NCC pushes homegrown solutions to boost Nigeria’s digital independence

The Nigerian Communications Commission has called for increased investment in locally developed technologies to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on foreign software and strengthen the country’s digital sovereignty.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Aminu Maida, made the call on Thursday at the closing ceremony of the fourth NCC Hackathon Live Show in Abuja, where innovators showcased technology solutions targeted at persons with disabilities and other digitally excluded Nigerians.

Maida, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said Nigeria must move from being largely dependent on imported software to developing technologies tailored to local needs.

“Through this hackathon, we are transforming Nigeria from a passive importer of foreign software into a creator of locally engineered assistive technology that serves the ability of all its citizens,” he said.

He added that the solutions developed at the hackathon, ranging from artificial intelligence-powered speech-to-text technologies to voice-enabled public platforms, accessible USSD solutions and inclusive mobile applications, represented building blocks for technological self-reliance.

“By investing in a homegrown, universally accessible codebase, we guarantee Nigeria’s digital economy remains operational, secure, affordable, and responsive to Nigeria’s realities, immune to external shocks,” Maida said.

The NCC boss further urged venture capitalists, telecommunications operators and state governments to provide the investment and partnerships required to move the innovations beyond prototypes.

“We ask you not to view these innovators as contestants, but as future founders, future partners, and future vendors,” he said.

“We encourage you to step forward, invest in these accessible prototypes, and help us remove digital exclusion.”

Maida said the need for locally relevant technologies had become more urgent because millions of Nigerians remained at risk of exclusion as economic and social activities increasingly moved online.

Citing World Bank estimates, he said about 25 million Nigerians experience at least one form of disability, while approximately 3.6 million experience significant difficulties in functioning.

He added that persons with disabilities could be excluded not only from connectivity but also from education, employment, financial services, healthcare and participation in society if digital products were not designed with accessibility in mind.

Representing MTN Nigeria, the Senior Manager, Strategy and Innovation, Chinyelu Chikwendu, pledged the telecom operator’s support for the innovators, saying the company was willing to provide infrastructure and explore partnerships with startups whose technologies aligned with its operations.

“We are happy to support your growth. We are happy to support these beautiful ideas that you are all working on, and we are here to help you with the various infrastructures that we have,” Chikwendu said.

She said MTN had infrastructure and platforms that startups could leverage to scale their products, including cloud services, its data centre and API marketplace.

Chikwendu also invited the 20 innovators who participated in the hackathon to apply for the company’s next Cloud Accelerator Programme, which provides startups with mentorship, funding and infrastructure support.

Also speaking, Amadi Kenneth of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department said the apex bank saw opportunities to deploy some of the innovations to expand financial inclusion.

“We want to see that the excluded Nigerians are brought into the financial system,” he said, identifying women, youths, persons with disabilities and people in remote communities as priority groups.

Kenneth said the CBN would collaborate with the NCC and could invite some participants to its Digital Channel Working Group to examine how their applications could support financial inclusion.

The NCC Director of Digital Economy, Helen Obi, said the commission expected the partnerships emerging from the event to help innovators scale their technologies beyond the competition.

She also urged financial institutions to consider dedicated funding for young innovators, saying, “Youths need to be encouraged. Let’s begin to have a huge fund projected for this sector of the economy.”

At the end of the competition, Sora emerged winner and received N3m, while ClearSignal won N2m for second place and Ikor received N1m for finishing third. The three were selected from five finalists, which also included Aditus and Axol.