TechNigeria: A weekly digest of what went down in Nigeria’s tech space

Congratulations to Nigeria on launching a new “made in Nigeria” mobile phone. While this is not completely the first “made in Nigeria” mobile phone, it is the first built by Nigerians, the ITF team.

This week, we will touch on this news amongst other developments such as the continued battle between the Federal Government and Twitter.

Come along.

Citizens to pay for socialising online

In the news during the week, we learnt that Nigerians using social media platforms such as twitter, Facebook, Google, Skype and Netflix will now pay tax for service rendered.
Specifically, this was confirmed in a mail sent to customers by one of the affected companies, Skype, on Thursday.
Few questions beg for answers: Will Nigerians comply? Will they seek alternative means to compromise or bypass the process as the case of use of VPN?

From America to India

The Nigerian government seemed to have moved on, leaving Nigerians to struggle with the Twitter ban.
During the week, Nigerian government unveiled its social media account on Indian Koo App.

This comes as top Nigerian tech founders and investors are bothered by the ban of Twitter in Nigeria.
Analysts suggests that this unresolved challenge will affect investors’ confidence for Nigeria.

The “made in Nigeria” mobile phone

On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari received the first ‘made in Nigeria’ mobile phone in Abuja before the start of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Branded ITF Mobile, the device was presented to the President by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo.
Sometimes in 2017, Afrione had launched its “made in Nigeria” in the country. The difference? Afrione is run by foreign experts while the ITF brand is managed by Nigerians.

The big miss

During the week, Nigeria missed out from a funding opportunity from South Africa.
Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme (SAIS) had announced investing $5000 funding grant in five African startups.
The investment, which came in partnership with Seedstars, did not feature any Nigerian startup.
The big miss was an opportunity to help participants convert their ideas into sustainable tech solutions.

The Gokada super app launch

Gokada entered into the super app race, joining the like of Opay, the Chinese company.
Quite commendable as this comes after achieving $100m in annualised transaction value.
With the launch, customers can access food delivery, e-commerce, and ride hailing services in one place. Let’s take a poll: Would you rather opt for a super app by Opay or Gokada?

Remark:
Thank you for joining us this week. That will be all. Take care and stay here for more updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now