Officials advocate promotion of indigenous technology solutions

Elo Umeh, Managing Director and CEO of Terragon, a Data and Marketing Technology company, has joined stakeholders in Nigeria’s technology and telecommunications sector to advocate for promotion of indigenous technology solutions and telecom content.

Umeh made this call at the just concluded Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE), 2022 held at the Landmark Centre in Lagos. Umeh stated that private-public partnership was necessary to drive promotion of indigenous content and solutions.

“Building an ecosystem consisting of megacorporations is super critical for our indigenous digital economy to thrive. The government must be deliberate about working with the private sector to promote innovation and indigenous content, through policies and initiatives such as the establishment of Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecom Sector (NODITS) to foster indigenisation of software.”

Also, Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Minister for Communications and Digital charged stakeholders to intensify efforts in the promotion of Nigeria’s indigenous telecommunications sector. He decried the influx of foreign software in Nigeria noting that 77 percent of software in use are foreign, while only 23 percent are obtained locally.

Read also: Indigenous participation, enabling policies crucial for telecoms sector growth

Pantami reaffirmed the Federal Government’s determination to reverse the trend of importation of all types of telecommunications products, especially where production in Nigeria is possible.

Terragon says it is focused on developing technology solutions to solve business challenges within the African context, in order to contribute toward building the indigenous digital economy and its unique ecosystem.

Through its platforms including Enterprise Customer Data Platform and TerragonPrime, the MarTech company is helping enterprises and SMBs drive intelligent customer engagement leveraging local data and technology.
The company says the expo was organized as part of effort to vigorously pursue the objectives of the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector (NPPIC), through NODITS domiciled in the NCC.