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| MTN Nigeria MD, Brett Goschen |
There is no gainsaying
the fact that Information Communication Technology (ICT), plays a vital role in
economic development. All over the world, exciting trends are emerging, with
knowledge fast becoming a strategic asset for business growth.
Advances in ICTs are occurring on an incredible scale.
For countries which are tapping into the new ideas, innovation and technologies
that are proliferating in a knowledge-driven economy, there is a definite
abundance wealth of opportunities for their entire people.
While some schools of
thought ascribe the concept of a knowledge-driven economy to trends, in
advanced economies, to a greater dependence on knowledge, information and
possession of high skills and the increasing need for ready access to all of
these by the business and public sectors, other schools of thought reason that
“knowledge is universal” and so, is not exclusive to the countries of the advanced
economies only and neither does the concept of a knowledge-driven economy.
They maintain that other
emerging markets like South Africa and Singapore have developed their own
frameworks for catapulting their countries into knowledge-driven economies. Like
the US and UK, Nigeria, with a population of over 150 million people, has the
capacity to make a successful transition to a truly knowledge-driven economy.
Already, the country has recorded a remarkable improvement in the area of
Information technology, since the introduction of GSM in 2001. However, there
is still a lot more to be done to play ‘catch-up’ with the rest of the world
and be able to compete successfully in the fast-moving world economy.
In developing a
knowledge-driven Nigerian economy, there is the need for a new wave of
collaboration between different agencies and different sectors of the economy
to make it a reality. For instance, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), have
become the foundation of economic development, market prosperity and
employment-generation, making a noticeable contribution to the national
economy. The development of SMEs is an essential element in the growth strategy
of most economies and holds a particular significance for Nigeria.
SMEs contribute to
improved living standards, bring about substantial local capital formation and
achieve a high level of productivity and capability. SMEs are recognised as the
principal means of achieving equitable and sustainable industrial
diversification.
Tipping SMEs to anchor the
growth of Nigeria’s economy, in the next couple of years, the Minister of Trade
and Investment, Olusegun Aganga said that Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises remain the backbone of the development of any economy and the
driving force of national growth. In Nigeria, he said, there are
currently over 17 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, employing over
31 million Nigerians. “They account for over 80 per cent of the total number of
enterprises in Nigeria and employ 75 per cent of the total workforce,” Aganga
said.
If there is one factor that has contributed immensely to the
growth and success of the SMEs, it is the use of ICT. SME usage of ICT ranges
from basic technology such as TV, radio and fixed lines to more advanced technology
such as email, e-commerce and information processing systems.
In fact, the emergence of different sophisticated ICT tools makes
it a lot easier to do business in recent times. A case in point is the use of
social media platforms to advertise products and services, the use of Skype to
do a tele-conference meeting with business partners across the globe, etc.
It gets even better and interesting with the various value-added
packages that are continually offered by the GSM companies for business owners
to be at their best. One of such packages is the MTN Smooth Talk, a special
tariff plan, created for business people, who make high volume calls and
require heavy data plan for their businesses.
Iyke Nwachukwu, an IT
consultant and a participant at the recently held MTN Link Forum, an engagement platform for
young, budding entrepreneurs and professionals to network and connect to their
dreams, stated “The use of mobile phones has helped many entrepreneurs reduce
costs and improve business processes. I am, currently, on the MTN Smooth Talk
plan and I can testify that it is one plan every entrepreneur should buy into.
Call rate is at a reduced and affordable rate, which enables you to communicate
more with your customers and then of course the exciting data bundle that
enables you achieve more.”
On how, ICT has shaped
his business, Nwachukwu said “Everyone who is in the country knows that we
are a lot better than where we were a decade ago. For everything thing we do,
we rely, basically, on communication. You can reach people faster, track your products,
do your business transaction etc, with the aid of ICT. We have all benefitted, in
one way or the other, since the likes of MTN came into the business of
Information Technology. Anyone who knows what it was like back then in the days
of NITEL will agree with me that there is a complete paradigm shift. Life is
much easier and businesses better, in this era of ICT.”
Using advanced ICT to improve business processes falls into the
category of e-business. However, not all SMEs need to use ICT to the same
degree of complexity. The first ICT tool that most SMEs adopt is having basic
communication with a fixed line or mobile phone, whichever is more economical
or most convenient for their businesses. This allows the SME to communicate
with its suppliers and customers without having to pay a personal visit.
Like any firm, an SME
decides which type of ICT products to adopt, based on the concrete benefits
they can bring to its core business, the ICT capacity of its employees and the
financial resources available. Most people are familiar with basic ICT such as fixed
phone lines, mobile phones, fax, computers and basic document processing
software – like Microsoft Office.
Advanced communication technology, however,
is more complex, because Advanced communication technology relies primarily on the
Internet and the intranet, which allow people, within the firm, to share files
with each other, over the same network. Having Internet connectivity enables
firms to engage in faster research, set up websites, conduct e-commerce and set
up video conferences.
*Anthony Ifeanyi Elikene contributed this from Lagos
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