The 7th edition of the NigeriaCom ICT Leaders Forum has ended, and I am looking forward to attending AfricaCom, Cape Town for yet another exhilarating experience.
One of the elements that stand NigeriaCom out is the quality of attendees and this year wasn’t a disappointment. In fact, this year saw an increased number of startup founders in attendance which is a good thing because the ICT sector in Nigeria is growing by leaps and bound.
Interestingly, the forum in my view addressed some of the key challenges that are bedeviling the ICT industry in Nigeria.
However, justice would be made to NigeriaCom forum if industry players start the implementation process. Put simply; nothing would be achieved if we do not start practicing what has been preached. Meanwhile, two sessions struck my attention, which I’ll share more about.
Immediately after the break, we reconvened. Firstly, it was a panel discussion amongst top key decision makers in the industry. They had discussed “Understanding the Value-chain of Connectivity for Improving Healthier Lives and Societies in Nigeria.”
The session was just fascinating and gives me the impression that Nigeria is in dire need to leverage technology in tackling health related issues. The news here is that Qualcomm Wireless came up with their eHealth latest technology called ChiniPAK360.
Deborah Theobald who was amongst the panelist explained that CliniPAK is a 3G enabled Point-of-Service Data device designed to improve health care and reduce maternal and child mortality.
According to World Bank records, there are, on average, less than two midwives per 1,000 people and less than one doctor per 1,000 people in Nigeria. That is to say without adequate access to health services and long-term patient records, the lives of Nigerians becomes threatened. However, the new technology will provide midwives and health care providers with flexibility to capture, analyze and diagnose clinical conditions that lead to maternal or infant mortality, and aims to decrease the number of deaths in these groups dramatically.
“Electronic reporting gives us a faster and easier way of understanding what’s going on in the field so Nigeria can achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 by 2015. Ondo State is now able to track and report on approximately 90% of its maternal births – the highest of any State in Nigeria,” Jamila Ibiye Bello-Malabu, National Primary Health Care Development Agency
Another panelist was Adeleke Balogun, Assistant Director, ICT; Federal Ministry of Health said explained that the thrust behind this innovation is to solve data access related issues. “Having access to data when needed is a setback in some industries in Nigeria. Hence, that issue has been addressed by the invention of ChiniPAK. Besides, having access to data, there are lots of health related applications such as videos and ebooks which speeds up the knowledge gap”.
The truth is that the immediate availability of current medical data means clinicians and midwives can make informed, timely decisions that have life-saving potential. Apparently, considering the enormous benefits of this technology, it is envisaged that other states would borrow a leave from Ondo State and leverage the power of technology to boost their health sectors.
Secondly, the area that caught my attention which I think every hand should be on deck is demeaning statistics which shows that internet penetration in Nigeria currently stands at 51 percent, and Nigeria ranks 6th in Africa. Ismaila Otolorin from Airtel Nigeria had revealed these statistics during his presentation. His presentation was quite informative and instructive.
It is understood that the likes of South African, MTN; Indian Airtel, Glo Nigeria, and UAE Etisalat are reluctant to expand their network coverage in some areas because 20 percent of their network sites adds nothing to their revenue. This is what is the major issue associated with the low level of internet penetration in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, If Telecoms operators expand their networks and universal service; there would be more internet penetration in Nigeria. Does it mean that players are not ready to expand their networks, the answer is no
“There are a lot of issues ranging from policies, regulations, current economic situation, security of fibers, power, multiple taxations and other impediments that trailing the Telecoms operators in Nigeria. Once the government starts addressing some bottlenecks within the ecosystem, Telecoms operators would expand their universal service so as to deepen internet penetration”.
Additionally, the starting point is to effect the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), through which smart subsidies would be provided to operators. This would induce them to extend their network services to rural areas, so as to deepen internet penetration in Nigeria”.
The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria.
However, to speed up the entire it imperative the government in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission further
team up with third-party companies so as to help introduce smart subsidies that would induce operators to expand their service in rural areas, Ismaila suggested.
Finally, one of the takeaways from the NigeriaCom event is that Nigeria is doing well in technology, but still need to improve in certain areas. Telecom operators need to expand universal access and service in open areas; deepen internet penetration; while the government needs to create an enabling environment for the operators.
