By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria and the United States signed a new $2.1 million grant to lay at least 90,000 km of new fibre optic backbone infrastructure across Nigeria as part of efforts to boost broadband penetration to 70 per cent.

In a statement on Tuesday, the agreement was signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani; and the US Deputy Secretary, Mr Kurt Campbell, at the inaugural US-Nigeria Technology Dialogue in Washington, D.C. on January 10.

The project, funded by the US Trade and Development Agency, supports Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 with the goal of increasing the country’s broadband penetration rate from 42.27 per cent to 70 per cent and ensuring that at least 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population has access to affordable and reliable broadband coverage.

The US-Nigeria Technology Dialogue is designed to enhance bilateral cooperation in critical technology sectors and builds upon Mr Campbell’s earlier visit to Abuja for the sixth US-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC) co-hosted with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar on April 29-30, 2024, the US Department of State and Government of Nigeria-funded Global Inclusivity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) event held in Lagos on September 9-11, 2024, and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) AI event hosted by the US Department of State on September 23, 2024, in which Minister Tijani participated.

Now, the latest dialogue discussed enhancing the resilience and security of essential services and facilities; promoting digital trade, e-commerce, and innovation-driven economic growth; developing a skilled workforce to meet the demands of the digital age; expanding artificial intelligence partnership related to capacity building, infrastructure, and rights-respecting approaches to governance; and promoting information integrity.

The statement added that following the formal Technology Dialogue, the delegations joined a roundtable discussion with industry representatives hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce which saw participants included representatives from over 25 US and Nigerian companies active in technology sectors, highlighted opportunities for public-private partnerships and investment solutions to spur innovation and promote digital talent development through the US-Nigeria commercial partnership.

A second-panel discussion on the role of critical infrastructure in advancing the use of AI examined the interplay between the infrastructure that is essential to the development of AI and the governance frameworks that can help spur the deployment of emerging technologies to support inclusive growth.

Both countries agreed to hold a virtual expert exchange on AI-enabled biotechnology that will explore how the convergence of AI and biotechnology can spur progress in addressing global health, food security, and science – with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

One of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, Interswitch, has expressed its commitment to promoting a vibrant digital ecosystem on the continent.

The Nigerian fintech firm reaffirmed this by supporting the recently concluded Google Developer Groups (GDG) DevFest Ibadan, Oyo State.

The flagship conference, which held at the Aweni Arena in Ibadan, brought together developers, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders for a dynamic day of knowledge sharing, networking, and exploration of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and mobile app development.

Now in its fifth edition, DevFest Ibadan has grown in scale and impact over the years, attracting thousands of attendees from across Oyo State and beyond.

Participants enjoyed a variety of engaging activities, including thought-provoking talks, hands-on workshops, and hackathons designed to inspire innovation and foster collaboration.

Interswitch said it threw its full weight behind this programme because of its unwavering commitment to advancing Nigeria’s technology landscape and nurturing the next generation of innovators.

“At Interswitch, we recognise the pivotal role developers and tech communities play in driving innovation across the continent.

“Sponsoring GDG DevFest Ibadan 2024 aligns perfectly with our mission to equip these communities with the tools, platforms, and opportunities they need to innovate, collaborate, and succeed.

“We are committed to promoting a vibrant ecosystem that accelerates Africa’s digital transformation while nurturing the next wave of innovators shaping the future of fintech in Nigeria and beyond,” the Divisional Head for Growth Marketing (Merchants and Ecosystems) at Interswitch, Mr Olawale Akanbi, said.

In her presentation, a Developer Ecosystem Executive at Interswitch, Ms Elizabeth Okaome, highlighted the company’s robust suite of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and their use cases, supported with live demos.

Cutting across payments integration, transfers, bill payments and airtime recharge, identity verification or lending services, Interswitch APIs equip developers with tools to enable secure and seamless online and offline payment acceptance).

Another highlight at the event was the introduction of the Quickteller Business Referral Programme, also known as the ‘5 for 5’ Initiative, which offers developers or any referrer an opportunity to earn 5% commission on Interswitch’s share of every transaction charge, for five whole years, while enabling businesses to thrive.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian will today, Friday, January 10, 2025, know what they will henceforth pay to make calls, send SMS, and browse the internet as telecommunication operators have received the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to raise tariffs.

This will bring an end to the long-term tussle for a hike in tariffs, which telcos wanted to be at 100 per cent, but the Nigerian government rejected.

Industry sources have shared with the media that the new tariffs will be announced by the NCC on Friday.

on Wednesday, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijan, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, said the NCC would come up with modalities for tariff adjustment in the telecoms industry.

“We’ve look at a number of things in terms of how to ensure that can meaningfully contribute to the development of Nigeria.

“Some of those things include implementing the Executive Order around ensuring that we can protect infrastructure around telecoms, driving up significantly local content and importantly, ensuring the sustainability of the companies themselves that as we see inflation across the world that telecommunications companies, we don’t run them down but we allow them to continue to be sustainable so that they can contribute to our economy.

“You have seen over the past weeks that there has been agitation from some of these companies to increase tariffs, requesting for 100 per cent tariff increase. This is not something that as a government we will be able to subscribe to at the minute,” he stated.

Recently, the chief executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, said in an interview that although operators have put forward the 100 per cent suggestion, he doubts that the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), would accept.

“Now, we’ve put forward requests of approximately 100 per cent and type increases to the regulators,” he said.

The operators have also said the sustainability of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria needs to be addressed, if not, it could negatively impact Nigeria’s economy.

Mr Toriola’s counterpart at Airtel, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, in an op-ed published by this newspaper said it was needed to acquiesce to the proposed tariff adjustments in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector while unlocking significant benefits for Nigerian consumers.

“For over a decade, tariffs have remained static despite the dramatic increase in operating expenses, which have surged by over 300% in the last 18 to 24 months alone,” he wrote.