President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and e-Government, promising that his administration will continue to take advantage of digital technologies to transform every sector of the economy.

At the event on Friday in Abuja, the President directed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Pantami, to chair the council on his behalf and give regular updates.

He tasked members of the council to work towards further strengthening the capacity of government to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies to make government more efficient and transparent, thereby improving Nigeria’s global standing in the ease of doing business index.

Mr Buhari noted that the organisation, whose members have been arrived at after a painstaking and thorough process, would provide the oversight needed to bring about a veritable structure for accelerating achievements in the digital economy and in the implementation of e-government in the country.

He enjoined every member of the council to consider the task as a national assignment and justify the trust reposed in their ability to support and significantly enhance the digital transformation of Nigeria.

“I launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) on the 28th of November, 2019, and expanded the mandate of the then Ministry of Communications to include Digital Economy.

“The implementation of that policy and mandate has enabled us to achieve significant progress and record a number of unprecedented achievements.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy showed that the steps we took in developing and implementing NDEPS were indeed timely.

“For example, the Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics.

“The sector’s 14.7 per cent double-digit growth rate was instrumental in supporting our country to exit the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, far earlier than predicted by experts.

“The significant contribution of 17.92 per cent by the ICT sector to our GDP in the second quarter of 2021 is another example of the important impact of the digital economy on the overall economy.

“In the same vein, the growth of our digital economy sector enabled us to cope with the effect of the lock-down as both activities of the government and private sector, as well as educational activities, were able to move to online platforms,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Buhari expressed delight that the approval of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions had helped to formalise government online meetings.

According to him, statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Council of State, and other meetings can now effectively and legally take place online.

He added that Nigeria’s progress in e-governance had been noted by the international community, eliciting recognition from international stakeholders, including the appointment of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy as the Chairman of the 2022 Forum of the highly regarded World Summit of the Information Society.

While congratulating the minister, the president acknowledged that the ministry has partnered with the Korea International Cooperation Agency to develop a National e-government Master Plan, approved by FEC in August 2019.

The President listed benefits from the partnership, including “the training of over 1,400 Nigerian public servants in both Nigeria and South Korea on e-governance; the launching of an E-Government Training Centre handed over to the Federal Government in November 2019, and the signing off of Phase II of the e-government Project – Project for Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2020-2026).”

On his part, Mr Pantami noted that NDEPS launched in 2019, made provision for the establishment of the Presidential Council to coordinate the development of an indigenous digital economy.

While describing the implementation of NDEPS for a digital Nigeria as very successful, the minister said in the last two years, the sector had provided ICT intervention to no fewer than 1,667 institutions at the federal and sub-national levels.

He stated that the recent auctioning of spectrums by the ministry generated over 400 per cent of revenue to the federal government coffers while two virtual institutions established by the government had trained some 500,000 Nigerians on digital and emerging technologies.

The 27-man committee chaired by Pantami on behalf of the president has the following members: Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State; Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State; Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and Senator Hope Uzodinma, Governor of Imo.

Others are Dr Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation; and Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Nigerian Communications Commission.

Prof. M.B. Abubakar, Managing Director/CEO, Galaxy Backbone Limited; Dr Abimbola Alale, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited; and Aliyu Aziz, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission, are also members of the council.

Also on the committee are Mr Oswald Guobadia, Senior Special Assistant, (Digital Transformation) to the President; Olufemi Olufeko, Director, e-Government Dept, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy; A.B. Okauru, Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum; Prof. Simon Sodiya, President Nigeria Computer Society; and Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Other members are Prof. Kabiru Bala, representative of the academia and Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Prof. Nnenna Oti, representative of the academia and Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri; and Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, Secretary and the Director-General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Mr Sungil Son, Country Director (KOICA); Dr Olufemi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to Minister of Communication & Digital Economy; and Abubakar Dahiru, Special Assistant (Cyber Security & Digital Identity) to the Minister are also members of the committee.

Apple Announces New Features, Jumps into BNPL, Others

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

Digital Dividends: Enabling e-Governance, e-Government, and e-Identification in Nigeria

On Monday evening, Apple announced new additions to its arsenal of products that leaves enthusiasts’ tongues wagging including iOS and new features as well as a dive into an emerging, potential-filled market.

The announcements were made ahead of the Worldwide Developer Conference and Business Post takes you through some of these developments.

The latest operating system (iOS 16) is coming with new features like a customised lock screen which will allow for more customization, plus support for widgets — including widgets for third-party apps. Also, notifications will now “roll in” from the bottom of the screen, while a “Live Activities” API will let developers update notifications in real-time.

Users will now be able to edit or unsend recent messages in iMessage or mark a thread as unread while SharePlay, which lets a user to stream movies in sync, will now extend to iMessage as well as Facetime.

Live Text will be able to translate and replace text it detects in a photo, allowing users to more easily read through something like a menu in a language you don’t know.

Apple is getting into buy-now-pay-later (BNPL). With this, Apple Pay Later will let a customer split an Apple Pay purchase over four payments with zero interest; Apple says it will work anywhere Apple Pay works.

Apple’s big Maps overhaul is coming to a bunch of new cities this year, including Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, London, Sydney, SF, and LA. It’s also getting much improved multi-stop route support.

Apple News will now let you follow news specifically focused on a person’s favourite sports/teams.

For Family Sharing which limits kids’ iPad screentime, kids will now be able to request more time via iMessage.

In addition, users can now have a shared library with family members, meaning that when taking a photo, one can toggle whether a photo goes into the shared library or just your personal library.

The company has reimagined the Home app “from the ground up.” All various devices in different rooms are brought into one screen, including a side-scrolling view of all of your HomeKit-enabled cameras.

CarPlay is also getting a massive overhaul which will support things like speed readouts, fuel gauges, AC control, etc depending on the car in question. Apple says to expect more news here later in 2023.

Other devices including Apple Watch got new additions like the ability to track a few new running metrics, including vertical oscillation (how much a person moves up and down while running), stride length, and ground contact time, among others.

Apple also announced the M2 chip which is a follow up from the M1. Apple says the M2 CPU is 18 per cent faster than that of the M1, while the GPU is 35 per cent faster.

New MacBooks were also announced including MacBook Airs and Pros. These have a 13.6″ liquid retina display, TouchID built into the keyboard and MagSafe support. Apple says it will offer a slim charger with 2 USB-C ports, and that the new MacBook Airs will support fast charging to get the battery to 50 per cent within thirty minutes of charging.

The next major release of macOS will be called “macOS Ventura” which makes it possible to group running apps together; tapping into a group will minimize other apps while putting the selected group front and centre.

Users will be able to pull rich results into a new scrolling view and allow them to do things like quickly preview a found file without actually opening it.

The Mail app is also getting support for undo send, scheduled send, and timed reminders. Search within Mail is getting smarter, automatically correcting for typos and knowing how to search for synonyms, among others.

One of the leading telecommunications service providers in Africa, Airtel Africa Plc, has acquired an additional spectrum to support its 4G expansion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The central African country is the second largest market of the telco and mobile money provider, with Nigeria as its first. However, the country is the company’s largest country of operation by land size.

In a statement issued on Monday, Airtel Africa disclosed that the extra 58 MHz spectrum, spread across 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz bands, was purchased for $42 million.

“The licence for paired spectrum in the 2100 band comes up for renewal in September 2032. All the other licences continue until July 2036,” a part of the notice said.

It further disclosed that, “This additional spectrum will support our 4G expansion in the market for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capability, providing significant capacity to accommodate our continued strong data growth in the country.”

Airtel Africa explained that “this investment reflects our continued confidence in the tremendous opportunity inherent in the DRC, supporting the local communities and economies through furthering digital inclusion and connectivity.”

Airtel Africa operates in 14 countries across Africa and in Nigeria, it is in fierce competition with MTN Nigeria for a share of the market space.

The Nigerian payments ecosystem has undergone impressive evolution over the years; transitioning from a cash-based system to electronic payment systems that have deepened financial inclusion and spurred the country’s economic growth. Inarguably, there remains a lot of ground to cover, but one cannot ignore the progress that has been recorded over the past two decades.

Given the introduction of electronic payment systems, businesses have found newer ways to sell to consumers, while consumers, on the other hand, can purchase goods and services from the comfort of their homes or other locations.

The evolution of the payment scene in Nigeria, and its prospects for the future were the core focus of discussions at the recent Business Day conference themed Future of Payments and Fraud Conference 2022.

Attendees discussed the related advantages of the spread of e-payments in Nigeria; the role of players and regulators in the ecosystem, and the ongoing efforts to tame the vulnerabilities that accompany the uptake of e-payments.

Delivering a keynote speech on behalf of the Managing Director, Payment Processing and Switching (Interswitch Purepay), Akeem Lawal; the Group Head Product and Innovation, Interswitch Purepay, Olufemi Davies, highlighted the role that Interswitch, Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company is playing to ensure that it remains ahead of the curve.

In his address, Davies noted that the growth of the ecosystem and the boost of the present infrastructure were dependent on the collaboration of fintech companies.  He added that as a major player and a pioneer in the payment ecosystem in Nigeria, Interswitch, from time to time, sought avenues to partner with other players in the payment system, including legacy institutions to tackle unfolding challenges.

He also identified steps Interswitch has taken through the years to ensure that its systems are fortified to enhance the e-payment experience for consumers and forestall issues of fraud.

Giving practical examples, he shared how the drive for innovation led the technology giant to adopt the EMV 3D technology – an advanced system that enables consumers to self-authenticate with their card issuers when making online purchases without their cards present.

In the same vein, the company also introduced the Biometrics feature on Point of Sale (PoS) terminals and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), which give consumers more personalized options for seamless transactions. Davies said in each case, the innovations were either tailor-made or adapted for Africans, as most payment solutions had a more global appeal without considering the peculiar challenges of Africa.

For this reason, Davies submitted, solutions to the challenges faced by Africans should ideally be developed within the continent by those who face these challenges. He also added that policymakers need to develop tailored policies to support growth on the continent.

Wrapping up, Davies called on players to extend hands across the competitive divide to ensure that the doubts and fears of consumers were put to rest, adding that the consideration of fraud determines how Nigerians and Africans at large interact with digital payments.