For most African countries, investing in technology has resulted in GDP increasing by as much as 5% – 10%, but Zinox Group CEO Leo Stan-Ekeh is of the opinion that Nigeria will be able to generate $250 billion in the next five years from technology.
Stan-Ekeh advised that the Nigerian government should invest heavily in the youth and education, which will pay off in the long term.
“If government for instance, invests in one million laptops with internet connectivity in schools, it will go a long way in driving technology development among students. If a student takes his laptop home, the priority of the family changes, because they too could have access to the computer.”
He explained that should the government invest $1 billion (N155 billion) in about 10 million Nigerians in the area of technology education, it is sure of generating over $250 billion (N39 trillion) in the next five years.
“Today, Nigeria’s reserves is below N40 million and this, already is a crisis for the country and for its people, the more reason why government should invest in technology education that will give the Nigerian youth the opportunity to generate money for the country and for themselves,” he added.
He said that South Africa is much smaller than Nigeria in terms of population, yet South Africa consumes more computers per year. “For instance South Africa consumes close to 1.2 million computers yearly, but Nigeria is consuming less than 500, 000 in a year, yet our population size is triple theirs.”
“Today we see mega deals taking place online in other countries, and there are free applications on the internet, from where software practitioners could code software programs that will solve social challenges in the society. If every student has a laptop with internet connectivity, they could sit at home or in schools to develop software solutions that will boost the fortunes of the country”, Stan-Ekeh concluded.
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
