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African Diaspora send over $40 billion dollars in remittances every year, but is that enough to inspire innovation and entrepreneurship across the continent? Project Diaspora doesn't think so, and in response they've started the BizSpring Africa Enterprise Development Program.

BizSpring is a multi-platform effort to leverage capital inflow from Diaspora and global investment for African small and medium sized business growth in Africa. It will consist of on-line networking, in-person innovation and entrepreneurship conferences, and a resource database that tap global skills and motivation to act as a linkage between Africa’s entrepreneurs and innovators with resources to grow and prosper.

The first conference is planned for October 2010 in Lagos, Nigeria and it is branded in the West African sub region as the Adwuma Mbomu Program. This is being co-managed by PD partner, LoftyInc Allied Partners, a West African venture incubator, and it’s Nigerian subsidiary, Touchstone GIS and will be held in coordination with University of Lagos Faculty of Business Administration.

BizSpring is also affiliated with the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Graduate School of International Policy and Management, in Monterey, California, to facilitate introductions and collaborations with additional African educational instutitions.

The Nigeria ICT Forum has a call to action - a call for Broad Band For Nigeria (BB4NG): broadband internet access with speed of at least 4Mbps that is accessible, affordable and dependable to all citizens regardless of their status, station or location.

Now just to make sure we're all talking the same language, BB4NG defines broadband Internet connectivity as:

a descriptive term for evolving digital technologies that provide consumers a signal switched facility offering integrated access to voice, high-speed data service, video-demand services, and interactive delivery services

And BB4NG believes that access to information is capable of promoting & accelerating development of the country, citing the GDP impacts of broadband:

"…for every 10 percentage point increase in penetrations of broadband services, there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points."

Not a long-term BB4NG power solution

But where's the call for electrical power?

Now I happen to strongly agree with BB4NG. Broadband Internet access can accelerate the pace of development - economic, social, political - but even more than other information and communication technologies, broadband relies on a stable, reliable, and maintained municipal electrical grid infrastructure. Without it, broadband for all is a dream. Or as Oluwaseun Ojedeji says:

I think during the [BB4NG] forum, discussing how to create a policy that is geared towards having adequate power supply should be at the front burner. Yes Finland made such move because they already had the ingredients on ground. Electricity is very key and its on this that ICT will build on. Its good to have a broadband policy, but if the policy is for the people's benefit then power is inevitable!

Sadly, it may be easier to implement a broadband policy than to re-energize Nigeria's power grid, which is a defeat for Nigeria even if BB4NG succeeds.

I was attracted by the headline of a news report on 234next.com: Commission to tackle kidnapping with technology

The spate of kidnapping in the country can be curtailed by embracing the use of telecommunications technology. The acting vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) expressed this view yesterday, following the release of the four recently abducted journalists.

Bashir Gwandu, addressing chief executives of the GSM, CDMA, and other major network operating companies in Abuja, lamented that kidnapping has become a serious threat to lives and businesses in Nigeria over the last one year, especially in the South-East and South-South zones of the country.

Mr. Gwandu said that "with just about 1000 naira, a multitude of crimes can be committed by purchasing multiple sim cards and misused them to threaten others via voice or text messages, and also commit other phone-assisted crimes. This has to stop."

Holding a person against his/her will is a criminal offence anywhere. Kidnapping is a despicable act. Having said that, let's analyse Bashir Gwandu's further statements.

He said the NCC has "plans to issue subsidy to telecommunications operators to install equipment on every mast and tower that could be used for triangulating between sites in order to identify real-geographical location of both GPS and None GPS-enabled mobile handsets."

Google Maps for mobile can already generate estimated location coordinates of mobile phones that have it installed, without relying on special equipment.

Assuming NCC can really pull that off, what happens to the privacy of mobile phone users? Did they sign-up for their movements to be tactically monitored by telecom operators? Why does anything need to be installed anyway when existing cell masts can already be used to triangulate the estimated location of any mobile phone (GPS-capable or not)? Google Maps already uses cell mast triangulation for its Google Map for Mobile service. Is this "subsidy" another plot to squander tax payers' money?

Mr. Gwandu stated that in addition to the triangulation project, all GPS-enabled handsets can also be tracked by low earth orbit satellites. He further stated that there are other equipment that could be deployed to tract and identify the locations of handsets being used to solicit for ransom.

This is ludicrous. Telecom operators are now law enforcement agencies. Even if the NCC was allowed to implement this absurdity, how would they access the GPS coordinates of a mobile phone since the GPS feature needs to be explicitly activated by the phone user before the phone can be tracked?

Do they plan to hack phones and turn on GPS on the phones remotely? Or, are they counting on phone users to voluntarily leave their GPS feature on all the time? By the way, GPS drains phone batteries. Tracking keeps the phone's microprocessor very busy and so consumes a lot of energy.

According to him, "once ownership of numbers can be identified, handsets can be tracked, and their geographical location becomes identifiable, then any call made to solicit for ransom will help to locate the kidnappers."

I can't help laughing. Hardened criminals like kidnappers would voluntarily register their SIM cards with their real personal details in other to make the job of law enforcement easy. Too bad, we live in a real world where that fantasy is hardly possible.

In addition to this, NCC has initiated a project that will block stolen handsets once they are reported as being stolen. The project will also be helpful in stopping criminals from using snatched handsets in perpetrating such act.

How many times are we going to read things like this? Haven't we heard this before? How many times does the NCC want to attempt blocking stolen phones? Is it not the exact responsibility of the phone owner to promptly report a stolen phone to the service provider for the SIM to be promptly deactivated? A country that cannot generate adequate power supply, that cannot hold free & fair elections, that cannot properly conduct a population census now wants to track and block mobile phones. How noble!

It is very obvious that the acting boss of NCC is pulling this stunt, to create an impression on the Nigerian public that he is very competent and on top of his game. Whilst I would not question his competence, this particular act can only be counter-productive in any enlightened society since such information (useful or not) is best shared directly with the law enforcement agencies.

The Nigeria Police, the State Security Service (SSS), the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) etc, are the best to be tutored on technology meant for tracking criminals and NOT the head of telecom companies who already understand the technologies (else, why would they be in business?) nor the media.

This post was originally published as Nigerians, NCC wants to track your movement.

Are you excitedly awaiting the newest tech-gizmo in Nigeria? Or just your usual technology equipment supply that's flown in by air freight? Then be prepared to wait as there is an air freight embargo to Nigeria airports:

Temporary Embargo to Lagos and Abuja
Due to the regulation requiring an electronic manifest for Nigeria customs, Delta Cargo is temporarily unable to accept any freight for transportation to Lagos, Nigeria (LOS) and Abuja, Nigeria (ABV). Mail is not affected by the embargo. This embargo on the carriage of freight to Nigeria will remain in place until further notice. Please continue to check deltacargo.com for further updates.

Oddly, there is no mention of this issues outside of the freight forwarder community, thought it should be of up most concern to everyone in the Nigerian business community. Air freight is a key importation method for many industries and its cessation should be causing financial pain across the country.

Goodluck Jonathan, the President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria is now on Facebook, cementing its role as the leading social networking site for Africans. So far, 56,704 people Like This on Facebook - I'm only surprised that's not 5.6 million.

And to those who think this is just a shallow PR move by the President, he has a retort for you:

I want to assure you that your feedback and comments on this page are important. I read them and they have influenced government's policy.

On Monday, a young Nigerian named Tuokpe Onuwaje who is resident in California made a comment on this page expressing disappointment that though California has the 7th largest econo...my in the world Nigeria does not have a consulate there yet we maintain one in Atlanta, Georgia which has a smaller economy. This youth further informed me that Nigeria had a property in California which was abandoned in the 80s.

Upon receipt of this information, I instructed the Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S to visit the property immediately and report back to me with a view to reopening our consulate in San Francisco California. I am pleased to tell Tuokpe Onuwaje and all fans of this page that the visit was concluded today.

I am also looking at other request made here and will within available resources and time take action or respond to your questions.
Thank you. GEJ

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