As the newly appointed Ministers settle to their jobs, journalists in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, under the aegis of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), has felicitated with the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani over his appointment.

In a letter to the Minister, the Chairman of the Association, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi noted that the news of his appointment was a cheery one knowing his antecedent to deliver viable results in past endeavours.

“We have followed your steps in the ICT industry and are assured that without doubt, this is another position that you will make a great deal of impact in.

You are not new in creative, developmental and managerial affairs, but have been an active participant in decision-making and growth plans for the nation, hence our repose of trust in what you can do as the Minister of this expanded Ministry,” he enthused.

In the Association’s letter to the Minister, Mr. Onwuegbuchi further assured the Minister that NITRA is willing to work with the Ministry to ensure the achievement of set goals. He said NITRA is on standby for any collaboration that will guarantee the success of Dr. Tijani’s endeavours as the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy .

“We hope to work together to develop the industry and make the Ministry a reference point in the minds of Nigerians both at home and abroad,” he concluded.

The expectation is that the Minister will maintain the upward trajectory of ICTs contributions to the GDP.   His focus should be on leveraging ICT to transform Nigeria into a full digital economy.

Nigeria’s ICT sector contributed a significant 17.47% to Nigeria’s GDP (Real Gross Domestic Product) in the first quarter of 2023. This is according to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the NBS report, this amounts to about N3.1 trillion of the total N17.75 trillion of the country’s real GDP in the quarter. This is a notable increase in the ICT sector’s GDP contribution, surpassing the figures for the first quarter of 2022 which stood at N2.86 trillion.

The sector contributed 13.23% to the total nominal GDP in Q1 2023, surpassing the rates recorded in both the same quarter of the previous year (10.55%) and the preceding quarter (10.42%). This nominal growth represents a substantial increase of 41.84% during the quarter, marking a 21.30% point rise compared to the corresponding period of 2022.

The Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) is the umbrella body for ICT reporters and editors. Its membership is drawn across Print, Broadcast and Online media organisations, and spreads across the country. With its Quarterly and Annual events, which include ‘Breakfast With CEOs’; ‘NITRA Innovative Forum’; ‘NITRA Technology Forum’, among others, the Association has been able to drive conversations on the development of the ICT subsectors and the industry as a whole.

MTN Nigeria and Tecnotree, a Finnish based global provider of digital transformation solutions for have launched a digital services multi-experience platform called Tecnotree Moments.

 The multi-experience partner ecosystem offering aims to create lifestyle bundles of content, applications and connectivity through a pre-integrated digital partner ecosystem for global and local high-demand and hyper growth sectors.

The platform will attract leading partners across different sectors such as education, entertainment, gaming, sports, health and wellness, to enter Nigeria and using direct customer billing to convert ecosystem partners into instant revenue generators across enterprise and consumer segments.

MTN’s acting chief digital officer, Aisha Mumuni said, “MTN is constantly seeking partnerships to build platforms that provide superior service to our customers. We have always been deliberate about giving our customers the very best in digital content.

“This partnership is a reinforcement of that commitment. The platform will provide enormous quality content that cuts across education and entertainment for our customers,” said.

This collaboration between ‘Tecnotree Moments’ and MTN Nigeria is path-breaking for realising the full human potential of Nigerians across the country and creating an inclusive society that is key to promoting national development. Moments contains the complete Nigerian JSSCE, SSSCE and IGCSE syllabus in the form of interactive and immersive content and live classes.

Also, to remain relevant in the rapidly evolving digital economy, the MTN-Moments partnership will look at providing Massive Online Open Curriculum (MOOC) for career development and progression facilitating the acquisition of soft and technical skills just in time, not just in case. 

Considering the local skills and talent pool in the country, the platform will be launched first in Nigeria, with further plans to launch these services across other MTN OpCos in Africa and extend these services to Health Care, Fintech Sports and much more. 

‘Tecnotree Moments’ is a gateway of digital services and lifestyle bundling products, being launched with e-sports content such as PUBG Mobile Daily, FIFA Daily, Rocket League Daily, Fortnite Monthly and Fantasy Football. Its offerings also include Africa’s top-played games, with fresh games being updated regularly.

With dynamic brands including GamersHub Media Events (GHME), Smartlink, Hurix, MTutor and more the platform is uniquely positioned to cater for the convergence in education and gaming content around the globe that fosters social and emotional learning, imperative for personalized and adaptive experiences.

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has adjourned to January 12, 2022 the suit filed by the Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC) seeking to nullify the registration of the bottle design of Rite Foods’ Fearless Energy drink on the ground of busy dockets.

In the suit, NBC contends that the registration of the Fearless Energy’s bottle design was obtained by misrepresentation of facts to the Registrar of Patents and Designs. 

At the resumed hearing of the case before Justice A.O Faji on Tuesday, the court registrar informed the counsel to NBC that owing to the busy dockets of the court, the Judge had directed that the matter be adjourned to January 12, 2022 for hearing. 

According to the court processes filed by NBC, the Statement of Novelty filed by Rite Foods before the registrar contained significant misrepresentations as Rite Foods had claimed that prior to its application for registration of the bottle design, energy drinks were not packaged in PET bottles in Nigeria. Rite Foods had also claimed before the registrar that its bottle design had not been disclosed in any platform before the application for registration. 

These claims, according to NBC, are false, given that PET packaging for some energy drinks such as Lucozade Sport and Lucozade Energy drink manufactured in Nigeria by Suntory Beverage and Food Nigeria Limited dates as far back as 2011 long before Rite Foods applied to register the bottle design of its Fearless Energy drink.

NBC further contended that, contrary to the Statement of Novelty claims by Rite Foods to the Registrar of Patents and Designs, Rite Foods had long before the application for registration, advertised the bottle design on its website which was accessible to the viewing public. 

NBC submitted that the bottle design of Rite Foods’ Fearless Energy drink lacked novelty and had been disclosed to the public prior to Rite Foods’ application for its registration and therefore the registration of the bottle design was in violation of the Patents and Designs Act.

NBC therefore prays the Court for an order declaring certificate number 004183 with Registration number NG/DS/NT2020/1099 null and void ab initio for failure to comply with the provisions of section 13(1) (a) of the Patents and Design Act.  

NBC is also praying the Court to direct the Registrar of Patents and Designs to nullify and expunge all entries in the Register of Patents and Design relating to the registration of Rite Foods’ Fearless energy drink bottle design.