ICT prospects in Nigeria
Anulika Menanya, Lagos

In the world today, the need for improved ICT networks has created new grounds as well as new business opportunities.

This has resulted in the use of Information and Communication Technology in Nigeria, increased communications services, online information gathering and research, e-learning, e-commerce, e-banking and other ICT services that are expanding access to the digital world and globalization. 

ICT has proven to be a key precondition for enhanced competitiveness in economic and societal modernisation, as well as an important instrument for bridging economic and social divides as well as poverty reduction.

Shortfalls

Nigeria experienced some shortfalls ranging from poor quality of service of telecommunications services nationwide, Security challenges, as well as failure by the Nigerian government to find a buyer for Nigeria’s carrier (NITEL), with bidders failing to meet payment deadline and extensions several times.

Stakeholders in the ICT sector kicked against the suggestion by the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market to list major telecom companies on the stock exchange, stating that such could hinder Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the country. 

Milestones

Despite these shortfalls, Nigeria experienced notable successes in 2011 beginning with the use of bio metric and data capturing machines in the voters’ registration exercises in February.

The Chairman Nigerian Communication Commission, Eugene Juwah, attributed these successes to strong competitive environment for service providers by the commission which further improved broadband services.

The ministry of communications technology was created by President Goodluck Jonathan to harmonise and regulate the ICT sector under the leadership of Mrs Omobola Johnson.

After the creation of the ICT ministry, came the successful launch of the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT)-1R, which was a replacement for the Nigeria Communications Satellite 1 (NigComSat-1) that failed in orbit in 2008 due to anomaly in its south solar array.

Another important milestone was the mobile SIM cards registration by NCC which ended in September after running successfully for about nine months.

Shortly after the SIM cards registration deadline, the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, announced the proposed Number Portability services in the country which will allow phone users to move from one network to another without losing their original numbers.

ICT  in 2011 was crowned with a capacity building workshop for journalists to take advantage of the internet for effective reportage.

Inspite of these successes ; there is need for more effective broadband services.

According to Mrs Johnson, collaboration with other leading ICT countries can bring about development in Nigeria’s broadband environment.

She said: “Communication allows you to collaborate in more ways than one. For Nigeria, it is, how do we collaborate better with other countries to achieve our own objectives?”

Looking at the prospects for Nigeria’s ICT development, the Vice Chairman, World Information Services and Technology Alliance, Mr Jimson Olufuye, said: “Going into the year 2012, Nigeria is expected to focus on developing ICT broadband.”

Williams/Cokey