At a recent Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) Thought Leadership Programme, industry experts discussed the profound impact of 5G technology on Nigeria’s economy and various sectors.
Mrs Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, the General Manager of Fixed Broadband at MTN Nigeria Communications, emphasized the potential of 5G to enhance efficiency and productivity for both Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large-scale industries across the nation.
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The 5G Journey: A Technological Advancement Revolutionizing Society
Ikenna-Emeka highlighted the journey from 1G to 5G as a testament to humanity’s relentless pursuit of technological advancement, with each generation shaping modern society in significant ways. She stressed that 5G had the potential to revolutionize numerous industries beyond smartphones, enabling advancements in autonomous vehicles, remote healthcare, smart cities, virtual reality, and more.
Recognizing the critical role of SMEs in driving the economy, Ikenna-Emeka emphasized that these businesses stood to benefit greatly from technological advancements.
“5G is very relevant to industrialisation as it digitizes processes via the internet of things as devices interact with each other in real time therefore playing a large role to galvanize the economy and create more opportunities.” She said.
She outlined MTN’s commitment to co-developing solutions, including 5G adoption, to help SMEs achieve the necessary efficiencies and drive their success. With its digitization capabilities and real-time interaction among devices via the Internet of Things, 5G can play a pivotal role in galvanizing the economy and creating more opportunities.
“As a result, MTN prides itself in co-developing solutions such as 5G adoption to help these classes of businesses achieve the needed efficiencies and effectiveness to drive their success.” She said.
Data-Driven Solutions: Enabling Effective Decision-Making Across Sectors
Ikenna-Emeka underscored the importance of information and effective decision-making in today’s world. She highlighted that 5G’s ability to facilitate data analysis, consumption, and interpretation across various sectors of the economy made it a crucial enabler of the digital ecosystem.
Embracing data-driven solutions and the levels of industrial automation offered by 5G, businesses could unlock new opportunities for competitiveness.
Creating Opportunities Through Technological Up-Skilling
Dispelling concerns about job displacement, Ikenna-Emeka emphasized that the evolution of 5G would create new opportunities requiring technological up-skilling. She encouraged individuals to acquire the necessary skills to thrive in a technologically dynamic environment. Organizations must prioritize relevant skill adoption to ensure success in a digitally advanced world.
“Organisations are ensuring that the skills that are adopted are relevant in a digitally advanced world.
“So, it won’t displace jobs but will create opportunities and what I will say is that humans should just continue to up-skill, re-skill and learn new things,” she said.
Ikenna-Emeka urged organizations to invest in infrastructure that guarantees cybersecurity. She emphasized that 5G technology alone cannot address the risks associated with cyber threats. To foster more investments in the technology space, Nigeria must address challenges related to the vandalism of technological infrastructure.
MTN’s Commitment and Collaborative Efforts
Ikenna-Emeka reiterated MTN’s commitment to expanding 5G technology coverage across Nigeria. She emphasized the importance of collaboration between the government, businesses, and other stakeholders in driving the penetration of 5G. Drawing inspiration from South Africa’s use cases of 5G in the mining ecosystem, she called for the creation of an environment that allows the expression of various use cases in Nigeria, such as private networks for oil and gas environments, smart cities, smart taxation, and smart primary healthcare facilities.
The President of NBCC, Ms Bisi Adeyemi, explained that the Thought Leadership Programme aimed to bridge the knowledge gap and leverage the opportunities presented by technology adoption. Nigeria, being the largest economy in Africa with a young, vibrant, and tech-savvy population, has a government committed to developing the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.