Good day. I'd like to talk about an important topic titled: ‘Nigeria’s Technology Industry: Opportunities in Technology, Media, and Telecommunications.

Nigeria’s tech industry is rapidly emerging as a leader, as the growth of digital platform businesses is accelerating rapidly due to factors such as a robust business environment that supports startups in the digital space and the demand from investors, both globally and domestically – from a middle-income country that is predominantly made up of young adults. These factors contribute to the growth of the tech ecosystem, making the country’s largest city, Lagos, the most popular startup ecosystem in Africa.

Technology cuts across all industries, so all you have to do as a business manager is look at the challenges facing the industry to gain insight into the potential opportunities in Nigeria’s tech industry. Some of the major challenges facing Nigeria include infrastructure development, education and talent development, and financial inclusion.

These challenges have plagued the Nigerian economy, and technology is currently being used as a tool to address them. A look at each of the sections gives us a detailed picture of the opportunities in the Nigerian technology industry.

Education and Talent

Currently, Nigeria is facing an education crisis, with an estimated 10.5 million children out of school – the highest in the world. That said, the increasing use of the internet among the youth has led to the search for ways to train and educate people through online courses or simply by connecting students with teachers and teachers. As of 2017, 76.2 million out of 180 million Nigerians had access to the internet.

audience as more Africans come online.

Surprisingly, global media giant Netflix seems to be leaving Nigeria and other African countries out of its original content production plans in coming years. With an $8 billion original production budget in 2018, Netflix’s plan to produce content for their global audience in Australia, Korea, and India, leaving out African content production, where production costs associated with developing high-quality content is still a major setback.

However, the growing appetite for Nigerian content is quite apparent with the proliferation of online news sites, magazines, and blogs, which disseminate information to a growing audience base that is highly engaged on social media. New media companies are cropping up and old media companies are adapting by using tech tools to create and distribute content to serve this growing demand.

Access: Infrastructure, Computing Devices, and Telecommunication

Currently, Nigeria boasts one of the largest telecommunications markets in Africa. The leading companies consist of MTN, which is a South African-based multinational company that has a market share of 37.21%; Glo, which is a Nigerian multinational company; Airtel, which is an Indian-based multinational telecommunication company; and 9mobile (formerly known as Etisalat).

Nigerian telecommunications subscribers spanning mobile networks spent a large amount of their household income on telecommunications services last year. In fact, $9.14 billion (N3.208 trillion) was spent by Nigerian subscribers to purchase airtime credit in order to access data and voice services on their mobile devices through different mobile network operators.

With a current internet penetration of 40 percent in Nigeria, there is a growing interest in companies looking to increase the accessibility of the internet to the vast Nigerian market. U.S. tech giants, such as Google and Facebook see this as an opportunity to extend their reach within the African continent.

In Nigeria and 26 other African countries, Google is releasing Google Go, an app that will help internet users overcome various obstacles, such as a lack of high-speed connectivity and the high cost of data on the continent. Along with laying fiber-optic cables across the continent, Google’s is working to meet the needs of young African consumers who are demanding quicker internet speeds and cheaper mobile phones. Presently, Nigeria imports $745 million worth of telephone devices.

The growing need for internet access in Nigeria, whether it’s for individuals or businesses, bodes well for companies that provide the infrastructure that serves as the foundation for Nigeria’s technology industry’s ecosystem. Telecommunications and networking equipment suppliers will continue to have the opportunity to supply networking and communication infrastructure, such as fiber cables, data infrastructure equipment, and enterprise solutions to a growing Nigerian market.

Connecting People & Businesses, Facilitating Development, and Building Trust

Nigeria’s technology industry and the solutions built as a tool to solve various problems within the country has a very important role to play. With the myriad of challenges that have plagued the maximization of its potential, Nigeria can leverage different solutions given by Nigeria’s technology industry to provide the most value while also adapting said solutions to fit local needs. These local needs consist of connecting people and businesses, facilitating infrastructural development, developing talent, growing businesses, and building trust.

God bless Nija