PVC: INEC decries empty chairs @Lagos office, Tuesday, urges leveraging of extension - ITREALMS

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decried the empty chairs at its Lagos office on Tuesday, meant for  prospective registrants of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), reports ITREALMS.

Confirming this to ITREALMS, the Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, lamented that as at midday, Tuesday, the set of chairs for prospective registrants were empty and there is no potential registrants in sight at the state headquarters, off  Hubert Macaulay way, Lagos Mainland.

Leveraging agent networks for better financial, social inclusion - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Leveraging agent networks for better financial, economic and social inclusion is gaining momentum in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reports ITREALMS.

The level of financial inclusion DRC, ITREALMS gathered, stands at 26 per cent. This presents a great opportunity for agent networks for digital financial services in the country to accelerate the access of low and middle-income populations to quality financial services.

Despite the presence of several digital financial service providers in the market, both the access and use of these services remains weak. This makes it all the more critical to improve the management of agent networks. According to the World Bank statistics, mobile money accounts have increased from 9.2% in 2014 to 16.1% in 2017 (https://bit.ly/2v04gWJ).

In the DRC, the use of informal financial services remains strongly anchored among the population. In this context, a careful selection of agents appears to be a good alternative at a lower cost to the provision of financial services. Well-trained, they will be the ideal channels for financial inclusion to become a reality.

The ELAN DRC program and the Fund for Financial Inclusion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FPM) commissioned MSC to conduct a short-term study on the internal opportunities and constraints <in managing the agent networks established and managed by digital financial service providers in the DRC. MSC conducted this six-month qualitative study from mid-May to late-November 2018. It focused on the five provinces of Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Kasai, Katanga, and Kivu, and involved 19 suppliers and 50 agents.

This study had two main objectives: (1) To understand the internal factors in the management of DRC agent networks that promote or slow the success of DRC agents, and (2) to provide guidance on how operational management of agent networks can improve. The study makes a clear case for increasing financial inclusion through agents—but for that, a long-term investment is essential.

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We’re leveraging ICT for massive online jobs - Shittu

ITRealms:

The Minister of Communications, Barr. Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu has said his ministry is leveraging on Information Communication Technology (ICT) for rejuvenating Nigeria’s economy as well as encouraging massive online job creation through the implementation of various initiatives, reports ITRealms.

In a press statement by Victor Oluwadamilare, his Special Assistant on Media, the minister, in a keynote delivered at the opening ceremony of the Ife Youths Economic Summit (IYES 2017) Thursday, at Ile-Ife said, in this onerous task, 28,800 unemployed youths nominees across various states of the Federation were trained in online job (Micro-work and E-lancing).

The ministry, he also said has established incubation hubs in Lagos and Calabar, which are a private and public sector collaboration aimed at catalysing the ICT industry by helping Nigerian ICT entrepreneurs create successful businesses, support the interactions between innovations and their partners and developing indigenous skills and capabilities. H e added that the target of this initiative is to create 25 successful ICT businesses by 2015.

Striving to make the ICT sector, the 4th pillar of the nation’s economy in terms of contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he said the sector, which is the fastest growing and which has contributed 9.58 percent to the country’s GDP, trained 1000 Girls in ICT in collaboration with Huawei Technologies and have sent 20 best amongst the 1000 girls already in Nigeria to China in April this year for further training.

Barr. Shittu said in its efforts to fill the about 24 percent IT vacancies in the country, the ministry “plans to build technical and job-ready ICT skills to replace expatriate expertise with highly skilled Nigerians, increase the supply of local highly skilled talent to a fast growing sector and enhance ICT industry employment opportunities.

He said, “ so far, Digital Bridge Institute and other tertiary institutions are concluding an agreement with IBM (Skills Development and Research Institutes) to train 25,000 resources in 5 years (2013-2018) per institute.

“Similarly, partnership agreement had been signed with Cisco to build Cisco Academy for highest certification (CCIE: Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert) in Nigeria and with Nokia on MLab Project. The implementation of the Nokia Life programme for farmers is also at an advanced stage.

“The modules to be covered in the one month following my opening addresses have been carefully chosen; software development which is at the foundation of ICT because you need to write the instruction for the computer in a language it will understand, the study of various electronics technologies which include computer hardware& software, operating systems, 

web-based information and applications, telephones and other telecommunication and multimedia products, e-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services over the internet and web enabling technologies which are products that can be used through or in conjunction with the world wide web to surf the internet.”

Speaking at the Summit, Barr. Shittu said that youths are cardinal members of the internet ecosystem and that the ministry is strategically inclined to bringing up initiatives to cater for the interest of the nation’s youth population and working closely with various partners at national, regional and global levels to ensure massive youth employment while fast-tracking the rejuvenation of the national economy.

He said the theme of the summit, “ICT as a Formidable Tools For Nigeria’s Economic Rejuvenation and Massive Job Creation”, is apt at this time that the country is moving out of recession and all hands are on deck to ensure gradual economic growth.

According to the minister, ICTs are creating new job opportunities and making labour markets more innovative, inclusive, and global and that there is a shift from traditional labour intensive jobs to technology-enabled jobs, adding that the ICT sector has come to play a critical role in the sustainable growth and development of nations.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Buhari presidency creating enabling environment for investors – Omotosho

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Consul General to Dubai in the United Arab Emirate (UAE), Ambassador Mike G. Omotosho, has applauded the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari for leveraging on gains of governance to create the enabling environment for investors, reports ITRealms.

Ambassador Omotosho gave this applause in a chat with ITRealms at the day-1 of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) holding in Dubai World Trade Center.

Responding to questions, he said that the enabling environment is indicative of the number of Nigerian companies participating in GITEX 2015.

He also becomes on foreign investors to take advantage of GITEX to visit Nigeria’s stand and see the opportunities the country is showcasing.

Dr. Omotosho was specific on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) investors, beckoning on them  to take advantage of Nigeria’s population and participation to seal deals that would bring about more investment, especially the change mantra in the Nigeria.

He noted that GITEX, is one of the biggest ICT events in the world, and Nigeria’s participation led by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, would offer the needed opportunities to meet with highly-rated investors, who had indicate interests for future investment plans in the country.

Omotosho further said that the Federal Government focus on local tech startups would be supported with startup funds in addition to relevant mentoring.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive of Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, Mrs Uju Aisha Hassan Baba said Nigeria is now attracting appropriate foreign investment.

“There is no doubt about the fact that our country is now the choice of investors in Africa. We are now in competition with any country as regards our status as being the investors’ choice”, she said.

Mrs. Baba enjoined participants at GITEX to endeavor to visit Nigeria’s pavilion to get better educated on investment potentials.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +ITRealms DSA
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Pix: Ambassador (Dr) Mike Omotosho with Nigerian tech startups at GiTEX 2015