‘You don’t need a full-developed infrastructure to implement the cashless policy’

Going cashless is a policy that the economy is now accepted as essential for the nation’s social-economic development, however, the challenges of a successful caused by lack of infrastructures seems to be a clog in the wheel of its progress, in this interview with the Country Manager for West Africa, MasterCard Worldwide,Mrs. Omokehinde Ojomuyide, insist that Nigeria does not need a full-developed infrastructure to make cashless policy a success.

What is your focus in Nigeria?

MasterCard is a technology company that is focused on e-payments. So everything we do is about moving people from cash transaction to electronic transaction. We have a vision of a world beyond cash, and that is what we stand to achieve with our yearly exhibitions. We do more than yearly exhibitions, as we are also involved in interactions with government and people as well as in promos. The essence is to educate people on the value and benefits of electronic transactions and to let people know that cash is expensive to manage and that the best way forward is to go cashless and embrace electronic transactions.

Specifically, what is your contribution to electronic payment in Nigeria?

One thing that MasterCard did about two years ago was to move fully into Nigeria and made Nigeria the hub for sub-Sahara Africa. By that move, we are running MasterCard operations in the whole of sub-Sahara Africa from Nigeria and the reason behind this is because Nigeria has the population to grow our type of business, and we also needed to develop Nigeria in the area of e-payment and we have been doing just that to promote electronic payment in Lagos and Nigeria. The Central Bank is driving the cashless initiative, beginning with Lagos as pilot scheme, and we are very much in support of the initiative. Nigeria has just realised what developed countries have realised some years back in the area of cashless economy. We are encouraging the people of Lagos and Nigeria to go cashless, and we are doing just that with our partners who are mainly the financial institutions.

Apart from our customer through which, we reach the public, we are also collaborating with government in educating the people on the need to go cashless. We have had several promos in support of CBN’s campaign to go cashless. We have best practices initiatives on cashless that we are sharing with people and governments.

What is your assessment of CBN’s cashless initiative, concerning infrastructure?

Infrastructure is important in driving the initiative of cashless economy, but the infrastructure we have in Nigeria is developing. It is true that the country has not developed its infrastructural base, but we do not need a full-developed infrastructure before we implement the cashless policy. It is a gradual process, which I strongly believe we will get over with time. Since the implementation began with Lagos as the pilot state, banks have invested a great deal in infrastructure, deploying lots of Point of Sales (PoS) terminals and other devices that will drive cashless in the society. Merchants have also changed their behaviour and they are accepting payments through PoS terminals.

Again, the electric power situation has to be improved upon, to enable the devices work. So I think there is room for growth as the awareness creation for cashless is increasing by the day. The telecommunications operators are also playing their part by building telecoms infrastructure that will drive the cashless initiative. Since the whole system about cashless run on the platform of the telecommunications operators, the CBN brought them into the scene to provide the much needed infrastructure for the implementation of the cashless initiative, and they are doing just that.

People are worried about security. Do the issues of identity theft, hacking and cloning of cards bother MasterCard?

I quite understand that most Nigerians are still afraid of carrying out electronic transactions and I understand what is propelling such fears. The fears started from the days when we as a country, were using magnetic strip cards and old technology. Then those cards could be cloned, but with the modern technology that is in place, where we use Chip and Pin technology and the Verve cards, it has become very difficult to clone cards or hack into encrypted card numbers.

If people do not compromise with their Puke Identification Number (PIN) that is on their card, it becomes very difficult to lose money through the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards. Chip and Pin technology is safe and secured and that is what all banks in Nigeria and the world are using today.

Do you see the cashless policy promoting accountability in governance and among people?

Cashless policy is capable of promoting accountability in governance and within the private sector business environment. One of the reasons for electronic payment is the audit aspect, which completely eliminates cash, and discourages the tendency to pilfer, since there is no cash handling. With electronic transaction, it records the time of the transaction, the type of transaction and the money involved in the transaction. The money is send electronically, through the debiting and crediting of accounts, without people involved in physical cash. For any government transaction, money is paid electronically and it will help to promote accountability in governance.

How does MasterCard operates in an environment where it does not issuance electronic card, yet it owns a large chunk of it?

As MasterCard, we do not issue cards directly to customers but we license our partners to issue and acquire our cards worldwide. MasterCard has actually moved beyond cards, even though we are still involved in card business. We also do payments that are not card-based. Yes card payment has come to stay in Nigeria, but that is not the only way to do electronic payment. There is mobile payment, contactless payment, which enable financial transactions without the use of cash, where technology exists.

MasterCard is not directly involved with issuing cards because we have our licensed partners who do that on behalf of MasterCard.

What we do is to create infrastructure and ensure interoperability that will make electronic transactions easy and hitch-free.

When a bank in Nigeria for instance issues MasterCard cards, it is not their business to ensure that the cards issued work perfectly, but it is the duty of MasterCard to ensure that.

And so we do just that through the interoperability system put in place in all the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) installed in all the 210 countries where we have our footprint worldwide. We create the infrastructure, the standards, and the interoperability that will enable users of our products plug into and make better use of them.

What are your strategies operating in a world beyond cash?

We are working to build a world without cash, and what we do in this regard is to make sure that our technology enhances payments from cash-base to electronic payments. We have a MasterCard laboratory where people are researching and creating new forms of payment system. Today we are talking about mobile payment, contactless payment and Near Field Communications (NFC) technology that will drive mobile payments, with mobile phones. We create a network of people and the technology that will enhance electronic payment system.

How will electronic payment system drive e-Commerce?

Electronic Commerce also known as e-Commerce is the next big thing that is driving cashless across nations. People sit in their offices, homes in Nigeria, and go shopping online abroad. They visit different websites and do their shopping online, make payments online using the MasterCard and the items are delivered to them online. This is done without the person leaving the shores of the country. Again, with e-Commerce, Nigerians can display their goods and services to the rest of the world by taking their businesses online. People from different states of Nigeria and from different countries of the world will get to see the goods and services of the dealer in a particular location in Nigeria. So it helps to promote business and advance economic development, because many people want several things, but do not know exactly where and how to get them. E-Commerce makes it easier for everyone to trade in different types of businesses at the most convenient way.

What are some of the challenges faced by MasterCard in its efforts to take countries beyond cash?

There are several challenges, but we are surmounting them. The challenges are not just for MasterCard, but for every institution in the financial ecosystem. Communications is one major challenge. There is gap in data communication between the PoS terminal and the backend. The gap creates some delays in transaction and we need to improve on that. Power is also a major challenge in Nigeria because the PoS terminals are power driven and without electricity, they cannot work. Consumer education is another challenge for us. Some people are still not excited with the cashless initiative and we are doing a lot to educate people, to enable them see the need for electronic payment system.

 What is your MasterCard working relationship with government or regulatory authority on the cashless initiative?

Yes we are working with the regulator and government, but beyond that, we have several partners we are working with in every of our locations worldwide. In Nigeria, we are working with the Federal, State and Local governments and we are working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the regulator of the financial institutions in the country.

How would you rate MasterCard in Nigeria and internationally?

In Nigeria MasterCard is accepted everywhere. Virtually all the banks in Nigeria issue and use MasterCard products. We do not have any challenge on acceptability in Nigeria, because there is a standing rule from CBN that all financial transactions must accept MsaterCard products and virtually every bank in the country, issues MasterCard cards for their online transactions. Internationally, MasterCard is accepted in 410 countries, at 33 million merchant locations.

Expert tasks Nigerian companies on technology driven business

Staff Development Officer, Technical Training,MTN,Oyebanke Osunsanya making a presentation of MTN’s BMP during a practical session at the JK Micheals/Oracle Breakfast meeting, with her is the Lead Project Management Consultant for JK Micheals, Dr. Bello Omololu.

If Nigerian companies must catch up fast with Chinese and India firms that have invaded the economy, they must therefore consider Business Process Management (BPM) that is technology driven.

The reason is that if Nigerian owned organisations deploy technology driven BPM in the management of their business process they would be able to achieve operational excellence, reduce cost of operation, increase profit margin, and standardised their processes.

Speaking to the ICT.BizAfrica  shortly after addressing top executives of selected Nigerian companies at a breakfast meeting in Lagos, Lead Project Management Consultant for JK Micheals, Dr. Bello Omololu said that a BPM that is backed up by technology would help in organisational flexibility, agility and assist in regulatory compliance.

He told participant at the meeting which was organised in conjunction with Oracle that the nation’s business landscape is gradually being eating up by the Chinese and India firm whose acumen for business was yet to be matched by most Nigerian owned and managed organisations.

According to him, with a technology driven BPM a company can be transformed into a world class organisation saying that Oracle has one of the best solutions a unified BPM technology known as the Oracle BPM Suite 11g, which has the capability to break barriers.

He said that the Oracle BPM Suite 11g integrates different components of an organisation, which can help to put their process in a seamless way adding that every other system in an organisation can ride and talk to the Oracle BPM thereby making the process in the organisation to be effortless and flow in seamless manner.

He disclosed that there is the training aspect of the BPM and another where “we can simulate and the break points, delivering, and you can even make corrections before you move into your business”.

He further said that the rules of the organisation as well as the roles of personnel within the organisation can be built into the business and roles so that when there is a change within the system the organisation can easily change the rules and then move on.

“Sometimes you want to integrate a new technology into the organisation and if you are just working without a BPM backbone, you see a situation where it takes a longer time to integrate new technology, but with the BPM backbone it can be done very fast and change your technology, and that is where Oracle comes,” he explained.

According to Omololu organisations across the globe have moved from the old ways of doing business to  new ways saying that the rigid structure has given way to fluidity and flexibility, authoritarian reporting to dynamic relationships, monolithic to highly complex and tightly-integrated components while relationship between customers, suppliers, and staff have changed.

In his presentation, making reference to the 2004 Gartner Survey that touched 154 completed BPM Projects, he said that organisations that use BPM had 95 per cent rate success adding successful projects had no less than 10 per cent internal rate of return.

He also said that 78 per cent had greater than 15 per cent while a wide numbers included 100 per cent rate return stressing that 67 per cent of the projects were completed in less than 6 months just as 50 per cent of the projects were completed in less than 4 months.

On the cost implication, he said that 77 per cent of the projects had returns greater than $100,000 per project while 55 per cent of the projects had returns in the $100,000-to-$500,000 range value of the companies that had BPM projects underway.

He disclosed that industries where BPM is applicable are development and manufacturing, finance and Banking, consulting, telecommunications information system, computer manufacturer, education, service industry, automobile and government.

He further said that SMES also have solutions that can drive their business stating that what the SMES need, was to “understand the process of doing their business, so it is only after that they can then model their process to be able to win within the competitive environment they find themselves”.

On its relevance to mergers and acquisition, he said: when you are trying to merger two different banks with difference rules and roles you have to synchronise the two processes so that it stands as one, if not there is going to be a hang-off bottleneck such that one process is done in one way and another in a different way. And that is why there are failures in a process wherever there is a merger and acquisition”.

Sales Consultant for Oracle, Mr. Peter Boglo while reviewing the Oracle BPM Suite 11g said that when business conditions evolve faster than the company’s ability to change and respond, business performance suffers noting that with BPM there are possibilities for organisations to optimise business processes and align them with organisational goals and strategies while also empowering staff to work smarter leveraging on the systems and information.

He said that BPM delivers for organisations that use operational excellence, process standardisation, continuous process improvement, business and IT alignment as well as business transformation. 

FG urged to wade into NCC/NESREA conflict

L-R: Financial Secretary Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, (ALTON),Mr. Tom Iwueze, Chairman ALTON, Engr. Gbenga Adeboye and Environmental  Compliance Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Laniyan at press conference on the constant closure of base stations by NESRA. 

Telecommunications operators want the Federal Government to mandate the Minister of Communications Technology and the Minister of the Environment to resolve the conflicting roles of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Environmental Standards Regulatory and Enforcement Agency (NESRA) over the regulation of base stations in the country.

The telecoms operators under the name: Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, (ALTON) made the appeal following the repeated closure of base stations across the country, which they said, have made difficult to deliver quality service to their customers.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the chairman of the ALTON, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo said that the action of NESRA in taking armed policemen to shut-down a base station that has been duly approved by the agency that is mandated by law to regulate the telecoms industry was an embarrassment to the Federal Government and the National assembly that made the laws that set up the NCC.

Describing the invasion by NESRA of several base stations in the country as a great economic loss to the nation and an act that is capable of undermining national security, he said that NESRA failed to follow the due process in the closure of the base stations.

According to him, the law setting up NESRA demands under the current circumstances to seek a court injunction saying that “these impulsive closures cause very serious negative impacts to Nigerians whose lives and livelihood increasingly depend on the 100 per cent availability of the telecoms networks and are particularly worrisome given current security challenges in the country”.

He noted that ALTON members have complied with laws regarding environmental safety stating that “the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as the sole statutory regulator of the telecoms industry has articulated and aggressively enforces regulations on the installation of masts, towers and other telecom facilities”.

Adebayo further said that if government should allow NESRA to continue with its disruptions in communications service caused by the increasing spate of interference with telecoms installations, it would amount to denying the Nigerian people the right to talk or communicate.

While the Federal Government to call NESRA to order, he said that the two ministers of the agencies concerned must be mandated by the government state the clear terms of their regulations concerning base stations.

According to him, the action of NESRA is more political rather than that of the interest of the environment saying that if government assists both agencies to define their roles and rules concerning regulating base stations it would save the nation the embarrassment that NESRA has caused the Nigerians.

He explained that: “NESREA has unlawfully sealed the base station sites of our members in Abuja, Enugu, Owerri, Ado Ekiti and Ibadan causing serious network outages and congestion.  When the NCC caused the site in Abuja to be unsealed in lawful exercise of its statutory powers, NESREA again unlawfully invaded the site with armed policemen, demobilized the site and caused loss of service to millions of individuals, businesses, law enforcement and security agents”.

Speaking further on the grave implication of NESRA action, Adebayo said that “some of these sites collocate over 6 separate operators and the activities of NESREA have severely impacted on the quality of service delivery to our esteemed subscribers who are affected on the respective networks”.

On how to further end the NESRA issue he suggested the establishment of one-stop shop (OSS) permitting model, which would coordinate and harmonise the relevant government ministries, departments and agencies in one location for the purpose of a singular permitting point for telecoms site-build operations.

He further said that there should be an amplification of the role of the NCC as the industry regulator, educational campaigns and capacity building for government ministries, departments and agencies involved concerned with telecoms activities and the passage of Critical National Infrastructure Law.

He also called on the government to protect the industry from unionisation by labour saying that the industry is too critical to be let to go the way of the textile industry.

Nigeria can break barriers to getting small biz online says Google

Last week, Google organised the first of its kind CSR programme where over 10,000 business men and women were offered the opportunity to host their own website for free, in this interview Country Manager Google,Juliet Ehimuan revealed the rationale behind the initiative and how break barriers to getting small businesses online.

Google and Nigeria

Google is serious about Nigeria, and we want to get more Nigerian users online by developing an accessible, relevant and sustainable internet environment.

Nigerian Internet users make up 28.9 per cent or 44m of the population according to WorldInternetStats and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).  This is up from 6.7 per cent in 2008 a fourfold increase.

In fact a recent World Bank study based on analysis of 120 countries found that a 10 per cent change in broadband adoption is associated with a 1.38 per cent increase in GDP per capita growth in developing countries

So what we are doing in Nigeria is to help reduce access barriers facing potential internet users using the Google Universities Access Programme is we hope will impact over 100,000 students at 6 Nigerian universities, with more universities to follow. 

We are also investing in infrastructure; specifically we have given $500,000 to Nigeria ICT Forum to support efforts in improving access to Internet infrastructure in tertiary education institutions in Nigeria.

One other thing we have done also is to localised Google products in Nigeria such as the Google Search, which is now in local languages like Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba, also we have the Google Maps, Gmail SMS,  iGoogle, Google News, Baraza, Google Trader.

We also provided info on the Nigerian elections through our Nigerian Elections Portal.

We have been helping to strengthen an Internet ecosystem in Nigeria and across Africa that is viable and sustainable in the long-term.

The software development community in the country have also benefitted from us as we are empowering the next generation of developers in fact we've held multiple developer events and education where over 3000 people were in attendance last   last year.

For instance, the G-Nigeria programme took place in April 2011 for a second year running and was unprecedented in scale/numbers over 1000 people.

And then in terms of education, Google is working with universities to raise the level of curriculum, raising and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. Currently, Google has 27 Nigerian students from 8 universities who act as internet and Google ambassadors in their communities in its ambassadors.

Small businesses and barriers to getting online.

Many people feel that using the Internet as a business channel is expensive, intimidating or difficult to understand. They believe they have to pay an expert to create a site for them and depend on experts to keep it updated, but we want to demonstrate that there are plenty of free, easy-to-use tools available to companies of all sizes. We'll hopefully help them get a foot on the digital ladder. And that is what we are doing through the Get Nigerian Businesses Online web fair

The GNBO Web fair is a two-day event dedicated to helping Nigerian businesses create their very own websites at www.GNBO.com.ng. Web fair participants will be able to create their own customised websites with support from trainers, in as little as 1 hour, at no charge.  This is being done in partnership with MTN Business and Ecobank.

Creating a website is great.  But how does a small business owner manage it especially since they won’t always have access to the Internet?

When you create your website, you have several options for how to manage the site.  For example, you can have as many people setup as administrators, which means they can go to the site and update information when you’re not available.  Also, you can set your website up in a way that customer enquiries are sent to you via SMS.  So if someone is interested in your products or services they can provide their information online, and you get it on your mobile.  Your website can of course also be accessed on internet enabled mobile phones

Google’s stake in this

We believe that the power of the internet will help small businesses in Nigeria to thrive, by bringing more local information online, and making that information more accessible and useful to Nigerians.

If you have read the McKinsey study, it states that the internet enables economic opportunity and has already fostered significant growth for economies around the world.

The Internet will create jobs and foster economic growth in Nigeria SMBs has been identified as a key vehicle for growth in the government’s ‘Vision 2020’, as well as by the new Ministry for Information, Communications Technology.

GNBO is an initiative which will transform the Nigerian SMB landscape and have a real impact on the economy by bringing thousands of businesses online.

GNBO helps to remove the barriers that stop small businesses from getting online such as lack of time, cost, and lack of knowledge by making it quick, easy and free to set up a website.

Nigerian customers are already online, and they’re looking for local businesses. So having a website means that customers can find local businesses easily and quickly online. Having a website is as important for a business today as having a phone, because customers are looking online for local business information.

Evidence of GNBO initiative impact

Absolutely!  Since we launched the program in September of 2011, we’ve seen more than 20,000 Nigerian businesses get online through Get Nigerian Businesses Online.  We have so many success stories, some of which can be seen on the website www.gnbo.com.ng.  We also have so many businesses that have creatively used the platform to change the way they do business, for example, we had a small business that sold rams go online.  Customers could look at pictures of different rams from the comfort of their living rooms and request that they be delivered to them.  This is benefit both for the business and the customer.  The internet is helping businesses access a wider range of customers from more places at cheaper cost.

In addition to the simple tool that uses Google Business Sitebuilder to allow businesses to easily produce and populate a new site, we will also automatically add their business to search listings for Google Search & Google Maps.

We've developed a simple tool that uses Google Business Sitebuilder to allow businesses to easily produce & populate a new site.

We will automatically add their business to search listings for Google Search & Google Maps. These tools are available at www.gnbo.com.ng

We're looking to help any type of business get online from scratch, and those that have a website that isn't really working for them or has been neglected.  Any business from a barber's shop to an accounting firm who wants to reach a broader base of customers even in their own neighbourhood, those are the businesses we want to help.

For domains, if a user decides they want a totally free site, then they can own a sub-domain under gnbo.com.ng (for example, theshoeshoppe.gnbo.com.ng).

However, if a business wishes to establish its own unique identity online, then the business can purchase a domain name (e.g., theshoeshoppe.com or the shoeshoppe.com.ng).  We have engaged a domain registrar, Upperlink, to support businesses coming online who wish to purchase a .com.ng domain name. These cost N1500 per domain per year and must be renewed annually.  The ability to purchase a .com domain will likely become available shortly and the cost of .com domains varies.

The cost for the second year of owning your website is really only the annual domain registration fee of N1500 (for .com.ng domains).  That is the only cost a business will incur from getting online.

  

GNBO success story

Any launch that helps small businesses get online can only help web developers & agencies,because the more small businesses there are online, the more small businesses will be looking for web developers & agencies to give them advice on improving their web experience in the short to medium term for example, optimising their site. 

We have lot of examples but let me give one example using a quote from what the COO of Zaris Fashion and Style Academy,a fashion training institute in Allen avenue shared with us

 And I quote him: "The website has really enhanced Zaris Fashion and Style Academy’s image to the outside world by presenting it is a stable, reliable and organized brand.   We also took advantage of the Google Apps for businesses and immediately created email addresses with our domain name further giving us more credibility on the Internet and ensuring secure communications with our customers".

"We are commencing a new study session in May and the requests and feedback has been overwhelming and we are looking forward to registering well over 40 students in this session with the largest number of enquiries emanating from our website.This represents a 500 per cent increase in student number with relative income just after 6 months in business"

Experts to converge in Lagos for Africa’s growth

NIG tasks Cyber Nigeria Forum on industry issues

The Nigerian Internet Group (NIG), has said that it is expecting stakeholders at the 2nd edition of the Cyber Nigeria Forum to tackle salient issues that affect the cyber space and its activities in the country.

President of the NIG, Engr. Bayo Banjo who made remark while endorsing the event that is to hold on the 29^th of June 2012 said that the occasion would afford expects to bare their minds on critical issues about cyber space issues.

According to the NIG President, “We see Cyber Nigeria Forum being organized by the Cyber Africa as a roundtable for Nigeria Internet stakeholders in raising and addressing salient issues concerning the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector with particular reference to the internet positive usage, other related issues and development in Nigeria.”

While expressing the pleasure of the group in identifying with Cyber Nigeria Forum 2012, he said the support of the NIG for the forum is based on its reputation for an all-inclusive Nigeria participation in positive internet usage and development particularly the youth using the social media to make positive impact.

The NIG is one of the interest, major industry organizations as well as pressure groups that have continued to identify with the vision of the Forum.

The theme of this year’s event is ‘’The Economics of Cyberspace and Cyber Responsibility’’ with focus on the activities of Nigeria in the cyberspace particular the effort by youth to make positive impact by using the social media tool.

The event is a collaborative effort between Tribe Media Company limited (publishers of Horizon Magazine, CyberAfrica magazine and CyberAfrica TV show) and Private Media Mart Limited.

It is expected to focus on Nigeria’s' activities in the cyberspace; benefits derivable form the internet, e-business, cashless transactions, regulation, job creation and economic development in line with the government transformation agenda.

Also to be examined is Nigeria’s activities in the cyber space vis-a-vis how the youth are channeling their creative energy to making positive impact or otherwise using the social media tools.

The full-day event would be in three master-class sessions with each having sub-topics to be delivered by seasoned local and international resource persons.

 Some of the highlights of the day would include the unveiling of Cyber Nigeria Foundation, a collaborative effort that meant to aid the adoption, and help the nation’s youth to maximize the advantages of the cyber space for national development.

Also to instituted at the event is the maiden edition of the ‘Cyber Nigeria Awards’, for the reward of  individuals, organizations and government institutions that have helped to deepen positive cyber content/access and availability and efforts in the country.

A formal unveiling of Cyber Africa Newspaper, Horizon International Magazine and TechBrandReview newsletter would take at the event.

NSE assured investors of security of new trading platform

The investing public as well as trading partners of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) who may be worried about the safety of their transaction following signing of a contract agreement between the NSE and the NASDAQ OMX on the new trading platform due to increasing wave of cyber attack across the globe, have been assured that adequate security has been put in place.

The executive director, Market Operations and Technology at the exchange, Mr. Adeolu Bajomo told ict-bizafrica that security at all layers of the platform would be taken care noting that security in the new platform, which would IT driven would be centered around the network, server and the application itself.

According to him there would be security on and end-to-end basis when doing transaction and not just on the platform.

He disclosed that the NSE would announced the rest of the technology partners that would assist to make the new platform a success saying that the best global practice would be key in the type of technology partners that would be involved in the smooth running of the platform.

He however noted that as a national entity Nigerian companies would play a key role adding that the NSE is already working with some Nigerian companies in that regard.

While giving an over view of the rational for a new platform for trading in the Nigerian stock market, Bajomo said that what matters most in the market is the speed and reliability of the trading in the market.

He said:“In an exchange what matters most is the speed of execution and the reliability of execution, and your ability to hook on to an ongoing service in a daily basis while reaching out to a wider market”.

But that according to him can only done using a highly scalable, robust and efficient performance system stressing that only platforms like the one the NASDAQ is offering the NSE can do that.

He explained that with the growing number of the population of Nigeria, and considering the huge numbers that are looking towards saving for the future through investment in shares; a platform is therefore needed to address the challenge of the huge numbers.

“If you are going to get about 40 million people to transact efficiently in the capital market you must have a system that can deliver real time services”, he said

He added that the system must be able to address putting the future growth of the market in mind saying that “we are looking at the future and that is why scalability is very important. Market works on practice and movies very fast and that is why new methods of doing things in the market is very important”.

On how the new technology would run the market he said that all the market participants would be able to sell and buy shares using the platform, besides the real time information that would be made available to traders in the market.

He further said, “it is enriched to ensure that you have the end-to-end connectivity in terms of market surveillance, real time market data and ancillary services.”

Bajomo also disclosed that plans are under way to make sure that the market participants are able to do transaction on the market using their mobile phones saying that the wider brokerage community would be involved in discussions that would make that a reality.

While describing the new platform as an evolution in the history of the Nigerian capital market, he said that there are enormous advantages in the use of the new platform to the way business would be run very soon adding that the platform would be hosted in Nigeria.

 NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market.

It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business, including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks.

We are poised to improving broadband internet access, says Google Country manager

Google, the world’s global online platform recently began a campaign aimed at growing Nigerian businesses through its newly introduced Google Plus social network in this interview with its Country Manager, Juliet Ehimuah, she disclosed that Nigerians have a passion for the internet but broadband internet is still a major challenge.

Google Plus and the Nigerian economy

Google presence in Nigeria is to make the internet more relevant for everyday life because we know that Nigerians are very social. They like to interact with other people, we like to build community, and we like to share information.

Google plus is what make all that possible, so the Google Plus hub was organisation to create awareness in the market place. So with Google plus it is very easy to organise your online world around yourself.

For instance in real life you have several levels of relationship, you have a close friends, family friends and then you have extended family, general friends and those you do not really most often remember.

With Google Plus you can organise all of these into what w call Circles. The Circles is one of the many options in Google Plus that helps you to organise your online friends like you do in real life. So you can have a circle for close family members, friends from place of work, and extended family, and when you share information, you can decide if the information is for the general public or if it is going to be for people in your circles so you can share with your friends or family circles. With that Google helps to put you in control while sharing information.

Another example is that Google Plus is very integrated with existing online platforms such that if you are watching a video on Youtube and you like the video that you want to share it with other people, you do not need to go through a complicated process to do that, you can right from your Youtube window click on a button that allows you to share the video with people in your circles, also see what was posted or shared by other people in your circles.

Something that I find very interesting is that when you are searching for information, you are also able to see posting from Google Plus and people in your circles.

With circles you are sure that it is only those in the circles that you want to see the information that will eventually get to see it online. It therefore means that it creates i a level of privacy for you and those in your circles.

So what we are doing today is creating awareness so that Nigerians can take advantage of this platform. Google Plus has been available in Nigeria since it was launched in July last year. We have already had several engagements on it in the country.

For instance large corporate organisations like Globacom and Airtel are already on Google Plus. Globacom has larger presence on Google Plus and they have been posting a lot of announcement on it. And they identified it as a platform to reach the huge numbers of subscribers on their network.

We have also have a lot celebrities in Nigeria like Genevievie Nnaji,Tunde Kelani, Dare Art Alade who have created their profile on Google Plus.

The Google Plushub event

It is the best of its kind. We had over 250 Nigerian celebrities and influencers from different spheres of engagement including creative Artists, event planners, fashion influencers, developmental advocates, media celebrities and music enthusiasts who were invited to explore google.com/+ and become users of Google+.

On arrival, guests took fun photos in the Google plus photo booth and visited the Google Plus demo stations to get a quick insight into what was ahead.

There was also an in-depth Google+ presentation and live hangout demo by the Google Plus team, to show the communities how relevant Google plus is to them in both their personal and professional lives.

The event is one in the series of and the Lagos Google Plus hub is the latest in a series of Google Plus hub event being held across Africa to promote help celebrities and influencers better understand Google+.

Our target

Our commitment is to grow the platform locally as much as possible and we have seen an amazing acceleration in the growth of Google Plus. So far it is the fastest growing social network in Nigeria and globally.

Google Plus is not just a social network for socialising; it is also for business, and indeed all kinds of legitimate business. It is a platform that you can use to connect consumers and also to create a presence for your business. So if you are run a small business, you can create a page like a small website that you will use to communicate your goods and services.

One great advantage about that is that people can get to know and it help build trust on your business such that if you business is link to your profile, one can click on your profile and gives me information immediately on who is behind the business.

That alone can help the person visiting your page to decide if that is the right person to do business with.

Another interesting thing is that because it is a plus page, it is easy for people to find you when they are searching for you.

Our Uniqueness

Our secret is that it is not just a social network platform; it is a communication rich platform in the internet. It puts a social layer on everything people do on the internet. In some social platform when you communicate with people it is closed. If I send a chat or message to someone in one of the other platform it stays within that platform but with Google Plus your communication can flow across several channels.

That is why on Google plus if I am searching for information, it easy for me to see what other people have shared with me before.

Also last year, we launched Google trade, a platform that allows people to sell their goods and services across the globe. With Google trade you have the opportunity of linking your profile with others in your trade while others too can click on your profile and see you and know what line business you are into.

It therefore means it a special layer that feeds on the many other internet experiences that Nigerians have so that they can interact profitably.

The bandwidth challenge

There is several information that you can share on Google Plus that requires different amount of internet bandwidth. There is normal text which is very low in bandwidth, and there are pictures and videos which are very high. The Google Plus platform itself is optimised to enhance that sharing. One good example is Hangout, with it you communicate with people via video across the world. If you are on a narrow bandwidth connection, there is a way you can set up your Hangout such that it is either audio only or you reduce the resolution of the image.

Content control and security

We have terms and condition that ensures that people respect the right of other people.

We have a very robust security that we apply in all our platforms and that is why you rarely get spam on the Gmail account that is because there is a very sophisticated technology supporting that platform.

That is one reason why we have been successful in launching our Gmail SMS services with MTN,Glo, and Starcomm. With the Gmail SMS you can send SMS to someone with through the network of any of the operators that are registered with us. It is free and you can also get a reply to your email via SMS.

The good thing about that is that Google understand that many Nigerians are interacting through the internet using their mobile phones, and a lot use features based phones which are SMS base so that is why we creating platform that will enable you to interact from desktop computer to laptops and then to mobile phones.

And that is what the Gmail SMS is doing. So from your Gmail account you can send an SMS to a mobile phone number and you can also receive SMS through your Gmail account. You need a Gmail account for all this to possible. Also in the Google Plus platform you can send SMS to one or more mobile phone number.

Our challenge

Nigerians are very social that is why we have a large number of Nigerian communities on Youtube, so have Nollywood movies on Youtube which are watched not only by Nigerians but by other movie lovers across the world. What are now looking at is to create enough awareness so that they can use these platforms to their benefit.

We are still fastest growing network that is open and helps you to interact and engagement. We have daily changes that enhance the uses of the Google plus. It is a platform where people should be able to share their works so that why you can download the pictures. If you already have a Google account it is easy for you to migrate.

Doing business in Nigeria

What we are focusing on right now in Nigeria is helping people to grow their business on line. We see that there is a yearly increase of Nigerians online but it is still about 28 per cent of the population based on IT statistic.

So there is a challenge around people getting on online, and those challenges are very much around infrastructure. You do not have enough broadband internet access the country and prices are still very much on the high side, which we hope should be addressed by the relevant stakeholders.

And we are engage with different organisations with the private and public sector to see what can be done.

Expert warns against gagging the internet

An information and communications technology expert, Dr. Jim Olufuye has warned against the use of the rule of law to control activities in the internet stressing that such application of the law could turned out to be a setback to development.

Olufuye who is the chief executive officer of Kontemporary and Vice-Chairman,World Information Technology and Service Alliance (WITSA) in a document made available to the Nigerian Compass, observed that “everyone needs justice on the Internet, from the children, to consumers, users, producers, suppliers, organisations and states with regard to privacy, freedom of expression, security and other such rights. The rule of law prevails in the offline world but not yet matured in the online world”.

He said that the internet has become the imposing phenomenon of the modern era having been able to “define the way we live, work, learn, share and govern”.

According to him, it would be retrogressive to apply the rule of law to the use of the internet the way it is done in governance “because of its open, transparent and inherent multi-faceted nature that has engendered unprecedented access to information and wealth across the world”

He added that the internet has shrunk the world into what today is known as the 'global village' wherein information that hitherto could not be accessed due to distance can be available instantly.

Speaking further on the vast impact of the internet, Olufuye said that the internet has deferred geographical boundaries across the globe as a borderless online world without national boundaries noting that it has given birth to new citizens called global citizens or online citizens.

Olufuye however said that there is the need for the maintenance of law and order in the internet saying “how do we ensure that criminals do not operate with impunity? How do we ensure citizens’ rights to privacy, freedom of speech and assembly among others are not trampled upon by anyone not even the state? How do we ensure that there is justice on the Internet? How do we ensure that
core principles of decorum, civility and the right of children to participate online without abuse are protected?”

In tackling those challenges, he suggested that the challenges must rely on innovation, a key catalyst of the Internet which over the past 43years of its evolution has ensured its resilience.

He explained that: “the idea of doing something in a different way has not only benefitted the global economy, it has also added immense value to human life and dignity. The last frontier of the process concerns to how the Internet is governed to ensure the advancement of the rule of law in the online world”.

For instance he said there are some inputs that have made to salvage the internet from the ambit of the unguided control of the internet saying some of such was the results of the World Summit on Information Society 2005, which lead to the establishment of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

Now in its 6th edition and the 7th expected to hold in Baku Azerbaijan 6-9 November 2012,the IGF is meant to provide a forum for better understanding of the Internet governance ecosystem among all stakeholders irrespective of their constituencies.

He added that at the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development Working Group on the Improvement to the Internet Governance Forum, it was admitted that the true and enduring approach to Internet governance is through multi-stakeholder participation with a focus on building consensus around core issues.

Speaking further on the danger of the unguided control, Olufuye noted that the internet has an history of a system that continues to evolve through the participation of many stakeholders in the user community, the business community, the civil society, the technical and academic communities and of course governments.

And as such he said that “all stakeholders have something to offer and their views matter greatly for an effective rule of law in the online world” stating that a case in point was the stalling of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and "Protect Intelletual Property Act" (PIPA)
bills in the US Congress due to the failure of sponsors to carry key stakeholders along. He added that “the ideas behind the bills are good but the processes of articulating the bills were not inclusive. As mentioned earlier, the rule of law has to do with legal principles governing the conduct of all citizens and the disposal of justice in the real (offline) or the virtual (online) world”.

He recalled that recently the Council of Europe (CoE) and the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) in separate proclamations declared that the offline laws and rule apply to situations and circumstances in the online world.

He explained that offline laws that apply to the internet are the crime of credit/debit card theft, identity theft, fraud, misuse
of bank accounts and obscene posting.

Olufuye called for multi-stakeholder co-operation and collaboration as a sine qua non for the rule of law to prevail on the internet adding that with regard to dealing with cybercrime, there is the Budapest Convention, which is the first treaty on Cybercrime.

He also said that the African Union Commission, the regional Economic Commissions like ECOWAS, the Interpol protocol should be expanded to cover online
stressing that the scope of expansion should only be carried out by incorporating other stakeholders like the business community.

The reason according is that business gathers a lot of personal data of clients, which based on privacy policies, are expected to be protected and not divulged to any third party.

“But for law enforcement purposes where such data are required from business, even on an on-going basis there should be internationally accepted legal protocol guiding such request by law enforcement authorities so as to promote the rule of law, trust and confidence on the use of the Internet”, he said.

He noted that Africa must be carried along in efforts to control the internet since the rapid development of Africa is hinged on the on-going evolution and innovation on the internet engendered by free flow of information.