Tech leaders canvass more investments, zero bureaucracy
To improve the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and to achieve the administration’s target, President Bola Tinubu has been asked to champion local content development in the sector.
At the last count, the ICT sector contributed close to 20 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), largely driven by the activities of the telecoms sector. Technology leaders strongly believe that with improved local content drive, the figure could increase.
According to the tech leaders, who gathered at Technology Times Thought Leadership Series (TTTLS), themed: “President Tinubu’s Digital Economy Vision: Local Tech Content as Catalyst,” while they assured of support for the administration, they canvassed new strategies capable of driving this and ways the government can create at least one million jobs and grow the economy.
These tech leaders included the Founder of Linkserve Limited, Sir. Chima Onyekwere; Co-Founder, AI Nigeria, Dotun Adeoye; President of ATCON, Tony Emoekpere; MD/CEO, Nigtel Nigeria, Dr. T Sulaiman and CEO, Tech Law Development Services, Inye Kemabonta.
These experts noted that local content in technology is the proportion of materials, labour or the extent, which technology products, services and solutions are developed, produced or produced by companies within a country and also the implementation of local programmes across the economy.
ATCON President analysed local participation in different spheres from the communication standpoint. He divided it into two broad areas, “the content itself as regards what we are communicating” in terms of consumption, and “local content in participation of core communication/business, companies that provide services and infrastructure.”
He stated that local participation is strong in terms of value-added services but there are challenges in providing necessary services that this content relies on.
From a mobile network operator (MNO) perspective, he explained it is somewhat balanced among the four MNOs, with a mix of purely foreign and local ownership, but emphasized the need for more local participation.
Regarding the government’s digital economy policy, Emoekpere said that it was a welcome and broad statement but highlighted the challenge of not breaking it down into actual policies that would deliver on the broader goal.
He explained the importance of specifying the aspect and type of jobs created, whether soft or hard skills. He also discussed the renaming of the former “Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy” by the present government by adding “innovation” and offered his opinion on previous Governments’ efforts in line with this policy.
The ATCON boss expressed sadness over the industry’s near self-governing state, where most operations are led by private sectors, with regulation being solely the role of the government.
He noted that policies meant to stimulate implementation often remain as mere pronouncements without necessary action to drive them forward.
However, he acknowledged government efforts such as the infrastructure fund with the CBN, advising that local investments denominated in Naira make it easier for operators to meet obligations to investors. He concluded that challenges from past policies are larger than current efforts.
He emphasized on, “Infrastructure and more infrastructure as his recommendation to President Tinubu, stating that it should be put in place. He expanded on the wide scope of the infrastructure, from smartphones to fibre, advocating for a more Public Private Partnership (PPP) oriented approach, despite acknowledging the government’s good intentions.
On his part, Onyekwere said “government policy is very good when they are announced. When it comes to implementation, the challenges will now manifest. The budget for the Ministry of Digital Economy has dropped by more than 46 per cent to N28.5 billion. And the most attractive area has been the payment area and we have grown local giants that have been doing very well, starting with Interswitch, Systemspecs, Paystack and quite a few of them and they will continue to grow.”
He questioned the government and explored areas the government has neglected, “What about insurance, in governance, changing the curriculum of our schools at all levels to reflect a drive for digital growth, learning programming; by growing children, who can be great programmers, we can export to help our economy.”
The Linkserve Founder, who made strategic recommendations to the government on how to achieve the digital economy goal, pointed out key areas that will help the government achieve its goals, such as doing away with bureaucracy in meeting officials, copying technology and providing access to funds.
According to Onyekwere, “Almost all government policies have a closed-door policy. You cannot go to NITDA without filling out several forms to see an officer, not even the DG of NCC. Those protocols are just very wasteful.”
Secondly, “we should make access to funding highly available, whether it is local or foreign, does not matter to me at this point. Let’s get a person employed, that’s what is important. If we are going to copy technology, let’s copy it.”
“The Comtech Ministry should break down its departments. We need a department for application, for software development, AI and we need a robust unit to guide those departments.”
While reviewing the state of local content in Nigeria, Adeoye highlighted the ease of doing business as a major challenge for innovative-minded individuals both within and outside the country. He added that foreign intervention capitalists hold a different perspective, as they tend to invest and withdraw their funds without much consideration for the local economy.
While digital advancements have the potential to create jobs and solve problems over time, Adeoye said that it is crucial to prioritise local content. Gathering ample information on how these challenges have been addressed and overcome, including a well-defined strategy like a National AI Strategy and Blockchain is imperative.
Adeoye explained that in many countries like Nigeria, success is achieved through clear and effective government policy and public-private partnerships. He believes that the government cannot solely bear the burden of funding innovation, especially when faced with global challenges that strain the availability of funds.
Assessing the state of local tech content in Nigeria, Kemabonta, highlighted the critical importance of understanding local content within the global trade context. He underscored the need for government involvement in nurturing local tech capacity through public procurement, not private funding.
He outlined key challenges hindering the growth of indigenous tech content by encapsulating it in three ways—government sincerity, government knowledge and government will.
“According to him, “many people in government don’t think of Nigeria, they think of the product. That is why we consume everything foreign and do not bother to produce locally, “Kemabonta said, adding: “The government doesn’t spend or hasn’t spent its resources directly in building that local capacity.”
He went ahead to propose solutions centred on establishing quality standards and a market environment. “Government needs to create a standard—what quality of products do you want in the ICT sector? What’s the standard you need across? Specify them and then invest in local producers in a manner that would make them meet those standards.”
He also added that angel investors’ networks should be encouraged in every state across the country.