Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the licence of Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, to operate in Nigeria.
Elon Musk tweeted this announcement via his Twitter handle as the company has been providing satellite Internet access coverage to 32 countries.
Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe. Orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis within each coverage area.
The company received two licences, the International Gateway licence and the Internet service provider (ISP) licence, and will be trading as Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Ltd.
According to NCC, the International Gateway licence has a 10-year tenure, while the ISP licence lasts five years. Both licenses take effect from May 2022 and may be renewed after the expiration.
With high speeds and latency as low as 20 minutes in most locations, Starlink enables video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high data rate activities that historically have not been possible with satellite Internet. Users also have the option to take Starlink with them via the Portability feature or Starlink.
ICT Sector Contributes 16% to Nigeria’s GDP in Q1
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector made a 16.20 per cent contribution to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2022.
According to a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Information & Communication sector in the first quarter of 2022 recorded a growth rate of 12.07 per cent in real terms, year-on-year. From the rate recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, there was an increase of 5.60 per cent. Quarter-on-Quarter, the sector exhibited a growth of -9.09 per cent in real terms, revealing that the information and communication sector outperformed the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
The agricultural sector in the first quarter of 2022 achieved a 3.16 per cent growth (year-on-year) in real terms. This is an increase of 0.88 per cent from the corresponding period of 2021 and a decrease of 0.42 per cent from the preceding quarter, which recorded a growth rate of 3.58 per cent. It grew on a quarter-on-quarter basis at -28.90%.
The non-oil sector comprises economic activities in Information and Communication, Agriculture, Mining & Quarrying, Manufacturing and Education etc.
NBS data revealed that the non-oil sector – in real terms – posted a 93.37 per cent contribution to the nation’s GDP in the first quarter of 2022. This represents a 2.62 points increase to the share recorded in the first quarter of 2021 – 90.75 per cent.
According to the report, the non-oil sector grew by 6.08 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q1 2022). This rate was higher by 5.28 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2021 and 1.34 per cent points higher than the fourth quarter of 2021.
The ICT sector posted a significant contribution – 16.20 per cent – to the impact made by the non-oil sector in the Nigerian GDP Report Q1 2022.
FG Secures Deal to Create Digital Marketplace for Creators
The Federal Government has secured a three-year exclusive Intellectual Property Right (IPR) deal with Developing Africa Group (DAG).
With the newly-secured agreement with DAG, Nigerian photographers, actors, and other creators can now sell their registered Intellectual Property (IP) for royalties and proceeds.
This agreement would see Nigeria develop its official platform and launch a nationwide wallet where people upload any form of IP rights; sell or exchange them abroad while collecting royalties and proceeds in digital tokens or cryptocurrencies.
According to reports, the agreement covers trademarks, patents, and copyrights such as songs, lyrics, videos, shows, lectures, podcasts, and all forms of streamable content created and registered within the country.
This development came up two weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its long-awaited Digital Asset regulation to guide how digital assets such as cryptocurrencies are regulated in the country.
DAG CEO Ben Oguntala said the IP platform would be built on the Algorand Blockchain, which provides the performance, scalability, security, and functionality required to implement such a large-scale project but is also environment-friendly.
He further revealed that they selected an Argentina-based software company, Koibanx, as the tokenisation and payments engine for the platform.
Uber Hits One Billion Rides in Africa
Uber has announced hitting a milestone of one billion rides in Africa nearly ten years after its debut on the continent. It has also covered about 10 billion kilometres of distance across the continent.
The ride-hailing giant, which made this announcement in a statement recently, explained that the app doesn’t just support entrepreneurs and mobility but also makes mobility more affordable for the people on the African continent.
Uber is now present in seven other countries in Africa and has expanded to thirty cities across its major markets this year, including over 21 cities in South Africa, two cities in Ghana, and four cities each in Kenya and Nigeria (Uyo, Warri, Enugu and Kano).
Uber and Uber Eats have collectively reached over thirty million riders and eaters in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during the same period.
In a statement, the Head of Communications, East and West Africa, Uber, Lorraine Onduru, said, “Since entering the market in 2013, we have created over six million economic opportunities in over fifty SSA cities that we are present in. We pride ourselves in building locally using global expertise. Each country’s needs are unique, so we take the time to understand each of the market’s needs so we can be responsive and adapt accordingly.”
The company also shared that the most popular time users requested rides was 2:00 p.m, Friday was the most popular day users requested rides, the average trip time was 24 minutes, the longest recorded trip was over 492km, and the most popular drop-off destination was the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The company’s first-quarter earnings report showed that the company doubled revenue to over $6.9 billion compared with the first quarter of last year.
Autochek Acquires KIFAL Auto, Expands to North Africa
Nigerian automotive technology company Autochek has acquired Morocco’s KIFAL Auto for an undisclosed amount.
This acquisition represents one of the first major expansions of a West Africa-based start-up into North Africa. It facilitates effective Pan-African collaboration to drive innovation across the continent’s growing automotive market.
Autochek is an automotive technology company making car ownership more accessible and affordable across Africa, while KIFAL Auto facilitates the purchase and sale of used cars, covering financing, warranties, insurance, and other services.
Commenting on the acquisition, Autochek CEO and co-founder Etop Ikpe explained that he was excited about this new partnership and was looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship for years to come.
“The first interaction with Nizar and his team at KIFAL Auto, I was so impressed by their passion for delivering effective solutions and their commitment to innovation.
They have built an excellent platform, and we are thrilled to have them onboard at Autochek to support the work we are doing to improve the automotive finance value proposition in Africa. There are so many parallels in our individual stories,” he said in a statement.
Autochek has existing operations across West and East Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Uganda), with over 1,500 dealers as partners across its markets.
It also has partnerships with more than 70 financing partners, including Access Bank, Ecobank, and UBA.
Tech Personality of The Week:
Confidence Staveley
This week’s tech personality is the Founder and Executive Director of CyberSafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley.
Cybersafe Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organisation on a mission to facilitate pockets of changes that ensure a safer internet for everyone with digital access in Africa.
Through their flagship initiative, #NoGoFallMaga, they have in the recent past launched cybersecurity awareness campaigns reaching over 20,000,000 people, organised cybersecurity awareness training for over 4,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and educated over 9000 employees of these organisations, and launched Africa’s first storified cybersecurity awareness.
NoGoFallMaga is a national movement of young people to combat preventable digital fraud with consumer-centred sensitisation and education.
They also recently launched the Pan-African cybersecurity awareness tool called The Sabi Toolkit.
This tool provides the user with proactive preventive measures and practical steps to stay safe as they navigate the digital world. Confidence is also passionate about closing the gender gap in technology and has launched two initiatives: DigiGirls and CyberGirls.
With Cybersafe Foundation as an implementation partner and in partnership with the UK, FCDO and KPMG, she played a major role in launching a cybersecurity toolkit for SMEs in Nigeria.
Staveley won Cyber security Woman of the Year 2021 and was included as one of the top 50 women in cyber security Africa 2020 finalists. Staveley secured over £100,000 from the UK government’s funding for cyber security. She was recently a speaker at the world bank’s first cybersecurity event, the ‘DiGiTalk’ Series.
