Experts in the technology sector have identified lack of adoption as the major setback for technological advancements in Nigeria.

They made the observation in Abuja at the official launch of Abuja Tech Converge 3.0 (ATC 3.0), with the theme “Beyond Buzzwords:

Demystifying Emerging Tech for Real Impact,” organised in partnership with OCP Africa.

Speaking at the event, Head of Digital, OCP Africa, Akintude Akinwande, noted that developing digital technologies to help businesses thrive in the country has never been a challenge. He lamented the difficulties faced by developers in convincing Nigerians to make use of the technologies.

Highlighting that the average fertiliser usage in Nigeria is still less than 30 kilograms per hectare, Akinwande stressed the need for the country to leverage technology to meet the required standard.

“One of the major challenges with technology in Nigeria is adoption. It is easy to develop. A lot of us have been able to pick up different things. To develop is not hard; getting people to use them has actually been difficult for us.

“For example, in the agric sector, it is easy to develop an AI solution that helps farmers do many things, but how to get it across to farmers has been the challenge in Nigeria, and that is what we need to focus on.

“So, for example, the fertiliser usage in Nigeria, or the average fertiliser usage, is still less than 30 kilograms per hectare. Standard fertiliser usage in a lot of countries that we look up to is almost 300, so the gap is still very heavy, and we are not going to solve that gap just by supply. We are going to solve that gap by building demand.

“So helping farmers to see the need for productivity, helping to meet that productivity need, is actually a big part of what we are solving. Technology can help solve all these kinds of problems.”

Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer of Thrive Agric, Uka Eje, noted that Abuja Tech Converge 3.0 was organised to spotlight technology as a tool for impact and job creation and to develop the skills of many in the industry.

“So job creation is core also. We train and deploy young people because we believe that there is a massive gap in job creation that exists in Nigeria and across Africa.”