The future of work; Leveraging the power of 180m (3)

Undoubtedly, Nigeria’s growing young adult population has become an integral part of a global phenomenon in technology. As Nigerians experienced “IT inclusion”, online communities have evolved.

Nigerians are founding members of a global IT village and among the first generation of IT utility consumers. One  can  truly  and boldly  say that  Nigerians  are early  and fast adopters and consumers of IT utilities e.g. cellular mobile phones, data plans, email and social media. Also, as cellular mobile phones have evolved into powerful “handhelds”, Nigerian users have become familiar with real computing power and digital experiences.

Nigeria now boasts of IT technicians and professionals to match any in the world e.g. Chukwuemeka Afigbo, who manages Facebook’s Strategic Product Partnerships for Sub Saharan Africa, Ibrahim Sekoni and Olaoluwa Okelola, two top Facebook software engineers, Seun Osewa, CEO, Nairaland, Jason Njoku of Irokotv, Seyi Taylor of Big Cabal Media, and so many others.

After watching a recent interview with an Andela executive on CNN, I was fascinated and I went to Andela’s website. Andela challenges young Nigerians and Kenyans to “dream of using technology to change the world”.  The Andela Movement promises to ensure that while the digital revolution may have begun in Silicon Valley, its future will be in Lagos, Nairobi and cities across Africa.

Andela offers  young Nigerians a 4 year paid Technical   Leadership  Programme   designed   to  sharpen   them  into   elite   software developers, who can then go on to become global technology leaders, founders of their own IT companies or senior managers at Andela or local and global IT companies. When asked why Andela was doing this, the executive asserted that the demand for elite software developers in the USA far outstrips supply.

Computer-related courses and curricula have become more accessible, and those with particular affinity for all things digital and data have been able to develop professional skills.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission report for September 2016, there are over 93 million internet subscribers in Nigeria and a growing number of Nigerians are adopting mobile telephony. It is estimated that over 16 million Nigerians use social media and a growing number are using technological services for their   business transactions, thus providing a huge opportunity for IT service providers.

E-commerce

E-commerce is a growing business model across the world and in Nigeria. According to a recent report by  Interswitch, an electronic payment platform, there are over 200,000 active debit cards in Nigeria, and a single financial institution processed up to 100 million transactions in a single month. According to data released by Kinnevik, Konga, the online marketplace, has 184,000 active customers, 80% of whom access the site through their mobile phones.  This shows that there is much work to be done in this sector and that opportunities exist in it.

According  to  data from   United  Nations  Conference  on  Trade and  Development (UNCTAD),  in  2015,   global  retail  e-commerce  was  worth  $22.2   trillion,  with  China generating the bulk of these transactions.

E-commerce has disrupted the way we buy and sell; I can go grocery shopping from the comfort of my bedroom. Just  imagine the impact this is making across the value chain: somebody  enables  this  transaction,  another  person  bags  the  order placed  and a delivery man delivers to my house.

Motorcycle delivery business to support e-commerce is also a growing opportunity. The idea  of  okada as  a means of  transportation  has always  been popular  in  Nigeria;  the growth  of   e-retail  makes  this  mode  of   transportation  even  more  important.  An entrepreneur can start an independent motorcycle delivery service for online market places and businesses, thereby creating jobs and generating income.

Nigerians are beginning to adopt and are building their   lives around technological innovations. Therefore, suppliers of goods and services must see IT as a core part of their business models. Technology is creating new markets and business ventures and disrupting all markets – creating new opportunities in the process.  Nigerians are part of a global village of saleable skills and data utilities. The telecommunications infrastructure highlighted that Nigeria’s mode of adopting technology is leapfrogging.

Infrastructure development

For each of the sectors listed below, you will find that the same way telecoms companies and banks typically have more than one data centre , the growing need for infrastructure development in Nigeria will provide a multitude of employment opportunities in data centres, end-user/end-point   management/support, application development and testing, business analysis and project management.

Transportation

Modern railways rely on digital signaling for both track safety and for timetable development and compliance. Imagine a network of modern railways across Nigeria and the resulting reliance on IT support skills and personnel.

Delivery of government services

Dissemination of information, provision of services such as tax returns, social welfare, census-related services, will increasingly be through online portals. Government agencies will need to develop, maintain and refresh the portal and content for such services, as well as store and enrich resulting data for improved service delivery.

Drone transportation and drone pilots

The increasing reliability and affordability of drones, coupled with near total coverage of the landscape by cellular telecommunications infrastructure, will enable the increase in signaling and piloting of unmanned drones to deliver payloads of different sizes and utility. Use of drones will range from delivery of goods bought online, to delivery of essential medical supplies affordably and reliably to remote locations.

Agriculture

With some of the best arable land in the world, Nigeria’s agricultural sector is limited by the difficulty in evacuating produce from isolated farms to town and cities with the density and affluence to consume it. Enter again the use of drones to transport harvest directly to accessible marketplaces, or to the nearest point of presence of the network of railways mentioned earlier.

Global Technology Hub

With the growth in IT skills among the population, Nigeria will become a global technology hub for application development, as well as global data centre services. This will boost GDP and generate foreign currency.

Social media, publishing and blogging

Publishing firms are investing heavily in online (digital) infrastructures and building a business model around social media and digital technology. Blogging has disrupted the way we consume information and how media businesses are run. Bloggers attain celebrity status and make money from doing something they enjoy. They don’t have to write a CV or send a CV to anyone; they don’t need to flirt with the HR Head. They have simply monetised a passion e.g. the love of food or the love of clothes. We all have passions; have you seriously considered monetizing your passion? Let’s be clear about the word “passion”.

Virtual working & outsourcing

Businesses now conveniently outsource or subcontract work through online crowdsourcing sites and market places. This has revolutionized the way work is done and how skilled workers earn money. Outsourcing allows a business to minimize the cost of employing, training and maintaining employees.

There is the fascinating case of Julia Elliot-Brown, and her sister. Both women – proud UK based wives and mothers – teamed together to start a bespoke shoe business. Their business model allows customers to design their own shoes using plug-ins on the company website and place an order online. Elliot-Brown and her sister, who have no experience in shoe making or fashion, outsource the orders to shoemakers in Hong Kong and receive the finished product in a matter of weeks. Both women are now employers of labour and have become millionaires simply by adopting technology and having a lean business structure.

With virtual working, talent is not tied down to a particular organisation, but can generate multiple income streams while working from home. This would work well for us women, who are often saddled with the task of raising and caring for the family.  So, a nursing mother can make a living without actually leaving her   house, without applying for maternity leave and without offending male supervisors who are often biased against pregnant workers.

According to the U.S Freelancers Union, in 2013 alone, nearly a third (42 million people) of the country’s workforce were freelance workers. The union estimates that by the year 2020, 40 percent of the U.S workforce will be independent workers, working from their homes or any location they choose to. Technology giant, Apple, is a perfect example of an organization that has adopted the concept of virtual working. Apple has an ‘At Home Advisor’ position that allows company employees to work remotely as customer support agents. Xerox, Dell, Amazon, IBM, General Electric, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, and PricewaterhouseCoopers are some of the companies that have adopted remote working and each has reported increased employee productivity.

Oyinkan Adewale

[Chief Financial Officer/Executive Director, Union Bank, (continued on www.businessdayonline.com)]