Govt bans use of imported SIMs for phone, Internet services in Nigeria

The Federal Government has banned the use of imported SIMs by companies offering telephony and data services in Nigeria under sweeping drive to promote local ICT content across key sectors of the economy. [blockquote right="pull-right"]The new guideline also stipulates at least 60% of all Value Added Services of any ICT company in Nigeria should come from an indigenous company within the first two years and at least and 80% within three years of the coming into effect of these new rules. [/blockquote] This is one of the key highlights of the newly-introduced guidelines by the Office for Nigeria Content in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), a unit of the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), set up to foster growth in the Nigerian technology ecosystem. [gallery type="slideshow" ids="22174,22173,22172,22171,22170,22165,22166,22167,22168,22169,22164,22163,22162,22161,22160,22157,22158,22159"] With the coming into effect of the new directive, mobile phone companies, which accounts for over active 127 million active phone lines have been given an 18-month to comply with the government order to “use only locally-manufactured SIM cards for the provision of data and telephony services.” The Nigerian telecoms industry accounts for a huge customer base with active lines totalling 127,097,196 in Q1 2014 and mobile GSM, mobile CDMA and fixed lines accounting for 98.26%, 1.6% and 0.14% respectively, according to official market information by the telecoms market watchdog, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Inye Kemabonta, the Acting National Co-Ordinator of ONC, who is also the Director of Standards and Regulation at (NITDA), unveiled the document to key industry stakeholders in Lagos, where he explained that the guidelines were developed to “enable the local ICT industry to contribute meaningfully towards the achievement of national development targets.” Kemabonta explained that the Office for Nigerian Content (ONC) is a semi-autonomous, development focused special purpose vehicle of NITDA set up by Omobola Johnson, the Minister of Communications Technology “for purpose of implementing the Guidelines for a Nigerian Content Development Program and of championing the growth and development of Nigerian content in ICT.” He told attendees at the event held at Ideas Hub in Yaba, Lagos that, “the ONC is charged with the mandate of “supercharging” key ICT economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to Nigerian firms in the ICT industry.” Under the implementation plan, the ONC’s Guidelines cut across various sector of the economy ranging from ICT companies, ICT hardware manufacturers, MDAs, among several other key players in the local ICT space. The new guideline also stipulates at least 60% of all Value Added Services of any ICT company in Nigeria should come from an indigenous company within the first two years and at least and 80% within three years of the coming into effect of these new rules. In a similar vein, all ICT hardware manufacturers must design and develop products that support Nigerian languages and local use case while all ODMs must conceptualize, design and produce all hardware in Nigeria. According to the new rules, for no reason should any data and information management firms host government data outside Nigeria without an express approval from NITDA and the Secretary to Government of the Federation, in the implementation of provision making it off-shore hosting of pubic sector data illegal. Government at all levels must patronise only local software producers according to the directive asking Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government at the Federal, State and Local Government levels to source and procure software from only local and indigenous software development companies. Users of Internet and other data services can now be allowed to delete their personal information with their service providers under the new rules that require network and Internet services companies to “provide consumers the right to delete their personal information, data and other records on any service on which they are subscribed.” Federal Government has also mandated multinational companies in Nigeria to carry out value added activities that contribute to job creation and the empowerment of Nigerians who comprise their market in the country. According to the Government mandate, multinationals in Nigeria are now required to be more than sales divisions, management of sales agents and channels, as part of other key requirements in the Guidelines on the next pages: Guidelines for ICT Hardware 10.1 OEMs shall: Maintain active certification withNITDA, renewable every four years. Re-certificationwill be based on the following conditions: Maintain local capacity for the production of multiple computing form factors and devices – desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, network devices etc. either directly or through a local ODM. Assemble all hardware within Nigeria and maintain fully staffed facilities for this purpose. Hold and maintain product and quality certifications such as ISO 14001, ISO 9001. Recapitalize and maintain a minimum market capitalization of Two Billion Naira. Hold andmaintain at least one platform certification such as: Windows Hardware Certification Android Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) Certification as well as comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) Have a grace period of two years from the effective date of this guideline to comply with the recertification criteria herein stated. Maintain at least 50% local content by value either directly or through outsourcing to local manufacturers engaged in any segment of the product value chain. There will be a time frame of 3 years for achieving the 50% local content. Maintain in-country R&D departments for the purpose of product conceptualization, innovation, adaptation, design and prototype development. Design and develop products that support Nigerian languages and local use case. Setup and operate after sales support, warranty support, return / repair centre as well as a customer service center for their products. This can be outsourced locally. Obtain and maintain technical conditions for international product quality certifications such as ISO 9001, IEC, CEPT, DIN and ASA Subject themselves to regular inspection of factory premises and manufacturing processes. Have a five-year duty waiver on computer components, which is for integration into locally assembled devices. Fully built computers or products shall be exempted. 1 0.2 ODMs shall: Maintain active certification withNITDA, renewable every four years.Recertificationwill be based on meeting the following conditions: ODMs will have equivalent capacity to OEMs for computer manufacture and assembly or proof of partnership with a certified OEM. ODMs must maintain local capacity to assemble and install minimum of one million devices per annum for multiple form factors – desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones either directly or through a local ODM. ODMs must conceptualize, design and produce all hardware within Nigeria ODMs must hold and maintain product and quality certifications such as ISO 14001, ISO 9001 at local facilities and for scope including design, manufacturing, sales and maintenance of various products being sold in the Nigerian market. ODM shall maintain a minimum capitalization of Five Billion Naira. ODM must hold andmaintain platform certifications in line with the demands of the OEMs they service, such as: Windows Hardware Certification Android Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) Certification as well as comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) Have a five-year duty waiver on computer components, which is for integration into locally assembled devices. Fully built computers or products are exempt. 10.3 Multinational Companies shall: Provide a local content development plan for the creation of jobs, recruitment of local engineers (not sales people), human capital development and value creation for the local ecosystem. 10.5 All MDAs shall: Source and procure all computer hardware only from NITDA approved OEMs. Purchase all hardware products locally. Purchase ICT hardware that have soft and hard keyboards capable of supporting Nigerian languages and the Naira sign Give preference to companies with existing hardware support facilities and functional service stations with impressive customer service metrics measured frequently Include the cost of support and maintenance in BOQ for all government IT deployments. Consider all IT projects as turnkey deployments and not mere supply of components. Vendors must demonstrate appropriate systems integration capability in order to qualify for large-scale projects. 10.6 NITDA shall: Lead and facilitate product demand generation initiatives such as Assisted PC purchase programs Promote the use of digital technologies as well as local development of software solutions for Education by facilitating Computer purchase programs, provide funding for software solutions in education and drive technology adoption initiatives in education. Collaborate with similar IT development agencies in neighbouring West African states in order to establish regional Information Technology tradeshows that will provide a platform to grow the local industry. Facilitate discussions with industry groups such as NCS, ALTON, ATCON, CAPDAN, ITAN, ISPAN, ISPON, etc. to engender local value creation. Publish technical standards of various ICT components, devices, subassembly etc. as a guide for local OEMs. Ensure that industry participants benefits from all investment incentives available to them by working with other government agencies to ensure that ICT firms benefit from such available incentives. Guidelines for Indigenous Software Development Companies 11.1 ISVs shall: Register their products, capabilities and organization on the NITDA portal. The service will be provided free of charge and devoid of bureaucracy and will ensure NITDA awareness of available resources. Demonstrate the ability to provide on-going support and continued development and maintenance of any software sold or deployed. Hold and retain exclusive rights over the reproduction, preparation of derivative works, distribution and public performance and display of their copyrighted work. Respect the intellectual property rights of others as set out in applicable local and global regulations Have access to seed capital and grants for start-ups, incubation programs and other forms of government-backed schemes. 11.2 SDFs shall: Register their products, capabilities and organization on the NITDA portal. The service will be provided free of charge and devoid of bureaucracy and will ensure NITDA awareness of available resources. Demonstrate the ability to provide on-going support and continued development and maintenance of any software sold or deployed. Hold and retain exclusive rights over the reproduction, preparation of derivative works, distribution and public performance and display of their copyrighted work. Respect the intellectual property rights of others as set out in applicable local and global regulations. Design and develop products and services that support Nigerian languages and local use case. Have access to seed capital and grants for start-ups, incubation programs and other forms of government-backed schemes. Hold and maintain CMM or ISO 9001 or any other standard certification in order to qualify for large scale software development bids. 11.3 Multinational companies shall: Provide verifiable information and sign affidavits about the origin, safety, source and workings of software being sold and deployed within the country in order to ascertain the full security of the product and protect national security Submit a Local Content Development Plan to NITDA/NCC for their platforms and products as part of requirements for registration within Nigeria and pre-qualification for any project to be carried out with any MDAs. This applies to companies already registered and operating within the country. 11.5 MDAs shall: Source software for which there is local capacity to design, develop, compile, test, troubleshoot, launch, maintain and improve such software application. Source and procure software from only local and indigenous software development companies; where the capacity for developing such software does not exist locally, procurement, installation and support will be provided by a Nigerian company. Consider all software solution projects as turnkey deployments and not mere supply of licenses and software. Therefore the vendor must demonstrate systems integration capability in order to qualify to carry out the project deployment. Carry out risk-based due diligence to identify, prevent and mitigate actual and potential adverse impacts that may arise from using software, including risks that arise from technical dependencies on software conceptualized and developed outside Nigeria. Obtain evidence of the origin, source and workings of all software being used including adequate assurance of the full security of source code. 11.6 NITDA shall: Enforce the provisions set forward in the National IT Policy as well as in these guidelines Enhance and promote the use of digital technologies as well as local development of software solutions for the critical sectors such as health, education, security etc. Champion and encourage the set-up of Business Incubator Schemes to accelerate the growth of the IT industry. Partner with financial institutions, venture capital firms, MNCs with venture capital divisions as well Angels investors to create a vibrant Venture Capital ecosystem for the IT sector Guidelines for ICT Service Provisioning 12.1 ICT Companies shall: Register Nigerian entities as defined in these guidelines which will have predominant Nigerian representation in keeping with the Nigerian content requirement. Provide a local content development plan for the creation of jobs, recruitment of local engineers, human capital development and value creation for the local ecosystem. Use only locally manufactured SIM cards for the provision of data and telephony services within 18 months of the coming into effect of these guidelines. Host all subscriber and consumer data locally within the country. Host their websites on .ng TLD. Migrate their internet peering provisions to locally available services such as the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria within Two (2) years Use local/ indigenous companies to build out cell sites, towers and base stations and ensure that at least 50% of the value of such sites, towers and stations are locally sourced. Use Nigerian companies for the provision of at least 60% of all Value Added Services on their network within the first two years of operation or within the first two years of the coming into effect of these guidelines and 80% within three years of the coming into effect of these guidelines. They must also ensure that such companies are creating at least 50% of the value of services provided locally. 12.2 NITDA shall: Lead and facilitate discussions on the setup of indigenous ICT service providers spanning the entire value chain ranging from hardware to software, networking to data management in order to drive greater local participation. Promote the development of local firms that can provide goods and services to other major/ multinational ICT companies. Foster the growth of value adding entities by encouraging innovation in the areas of mobile messaging, call completion services, visual voicemail, convergence management, social telephony, convergent charging etc. Ensure that all ICT firms comply with the guidelines for Nigerian content development and institute appropriate sanctions against those that fail to comply. Provide incentives and motivations for ICT service providers to develop their own unique local content offerings. Guidelines for Network & Internet Services 13.1 Networking companies shall: Register their products, capabilities and organizations on the NITDA portal. The service will be provided free of charge and devoid of bureaucracy and will ensure NITDA awareness of available resources. Provide evidence of the origin, source, paths and workings of network and Internet tools and services being used by the government, including adequate access to ascertain the full security of communications being sent through such platforms. Maintain security and audit protocols for all services being rendered which involve citizen’s data, data on corporations and MDAs. Support and effect the rights of authors, including mandating cooperation of hosting companies, internet service providers (ISPs) and other intermediaries to take down materials that infringe copyrights, trademark or other forms of intellectual property Provide the rights to consumers to delete their personal information, data and other records on any service on which they are subscribed Establish programs that increase awareness of consumer rights and appropriate expectations from content creators among the general public. Hold and maintain ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification 13.2 MDAs shall: Host their websites and other web services mandatorily on the.gov.ng domain as the only approved domain. Migrate their internet peering provisions to locally available services within 18 months Mandatorily source network and Internet services for which there are local capacity to setup up, maintain, monitor, optimize and access from local service providers with capacity to deploy such. Ensure that all routes of network traffic between communication points is known and monitored routinely Show evidence of awareness of the workings and full security of all communications being sent through their systems, including the maintenance of security and audit protocols. 13.3 NITDA shall 1. Develop guidelines and propose incentives to encourage the adoption of domain names on the . ng domain by the other public and private institutions and by individuals. Guideline for Data and Information Management 14.1 Data and Information Management Firms shall: Register their products, capabilities and organization on the NITDA portal. The service will be provided free of charge and devoid of bureaucracy and will ensure NITDA awareness of available resources. Host government data locally within the country and shall not for any reason host any government data outside the country without an express approval from NITDA and the SGF Hold and maintain ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification Proactively sell and market the .ng TLD in line with provisions of NiRA 14.2 MDAs shall: Promote as mandatory the presence of system logs and other computer data logging technologies to aid in the effective troubleshooting and forensic investigation of events in government and civil service systems Be responsible for ensuring that reasonable care is taken to adequately secure the data and information of government and civil service that is created, transferred and stored in digital formats Ensure that all government data is hosted locally inside the country within 18 months from the publication of these guidelines. 14.3 NITDA shall: Promote and support local data hosting firms and set appropriate service level requirements and standards for data service provisioning for such firms. Work with respective institutions to design and determine data formats and interchange standards across all levels of government and between various departments. Promote awareness of appropriate data formats, database technologies, computer security and other data and information technologies that will be used by the government and the civil service in order to achieve the right degree of security Work with the National Copyright Commission towards the implementation of the treaties of the WIPO, as well as drive the local adaptation of specific provisions. Work with the National Copyright Commission, Copyright Reform Expert Working Group; National Office for Technology Promotion and Acquisition, as well as with non-governmental and civil organizations like Intellectual Property Institute, Nigerian Chapter of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Copyright Society of Nigeria, etc. to achieve the harmonization of intellectual property rights so as to provide an incentive for innovators and creators. Guidelines for Human Capital Development in ICT 15.1 MNCs shall: Be required to be more than sales divisions, management of sales agents and channels. They are to carry out value adding activities in country that contribute to job creation and the empowerment of Nigerians who comprise their market. Be eligible for existing tax relief for Research and Development activities for multinational companies, a fiscal incentive which allows up to 120 per-cent of qualifying expenses on R&D to be tax deductible Be eligible for tax relief for long term R&D on Local raw materials, a fiscal incentive which allows up to 140 percent of expenses on patentable research to be tax deductible. 15.2 NITDA shall: Proactively address perception of quality of locally made ICT products and services by working with leading global quality organizations such as ISO, American Society for Quality, Lean Enterprise Institute, etc with the involvement of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and local industry groups (ITAN, NCS, ISPON etc.) to train and assist local ICT companies to improve their products and processes. Promote specialization in different areas of ICT in higher institutions and where possible provide funding for the setup of centres of excellence in select universities and higher institutions. Promote the creation of a minimum of six Software Engineering Centres of Excellence in partnership with Nigerian universities within the next two years. Each Software Engineering Centre shall: Produce a minimum of 200 Software Engineers annually that develop for leading operating system platforms using current programming languages and world class methods Maintain partnerships with at least one international technology platform company Maintain a curriculum that will be vetted by a Local Content Software Taskforce Review and rank ICT program across all universities in Nigeria in partnership with CPN (Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria) and COREN (Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria) to ensure global competitiveness and industry relevance of IT related programs. Promote the setup of the University of Information Technology to lead the study of and research in ICT. Partner with one or more first rate international journal(s) to establish a Journal of Information and Communications Technology in Africa and establish 500 million naira annual grant and research fund to sponsor academic research projects being conducted by Nigerian scholars and educational institutions across the world which focus on developing the IT sector in the country. Promote and facilitate the commercialization of university research activities in order to engender and encourage entrepreneurship and skills development out of Nigerian universities Provide incentives for Nigerian companies to develop for leading and emerging technology platforms to help the country transition from being a consumer to a producer of technology. Establish technology incubation programs, start-up communities, ICT clusters and other IT development networks to stimulate the growth of the sector. Setup and maintain a website that provides access to government data and information Promote and facilitate the creation of specialized software firms through incubation or funding programs so as to increase local participation in highly sophisticated systems design and development. Encourage multinational technology platform companies to transition from merely selling their technologies in Nigeria to creating their technologies in-country. Partner with CAPDAN, the Digital Bridge Institute and any other appropriate body to setup a Technical & Vocational Skill Acquisition and Training Programme for IT practitioners and small-scale vendors.

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