Tech expert faults Nigeria’s $2.16bn spending on tech-related foreign contents

OLALEKAN SAKARI YAU, HEAD OF EN TREPRENEURSHIP AND EBUSINESS, Federal University of Technology,Minna, Niger State, recently decried the rising annual expenditure on tech-related foreign contents currently valued at an estimated $2.16 billion, noting that the high annual outflow of foreign exchange for the telecommunications sector will undermine the remarkable strides achieved so far and eventually cripple the sector, if something is not done urgently to stem the tide.

Presenting a breakdown of the forex spending from statistics by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON),Sakariyau bemoaned that 77 per cent of software in use in the country is foreign, while only 23 per cent are sourced locally. He added that 86 per cent of hardware in the country are imported, while 14 per cent are obtained from local companies.

The statistics also revealed that Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in the country has 88 per cent foreign dominance as against 12 per cent manufactured in Nigeria.

Sakariyau, who spoke on the topic: ‘The National Strategy for Promotion of Indigenous Contents in the Telecoms Sector’ at the Emerging Technologies Research and ICT Innovation Competition/Exhibition organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said there is a need to intensify promotion of digital manufacturing, software development and research and development for digital innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

He called for a deliberate policy objective, focused on local manufacturing of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, smartphones, recharge cards, parts, fibre optic cables, masts, among others to bridge the deficits.

He also advocated good coordination between foreign and domestic players and voted for the promotion of indigenous languages, in developing appropriate digital literacy resources, among others.

Also speaking at the event, Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC, said considering the enormous talents of the country, there is no reason Nigeria cannot produce what it consumes.

Danbatta expressed hope that the event would unlock and display the inherent potentials and innovations that are in the youths, create opportunity for start-ups to meet with the venture capitalists, proffer possible support for the commercialisation of prototypes, while ensuring that the country meets its target of indigenous dominance in the technology space.