NITDA targets 100,000 jobs via outsourcing

As part of initiatives to fulfil it mandate, the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA says over 100,000 jobs will be created in the country annually through Information Technology, IT outsourcing sector.  The Director General of the agency,  Dr. Ashiru Daura, made this  known during the second National Outsourcing Conference held in Abuja.

Dr. Daura said, though the sector is in its infant stage, it  has the capacity to create over 100,000 jobs in the economy, given the  efforts of the agency in making Nigeria a leading  IT hub in Africa.

When achieved, he stated that thousands of Nigerian unemployed youths would be gainfully engaged in different IT outsourcing jobs within and outside the country.

“NITDA is aware of the priority place job creation is given in  Mr. President’s Transformation Agenda. It is our resolve to support the  President on this agenda by creating an enabling environment for providing job opportunities for our teeming youths through the use of IT enabled services. We have no doubt that IT outsourcing will go a long way in complementing the federal government’s effort to tackle the challenge of unemployment in the country,” he said.

Also speaking, the chairman of Nigerian Association of Information Technology Enabled Outsourcing Companies, NAITEOC,  David Onu, boasted that outsourcing industry in Nigeria is capable of generating N1.3trillion annually if it is well developed and would be able create over five million jobs in the next ten years.

He stated that over 10,000 unemployed Nigerians have so far been engaged in the sector.

The NAITEOC Chairman, while calling for more support of the sector by both government and the private sector, said the sector, if given the priority attention is capable of boosting the country’s gross domestic product.

Source: Vanguard

Nigeria’s $25bn telecom market, haven for businessmen

Traffic to the Nigerian pavilion, at the just concluded International Telecommunications Union, ITU Telecom world summit became unprecedented as the Secretary General of the union, Dr Hamadoun Toure encouraged investors to head to Nigeria, stoutly claiming that the country’s telecom market is haven for technology businesses.

This was as the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah had highlighted several prospects that could benefit interested investors in the Nigerian economy, in an attempt to woo investors to the new broadband sector the country was nurturing .

Juwah also had his path ways cut with two prominent business entities in the Nigerian telecom sector, MTN and Etisalat testified to having turned their economies around with the Nigerian investment.

At that point, it was a matter of who is fit to come and where his business plans are fit to compete. The stage was set when on the first day of the event, Nigeria snapped the golden opportunity of hosting the Leaders Lunch Forum, capitalising on the opportunity to showcase to thousands of participants from across the world, pathways to revitalising its economy with broadband business.

Toure was there, savouring the details, particularly when Juwah’s diplomatic presentation of Nigeria’s broadband business plan held everybody spell bound: ‘“I do not need to bore you on the figures of our population because you already know that Nigeria is the most populated black Nation in the world. You are also aware of the high ratings of Nigeria in terms of mobile penetration and general ICT growth.

Investment in the Nigerian telecom industry is well over $25 billion and we can say that it is well invested.  ICT sectoral growth is at 30 percent for the past 3 years, sectoral contribution to GDP was 7.05 % in 2012 and currently stands at 8.53 percent. You can’t  get it better anywhere, in terms of robust and steady favourable business climate”

Juwah however quipped in : “But we still have low broadband penetration. However, we have a lot of international broadband cable lying on our shores, amounting to about 10 tetra bytes but we have inadequate fibre infrastructure in several states leading to high cost of services.

The problem we have in Nigeria is actually that of distribution to the last mile. Although, this may be a challenge, we also see it as an opportunity that investors can come and take advantage of “

“However, in order to address the paucity of broadband penetration in Nigeria, government had introduced some regulatory initiatives. First of all, government has released a national broadband plan from 2013-2017. We as NCC, representing government, have also been holding consultation on a proper framework for broadband investment and services in Nigeria.

We have announced open for auction our free 2.3Ghz spectrum, for wholesale service operators to provide last mile broadband services to our regions and hinterlands. This will commence in January 2014. We are also getting ready to license what we call Infrastructure companies, InfraCo, to roll out high speed broadband backbone in 2014.

Nigerian broadband map has mandated what is called the open access model as a strategy and we as a regulatory agency have out rightly decided to solve the tactical issues involved in owning access by developing what we call the Nigerian Open Access Model. So there are mountains of opportunities now for any investor that would want to tap into the huge growing Nigerian broadband market” he added.

But it was on the second day, as a special guest, when Nigeria again hosted participants to an event tagged ‘Nigeria Day’ at the pavilion, that Toure spilled his mind: “Nigeria is the largest country in Africa by population and the engine of the continent in terms of business. There are enviable human and natural resources in this country and I can say that the natural resources we can see standing are even far more than the ones deposited in the ground.

I have observed that Nigeria Nigeria’s growth has remained steady over a few years and this is a good sign for prospective businesses that crave for returns on their investments.

Nigeria was ranked the highest mobile growth by ITU for five consecutive times and that means that there are things they are doing right. It’s not possible to retain that for such a long time by fraud.

Today, we are moving from connect Africa to transform Africa and Nigeria being the business hub of Africa is important in this transformation. It has taken the lead for this in many respects because they have visionary leaders. The country’s First Lady is the ITU’s child online protection champion and she is acknowledged worldwide for protecting children and empowering women. I would like to thank her.

However, the position of the First Lady to protect children online was instrumental and an opportunity for Nigeria to correct its image which criminals from other countries, unfortunately, are trying to tarnish. Every day, you see someone purported to be from Nigeria, trying to sell one thing or the other online. But we know they are not Nigerians. Nigerians are industrious and their economy is friendly to business people” he added

Meanwhile, part sponsors of the Nigerian pavilion, MTN, Etisalat and Airtel, capped the accolades with testimonies of how the Nigerian business climate had treated them, encouraging other investors to dismiss whatever negative impressions they had about the country because they were mostly unfounded.

On behalf of the operators, Corporate Services Executive of MTN, Mr Akinwale Goodluck noted: “MTN’s decision to invest in Nigeria in 2001 was a decision highly criticised in South Africa. But it is a risk that has now paid off.  I could still remember that the day the license was granted in 2001, the share price of MTN dropped by 40 percent but today, the share price in South Africa is over two thousand rands.

I also remember that a lot of people said that GSM will not work in Nigeria because there was no light but we came in and have been posting good returns. we also can say that Policy wise,, the government has been responsive enough. We want you to come and join us and together we shall share the good news”

Source: Vanguard

Computer village relocates to Katangowa Internet City next year, says LASG

The Lagos State Government has disclosed that arrangements have been concluded to relocate all computer dealers in Ikeja to Katangowa Internet City, in Oke Odo area of the state, in the first quarter of 2014.

However, it has dispelled rumours making rounds over non-functioning of over 100,000 Close Circuit TV Cameras installed across the state by the Federal Government, saying the cameras have since been activated for effective surveillance and crime monitoring.

The government also disclosed that no fewer than 100,000 residents had been captured by the Lagos Residents Registration Agency, LASRAA from the beginning of this month.

Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Adebiyi Mabadeje, made the remarks at a recent media parley on the activities of his ministry.

According to him, all major players in the Information Technology, IT, industry would soon be moved to the 15 hectares of land axis, assuring that it would generate jobs for hundreds of Lagos residents when it finally kicked off.

“I cant categorically say when we are moving them to the city, but we are working towards the first quarter of next year. We are discussing with all stakeholders in the market to ensure the success of the project. All the traders at the market now, will be fully carried along in the project.”

“The new market will be a modern standard market that will serve as one stop shop for IT industry. This will further enhance business in a friendly and enabling environment that will add value and ensure accessibility.”

Allaying the fears of residents, Mabadeje, confirmed that the CCTV cameras in Lagos are fully operational contrary to the speculations, describing the installation of the cameras as part of the integrated communication project of the state.

Source:Vanguard

Nigerians bored with unsolicited text messages

As the Nigerian telecommunication space widens, service providers and business owners are not relenting in their efforts to woo more customers. One of the most popular marketing channels they are exploiting is telemarketing.

Although it is being hailed in certain quarters especially among marketing experts, an aspect of it is constituting a nuisance as far as the average Nigerian telephone user is concerned.

Owing to the ‘population advantage’ and ease with which these messages can be sent, subscribers have become regularly inundated with unsolicited text messages from the network service providers and Value Added Service providers.

While Short Messaging Services are a valuable means of communications they can also pose a nuisance, especially when  sent without the receiver’s consent and then are regarded as a spam SMS.

Aggrieved consumers lament that these messages are not only received at odd times and sometimes in quick succession but  also give them no option to opt out in any way.

Typical examples of these messages often read something like this, “The power of colours! Analyse what your favourite colour means or says about you, by texting your colour e.g white to 33550.”

Another example goes, “Are you … please send OK to 7070! Your number is one of the successful with access to MTN’s N2000000 draw today! Subscribe for N100/day.” And then, “To you my dear customer we offer a free 87 day trail of the local sports news service. To receive it, text 4 to 33555. SMS is free.”

A very typical one also goes, ““Dettol soap is now N100. 6 participants will win a Galaxy Tab 3 or Blackberry Z10! Text DETTOL to 5030 at N10\SMS”, “Include one dark green and one orange vegetable on your plate everyday”.

According to Joy Oghenevo , an undergraduate of  the University of Benin, she has simply grown thick skin as far as the unsolicited noises are concerned. She says, “It is worse with Globacom because theirs is a combination of calls and crazy text messages. Sometimes, it can even be random phone call from an unfamiliar company or person trying to market a service or product.”

Besides Oghenevo, several other persons are being subjected to this frustrating condition on a daily basis.

Interestingly, the trend is not particular to one service provider as all major players are guilty of this. Other angry Nigerians who have taken to Twitter to vent their frustration are unhappy that the regulatory body, Nigerian Communication Commission, has yet to take a firm stance despite issuing certain guidelines that have not been respected.

Only recently, the commission issued a warning, charging VAS providers to restrict sending unsolicited messages on the networks between 8.00 am and 8.00 pm.

It also listed MTN Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria, Upstream Limited, Adnol Multimedia Limited, Fun Mobile, Terragon Limited, Rancard Mobility, Mtech Limited, Elseji, Starfish Limited, Next Generation Tele Solutions, One Communications Limited, Cloud and Mobilexcetera as some of those affected.

Yet, this charge appears not to be effective or the answer to subscribers who are concerned with either regulating or stopping the trend at best.effective.

Already, Twitter is proving to be one of the most effective avenues where these subscribers have chosen to complain and directly reach out to the affected service providers.

One of such aggrieved persons is @eyeexcel, who tweeted at MTN’s twitter handle saying, “ Please guys get me out of this unsolicited text messages its running down my battery.” @eronsie also made his case known with a ting of humour,  asking, “@mtnng, Quick one, can I sue you guys for unsolicited calls & text messages?”

For Henry Okelue, his telephone inbox is now a battle ground of some sort. He also tweeted, “ My SMS inbox is no longer mine. Telecommunication companies is falling over each other in there trying to out-text one another with unsolicited messages.”

An infuriated, Jonathan Ekhator, on the other hand, yelled,” @GloCare I get too many unsolicited promotional text messages and calls at critical moments. That makes me want to break my Globacom SIM. Fix this please.”

Another concerned Nigeria, Arin Bamgbose, went hard this time, saying, “@MTNNG, please stop the unsolicited junk text messages. They are disturbing. Use the resources and time to improve network services.”

While sending and receiving unsolicited text messages are not peculiar to Nigeria alone, the practice is regulated in countries such as the UK and The US.

Airtel unveils BBM bundle for smartphones

Lagos – Leading Telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has become the first service provider to create a special Blackberry Messenger (BBM) bundle for the teeming number of Nigerians who now use the Blackberry Messenger (BBM) for Android and iPhones.

This bundle provides great opportunity and access for Airtel customers to chat with friends, family and loved ones, as much as they want with the monthly plans, which allow unrestricted data usage for BBM-related activity within a 30-day subscription window.

To enjoy the special BlackBerry Messenger offering for smartphone users, customers are to dial *440*22#, *440*23# and *440*24# for the Monthly, Weekly and Daily plans respectively.

The Airtel special BBM daily plan attracts N100 charge; the Weekly plan goes for N200 while customers can activate the Monthly plan for N300. All these plans enable customers enjoy a full month BlackBerry Messenger access.

According to the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Airtel, Deepak Srivastava, the newly introduced BlackBerry Messenger Bundle for Smartphone, which is coming less than a month after global launch of service, affirms the company’s innovativeness and customer-centricity.

He asserted that Airtel is always swift in its response to impact customers with the latest technology trends, especially those that provide them great telecoms experience.

“The demand for BlackBerry Messenger on smartphones is unprecedented and as a company that thrives on innovation and customer satisfaction, we had to be swift in providing our customers with added value and further delight their BB service experience with the BBM bundle plans. In addition, the offering will enable our customers to experience the efficacy and robustness of Airtel’s 3.75g service”, he said.

BBM records 80 million active users

Following the launch of BBM on Android and iPhone devices recently, with more than 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours, BBM has now ended its first week with more than 80 million monthly active users, including over 20 million new users on Android and iPhone devices.

It would recalled that during its first week, BBM was the top free overall app in 35 countries in Google Play and in 107 countries in the App StoreSM, and continues to maintain a strong position in key markets such as Canada, the US, the UK, Indonesia and much of the Middle East, to name a few.

“It is great to see so many people downloading BBM, but the true measurement for us is engagement – the connections being made and the conversations in which our BBM community engages. The power of BBM has always been the active, real conversations and interaction that our customers enjoy,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President of BBM at BlackBerry, adding that, “From here on out, we will focus on active users of BBM and will no longer focus on simple download numbers.”

With the BBM community now at more than 80 million active users around the globe, users are connecting on the private social network like never before.

This past weekend, BlackBerry was able to remove the virtual line-up so that Android and iPhone users can now immediately download, sign in and start using BBM without having to wait.

Interestingly, BBM users are enjoying the immediacy and control that BBM offers as they chat with their new contacts – either one-to-one, in multi-person chats or as part of a BBM Group. The delivered and read statuses, as well as the message-in-progress alert, keep people engaged and active in conversations on BBM. BBM users can also share files such as photos, and voice notes, as well as update their statuses with ease. BBM Groups allows photo, calendar, chat and file sharing for up to 30 people in a user-generated community.

Every BBM user has a unique PIN that helps maintain privacy, so users never have to give out their phone number or email address to a new or casual contact. BlackBerry ID connects with a person’s PIN, BBM contact list and services to make device switching quick and easy.

The BBM experience will continue to evolve. In the coming months, BlackBerry will deliver BBM Video calling, BBM Voice calling and BBM Channels – a new community building service to connect BBM users even more broadly – to Android and iPhone users.

How African professionals migrate to mobile devices

The African business community is adopting the use of mobile devices very rapidly. This is the main conclusion drawn from the survey conducted by the Africa Business Panel, involving about 1,776 African business professionals.

The survey demonstrated that about 67 per cent of Africa’s business professionals use desktops, versus 94 per cent using laptops. The tablet, a relatively new mobile innovation, is already adopted by 47 per cent of players in the African business world. 76 per cent use a smartphone, which is more than the use of the classic mobile phone (64%). Nine per cent possess both a private and a company smartphone. However, there are reasons for this massive migration, which the survey also highlighted in its reports.

Security

Laptops are best protected. 87 per cent of laptop owners in the survey had software security installed. For desktops, 76 per cent made use of security, for tablets, 46 per cent, while the least protected are smartphones (44%). People find it difficult to install security software because of high costs, lack of urgency and complexity.

Usage

Smartphones are used most frequently. 65 per cent of participants in the survey use their smartphones several times a day, 54 per cent use their laptops just as frequently, with users of tablets following at 44 percent. 22 per cent never use their personally-owned mobile phones for work related communication as opposed to the smartphone, of which six percent of the owners say they never use it.

Future use

Asked about expected future use, the rise of mobile devices is confirmed by survey participants. 60 per cent expect a surge in the use of smartphones. For the tablet and the laptop, responses in perceived increase were 58 and 44 percent respectively. On the other hand, asked about which devices participants expected a strong decrease in use, 32 percent indicated the desktop, versus only four per cent for both smartphone and tablet.

Blackberry still a big brand in Africa, iPhone comes third after Samsung

Samsung is the leading smartphone brand in Africa. 30 per cent of respondents that have a personal smartphone, have a Samsung. Blackberry is runner-up (22%), iPhone comes in third place (19%), prior to Nokia (11%), HTC (6%), Sony Ericsson (2%), LG (1%) and Motorola (1%). The – smaller – market for company owned smartphones is led by Blackberry (31%), followed by Samsung (25%) and iPhone (23%).

The survey which was conducted between August and September, 2013, had in total, about 1766 Business Professionals from the continent of Africa participating in this research. 73 percent of these participants were said to be either senior managers, executives, directors or business owners. The participants represent a wide range of African countries, with the main contributors coming from Nigeria (19%), South Africa (18%), Kenya (14%), followed by Ghana (5%), Tanzania (3%), Zambia (3%) and Angola (3%).