Ekeh, Ajayi Urge FG to Invest $500m in ICT, Automate

MR. Leo-Stan Ekeh, chairman of Zinox Group, has urged the federal government to invest some $500million in the Information and communication technology (ICT) to help revamp the economy and create jobs

Ekeh said that the country’s economic miracle to turn around lies within the ICT sector as the country has tried every other thing with little success.

Concurring, Engineer Lanre Ajayi, president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) said that government services need to be automated and positioned online, as criteria to boost e-commerce and demand for broadband.

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on telephone, Ajayi said that part of ATCON’s activities this year, was to advocate for policies and programmes that will engender better operational environment for the operators.‎

The ATCON president said, “We will continue our advocacy activities, especially in getting the government to create the right (enabling) environment for the networks to deploy infrastructure to roll out services; and create the enabling environment that will stimulate the demand for broadband”.

He said, “If government services are online, then, there will be demand for broadband. We will continue to talk about that and continue to work with the government to achieve a better industry”.

Ekeh nodded in agreement and added that “The country is about 75% analogue. Tell me the commercial sector that does not need ICT? Most importantly, government must have a rethink. Present generation think about life-style business. They don’t want to be stressed or boxed in a corner because they want to transact business or pay a bill.

The government, with $500million ICT investment can turn around this economy within a year. Unemployment in the country is a time bomb waiting to explode. The tertiary institutions are releasing graduates in hundreds of thousands” Ekeh stated.

According to him, “But, we always have a platform, mostly in this 21stCentury where people can use their brain and create wealth. A good example is Yudala. Within five months they have over 400 people working for them. Out of the number, about 300 are graduates. According to report available to me, they are likely to engage more 400 people before June 2016. However, to be part of it, you need to have an ICT skill. This is e-commerce.‎
“Technically speaking, e-commerce is three years old in Nigeria. But there is no provision for an institute training people on e-commerce.

The government could invest in one of the present schools, upgrade it to an e-commerce Institute and recruit people through the retail chain,” the Zinox Group’s Chairman said.