Nigeria has ranked second as the country with the most affordable Internet in emerging nations according to a study conducted by Alliance for Affordable internet (A4AI).
In a presentation by Sonia Jorge, executive director, A4Ai, at the Ericsson and Alliance for Affordable Internet programme at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain recently, Nigeria was buoyed by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecommunications sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.
Jorge said “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies like Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia.
The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country.
Minister of Communications Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson who spoke at the forum said what will grow the internet in Nigeria is local content and not over-reliance on YouTube and other such social media channels.
She said “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”
Johnson informed that the decision of the Nigerian government that ICT was primary leading to creation of the Communication Technology Ministry has positively affected the fortunes of the sector.
She hailed the commitment of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to the development of broadband technology in the country, pointing out that on presentation of the Broadband Report to him in 2013, the president immediately gave the implementation go-ahead.
His action has added impetus to what is happening in the sector.
Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally.
The first two of these were awarded in early 2015 to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and North Central states, respectively.
The government is also working to improve infrastructure sharing among these operators, who have traditionally built overlapping fibre networks.
The nascent “Smart States” initiative, which sees states committing to reduce the cost of broadband access by reducing taxation and simplifying regulation, is also a positive step.
Nigeria’s mobile broadband penetration rate stands at just 10 per cent despite the fact that close to 40 per cent of Nigerians use the Internet – and the government has put in place policies to increase this penetration level to 30 per cent by 2018.
Leadership
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Video - Activists pressure Nigerian government to find kidnapped schoolgirls
The abduction of some 270 school girls in northeastern Nigeria highlighted the dangers that women caught up in armed conflict face. The incident sparked global condemnation and a social media campaign to rescue the girls. But today, the hashtag 'Bring-Back-Our-Girls' is only being used by a small group of activists in the capital Abuja.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Uber is recording exponential grown in Lagos, Nigeria
Atawodi said this was due to the company’s strict adherence to top-quality service, safety, innovation and price transparency. She added the company was boosting the Nigerian economy by promoting job creation, creating more opportunities for drivers and making the roads in Lagos less congested.
“Our vision is to have fewer cars on Lagos roads,” Atawodi said. That’s a noble goal. With a population of well over 5-million people, the mega city is a leading contender for the worst traffic in the world.
Prior to the arrival of Uber, the general manager said taxi drivers in Lagos often had to drive along roads in search of passengers, burning costly fuel and wearing out their vehicles.
“What we are now telling them is to sit in their cars and customers will reach them. That way they will save fuel and prolong the lifespan of their vehicles,” she said.
As a global company focused on ensuring top-quality services are provided in all its operating cities, Uber Lagos — according to its general manager — is striving to ensure that services offered in Lagos are similar to those offered in London, New York and elsewhere.
Atawodi said the company was achieving this, as evident in the observation that about 20% of Uber Lagos customers have used Uber services in other parts of the world.
To achieve this, the company is striving to uphold Uber’s global standards of reliability and transparency. Drivers are trained and must qualify before they are added to the system. Furthermore, the oldest car model allowed on Uber Lagos is pegged at 2008, and all cars must be insured.
Atawodi noted that Lagos is one of the world’s most rapidly growing cities, but its landmass is not expanding. She noted that individuals buying more cars would further worsen the city’s traffic situation. A solution, she said, is via asset-sharing.
When Uber rides are shared, more people will be transported per trip than expected and more revenue would accrue to the drivers. Today in Lagos, Uber customers have the option of splitting the transport fare with friends, but this is expected to further expand with the introduction of UberPool.
“UberPool is a car pooling service using our world-class technology. It will maximise car utilisation by seven times and dramatically reduce the number of cars on the road,” Atawodi said.
Within the six months Uber has been operating in Nigeria, Atawodi revealed it’s also been involved in the global Uber on Demand culture, in which unique products and services — including personnel — are delivered via the Uber-backed service. Such services include delivery of kittens, ice cream, and helicopters.
“On Valentine’s Day, we also delivered hampers and cupcakes. I’m looking forward to a time when we can also deliver Gele [a popular type of Nigerian female fashion head gear],” she said.
She also announced that some companies in Nigeria were signing up with Uber for Business, a service that allows officials of an organisation to use Uber service while the registered corporate account takes care of the bill.
Towards the tail end of our interactive session, the issue of customers enjoying rides without having sufficient money in their account to offset the bill was raised. However, Atawodi revealed the incidence of this is very low in Nigeria compared to other parts of the world. She also commended Nigerian banks, which she said were way ahead of those in other emerging markets.
“Lagos is surprising the world, payments are going through in Lagos and Nigerian banks are moved ahead of their counterparts in other emerging markets. They deserve to be commended,” she said.
When the session finally ended, I asked her about the impact Uber Nairobi could have on Uber’s operations in Lagos and other African countries, where more citizens rely on mobile money rather than credit cards. She admitted that there were discussions underway about the possibility of introducing mobile money in African cities but no decision has yet been made.
The general manager and other Uber reps said the company currently has a 10-minute average estimated time of arrival (ETA) in Lagos. Similarly, personal experience revealed Uber Lagos’ ETA varies from one part of the city to another. I requested a ride at Obalende and the driver’s ETA was about 15 minutes, but when I requested a ride from Federal Palace Hotel, the driver arrived around five minutes later.
“We are aiming to have an average ETA of less than three minutes and to achieve this we will be aiming to achieve exponential growth in supply,” Atawodi said.
But signing up more drivers isn’t the only step Uber needs to take to achieve the set goal and to remain successful in Nigeria. It also has to ensure customer experience is similar on all Uber rides — from simple touches, such as opening the door for the customer and inquiring about their choice of music or radio, to more serious issues such as preventing the occurrence of incidents such as the alleged passenger rape in India. Uber still has a long way to go. But it’s good to know the company knows this.
Ventureburn
Related story: Bitcoin exchange market coming to Nigeria
kidnapped American missionary released
A Free Methodist missionary from Seattle was released Friday evening, Nigeria time, March 6, after being abducted Feb. 23 and held for ransom.
The ransom for Phyllis Sortor, 71, originally was set at about $300,000 in U.S. funds, but about a week later the amount was dropped to about $150,000.
No information was given as to the terms, if any, of her release, or the name of the group or gang that kidnapped her.
"We are deeply grateful to all who prayed for Phyllis' safe return and praise God the family representative was able to secure her release," said David Kendall in a statement. He is bishop of the 850,000-member worldwide denomination.
Related story: American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria
The ransom for Phyllis Sortor, 71, originally was set at about $300,000 in U.S. funds, but about a week later the amount was dropped to about $150,000.
No information was given as to the terms, if any, of her release, or the name of the group or gang that kidnapped her.
"We are deeply grateful to all who prayed for Phyllis' safe return and praise God the family representative was able to secure her release," said David Kendall in a statement. He is bishop of the 850,000-member worldwide denomination.
Related story: American missionary kidnapped in Kogi, Nigeria
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