An artificial intelligence system builder and automation specialist, Mary Mmoh, says digital infrastructure remains the most critical gap holding back Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.
Ms Mmoh said this in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday, while responding to a question on what Nigeria needed to build a stronger technology sector.
She said reliable electricity, internet connectivity, data centres and access to cloud infrastructure were the foundations that allowed technology companies to build and scale.
She noted that Nigerian technology companies often built locally but deployed their solutions on foreign infrastructure, a development she said was expensive because of the exchange rate.
She said that it was therefore imperative for the government to invest in local data centres and dedicated servers, as these would significantly reduce the cost of operating technology solutions in Nigeria.
She added that access to reliable internet and affordable cloud and computing resources would further support the growth.
Ms Mmoh also said limited access to capital and poor market reach were also major challenges facing Nigerian technology companies.
She said some companies had built genuinely useful solutions but lacked the resources to market them or reach the right audience effectively.
She noted that potential users were sometimes unaware such solutions existed because of limited infrastructure, affordability issues, and low awareness.
Ms Mmoh said it was therefore imperative that both sides come together, with technology companies getting the capacity to reach their markets and potential users getting the infrastructure and awareness to adopt solutions.
She also said that the government had a role to play by creating an enabling environment where emerging technology companies could grow and compete effectively.
She added that a good technology solution had a better chance of becoming a sustainable business when the right conditions were in place.
The AI expert also called for a structured research and development centre where Nigerian researchers, startups and businesses could collaborate to develop practical solutions.
She said government support would be critical, particularly in providing funding, infrastructure and opportunities to test and deploy solutions at market level.
She stressed the need for a platform that would help move useful ideas beyond research into products that could actually reach consumers.
Ms Mmoh said Nigerian startups should also think about the global market from the start, building with international users in mind. She said this should include using reliable infrastructure that could support customers in different locations and offering payment options that support different currencies.
She added that startups should also consider international data protection and regulatory requirements so their products could be easily adopted outside Nigeria. According to her, what separates technology companies that survived changing market demands is their ability to understand user adoption and adapt continuously.
She said such companies invested in research, development, and education. She had stronger business capacity, with access to investors that gave them room to grow, and added that companies that faded away gradually after launching their first product often lacked the capacity or willingness to keep evolving with the market.
(NAN)