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Nigeria Innovation Summit 2018 as it happened [Communiqué]

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  • channels attention on building a Culture of Innovation in Nigeria for Sustainable Economic Growth

The 2018 edition of the Nigeria Innovation Summit with the theme: ‘Building a Culture of Innovation in Nigeria for Sustainable Economic Growth, organized by Emerging Media, held at Ventures Parks, Maitama and Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre on September 25-26, 2018 was successfully concluded with the participation of over 400 delegates and stakeholders.

The delegates cut across Federal and State government, International organisations, Diplomats, businesses, investors, academia, research communities, business leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, students and from within and outside Nigeria in attendance.

The overall objective of the summit focuses on the need for the country, businesses, organisations, entrepreneurs in Nigeria to become more innovative and apply innovation to drive sustainable development and bridge the digital divide. In collaborating with the International Society for Professional Innovation Management, UK, and the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability, South Africa, and SA Innovation Summit, we are bringing all the ideas from the Summit to practical application across the focused sectors.

Audrey Verhaeghe, Chairperson, South Africa Innovation Summit

The Summit program included Workshops on Innovation Management facilitated by ISPIM, Keynote Sessions, Panel Discussions/Interactive Sessions which focused on: Collaboration To Build The Future of Nigeria Through Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Building a Culture of Innovation in Nigeria for Sustainable Economic Growth; and The Future of Innovations, Collaborations and Opportunities for Nigeria and Africa. There were also Networking Session, Start-ups and Innovative Business Presentations and the Nigeria Innovation Awards.

Stella Bida, Founder Senior Managing Partner at Innovation.Stratey.Results, Belgium.

The speakers include: Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, EVC, Nigeria Communications Commission;  Dr. Audrey Verhaeghe, Chairperson, South Africa (SA) Innovation Summit; Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami , DG/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Bobby Moroe, Acting South African High Commissioner to the Nigeria; Richard Ough, Economic Development Team Leader & Senior Economic Adviser, DFID Nigeria; Stella Bida, Senior Managing Partner at Innovation.Strategy.Results, Belgium; Engr. (Prof) Okechukwu F. Ukwuoma, DG, NACETEM; Kola Aina, CEO/Founder, Emerging Platform, Abuja; Bruno Woeran, Director Project Development for, International Society for Professional Innovation Management, ISPIM, UK; Rubin Rose and Satya Mekala of International Account Manager, World Telecom Labs, Belgium; Abayomi Baiyere, Assistant Professor of Digitalization at Copenhagen Business School; Dr. (Mrs) Wakawa, R. C. and Mr, Yusuff Adeleke of NACETEM.

The following are the submissions and recommendations from the Summit signed by the Programme Director, Tony Ajah:

Bobby Moroe, Acting South African High Commissioner to Nigeria and Tony Ajah, programme director of Nigeria innovation Summit

*To build a culture of innovation in Nigeria, we must build strong institutions that will nurture and grow these innovations, strengthen and reposition the existing ones institutions.

* Nigeria is in dire need of growing her own innovative and disruptive ideas that will transform the country and bring in foreign investments.

*We can transform the economy by producing a quality technology-based entrepreneurship pipeline and attract foreign and local investment, and hence become a giant accelerator to Nigeria’s economy.

*The Summit in partnership with ISPIM was ready to connect Nigeria entrepreneurs and innovators with the rest of the world, where they can get funding and also bring their innovative ideas to the global stage.

* Nigerian youths should be supported and encouraged to embrace technology, innovation and entrepreneurship so as to build the future of Nigeria.

* The Summit organisers are working with innovation ecosystems around the world to support Nigerian Innovators through the African Innovation Academy (http://africaninnovation.academy) and promoting Open Innovation in collaboration with the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability, South Africa, which will encourage corporate, small business and start up innovations.

*The Summit has developed a strategic plan to harvest innovations in all geo-political zones in the country and address the issue of innovation deficit through a national wide innovation challenge. We are focusing more on home grown technological innovations that are strategically designed to solve unique Nigerian problems, and are open to partner with organizations, government agencies and companies to achieve this project.

Cross section of attendees at Nigeria innovation Summit 2018

The Summit ended with the presentation of Nigeria innovation Awards to  many organisations: Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) For Enabling Telecommunication Innovation In Nigeria; Dr. Audrey Verhaeghe For Her Effort in Promoting Open Innovation in Africa; Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, For His Pioneering Effort in Technology Development in Nigeria through NITDA; DFID Nigeria For Their Strategic Partnerships in Supporting and Promoting Innovation in Nigeria; Stella Bida For Her Global Effort in Promoting Innovation; Bobby Moroe For His Passion For Africa’s Industrialization; Kola Aina For His Effort in Startup Development in Nigeria; International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) For Championing Innovation Management Around the World; and National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) For Their Effort in Promoting Technology Management in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Innovation Summit, a delegates from  South Africa, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, British High Commission/DFID,  South African High Commission, French Embassy in Nigeria, NCC, NITDA, NACETEM, Nigeria internet Registration Association (NiRA), and delegates from several government agencies, representatives from several states, academic communities and research institutes, international organisations and top private companies.

*TechEconomy.ng

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The Economics of Product Decisions: Applying Behavioural Economics and Game Theory in PM

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Amarachi Nnochiri
Amarachi Nnochiri

Product managers often need to make a clear-cut decision: what should we build next? But the decisions which hold real importance go beyond adding features.

It’s about getting what makes people tick.

It goes way beyond what you would expect, getting into how people behave and using game theory.

These areas give insight into how users decide and how a product’s design can improve growth and keep people interested.

This is what Amarachi Nnochiri excels at. She is a senior product manager that knows how to use economics and psychology in her job.

She goes beyond simply managing product tasks; she develops whole product systems based on how users think, feel, and use a service. Her background shows how understanding human psychology and behaviour can give you a significant advantage in the competition.

One idea Amarachi uses is  “loss aversion.” In this scenario, people feel worse about losing something than they feel good about gaining something of equal value.

She uses this when designing her products, mostly when it comes to pricing and getting people to try new strategies. For example, instead of giving a free trial, she might use a freemium setup where users get some stuff for free but could lose it if they don’t buy an upgrade. This pushes them to pay.

She might also use progress bars or streak counters, since losing progress gets people to keep using the product.

Amarachi also uses ideas from “game theory” to get how users act and change their behavior. She realizes that users are doing more than operating a product, but are playing a game with other users or with the product itself. She designs things that use ideas like “Nash equilibrium,” where nobody can do better by changing what they’re doing. For a social product, this could mean creating a system where doing something good for yourself (like inviting friends) also helps everyone else. This makes the whole thing stable and positive.

Her know-how in game theory also applies to making strong “network effects.” This means making stuff that gets better as more people use it.

A good example is a social network where each new user makes the product more helpful for everyone else. Amarachi endeavours to make things go viral on purpose, not just by luck.

She might use “commitment devices,” which are things that make a user stick with a behaviour by making them depend on it socially or functionally. For example, inviting team members to a tool makes the user stick with the platform and makes the product’s network stronger.

This way of thinking is better than just following the usual steps. By using these economic and psychological tricks, Amarachi develops competitive advantages which are difficult to replicate.

She knows that a company’s best thing is not just a simple interface, but a product that’s designed to sync with how people behave.

Her product choices aren’t just about the needs of users, but equally focus on motivating them to like the product, use it, and stick with it.

In her work, choosing a subscription price isn’t just a business thing; it’s about behaviour. Designing a social feed isn’t just about the content; it’s about balancing what people want and watching how they interact. Amarachi knows extensively about the economics of product decisions. This makes her products innovative and appealing to human behaviour, which leads to more use, keeps people around, and helps the product grow. She’s a leader in product management, where identifying customer desires is backed by understanding human motivation.

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Glo reduces international call rates 

By Sandra Ani

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Glo and Globacom


Technology Company, Globacom, has announced significant reductions in its International Direct Dialing (IDD) rates, making international calls more affordable for its existing and new customers across Nigeria.

Effective August 10, the new rates began applying to over 15 popular international destinations, including United States which will has moved to ₦30 per minute, down from ₦35, United Kingdom is now N350 from ₦400, while India also moved down to ₦40 from N45.

The rates for China, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon however recorded major reduction moving to N75, N300 and ₦700 respectively.


The reduction was also extended to African countries including Benin Republic which goes for ₦650 per minute, Niger Republic ₦750, Ghana ₦500, and Togo ₦650. United Arab Emirates also moved from ₦450 to ₦325, Germany to ₦550, Côte d’Ivoire ₦700, Libya ₦700, while calls to Malawi is now N1,100 from ₦1,200.

Glo aims to provide more value for its customers through these revised rates, encouraging them to make Glo their preferred network for international calls. New IDD bundles will also be introduced, offering frequent international callers even more attractive deals.

Globacom, which remained optimistic that frequent international callers will benefit immensely from the reductions in IDD bundles, enjoined customers to take advantage of the new rates to stay connected with friends and business associates across the globe.

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Oil subsidy removal freed up resources for infrastructure – Enugu Governor 

By Orji Israel, South East Correspondent

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Oil benchmark

The Executive Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has attributed the financing of numerous infrastructure projects embarked by the state government to the oil subsidy removal policy of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

He made this declaration at the Govermment House, Enugu, during a courtesy visit by a delegation of federal government led by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, as part of activities lined up for the 2-day Citizens’ Engagement Series in the South East geo-political zone.

“For us in Enugu, we are able to accomplish all we promised our people during the campaign, thanks to the bold decision taken by President Bola Tinubu, which has freed up resources needed to execute humongous capital projects,” said Governor, while listing ongoing projects in the state, which include the construction of 7,000 classrooms, 3,300 hospital beds and 2,000-hectare of 260 farm estates across the 260 wards of the state.

Governor Mbah also pledged more support for the policies of the federal government, saying they are in the best interest of the people of the state.

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