Globacom plans to establish innovation hubs, enhance digitalization efforts in Nigeria

Globacom, a leading digital solutions provider, has announced its commitment to supporting the Nigerian government’s digitalization initiatives and promoting technological advancements in the country.

The telco commitment was made known by Mrs. Bella Disu, the company’s Executive Vice Chairman, during the launch of Nigeria’s Digital Economy Report, titled “Driving Economic Growth through Digital Transformation” held on May 9, 2024, in Abuja.

Mrs. Disu highlighted the importance of leveraging the transformative capabilities of emerging technologies to drive Nigeria’s economic growth, adding that this underscores the company’s dedication to contributing to the country’s digitalization efforts and enhancing its technological capabilities.

According to her, Globacom has planned to establish innovation hubs, which will serve as platforms for innovation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.

These hubs, she said will provide a conducive environment for startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators to develop and test their digital solutions, thereby driving the country’s digital transformation.

The company’s Executive Vice Chairman said, “We see the current challenges in the sector as a responsibility to be at the forefront of enabling tech advancement. We are at the moment doing two things, which key into the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy’s strategic blueprint. Under the pillar of Knowledge, the ministry is planning to have about 3m technical talents by 2027 and also increase digital literacy.

“In Glo, we have a Glo learning management solution, which has the capacity to train up to 100,000 users a month on different skill sets from digital marketing and other professional courses, some of which we plan to offer as CSR and also on courses covering Python, blockchain, AI to really push digital literacy.

“Under innovation, we plan to have four innovation hubs, with one to be rolled out in Lagos in the fourth quarter of the year, and three to be commissioned by the second quarter of 2025 in PH, Ibadan, and Abuja. We see these hubs as being an eco-system and a catalyst for technological advancement where we have hubs for tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, incubators and accelerators to really collaborate, thrive and learn.”

Commenting on the impact of digitalization in various sectors, Mrs Disu explained that “digital platforms have completely revolutionised the transportation and mobility services sector with ride-hailing companies facilitating hundreds of millions of rides in the last seven years, in ecommerce, adding that the sector has grown significantly with online user market now about 76.7 million users as well as seen a huge growth in POS terminals from about 155,000 in 2017 to now 1.8 million in 2023″.

She pointed out that as more and more Nigerians are going into remote work, and with the right training, they will be able to take up even more lucrative roles in the sector.

Mrs Disu promised that Globacom would continue to support the sector, noting that

“In entrepreneurship and start-ups, through fintech and content creation and startups, the opportunities are vast.”

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, and the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, applauded Mrs Disu’s commendation for showing their commitment and political will to resolve the challenges in the telecom industry.

In his remark, Dr. Bosun Tijani hinted that Nigeria is well placed to play a critical role in a connected economy with its huge population and resources.

The minister said “We can only do that by diversifying our economy and strengthening technical efficiency. This is why there is immense focus on digitalizing our economy and accelerating development in sectors like agriculture and mining to improve quality of education so we can improve learning outcomes and as such deepen our workforce, improve on transportation and infrastructure so that our economy can get the backbone that is required to make it work for our people.”