The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry in Nigeria Roadmap Interactive Session and Comments from Stakeholders

After the presentation on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry in Nigeria: Roadmap by Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the Honourable Minister of Communication Technology, Federal Republic of Nigeria there was an Interactive session at the ICT Stakeholders Engagement, Round Table Discussion, on the Digital Economy and Information Society in Nigeria Held on 22nd September, 2011 at the Lagos City Hall. 

The following are some of the contributions made by stakeholders. 
Mrs. Florence Seriki, MD Omatek congratulated the Minister for delivering such a comprehensive presentation. She asked the Minister to hold the more roundtable forums on a regular basis. She advised the Minister to look into the boards of the parastatals in the Ministry to ensure effectiveness of the Ministry. She noted that ICT does not appear to be major in the economic agenda. She advocated the need for local content and manufacturing policies that would support and encourage manufacturers to thrive.
Pius Okigbo Junior representing the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) commended the Minister for her presentation noted that this was the first time any Minister had given a ministry and its stakeholders mandates to fulfill.
Emmanuel Ekwuem, CEO of Teledom group asked: how far have we come? Where are we heading? According to him, there is no software that cannot be produced in Nigeria. He questioned whether Nigerian governments utilized made in Nigeria software. He is of the view that multinationals should establish assembly plants in Nigeria.
Gbenga Sesan, Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, urged the minister to take these discussions online for more stakeholder involvement. He noted that economic and other costs of cybercrime are too high and believes the ministry needs to take the lead in addressing this scourge. He is also of the opinion that since broadcasting is part of ICT, it should have been included in the new ministry. He further mentioned the need to engage startups and encourage the growth of ICT startups.
Gbenga Adebayo of ALTON commended the minister on her good understanding of the issues at stake. He complained about the multiplicity of approvals required before deploying cell sites. He recommended that one body consisting of all stakeholders should be responsible for such approvals. He also complained about the incessant closure of sites by state and federal governments. He noted that National Frequency Management requires the engagement of the National Broadcasting Commission and other stakeholders in the broadcast sector.
The CBN representative noted that ICT is central to the performance of CBN and banking to deepen growth in the economy as financial inclusion will benefit from ICT. He recommended that ICT should be put on the track to ensure attainment of the 2020 objectives. In his opinion these initiative are needed and must be done in a project mode.
Barbara James, CEO of Henshaw Partners noted that a vibrant venture capital industry is required for a vibrant ICT industry. According to her Nigeria presently lacks the venture capital vehicles that are needed in the economy. She stated that new sources of capital that can be allocated to venture capital are the pension funds and the sovereign wealth fund. She firmly believes that stakeholders need to work together to attract venture capital from local and international investors.
Dare Adeyeri of GTBank observed that a lot of money is spent importing software and money should be spent on local software development to make Nigeria a exporter of IT. He also advocated looking at shared services to reduce the cost of doing business.
Bode Pedro of Veda Technology, noted that very few young Nigerians are involved at the stakeholders event. He recommended more emphasis on job creation by ICT, encouragement of entrepreneurship, as well as more attention on business hubs, startups and the online environment.
Dr Bindir, Director General of NOTAP, said the minister’s presentation demonstrates that she will carry other stakeholders along. He advised the minister to concentrate on the “T” in ICT. In his opinion since software development requires funding and Research and Development (R&D), she should champion the establishment of the Nigeria Science Foundation in cooperation with other ministers. He noted that NITDA, NCC, ETF, Ecological Fund and other funds all have funds to achieve these objectives.
Ugo Okoroafor of the Vision 2020 office stressed the need for the creation of a credit society. He noted that the e-transactions bill needs to be passed into law. He also informed the audience about the FSS2020 website which contains the community of practice.
Umar Bichi CEO of Red Star Express stressed the need to establish a framework for e-commerce in Nigeria
Mohammed Veshi, an entrepreneur from South Africa, stated that his organization is already investing in Nigeria and is happy that dialogue has been initiated with stakeholders. He recommended the setting up of a committee that involves the private sector and foreign companies for more aggressive investment for growth and education.
Kayode Shobajo, CEO of Hiit, observed that just as other countries are building brands and exporting such brands to the world, nothing stops the ministry from pushing Nigerian brands internationally.
Demola Aladekomo, President of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), stated that the minister’s presentation is music to the ears of NCS and is very important for the NCS. He recommended that for security, NIPOST offices should be used as emergency and disaster centers. He furthers stressed the need to deepen capacity in NITDA and expressed gladness at the creation of ICT Cadres.
There were other contributions on the need to put timing to when policy is coming out. Some noted that a timeline was important. A speaker also spoke on the need to constitute a committee to fund the interventions mentioned by the minister, noting that for many beautiful policies, implementation always lags behind.
Though many still wanted to contribute, the MC had to end the interactive session in view of time constraints. Stakeholders still interested in contributing are encouraged to send in comments and contributions to: roundtable@commtech.gov.ng


Closing Remarks
The Minister expressed appreciation for the attendance and issues raised. She noted that it was gratifying that there was no issue raised that had not been considered by the ministry. She stated that this forum will be the first of many – future meetings would be broken up into smaller groups to address the issues more comprehensively. She expects that the next big session will be the forum on ICT policy hopefully by the end of the year, noting however that the ministry is not waiting for the final policy as policy execution has already started. In closing the Minister made clear her preference to work with strong advocacy groups and bodies like the Nigeria Computer Society rather than talking only to individuals.


Vote of Thanks
At the end of the unique and engaging interactive roundtable event on the Digital Economy and Information Society in Nigeria, the Director General of the Ministry of Communications Technology thanked all for their participation. 

 >> Minister's presentation on the ICT Industry Roadmap (1)

 >> Minister's presentation on the ICT Industry Roadmap (2)

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