An Information and Communications
Technology company, Zinox Technologies, has secured a $25m counterpart
funding with which it seeks to roll out a trio of digital hubs in
Nigeria. This was an aftermath of the visit of
the Facebook Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, to Nigeria.
During the visit, Zuckerberg encouraged the establishment of digital
hubs that would enhance ICT skills of Nigerian youths and children.
According to Zinox, the counterpart
funding is also part of efforts to generate creative employment and
increase the share of contribution from the ICT sector to Nigeria’s
Gross Domestic Product.
Zinox said that the digital hubs would,
among other things, create employment and empower thousands of digital
minded Nigerian youths in search of the right platforms to develop their
skills.
“With the current improvements raising
hopes of stability in public power supply by early 2017, the company
plans to install the digital plants and commence production shortly,”
the Chairman of Zinox, Leo Stan Ekeh, said.
Ekeh said that the Nigerian economy was
in dire need of an alternative to crude oil. “And this is a role the ICT
sector can play in boosting the nation’s dwindling earnings,” he said.
In the view of the Zinox boss, “Nigeria
has millions of young Nigerians of digital mindset with the potential to
become dollar billionaires.” He referenced the case of a Nigerian
start-up and pioneer composite e-commerce outfit, Yudala, “which
received little funding from investors and within one year is a leading
e-commerce brand in Nigeria employing over 400 graduates.”
Ekeh disclosed that the strength of
Nigerian kids was not in cash, but knowledge of the business backed with
strong front and back-end technologies.
He affirmed that thousands of such
brilliant kids exist in the country, even as he urged the government to
collaborate with technological- minded companies in unearthing such raw
digital diamonds in the country.
“A simple app developed by a Nigerian,
which achieves global acceptance, could usher such an individual into
the league of billionaires while putting the country on the world map.
“I had a similar experience when Zinox
acquired an Ibadan-based software company, Xputer. The young chaps
behind Xputer were so talented and had huge capacity to develop amazing
content, but no individual, corporate or government saw any potential in
them.
“Some of the apps developed by these
young Nigerians are being used today by e-commerce companies in Nigeria
which they would have paid millions of dollars for, had it been
developed by foreign companies,” he said.
He also said, “With the digital hubs, we
are looking to generate creative employment for our youths while
creating the much-needed enabling environment and platform for more of
these youths to develop their capacities and unleash their creative
abilities.
“This is part of our contribution
towards reducing the scourge of unemployment and boosting the
revenue-earning streams of the government.”
He added, “We are the last company in
the country that will retrench quality Nigerian staff. In fact, our
investment in digital hubs will provide jobs for 500 Nigerians, with
more expected to benefit from other investments set to commence once the
economy stabilises.”
Meanwhile, the Acting Director-General,
the National Information Technology Development Agency, Dr. Vincent
Olatunji, has affirmed the commitment of the agency to partnering Zinox
Technologies in the task of empowering the youth through the provision
of requisite capacity-building programmes and initiatives.
Olatunji said that the NITDA was keen to
empower tech start-ups as a means of promoting opportunities in non-oil
sectors, noting that a partnership with Zinox Technologies would go a
long way in helping to achieve this aim.
“We cannot talk about the ICT sector in
Nigeria and indeed in Africa without mentioning Zinox. Zinox has been in
the forefront of the digital revolution on the continent and has
continued to play a major role.
“You have shown extreme world-class
capacity and passion as a leader in the sector and this is why we have
come on this visit to restate our commitment to working with Zinox to
achieve our objectives of empowering tech start-ups and boosting the
revenue profile of the ICT sector,” the NITDA boss said.
While noting that the government under
the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to supporting
local entrepreneurship, particularly in the ICT sector, Olatunji
further solicited the support of Zinox Technologies in collaborating
with the agency ahead of Gulf Information Technology Exhibition 2016
Technology Week slated for October.
However, the President of the Nigeria
Internet Registration Association, Mr. Sunday Folayan, has expressed
fear over Zuckerberg’s visit to the country, saying that Nigeria,
through its Internet kids, may soon export ideas.
According to him, the visit may just be
another avenue of coming for tech start-ups in Nigeria with great ideas
that have remained untapped by successive governments (apart from the
tax), “even with the dead mantra of seeking other sources of revenue
beyond oil.”
He added, “Soon, we will import ideas, and I hope the government will not convince us that we need to import a Minister of ICT.”
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