2021 was undoubtedly a challenging year. Despite hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than four million people globally, would have been tamed by now, the virus and its latest variant – Omicron – have continued to rage and change the world as we know it. But despite the pandemic’s displacements and the other challenges, especially those peculiar to Nigeria, there’s still much to be thankful for because it’s still a wonderful world. “I see trees of green, red roses too; I see them bloom for me and you; And I think to myself what a wonderful world,” the inimitable Louis Armstrong sang in the evergreen classic, ‘What a wonderful world’.
So, there’s still cause for cheer despite the seeming gloom and imperfections. Nigeria’s telecoms industry, where we are a significant player, had its challenges, including multiple taxations, vandalism, theft, power, and right of way disputes, but that didn’t halt our positive and significant contributions to the economy and the lives of Nigerians. We soared above them all.
In 20 years, Nigeria’s Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have together connected well over 150 million people and invested about $75 billion. We have jointly facilitated the move from basic telephony to new value-added services boosted by cutting-edge technology. We enable more accessible banking services (mobile apps), e-health and easy access to e-learning platforms and others. From the beginning of the pandemic and until now, the telecoms sector has remained an ally to corporates and individuals. Regulators and MNOs have pulled in the same direction for the industry and Nigerians, showcasing remarkable achievements.
On the personal side, with the support of all our stakeholders, we at 9mobile have sustained our evolution from just providing connectivity to enabling individuals and businesses through ingenious solutions and platforms. In 2021, we sustained the deployment of innovative products and services to boost user satisfaction and convenience. Our premium enterprise cloud-based solution, 9BusinessCloud, organized a webinar to help businesses improve digital adoption to thrive and scale. Another is enabling our customers with more affordable and superfast data by upgrading our MiFi and Router offerings.
We also introduced a Special Offer to enable Nigerian pilgrims to make and receive calls, send and receive SMS, and use data at affordable rates. At the height of the NIN-SIM card registration exercise, we made it easier for customers to physically register for their National Identification Number (NIN) and link it to their SIMs without hassles or payment in our Experience Centres across Nigeria. We have only just partnered with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to register 10 million Nigerians in rural areas under the National Identity Management Enrolment Scheme. By so doing, we would be boosting rural connectivity and security.
To help mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s mental health and curb the increasing rate of depression, we began a health talk series as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility programmes to further drive initiatives that improve the quality of life of Nigerians through sensitization and collaborations. This also informed our partnership with telemedicine provider Mobihealth International to grant more Nigerians access to care from the comfort of their homes.
In recognition of the media’s critical role in developing the ICT sector and upskilling journalists, we started a capacity-building initiative to equip journalists with emerging trends in journalism. It has been a roaring success, and we have extended it to teachers too. It’s a knowledge economy, and those who train our precious children must themselves be adequately knowledgeable. This is the thinking behind our 9mobile Train-the-Trainer Workshops for teachers. In this New Year, we hope to scale the initiative further.
Because we realize the importance of youth to Nigeria’s future, we have a series of training to improve their digital skills. Fittingly, our primary regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is a worthy partner in this quest, actively complementing our efforts to upskill youths across Nigeria in ICT.
We have since begun massive deployment of 4G LTE to more Nigerian cities to sustain superior quality services, including making clear and crisp calls and having access to faster internet browsing and online experience, and we sustained the tempo in 2021. This will continue in 2022 as we play big in the launch of 5G-based services. Indeed, we are excited by the possibilities that 5G offers, especially as data is now an integral part of all our lives. Our promise to Nigerians over a decade ago when we entered the Nigerian market was to inspire, enable and support individuals and companies to do more. We have remained faithful to this commitment and will not renege or deviate from it in the New Year.
Happy New Year, Nigeria! May our country and world remain beautiful despite the challenges and imperfections.
Juergen Peschel is CEO of 9mobile
