Nigeria Can Be The Silicon Valley Of Africa In The Next Few Years!!! By Ogbeide Ifaluyi-isibor

 

Silicon Valley is a nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, which

 

 is located in California. It is home to many of the world's largest high-tech corporations, as well as thousands of tech startup companies.

 

 A couple of the hi-tech companies in the Silicon valley include.Yahoo,Dell,Sony,Twitter,Apple, Google, Intel, HP, Oracle, Facebook with myriad of Thriving start-ups..

 

Nigeria occupies a strategic location on the African continent,she has a developing Economy, one of the Fastest growing in the world and has maintained positive ratings for the last decade and enjoys a single inflation rate and with a growing population of about 170 million,she's a very ripe destination for Technology related enterprise.

 

The Technological advancements in Nigeria is unprecedented as the number of internet users has grown by over 200% in the last 10 years with over 100 million mobile phone users.

The zest for Entrepreneurship and Technological start-ups in Nigeria is highest on the continent even as more Nigerian Entrepreneurs venture into the business of Technology with her obvious short comings..

 

 One major policy statement of the Jonathan administration was to make Nigeria a destination ground for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), as well as position the country to be among the first 20 economies of the world in the year 2020.

 

All these are laudable initiatives but they lack technology investment and drive. There is however no meaningful development without investment in technology and Government at all levels and the Private sector must increase her investment in Technology and our youths that are technology savvy must be encouraged to develop their skills in technology.

 

We must also partner with Foreign investors to get relevant infrastructure in place,Power must be relatively stable,The Legislature must amend relevant laws guiding Free Zone Operation in Nigeria which could be the best template for a Silicon valley operation of some sort,we must establish more Universities of Technology that would provide a veritable foundation for Technological growth and advancement just as Key indicators capable of attracting investors must be put in place

 

If we can get out acts together and then the relevant infrastructure in place in the next few years,we would be the Next Silicon valley of Africa and the cynosure of all eyes on the Global Stage…..by Ogbeide Ifaluyi-isibor.