IT coy wants increased government contribution, reduced regulatory hurdles
An Information Technology (IT) Company, TechEnd has emphasised the need for government to increase its contributions to the growth of the sector.
The Managing Director, TechEnd, Mr Sheriff Oladejo, in a statement in Lagos said that government needed to do more in the way of providing a more enabling environment and reducing regulation hurdles.
Oladejo said that inadequate infrastructure, limited access to reliable electricity and regulatory hurdles were challenges against the full deployment of digital technology and innovation in the country.
According to him, these challenges can impact the deployment and sustainability of information technology projects.
“We are hoping that regulations will open up opportunity for government and business communities to embrace local software developers so as to compete favourably within various economic sectors,’’ he said.
He encouraged government to provide adequate funds, provide enabling environment and regulations and encourage more investment to support the growth and expansion of the sector.
According to him, Nigeria has a vibrant startup ecosystem, majorly with a focus on digital technology and innovation.
He noted that Lagos, in particular, was often referred to as “Silicon Lagoon” due to its concentration of tech innovations and startups.
He said that the current minister of communication and digital economy was among the tech startups in Nigeria, so understood the need for the sector to move forward.
“E-commerce and Fintech have shown significant expansions and growth, with many of the entities offering digital payment platform, online shopping, and financial services tailored to the Nigeria market.
“These have played an important role in the growth and improvement of financial inclusion in Nigeria.
“Another item that also gained attraction within the digital technology sector is the development of mobile apps. This has become a powerful advancement to support digital technology advancement and bring about ease of doing business on the go,’’ Oladejo said.
He noted further that many organisations had embraced digital transformation, and Nigerian businesses and government institutions were undertaking digital transformation initiatives to enhance their productivity and efficiency.
Some of the initiatives that businesses are adopting, he said, included cloud computing, big data analytics, and other modern technologies to improve efficiency and productivity.
The TechEnd co-founder added that Nigerian youths had also shown themselves to be major drivers of digital transformation in the country.
“The youthful generation is increasingly tech savvy and this has contributed to the expansion of the technology industry,’’ he said.
He said that though the growth being witnessed in the sector and most of the revenues were commendable, but they are quickly eroded by high operational costs and other physical facilities.
Oladejo said that his firm, TechEnd, had evolved in various aspects of technology including software development, IT consulting, training and capacity development, and many more.
He said that TechEnd was actively engaged in software development and created bespoke software solutions for a wide range of industries such as finance, health care, property management among others.
He said all these solutions catered to local needs and were designed to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience of its customers.
