‘Government must prioritise broadband in 2018 to lift Nigeria’

The Chief Executive Officer of the Co-Creation Hub (ccHub), Bosun Tijani, speaks to ADEYEMI ADEPETUN on the need to intensify efforts on the national broadband plan, its role as enabler bringing in FDI into Nigeria among other issues in 2018. Excerpts:

CcHUB has remained a light for incubation hubs in Africa. As a stakeholder, what would you say are the biggest problems of start-ups?
I think a major challenge largely in Africa, not just for those in Nigeria is broadband. I think for us, the level of penetration is still quite important, because the more people have access to Internet, the better opportunities would be out there for startups to build businesses that people are able to consume. So, that’s one of the major headaches.
  
I think another challenge is knowledge; mainly technical knowledge. Truth is, there is still a huge disconnection between higher institutions of learning/research and the technology industry. In the technology ecosystem, our reality is that, as we continue to build, talent is needed to build compelling technology solutions and the availability of well-trained software engineers who can help add value to the startup business is not readily available. We also exist in a time where even the foreign market is interested in the huge talent that we have. So, there is opportunity for us to not only train people for local market but also for foreign demand. We are at the same point that India was some years ago, where India was literarily supplying technical talent to the whole world.
  
We have that opportunity to create value in that kind of scope right now in Africa, not just Nigeria leading, but Africa as well. So, we need to invest in training more software development and technical experts that will make technology side of the ecosystem thrive.

Will you consider broadband a crucial tool for national development, especially in developing economies?
Absolutely, I most certainly would. Broadband networks are vital for our economic growth. Ability to communicate is crucial to how wealth is being created. It is not an option but an essential tool for improvement of businesses because communication is needed for economic and country growth.
  
In this digitised era, broadband is an essential infrastructure for any and all economies. It is an enabler to accessing business and job opportunities, improving healthcare, education and government services, and facilitating social interactions, its importance cannot be overemphasised. Another way to look at it is to recognise that an efficient and effective broadband infrastructure is one solid way Nigerians in the diaspora can significantly contribute to nation building through fast and efficient communications across countries and continents, driving success in the economy. Beyond the Nigerians in the diaspora, we have a large pool of men and women with ideas, products and services for the development of the economy but who are restrained because the persons who need their products and services are unable to access them.  
  
There is no better time than now for the Nigerian government across all levels to embrace the urgency in intensifying awareness and full penetration of broadband as this would enhance the nation’s yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) positively.

How much FDI have Nigerian startups attracted, and has broadband enabled that?
Broadband is a major enabler. Without broadband, tech startup is almost impossible. It is the backbone upon which businesses are built. Penetration is on the rise which means local market is also beginning to be exciting as well. This excitement is what foreign investors see before they invest in the market. They just don’t just invest in startups or entrepreneurs; they also invest in the market. A startup ecosystem valuation that was done early this year and Nigeria was put at over $2billion that is the value of startup ecosystem in Nigeria which makes us the top in Africa. So, clearly, that has its own implication. The GSMA also did a review for last year 2016 and, it was estimated that African startups raised a record-breaking total of $366.8million in investment. With the top 10 destinations being Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia and Uganda. This shows just how much money was raised by startups in the different markets in Africa. Nigeria is top in Africa taking in $109million, then South Africa at $96.8million, with Kenya and Rwanda following at $92.7million and $16million respectively.
 
So, it is an exciting time, we are rated among the best and definitely broadband is contributing to that but demand is always a major part of the innovation within the technology startup space. You can either create things that you push as technology push innovation to disrupt the market or you can also build products that are based on what the people want to see. Knowing the need of the market because people now have access to better quality internet and that is a part that we need to begin to look at. Financial technology is also instigating the development of a lot of exciting startups. We have seen startups like   Flutterwave, Piggybank, Riby, and PayStack that have been built-in response to demand from market for better payment systems. So, the more investments, the better opportunity for local tech startups.

How does broadband enable investment in human capital?
I will take that from a couple of angles. It is common knowledge how broadband and generally just the Internet gives us the opportunity to connect better. Like never before in history, information is more readily available both to people and to businesses as well. This means that people can learn better, people can then make better-informed decisions because they have access to information. Businesses also have more competitive edge because not only can they gather data, they can now analyse it to make informed decisions.

Why do you think government is delaying implementation of the National Broadband Policy and the Infrastructure Company?
I can’t say this from an informed standpoint. My work within the ecosystem is largely around the entrepreneurship based content. I have not been heavily involved even though it is an important issue for the work I do. So, I can’t give any informed opinion on why it is being delayed because I don’t know that. But clearly, it’s something that requires huge investment from not only the government, but also the private sector. I know organisations like MainOne have always been very creative and willing to actually invest alongside the government. You can look at the examples of what we did with MainOne in Yaba, where government didn’t really spend a dime but put the right policies that provided support for MainOne to collaborate with the technology ecosystem in Yaba to lay the fibre.

As you can see, this year, the technology startup ecosystem in Nigeria was declared the number one in Africa. It was estimated at over $2billion which can actually be worth much more if we increase the investment. So, it is an opportunity for us to diversify. We are at a time where we are clinging on diversifying our economy but if we don’t invest clearly, it is going to be tough for us to diversify. So, I think government needs to take that approach. We can’t afford to delay it any longer. We need to put resources into ensuring that the whole investment into broadband penetration across the country is actually real. And we need to encourage private organisations as well to invest through creating public-private partnerships.

Can you compare Nigeria’s broadband penetration with other African countries like Kenya and South Africa?
We would probably need researched data to do that, but clearly, I don’t think we are on the same level as South Africa. That is a place I visit often. Kenya as well, probably, I need to be careful with my answers here because the numbers are out there. These things are reported by the Telecom Association. So, everyone can reach it; but clearly, we are not on the same level with South Africa. But I don’t think it is an access problem. You know we have MainOne and other companies that invested in linked cable into Nigeria, undersea. So, I think really, our challenge is ensuring that they reach the last mile, ensuring that they reach where they need to reach which requires strategic investment from all of us. I think our market is quite strong as well. We are currently being rated number one with what infrastructure we have; one can only imagine the successful ventures we will wrought if we come closer to the ideal structures required. Imagine if we have better penetration, which brings more market for local technology businesses to reach. This means more opportunity, more demand and ability to build businesses off the back of the internet, which can add value to the economy, but not just value to the economy based on local market, but also take advantage of the regional market within Africa and beyond as well. So, the comparison can be in terms of what we currently have but I think our comparison should always be based on what is possible, what we can create off the investment. So, probably benchmarking with Kenya may be good, but may not in its entirety; we are a bigger market, we need to be thinking bigger.