Ahead of the revolution expected from the launch of fifth generation (5G) networks in Nigeria, stakeholders in the sector are stressing the need for infrastructure upgrades and new investments.
Speaking as a panelist at the ICT Growth Conference hosted by the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters (NITRA), officials underscored the urgent need to review the state of Nigeria’s infrastructure, highlighting the need for Nigeria to reap the benefits of the digital economy in a big way. I emphasized that we need to be able to enjoy it. some developed countries in the world.
Under the theme of “Creating Digital Ecosystems in Nigeria: Hurdles and Benefits,” panelists drawn from both public and private sector organizations said that infrastructure provisioning is still needed to build a robust digital economy in Nigeria. There was consensus that it was the surest path to
In a panel session moderated by Peter Oluka, editor of TechEconomy.ng, panelists said that efforts to build a digital economy in Nigeria have been driven by a sustained commitment on the part of the government to prioritize government delivery. Agreed that the desired results cannot be achieved unless there is infrastructure.
Seyi Olarenwaju, chief financial officer of Medallion Data Centre, said infrastructure will play a key role in powering the digital system of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, saying, “Without infrastructure, nothing happens.” No,” he said.
He said that as governance has been replaced by election campaigns in preparation for the 2023 general election, the incoming administration will need to focus, identify certain infrastructures and fix them. said. Oranlewaju said that if power were given priority attention in this regard, he expected many things to follow.
Kelechukwu Nsofor of Rack Center, a carrier-neutral Tier III data center, spoke from the data center provider’s point of view, saying that electricity is the critical infrastructure that drives the data center business and is basically the live line of any data center. I explained that there is.
Nsofor said: Power is the lifeline of any data center. Unfortunately, how much installed capacity was there in terms of power from the start of the current democratic distribution in this country to 1999? Where are we in terms of
“At one point we were generating 1600 MW and today we are hovering around 3000 MW. So where are we, an economy of over 200 million people? , and when we try to compare it to the power we are growing, we find that there is a complete disconnect.”
He said Nigeria is blessed with a rich reservoir of policy and knowledge expertise, but expressed concern that this was not reflected in the results of the country’s power industry.
“Today, we have combined it with rack centers and actual data center spaces to generate power for the last nine years of operation. And we now have complete control over that generation. We are also looking at ways to continue generating electricity, or to generate electricity in a more cost-effective way.
“I would like to see a situation where the government stops the lip service involved in infrastructure such as electricity and starts taking a serious approach by playing a major role in the provision of electricity infrastructure,” he said.
Babalola Olalekan of Phase 3 Telecoms, in her contribution to the speech, acknowledged that governments are doing enough to provide infrastructure, but there is a stronger relationship between governments and service providers. He said that a synergistic effect is necessary.
“There was a document released last year called the Strategic Roadmap/Action Plan: Four-Year Plan 2021-2024. categorized into categories such as
“When you look at the hardware infrastructure, you see how far we’ve come in deploying hardware infrastructure like fiber cables. In particular, there are those that have been introduced at the federal level.
“Another area we have tapped into is concession plans, which we call public-private partnerships (PPPs), where operators and players take and leverage existing infrastructure and opportunities. I expect
“Another thing we should do is collaborate between players. We can all only fight for certain positions and locations. You can participate practically about the method.
“So I think the government has done enough of the policy. We have it,” said Olalecan.
He said security is the most important thing to focus on in the run-up to the 2023 elections, saying operators have a lot of work to do on the ground, but restoring the network in the shortest time possible is a challenge. “So whatever the government can do to keep our roads, villages and towns safe, we will definitely have a good general election.”
In her intervention, Chidi Okpala of Galaxy Backbone acknowledged the fact that the government understands the importance of infrastructure in the growth of the country’s digital economy, one of the things the current administration dearly values. is infrastructure.
“Did they do all that is expected of them as a government? Maybe not. But did they make any effort to close the gaps in infrastructure? It takes a lot of learning and practice to raise that awareness and fully understand how this affects everyone’s daily lives.
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