• Friday, March 29, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

21st Century bets $75m to build internet infrastructure in Ogun

21st Century bets $75m to build internet infrastructure in Ogun

Ogun State could achieve its goal of access to the Internet for every resident with the $75 million investment announced in April by 21st Century Technologies.

The investment will enable 21st Century to build network infrastructure to facilitate GSM services, financial inclusion, data storage, development of innovative ideas by startups and universities, under the Ogun State Digital Economic Empowerment Project (OGDEP).

The company is expecting the infrastructure upgrade to translate to an additional $100 billion for the Ogun State economy.

Ogun state has the third-largest mobile subscribers in Nigeria with 12 million according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It is also among the top contributors to electronic transactions, data from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) showed.

To ensure it succeeds, 21st Century Technologies is partnering with the Ogun State government.

Wale Ajisebutu, Vice Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Technologies Limited, said the initiative would see all business sectors and citizens of Ogun state operate digitally, using fibre networks infrastructure, knowledge infrastructure, and marketing and network.

Read Also: Nigeria lags behind Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana on internet speed

“This would also enable industries while placing Ogun state in the heart of the 4th industrial revolution where science, technology, and social media are rapidly transforming the world,” Ajisebutu said.

The project was flagged off by Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria, in the presence of Executive Vice Chairman of Umar Garba Danbatta, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, representatives from the National Assembly, and other industry stakeholders.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, Osinbajo commended Ogun state for taking a bold step in spearheading the move for an overall digital economy in the country.

“This project is a critical component of Mr President’s objective of broadband connectivity for all by 2023. This ambition is now enshrined in our Economic Sustainability Plan. As part of the national commitment to make broadband connectivity available to all, you would recall that in 2017, the State Governors under the auspices of the National Economic Council (NEC) in 2017 agreed to harmonize right of way charges which are presently being worked on,” Osinbajo said.