For Nigeria’s economy to compete favourably with other global economies, managers of the nation’s economy would need to pay priority attention to the delivery of broadband technology, as it would catalyze Nigeria’s economy.
According to the spokesperson of the organizer of the annual Africa Digital Forum and Awards, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, broadband has become a priority of the 21st century economy. “Its power to transform and catalyze economies and social growth cannot be overemphasized. Broadband is an essential tool for empowering people, create an environment that nurtures the technological and service innovation and trigger positive change in business processes,” he said.
Defined as the technology that enables high-speed transfer of data, according to him, broadband is linked to the emergence of the Internet. Broadband is at the heart of the economy and covers support services, electronic billing, Wi-Fi, electronic monitoring, inventory management and web security. Other areas are device configuration, project management, e-ticketing and installation.
How the broadband would catalyze the country’s economy into the future would be focus of the dignitaries that would converge at the Africa Digital Forum and Awards on November 29, 2015. Themed “Broadband: Catalyst for tomorrow’s economy today”, the forum would have among other speakers Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Nigeria Communication Commission [NCC] Prof Umaru Danbatta, DG of National Broadcasting Commission, Emeka Mba and MD/CEO, Galaxy Backbone, Mallam Yusuf Kazaure.
Adewusi explained that an increase in the adoption of broadband in the country would drive and support several services and applications in the economy. “But the broadband needs to be affordable for users”, he said.
He averred that the availability of broadband infrastructure and broadband-enabled applications would assist ICT regulators, policy-makers and stakeholders in the ecosystem to ensure the technology play a vital role in Nigeria’s economy beyond the 21st century. ITU has expressed the need for developing economies to focus on the provision of affordable broadband services.
As broadband grows, “we need to build knowledge for our economy so that it can thrive and evolve into the future. These are some of the  issues the dignitaries would delve into at the forum and award night”, he added.
The Africa Digital Awards ADA will be recognising outstanding achievers in the industry and it promises to be very exciting!