Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Presidential Candidate, Mr Ibrahim Dikko, who is alos Managing Director/CEO at Backbone Connectivity Nigeria Limited, speaks exclusively with Technology Times unfolding his plans for the Nigerian telecoms industry, if he becomes the next President of the influential telecoms industry trade group. Excerpts:
Mr Ibrahim Dikko: Okay. I think that, you know, ATCON as an organisation, there are five pillars to my focus.
One is around brand identity, membership value, revenue, sustainability, and obviously an overarching strategy. The idea behind each of this, you know, is that we need to improve its capability and capacity to be a leader in research and thought leadership.
From the membership value, right, we have better, have this membership to be, you know, sought and after, you know, have that kind of high value membership.
Government has recently responded by removing excise duty. So what we need to do is to ensure that we identify and we engage the relevant pillars of the ecosystem, strengthen them, and to make people realise that the better we work together, the more that there is in overall benefit for everybody. So, it will be really if we can protect and we refocus our organisation, and focus on the ecosystem.
Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Presidential Candidate, Mr Ibrahim Dikko, who is also Managing Director/CEO at Backbone Connectivity Nigeria Limited.
Also, we cannot also escape from the current reality, in that our business, not only being international, but, the African trade agreement, right, so we need to also look out internationally. ATCON has to have a science on that also. So it is to look both locally and internationally.
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On the revenue side, we need to improve the resources of the association, so we need to diversify the streams, look at how we can do that via any fees from research, from content and other types of models.
And from a sustainability plan, we need to recalibrate our advocacy focus and agenda. You know, this also from the basis of the digital ecosystem, So we need to engage both industry and non-industry, right, government and non-government, and build a coalition of ecosystems in order to drive sustainability, improve policy implementation, and establish a platform for innovation and activity.
You know, this leads us to the last one, about our strategy. One of the key pillars that we need to look at is, and align with, the government’s drive for establishing Nigeria in the forefront of most technology, and as a digital economy. The pillars that the government has established, the national broadband plan, national broadband strategy, we need to engage, not only with the government, but with other regulators and businesses, to ensure that we support the digital ecosystem. And, therefore, you know, drive, actually as a person that propagates change and vitality.
Technology Times: To address the second question, what are your strategic plans for addressing telecoms industry challenges, to ensure that they are addressed in the overall interests of your industry and ATCON members?
Mr Dikko: Well, from an industry perspective, already ICT, today ICT is the largest contributor to GDP to the country. So already we are in a premium position. We have also the most capitalised company on the stock exchange.
So both as a platform, and as a platform, we are already driving change in the country. What we need to do to strengthen our ecosystem and engagements. You mentioned some of the challenges is the industry power and the vandalism of ICT infrastructure.
Government has recently responded by removing excise duty. So what we need to do is to ensure that we identify and we engage the relevant pillars of the ecosystem, strengthen them, and to make people realise that the better we work together, the more that there is in overall benefit for everybody. So, it will be really if we can protect and we refocus our organisation, and focus on the ecosystem.
Technology Times: If the question were to be asked, what would qualify Ibrahim Dikko in terms of industry competence, performance and contributions to the telecoms industry in Nigeria to become the next leader of ATCON, what would be your answer?
Mr Dikko: I believe that I’m actually capable of doing that. I’ve been a member of ATCON, I’ve been in the industry for about 10 years as MD of BCN. Even before joining BCN, I’ve been near the industry. BCN is one of the leading technology companies in the country. I have good experience and knowledge. I was a member of the National Broadband Plan that was launched by President Buhari in 2020. I think that I have both the knowledge and also the experience to lead the association to greater heights.
