IoT to lure investors to Nigeria, cut energy costs for firms

The Internet of Things (IoT) has the capacity to attract new businesses and investments to Nigeria while helping companies reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions, according to Lanre Kolade, managing director of Vodacom Business Nigeria.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, Wikipedia says.

Speaking at a breakfast meeting organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce in Lagos, Kolade said the Nigerian government must be ready to invest in automation of its programmes as fast as possible and prepare for the IoT.

At his presentation entitled, ‘Delivering Smart Cities with IoT’, Kolade said the population of Nigeria was rising fast, meaning that there would be more than 48 percent of the population living in cities in no distant time. According to him, there would be more traffic jams in major cities in the country, which would become too stressful for city dwellers. He said only an adoption of the smart city initiative by the government through some levels of investment could help Nigerians live in urban areas without much stress.

“Sixteen percent of Nigeria’s population live in Lagos alone with a staggering 29 million inhabitants. Government has a central role to play in making the city of Lagos run effectively. But with constrained budgets and a growing population to support, issues such as traffic, pollution, and public safety are becoming more difficult to manage. What this means is that IoT is needed to improve sustainability by reducing the cost of services and cutting their own energy consumption,” he said.

He said the IoT had the capacity to ease the pressure on congestion and parking, while offering excellent public transport services.

“With IoT, you don’t necessarily need to be on the traffic for hours. You can stay in your home and do what you need to do in the office. In education, the commissioner of education can sit down in his office to know what is happening in all the units. In the health sector, IoT can help track epidemics,” he said, adding that a smart mobility initiative could help automotive companies know how their cars work at any point in time and sell specific solutions to users.

Akin Olawore, deputy president, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, said there was wind of change blowing across the globe, which would affect the way we live.

“The IoT, which is 17 years, is about connecting the world. By 2050 so many areas in Africa will become mega cities. Nigerian population will double. Perhaps the kind of traffic we see now will be little. Are we going to spend all our time in traffic? Today if your facility has Wi-fi, people will patronise you. It’s important we embrace the IoT now in order to learn how to do our jobs better,” Olawore said.