" ITREALMS: PATECH makes a debut

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Thursday, December 11, 2014

PATECH makes a debut




The Pan-African Association of Online Technology Publishers (PATECH) has made its debut, reports DigitalSENSE Business News.

Addressing media in Lagos, the Vice President of PATECH, Mr. Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr, told DigitalSENSE Business News that this journey started less than a year ago after he attended a technology event in Lagos put together by three young Britons.

“I was amazed that a small business paid as much as N650,000 ($4,000) to exhibit and attend that event, which is likely a proof that yet another round of colonialism has already begun,” he said.

He also said that instead of complaining, he chose instead to be a change agent and the first step was to invite fellow tech bloggers to come together as an association, in effort at helping Africans to tell their own stories, which include creating home grown events.

He stressed that the need for PATECH became more evident when the Federal Government recent confiscation of some newspaper publications and the President of Newspapers Proprietors Association issued a statement in defense of her members, that publication was also instructive in going ahead with this vision.

Looking ahead, he told DigitalSENSE Business News that PATECH sincerely hopes to serve as a link across various organisations in Africa as a whole and believes its membership will spread fast across the length and breadth of the continent.

“Today, we have members in Europe, Middle East and of course Nigeria. We are currently reaching out to more Tech bloggers and community supporters which will help make this association truly Pan-African,” he said.

He expressed the hope that in the nearest future the association will become a reference point for local and international organisations seeking to make key business decisions in the technology eco-system such as when intending to invest in a startup or trying to understand what is happening in any of the local markets.

“PATECH will remain a welcoming, encouraging environment for technology related businesses and even ideas. We hope to achieve these and many more for the progress of ICT in Africa,” he told DigitalSENSE Business News, just as PATECH commended Communication Technology Minister, Dr. Mrs. Omobola Johnson, saying she deserves it for her laudable strides for the sector.

By Mueenah Abdulkareem/GEE


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Pix: L-R: Barr. Chinwike Ezebube, Head, Legal & Accounts, PATECH; Mrs. Idy Imiyoho, Lagos Zonal Officer, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP); Prof. Pat Utomi, Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL); and Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr., Vice President, PATECH, at the public presentation and media briefing of the Pan-African Association of Online Technology Publishers (PATECH) held recently in Lagos.
 
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