Lack of data – Form partnerships with entities that ensure data access and are comfortable with using proxy (representative) data to estimate their campaign’s impact.
• Doubt about measurement return on investment (ROI) – Subject doubts to empirical tests. Do not make decisions based on speculation.
• Limited agency expertise – Seek out agencies with Marketing Analytics expertise, or add Marketing Analytics consultants in the event that current advertising agencies used by the company have other highly desirable capabilities.
• Low-budget, low-priority campaigns – Believe that “if it’s worth investing in, it’s worth measuring”.
• Confidence on old findings – Understand that the competitive context can change. Aggressively seek out new insights to help win in the market place.

CMOs: Play your part

Why do these managers do things differently when it comes to Marketing Analytics and accountability? It’s because they usually have executive sponsors who understand the importance of accountability and prioritise maximising returns on marketing investments. While well-informed managers may succeed when developing marketing strategies for their brands using analytics, Marketing Analytics must be adopted by the entire organisation for maximum impact.

Organizational leaders exert vital influence on work culture and organisational priorities, and CMOs’ impact on marketing should be no different. When CMOs sincerely demand measurable results on marketing investments, marketing accountability spreads though the entire marketing organisation and can even spill over to partners and agencies with which a company is working. These organisations are usually successful because they set high expectations, require proof of performance, demand continuous improvements, test and experiment, look for performance benchmarks and expect a learning road map from the agencies with which they are working. These analytically savvy organisations also set the tone for when developing new marketing relationships; their request for proposals (RFPs) usually provides clear objectives and performance targets, and they demand that their partners also appreciate accountability.

While this article could list multiple recommendations for developing a sense of urgency for Marketing Analytics, the quicker solution is to hire a strong Marketing Analytics partner—a partner with experience, expertise and an extensive Marketing Analytics solution suite. Such a partner will educate CMOs; encourage organisations to set up appropriate performance measures for key marketing investments; offer up ideas for integrating Marketing Analytics at the organisational, portfolio or brand level and be an ongoing accountability advocate within your organisation. Indeed, many analytics-driven organisations have a Marketing Analytics Centre of Excellence (COE) operated jointly with analytics consultants, and these Marketing Analytics partners are evaluated based on tangible business outcomes such as lifts in brand awareness, perception, sales and market share.

Nigerian corporations have rapidly adopted world-class marketing and customer engagement activities but have lagged in adopting a vital capability: Marketing Analytics. The firms that realise and adopt this evidence-based marketing will dominate their market space. CMOs should lead the charge because the implications are firm wide and the benefits substantial. A fast approach is to evaluate and engage with a few of the world-class Marketing Analytics firms that have offices set up in Nigeria. Welcome to the global stage; get ready to compete with analytics.

* Yemi Ibironke (yemi.ibironke@cogniko.com) is Country Director, Nigeria, of Cogniko, a New York based marketing analytics and digital intelligence firm.

By Ibrahim Olukotun

Lagos. December 17, 2012: Phone dealers in Lagos have decried the rising influx of substandard China phones into Nigeria citing that the growing trend may undermine the user experience in the local telecoms market.

Baring their minds on the issue in Lagos in separate interviews with

Ikeja Computer Village in Lagos (seen in picture) is a thriving market for technology products and services: Phone dealers are complaining that some Chinese handset makers are capitalizing on the high rate of poverty in the country to flood the market with substandard products that are outlawed in China and other countries Photo: Technology Times

Technology Times, Iyke Nwosu, President of Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (PAPDAN) and Kelvin Orjiani, his counterpart in the Saka Tinubu Phones market in Victoria Island, Lagos say that they are worried about the phones from China which they allege erode consumer confidence and also poses great economic and health hazards.

They complained that some Chinese handset makers are capitalizing on the high rate of poverty in the country to flood the market with substandard products that are outlawed in China and other countries.

“The quality of goods is not the way it used to be when they (China phones) were not here. A basic Nokia phone sells for N4, 000. A Chinese phone which is of the same standard, sells for N1, 500. Because of high level of poverty, Nigerians like cheap things. We are not often bothered about quality. An average Nigerian will opt for the N1, 500 phones even if it spoils tomorrow. He would not consider durability. The Chinese have taken advantage of that and they are extorting us. It is very bad,” Orjiani tells Technology Times.

On his part, Nwosu, Chairman of PAPDAN, observes that the unrestrained influx of Chinese traders into the phone market will wreck the economy because the local players will be forced out of the market.

He cites the near-collapse of certain sectors of the local economy where Chinese companies have been allowed to play directly like textile garments and leather industries.

“Anyone who is familiar with Chinese traders knows, anywhere they go, they take everything from the locals. Every business has stages, like manufacturers, middlemen and distributors. But the Chinese do everything together and keep everyone out. And if you look around, other industries where they have been allowed to participate directly, Nigerian traders there are no more doing anything. For example, leather, garments and textiles sectors,” Nwosu says.

Iyke Nwosu, Chairman of Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (PAPDAN) (in picture) says that “Anyone who is familiar with Chinese traders knows, anywhere they go, they take everything from the locals. Every business has stages, like manufacturers, middlemen and distributors. But the Chinese do everything together and keep everyone out. And if you look around, other industries where they have been allowed to participate directly, Nigerian traders there are no more doing anything. For example, leather, garments and textiles sectors.”                               Photo: Technology Times

He further explains that his association, in conjunction with relevant government agencies like Standard Organization of Nigeria, Consumer Protection Council has put measures in place to protect the business interest of local phone dealers and ensure that substandard products are checked.

“We don’t manufacture ICT products. So, if we allow all manufacturers to come and play in a market directly where an average shop owner is employing about five people, then it would not be long before we will all go and find something else to do. We try to stop them from flooding this market with cheap imports”, he adds citing that PAPDAN today has membership counting in excess of 3000 businesses in the Ikeja Computer Village, the nation’s market hub for technology products and services.

The PAPDAN boss wonders why things are done differently in Nigeria, when in other climes; governments make efforts at developing local investors and economy by reserving certain jobs for their citizens.

“Nigeria is a receptive country. You don’t get this anywhere in the world. I have lived abroad for 12 years. I have been arrested in my office for selling. I was told I have a work permit to work as a managing director and not as a salesperson. The sales duties are reserved for my staff members who are citizens of the country. They have to create jobs for their people. I don’t know why things are done differently here,” Nwosu says.

PAPDAN urges the government to put in place and enforce policies that will protect local players against the onslaught from foreigners, which he says is the norm everywhere in the world.

Kelvin Orjiani, Chairman, Saka Tinubu Phones Market in Victoria Island, Lagos, (in picture) says that, “they should make sure that these products are stopped at the seaports and airports if they are not up to the required standards. Aside the economic and environmental negative effects, it takes tolls on health because when these products become toxic waste because of the materials they are made from, they become very harmful to health.” Photo: Technology Times

“The practice globally is that when going to play in a foreign market, you synergize with the locals to ensure things work. Not just people leaving their country, come in with Tourist visa to operate in a market where they don’t have a warehouse and are not ready to employ local people, without banking with our banks and we don’t even know how they transfer their money out of the economy.”

According to Nwosu, “we lose a lot of money. And when they sell these products without an address, it creates a problem because customers cannot complain to anybody. But if they (the Chinese) are dealing directly with Nigerians with traceable addresses, customers can return to complain if the product malfunction.”

PAPDAN appeals to local standards watchdog, SON and Nigerian Customs Service to be a step ahead of unscrupulous elements that have turned the country into the dumping ground for substandard handsets and mobile devices.

In a similar vein, Orjiani says that, “they should make sure that these products are stopped at the seaports and airports if they are not up to the required standards.  Aside the economic and environmental negative effects, it takes tolls on health because when these products become toxic waste because of the materials they are made from, they become very harmful to health.”

The NBS survey reveals that over 95 per cent of Nigerians lack access to a PC or Internet. Access to personal computers appears to be low, with a national average total access of 4.5 per cent while actual PC ownership stands at 0.9 per cent.
The result of the survey shows that the most widely-used ICT devices are radios and mobile phones while Internet usage and PC access remained considerably lower. Photo credit: Free Range

Lagos. December 16, 2012: Nigeria’s personal computer ownership stand at an abysmal 4.5 percent of her teeming population, a major technology gap in the continent’s most vibrant telecoms market, a new government study has uncovered.

This is pitted against official information showing that the nation’s telecoms market currently has over 100 million active phone connections with over 90 per cent of them being mobile phones, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator.

Meanwhile, despite being the fastest growing telecoms market in Africa and the increased presence of indigenous PC makers Omatek Computers and Zinox Technologies, Nigeria’s PC penetration ranked 4.5 per cent, according to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This figure is revealed in the outcome of the joint survey recently conducted under the “Annual Socio-Economic Report: Access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT)” by the NBS and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The NBS survey reveals that over 95 per cent of Nigerians lack access to a PC or Internet.  Access to personal computers appears to be low, with a national average total access of 4.5 per cent while actual PC ownership stands at 0.9 per cent.

The result of the survey shows that the most widely-used ICT devices are radios and mobile phones while Internet usage and PC access remained considerably lower.

Of the overall Nigerian population with access to mobile phones, nearly half owns the device. Similarly, more than a third own radios, while about a quarter own TVs as well as PCs and Internet access devices, according to the survey.

The statistics reveal that 82.9 percent of Nigerians had total access (those who owned and those who had access only) to radio and 63.9 per cent had access to mobile phones and less than half of the population, 44.7 per cent, had access to TV.

Going by the result of the survey conducted by the NBS, it shows that over 158 million out of 167 million Nigerians do not have access to the PC.

Even with the introduction, of the Computers for All Nigerians Initiatives (CANI), a government-private sector collaboration aimed at increasing PC penetration in Nigeria, the International Telecommunications Union statistics also revealed that PC penetration remained very low in the ratio of 7  computers per 1, 000 Nigerians.

According to an analyst, the high cost of computer equipment and the grossly underdeveloped technological base are the major reasons for low PC penetration in Nigeria.

In the NBS survey which covers all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi State recorded the highest percentage of total PC access in the country with 17.4 per cent though the majority of the computers are not personally-owned.

The FCT and Lagos had total access rates of 15.9 per cent and 15.8 per cent respectively but only five per cent of the computers are individually owned.

Osun, Rivers, Anambra, Edo, Ogun, Cross Rivers, Oyo and Delta had total access rates of 10.0, 9.0, 8.6, 6.9, 6.4, 6.0, 5.2 per cent respectively while all other states have lower than 5 per cent total access rates to computers, the survey reveals.

The report also indicates that states with least total PC access include Kano, Kebbi, Zamfara, Borno and Sokoto, each of which has less than 1 per cent of persons having total access.

According to the outcome, the country’s Internet access rates stood at 3.6 per cent in 2011 but with only 0.5 per cent claiming to own Internet connection device.

Compared to total PC access between persons, a fair number of states performed better than the national average.

Lagos came on top of the chart with 27 per cent total access to the Internet, while two other States, Rivers and FCT recorded above 10 per cent total access, although a considerable proportion does not claim ownership.

“Four States with the least access, Sokoto emerges with only 0.3 per cent access to the Internet.  Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, and Ebonyi States also turn out to have low Internet access rates, each with less than 1 per cent.  Expectedly, urban dwellers had more access and ownership of Internet service (11.6 per cent) compared to the rural dwellers (1.5 per cent)” according to the NBS report.

The survey also reveals rural areas and most of the urban areas do not have access to an Internet connection, despite the fact that some of them do have mobile telecoms services.

On the other hand, mobile penetration seems to be doing quite good in Nigeria. The penetration in the country has witnessed significant growth with nearly half of the population claiming access, underscoring the rising importance of the telecoms industry in the Nigerian economy.

Also in the NBS survey, Nigeria’s total access to mobile phones in 2011 stood at 63.9 per cent with half of the population claiming ownership.

Anambra State has the highest percentage of people with access to mobile phones at 95.1 per cent and nearly 60 per cent of these own the device. In other words, at least 9 in every 10 persons who reside in the state are likely to have access to a mobile phone.

The next in the ranking, Osun state recorded 91.9 per cent. Other states with high access records include Kogi, Ogun, Niger and Lagos each with more than 85 per cent total access levels.

Sokoto and Taraba states have the least access to mobile phones at 33.1 per cent each. However, those who actually claimed ownership in Taraba state are more than those who do in Sokoto State.

NBS concluded that nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that ICTs are continuously evolving and in many cases, a single device, for example mobile phone, could perform the function of all others obviating the need to own multiple devices.

“This fact may be responsible for the high percentage of mobile phone access, even though a higher percentage of the population has access to the radio,” NBS says.

The results reflect the traditional role occupied by the radio as the oldest and leading source of information dissemination and acquisition by Nigerians, as well as the rising importance of mobile phones in a relatively short span of time of its introduction in the country.

NBS observes that considering the poor electricity supply situation in the country coupled with national poverty levels, PC and Internet access are still relatively expensive in most parts of the country, hence lower level of access and ownership.

By Olubunmi Adeniyi

The growth of broadband, seen as the next phase of growth in the Nigerian telecoms sector after voice, has been hampered by the absence of pervasive backbone infrastructure to encourage diffusion across the country. Photo credit: Free Range

Lagos. December 16, 2012: Key stakeholders in the ICT sector have agreed that the open access backbone should be assured by regulatory intervention and not necessarily by building new infrastructure.

The growth of broadband, seen as the next phase of growth in the Nigerian telecoms sector after voice, has been hampered by the absence of pervasive backbone infrastructure to encourage diffusion across the country.

The ICT gurus agreed on this option recently in Lagos, while addressing the general theme, “Broadband Nigeria: The Journey Ahead,” at the 2^nd biennial Africa Digital Forum and Award (ADA) 2012 organised by ICT Watch Network.

Austin Okere, CEO, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) observes that the state of broadband in Nigeria is crying for help adding his voice to the pervasive industry concern that, “we have ample broadband capacity at the shore, but it’s not widely available to Nigerians.”

In a keynote at the event, Okere notes that the possible intervention to this is to have an open access backbone so as to enjoy seamless end-to-end connectivity in the country.

According to him, broadband in Nigeria should be such that there is a higher degree of penetration and be made available in all parts of the country such that it continues to impact on people’s lives.

He said there are more bottlenecks in the way because some states of the Federation are yet to be linked to the national backbone.

Major cities like Lagos are having a larger share of the broadband market while some other states are left out; he adds, noting that it is important for broadband services to be readily and fully available in all states of the country to ensure that the services are accessible to all Nigerians.

Okere explains that the success story for broadband in the country must be characterised by a market-driven competition through local investments. To sustain the growth and innovation in the sector, government must be willing to provide fiscal incentives through long-term loans facilitated through the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).

Ernest Ndukwe, ex-Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who chaired the forum, notes that, “many of the State Governors in Nigeria have not really embraced ICT in the states. That is why the issue of right- of-way has become a big problem for the sector.”

He advises the governors to liberate their people by giving them the tool of the modern age while adding that ICT should be placed on the front burner of the priority sectors of government.

According to him, the combination of digital technologies, computer and communication networks and associated human capacity and ingenuity, have been known to have delivered results in various critical applications and have even transformed the way people live today.

In his comment, Olawale Ige, former minister of Communications, advocates more investments in core access by building up spectrum where it can be utilised.

Also speaking at the forum, Lanre Ajayi, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) frowns at the way state governments are imposing taxes on telecoms operators saying that people should stop seeing the sector as a cash cow.

Ajayi advises that taxes should be based on the performance of each telecoms company.

During the award session, Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of Osun State, was awarded the ICT Governor of the Year; Olawale Ige, former minister of Communication, bagged the Life Time Achievement Award; Ernest Ndukwe, former EVC, the ICT Personality of the Year and Emmanuel Ekuwem, CEO, Teledom Group, was honoured with the title, Broadband Personality of Year.

Omatek Ventures bagged the Outstanding Company of the year, while Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) was awarded ICT Conglomerate of the Year.

Lagos. December 16, 2012: The Delta State Government has partnered with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in training forty computer engineers and information technology graduates for its pilot website design training.

According to the Delta State Government, the training, which is planned to be held twice a year, is set to equip engineering graduates in the state with requisite skills in website development. Photo credit: Free Range

The training, which is planned to be held twice a year, is set to equip engineering graduates in the state with requisite skills in website development, according to NAN report.

Declaring the training open, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta State Governor, who was represented by Sunny Ofili, Special Adviser on ICT, says the training scheme is geared towards making the trainees employers of labour after graduation. The programme is also expected to make them readily valuable to ICT companies that might be coming to the state.

“The state wants to use these two weeks to train computer engineers on A+, JAVA, Database and C++. Beneficiaries shall be able design personal websites to start business and be employers of labour, as no huge amount is needed to start up. Also, If Google, Facebook and Zinox want to have an office in Delta, they can be used as a point of call,” he says.

Ofili explains that the training was organized by the state government in conjunction with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to accelerate ICT growth in the state.

He assured that the training will be a life-changing experience for participants.

Responding on behalf of the participants, Festus Nwaomucha thanked the state government for organizing the training and appealed for its sustenance.

By Technology Times Staff Reporter

The campaign articulates MTN’s belief that emerging markets are on the cusp of a brand new world. This is a world where the distinction between the first and third world no longer exists, thanks to digitisation, the mobile phone company says.

Lagos. December 14, 2012: South Africa’s MTN Group says it is launching its latest multi-channel global brand campaign, which pronounces the mobile operator’s and owners of MTN Nigeria bold views on the potential of emerging markets.

Titled, “Welcome to the New World”, the campaign launches tomorrow in selected countries across Africa by early next year, the company announced on Thursday.

The campaign articulates MTN’s belief that emerging markets are on the cusp of a brand new world. This is a world where the distinction between the first and third world no longer exists, thanks to digitisation, the mobile phone company says.

Jennifer Forrester, Executive for Group Marketing, MTN, says that, “for many years, there has been a gap between the first world and markets in which we operate.”

According to her, “this campaign is designed to communicate that, as MTN, we do not believe there’s a first or third world anymore. Our belief is that we are getting to a new world, a digital world that is a great equaliser. This is a space where a mobile handset is not just a phone anymore, but a bank, a jukebox, a mobile office and even a library. That is a new world that MTN is welcoming its customers to.”

MTN says the campaign is its most ambitious yet and will comprise 17 television commercials, filmed across all of MTN’s 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East. It also includes a combination of market-specific print, online, outdoor and mobile creative executions.

Forrester says a key criterion of the campaign brief was that it showcases and celebrates what makes MTN markets special, and what MTN thinks the rest of the word should celebrate.

“What was important for us is that the adverts show what we see, and that is beautiful, sophisticated, vibrant Africa and Middle East… and the innovation, creativity and excitement percolating our markets,” she says. “This is what we want the entire international community to see as we welcome them to the new world. But it was equally important for us to portray all of that in a specific way.”

To this end, the campaign also seeks to celebrate what individuals in all of MTN’s markets are able to do because of the role MTN plays in their lives.

Forrester says MTN has grown over the years from being a generic telecommunications company known for basic telephony, to a lifestyle-enabling, one-stop solutions shop that supports consumers through every moment and every stage of their lives. Therefore, the campaign needed to illustrate this growth and transition.

This year, MTN became the first African company to crack global research group Milward Brown’s BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands listing, coming in at 88th position.

“We decided we do not want to be just a global brand. We wanted to start acting like a global brand, which was important to us,” says Forrester.

As a result, in the brief to our creative agency, says Forrester, it was important that an emphasis on MTN’s long-term view is highlighted.

“It was important that the campaign speaks to how we drive MTN forward as a business and a brand taking a long-term view. MTN is passionate and committed to creating an enhanced user experience for our customers. And we aim to achieve this alongside our pursuit of business growth opportunities, especially in the new digital space,” she says.

Forrester adds that the digital space is a very interesting area for MTN “because we believe access to the new digital world is really what is going to redefine our markets in the short to medium term”.

MTN believes a strong focus on digitisation will usher in a new world order for emerging markets. To this end, the company has a strong focus on relevancy of its digital services, as showcased through its revamped MTN Play portal, also re-launched this week in selected markets. The new-look MTN Play portal will be available across multiple operating systems and mobile handsets in MTN markets in Africa and the Middle East.

Christian De Faria, MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, says that, “MTN, as a business, is focused on driving sustainable growth through digital services, our enterprise offerings and opportunistic partnerships. However, it’s equally important for us to drive growth in a manner that delivers value to our customers and communities. We believe that the areas we are exploring in terms of new growth have enormous potential to transform our markets and the lives of people in those markets.”

The global campaign will be rolled out in all of MTN’s 21 markets, starting with the English and French Pan-African markets in December, followed by a Middle East execution in early 2013.