14 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2022 4th industrial revolution: Teachers get empowered on digital literacy By Juliet Umeh A number of secondary school teachers across the country recently got the opportunity to better equip their students for the 4th industrial revolution, as they benefitted from the critical digital training made possible with the collaboration of the National Senior Secondary School Education Commission, NSSEC and Coderina Education and Technology Foundation. The partnership is primarily By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor Africa's Large-Ticket Trade market is faced with a severe cash crunch. In sectors like Fuel forecourt, this has influenced results across three key areas; credit, utilization and ownership. For Credit, given the severe cash crunch, most operators source products on credit through trustbased supplier relationships. Most of this credit remains informal. On Utilization, Most trading outlets under-utilize their facilities due to difficulties in sourcing products and maximizing margins to cover working capital costs Similarly, on ownership, most trading outlets are being operated on leases as operators embrace a more cash-flow friendly model over direct ownership Meanwhile, Operators need access to swift product supply and formal credit systems that can be leveraged to meet their product demand while being environmentally responsible. Tradegrid, a business to business, B2B marketplace platform had grown to become the largest network of independent retail stations by solving this problem through a seamless application of their proprietary technology. Its solutions come in four benefit packages that allow customers achieve: aimed at unlocking Nigeria's human capital development by enabling teachers to prepare students for the fourth industrial revolution, 4IR. The selected teachers from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, participated in the SAP Africa Code week, with over 300 teachers trained in one week. The Executive Secretary of NSSEC, Prof. Benjamin Abakpa, said that repositioning the education system starts with Low-cost credit; a formalized and easily accessible credit option which will allow traders and operators purchase as much product as they need and pay back as they sell. Increased margins: Traders need to increase the margins on their products by cutting out flagship Non-Fuel Revenue product. Reduced order fulfillment time: This is greatly important considering that efficiency and value is lost in the current long waiting time it takes for traders and operators to join long queues at the depot for new products offtake. Reducing this time will optimize their operations and cashflow Transition to a cleaner Energy mix: One of TradeGrid's Boost product is providing teachers with the proper education and tools to prepare students adequately. He noted that the partnership is a huge step toward fulfilling the commission's mandate to reposition the country's education system in alignment with the future of work requirements. He said: “Therefore, teacher's education is one key area that the NSSEC will focus on, among other necessary initiatives, to help fulfil its mandate. “As we work to raise a tech-savvy As Cash crunch hits SMBs Tradegrid helps with seamless trade solutions, boundless growth mechanisms We have bootstrapped operations since first transaction in January 2022, rapidly growing adoption and now recording over $1.5Mn in Quarterly Gross Sales transforming the forecourt experience from simple fueling stations to holistic multi-experience centers. Making it robust with alternative energy mixes like natural gas, EV charging among others., wholesome retailing like grocery marts, spare-parts e-stores and all, while also monetizing its high footfall traffic and other latent assets through LED advert boards. The company launched just last year in Nigeria and expanded into East African markets like Kenya, later this year. It has rapidly become the largest network of forecourt retailers on the continent. Tradegrid is backed by global investors including U.S based Fluna Capital, as well as numerous other investors from SoftBank, PwC and Harvard Business Review. It is run by a team of professionals comprising trade and e-commerce veterans with strong operations experience from giants like Jumia. Managing Director Tradegrid, Mr Paul Adeyoyin said Trading is the largest profession on the continent, and the company is geared to becoming the Number one solutions partner to the continent's exponentially growing trade SMBs, by providing modern business tools that help them thrive in today's digital age. Adeyoyin said: "We have bootstrapped operations since first transaction in January 2022. We are delivering strong growth at our core, while rapidly building defensible moats and enhancing our eco-system of offerings. generation of students, we must also raise a generation of techsavvy teachers. Coding should be part of the education curriculum, like other literacy and numeracy subjects. Coding is as much about creativity as it is about math, science, and problem-solving.” Also, Coderina BOT Chairman, Mr. Femi Niyi, explained: "In response to the future of work, education must evolve to support teachers in developing individual student's potential and preparing students to become lifelong WAPI 2022: How tech'll make real estate industry seamless Stories by Juliet Umeh eal estate investors have called Rfor more technology adoption in their business, to leapfrog the bottlenecks which bogged the industry in the past. They used the opportunity of West African Property Investment, WAPI, summit in Lagos recently, to express their desire to advance the real estate business with technology. They contended that only focused tech adoption in the real estate ecosystem in Nigeria will usher seamless processes. The 8the annual WAPI event, held to identify investment opportunities across multiple subsectors, was sponsored by hospitality firms like Radisson Hotel Group and real estate firms like Pennek, Spleet, Novare, BuyLetLive among others. Speaking to some of the experts who decried poor adoption of technology in the sector, they noted that Nigeria is coming up but that there is room for an improvement as adoption is still far below compared to developed countries. For instance, Chief Operating Officer at an online real estate company, BuyLetLive.com, Modupe Agbolahan, said although the adoption of technology has been good because people now see technology as the way they can post their property online. However, she said: “Nigeria is far back when it comes to technology, especially in the real estate industry. She said: “Unlike before, to rent a house you go through an agent, you go around inspecting the property but with technology it’s easier and cheaper with N200 you can get data, browse the houses, and check their prices. “So, our technology and engineering team have the best features that will ensure that the real estate industry and Nigeria at large is well positioned when it comes to tech. “Our mission is simple, to ease and simplify the process of selling and buying in the real estate market, building a product that will simplify the process for all the parties, the users, agent, developers and everybody in the real estate eco system. We build a platform to simplify the process. Also, Head, Marketing and Communications at Spleet, another proper technology company, Tofunmi Alo, said Spleet introduced innovative ways to transform real estate. She said: “It provides people the opportunity to pay monthly. You can come online on SPLEET, find your house, and connect to the landlord or tenant, then pay monthly not yearly.” Speaking at the WAPI Summit, she said: “We want to build a Spleet community. The event is an opportunity to meet with people and introduce our product to them. We will demo the product, answer questions and get feedback and meet others in the ecosystem. “We began five years ago with a marketplace connecting landlords to tenants, but now we have a product called Verify and another product coming up next year. She added, “Spleet is also with the aim to provide tools for landlords and agents, not just provide houses for tenants, but financing their rent for them. We plan to expand our product and service to other countries like Kenya, Ghana, and other African countries. Pantami, others honoured for positive leadership in ICT sector he Minister of Communications Tand Digital Economy and the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC Prof. Umar Danbatta, were among the individuals who were honoured at the Africa Tech Alliance Forum, AfriTECH recently. Africa Tech Alliance Forum awards ceremony aims to celebrate and reward companies and individuals on the African continent that have demonstrated excellence in the areas of innovative product/service development, policy/ regulations, among other areas. Pantami who received Digital Economy Hero of the Year Award was recognised for his resilience and leadership excellence leading to Nigeria’s digital economy progress. The areas include the National Identity Database, Commercial 5G Rollout, enactment of the Nigeria Start-up Act and the global branding his personality brought to Nigeria as the Chairman of UN-WSIS 2022. Similarly, Prof. Danbatta bagged 5G learners so that they can innovate tomorrow's world and solve reallife problems in their communities. “The SAP Africa Code week, the most extensive digital literacy on the continent of Africa, is designed to demystify coding and make it a learned skill for students. However, achieving this would require teacher training and transformation from traditional teaching styles to pedagogy that supports the acquisition of 21st century skills and competencies necessary in the 4IR. Core Leadership Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership in the African Telecommunications industry, especially the outstanding performance during the cause of commercial 5G launch in Nigeria. Other special honourees at the award ceremony include Director General, National Information Technology Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; General Manager, Fixed Broadband, MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka and Faculty Member, Institute of Humanities, Pan-Atlantic University, PAU, Lagos, Dr. Ruth Oji. PAN-Africa CyberSecurity Excellence Award was conferred on Co-Founder/ Chief Visionary Officer, CVO, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Adewale Peter Obadare, for his exceptional achievements and contributions to the development of cybersecurity in Africa, while Co-Founder/Chief Technology Officer, CTO, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, bagged Blockchain Technology Mastery Personality Award. ngPIF forum: Stakeholders move to achieve internet connectivity to underserved T he need to get critical services to the underserved and far flung areas of the country dominated discussions at the 2022 Nigerian Peering and Interconnection Forum, ngPIF, recently. The reason was not farfetched. Connectivity is at the centre of extending services to where they are needed and stakeholders who attended the event, including Lagos state gover, Babajide Sanwo Olu, felt nobody should be left out of the critical services in a society that aims to play big in the comity of nations. As a result, the two day event, organised by Nigerian Network Operators Group, ngNOG, and the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, IXPN, mainly centred on the practical knowledge and advanced network interconnectivity offerings that can benefit the underserved. Taking the first shot, Sanwo-olu said that 2022 ngPIF was very relevant and of national significance. He said: “Today, I am pleased to be among experts in the Infrastructure, Digital Content Provision, Network Services and Policymaking, as they engage, share experiences, and learn from experts in their fields.” The Governor, who was represented by Mr. Hakeem Fahm, Commissioner for Science and Technology, added that no one can ignore the vital role of technology in improving infrastructural facilities and enhancing economic growth and development, saying: “The forum has focused efforts on strengthening cooperation and communication with all stakeholders in the utility infrastructure sector, particularly considering the huge challenge currently faced by the industry and the world.
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2022 —15
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