The year 2019 held a lot of promise and challenges for the tech space in Nigeria. It was riddled with the age-long Nigerian problem of electricity, affordable data and good internet connectivity. Yet, there were a lot of wins and good news. Now more than ever, techies and individuals are realizing that to win in life, you cannot wait for government provision or approval from others.
There were innovations that shook the market and some that silently entered the market and continued to cause a lot of disruption in the tech space. With the continuous development in artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning and Internet of Things, more and more products, services and startups are incorporating these technologies into product design.
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By 2020, the internet market will get more competitive as the recent order by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami is for telecommunication companies (telecoms) to reduce the cost of data and give more users value for their money. The implication of this is that as internet bundles become more affordable, more people will be able to use the internet and online services will experience more scalability and usage.
As internet services become more affordable, connectivity should get stronger. This based on the premise of the MTN 5G trial that held in Abuja. 5G offers faster speed, lesser delays, efficiency and security and would require infrastructure investment in order to scale this to other locations in Nigeria. As infrastructure is provided for 5G, 3G and 4G development will also improve alongside.
With the increase in tech opportunities and demand for tech talents, there will be increased career switch from other job roles to tech. This is attributed to the fast spread of artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things etc. The implication of this is more products and services will be designed and released to solve human problems. Also, more opportunities and funding can be available as startups will engage more with the global platform for funding of their ideas. This will bring more recognition in the global space and more innovation.
Lagos, as a state, continues to take measured progress in the application of technology to solve the state’s problem. The year 2020 will herald more development and progress in the state towards it becoming a more sustainable state.
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Lastly, the issue of SARS and techies. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has been known to harass young techies on the road accusing them of being yahoo-yahoo boys (fraud) rather than tackling the main issues. In spite of the little intervention from the government, they still continue to stay in strategic areas where they illegally extract money from their prey. With the look of things, this may continue into 2020 until deliberate steps are taken by the government to curtail the activities of this “agency”.
2020 holds a lot of challenges for the tech space but with surety is the numerous wins and victory that will be experienced in this space.
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