By Kester Omu
The Chairman, Board of Directors of CWG Plc, Mr. Phillip Obioha has highlighted some of the challenges perturbing the Nigerian Information and Communications Technology sector.
Obioha, who was until his appointment a Non-Executive Director and served as the Chairman of FARCOM for CWG’s board; noted that the double ache with the ‘lack of power and the unavailability of long term funds’ for building ICT infrastructure have stunted the desired growth of the ICT industry in Nigeria.
“There have been several business challenges, some of which are not really restricted to the ICT industry, but we can easily identify what I call the double ache as the major challenges in the country’s ICT sector,” Obioha said in an interview in Lagos. He explained that without long term gestation, an agreeable investment recovery period and availability of power, many companies, especially those in the Communication sector will continue to experience dwindling fortunes.
Asked what technology platform solutions providers like CWG are doing to mitigate the situation, Obioha disclosed that CWG had to build a 24/7 power infrastructure to support its satellite infrastructural operational, admittedly at a huge cost to the company. “We also have to keep our Data Center available on a 24/7 basis because of the critical infrastructure we host for our customers,” he added.
Maintaining a steady power supply alone for the level of commitments that the business engages in, on behalf of its clients is a lot of drain. One which would otherwise be nonexistent, if poor power infrastructure were not a National issue.
Speaking further, Obioha stated that the deficit of specialized manpower for certain aspects of technology businesses was also a challenge; but one that CWG was tackling both with trainings from its Academy and also by the partnerships that allows for exchange and integration of having expatriate personnel. All in all, this helps the business deliver on its mission of deploying technology solutions that enable growth.