Pantami, Danbatta, Abdullahi, to lead dialogue as telecoms policy forum holds Thursday August 12

Pantami, Danbatta, Abdullahi, to lead dialogue as telecoms policy forum holds Thursday August 12

All is set for stakeholders in the Nigerian telecoms and ICT sector to converge and deliberate on a key indigenous content policy at the forthcoming maiden edition of Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFO-001) slated for Thursday, August 12, 2021.

As the forum focuses on the recently launched National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecoms Sector, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, will be giving keynote address to lead other telecoms chiefs across private and public sectors to dissect the policy with a view to stimulating its effective implementation.

The virtual event, organized by Business Metrics Nigeria in collaboration with its partners, will also see regulatory insights by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta; the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Engineer Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; and the Director General of the National Office for Promotion of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Dan-Azumi Ibrahim.

According to the organisers, key industry advocacy bodies such as the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) have endorsed the event.

As such, ATCON President, Engineer Ikechukwu Nnamani; ALTON Chairman, Engineer Gbenga Adebayo and Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, President of ISPON will also be addressing the forum with their goodwill messages.

Meanwhile, the event will be moderated by a Senior Anchor and Correspondent at CNBC Africa, Conference Moderator, Media Training Facilitator and Business Content Producer, Mr. Oluwole Famurewa.

“The maiden edition of PIAFo with the theme: ‘Facilitating Policy Implementation to Deliver Value in the Nigerian Telecoms Sector’ has received massive endorsement from stakeholders in the telecoms industry. Its focus to champion a course for the greater good of the sector and the Nigerian economy is the reason for its acceptance,” says Omobayo Azeez, Managing Editor of Business Metrics Nigeria and Lead, Forum Organising Committee.

Omobayo Azeez

“The policy we have chosen to dissect has a lot of gains to deliver to the economy but this cannot happen unless we are deliberate about it. Our belief is that implementation of the local content promotion policy can only be stimulated by bringing stakeholders together to address its various provisions and demands so that everyone can leave the forum knowing how they fit into the big picture and deliverables expected of them to achieve objectives of the policy,” he added.

Meanwhile, apart from the aforementioned participants, other captains of industry who will be discussing at the forum this coming Thursday include Karl Toriola, the CEO of MTN Nigeria; Mr Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Rack Centre; Mr. Chidi Agukwe, CEO of Skymax Integrated Network LTD; Mr. Akin Marhino, Founder of Fiam Wi-Fi; Mr. Alfred  Martins, Managing Director of AVM Consults Limited; and Mr. Segun Okuneye, Divisional CEO of ipNX Nigeria Limited.

Others discussants include Prince Henry Iseghohi,  CEO of Broadbase Communications Limited; Wale Owoeye, Chief Executive Officer of Cedarview Communications Limited; Oluwole Adetuyi, Managing Director of Swift Telephone Network Limited; Engineer Olusola Teniola, Nigerian National Coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet; Michael Ayoade, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Dotmac Technologies Limited; Mr. Aderemi Adeyeye, CEO of EnextGen Wireless among others.

According to Azeez, the policy forum has been strategically designed to serve as a brainstorming platform for policy assimilation; to identify demands of government policies from individual stakeholder; to coordinate multi-stakeholder efforts towards achieving policy objectives; to ensure effective policy implementation; and to assess implementation level of policies over time.

“Our intention is to fill the vacuum created by poor policy implementation in the country and develop metrics for measuring implementation level of vital policies. Nigeria has many good policies in the archive, but the actual implementation has not been impressive. This is the narrative PIAFo is here to change.

“As regards the maiden edition, the policy in focus seeks to reduce over reliance of telecoms companies operating in the country on foreign inputs and solutions, which in the last 10 years has led to capital flight worth over $21.6 billion.

“What if such a huge sum has been retained in the local economy? How much further investments into the telecoms sector would have driven? How many jobs would have been created? How much tax would have been paid into government coffers and how much capacity would have been built in terms software, hardware and service-based solutions?

“These are the practical issues stakeholders are coming to deliberate on at the forum, and anyone can join the stakeholders’ via Business Metrics Facebook page or the designated Zoom registration link.”

The telecoms policy forum holds Thursday August 12