The number of companies across the different sectors of the Nigerian economy adopting emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) has grown in recent times.
Executive Chairman of IoT Africa, Lare Ayoola, said this is due to increased awareness of the role IoT can play in the success of any business.
Ayoola said the industries keen on the adoption of IoT include agriculture, logistics, power, manufacturing, financial services, health and safety industry, real estate and importantly the oil and gas industry.
Internet of things refers to interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. According to IoT Analytics’ latest update on the overall enterprise IoT market, spending on enterprise IoT solutions grew 12.1 per cent in 2020 to $128.9 billion.
Last year, IoT Africa built the first phase of its IoT network. The technology is now in full deployment in states like Lagos, which is fully covered with IoT networks, Ogun, Rivers, and the FCT.
“The good news is that the network has been very stable. We have tested it with numerous devices and we found out that the connectivity is excellent. We are about to move into the next phase where we will be covering the rest of the country and that will start within the next two to three months,” Ayoola said.
In recognition of its efforts in pushing the adoption of IoT in Nigeria, Tranter IT the parent company of IoT Africa received the ‘Outstanding IoT Provider of the Year Award’ at the Titans of Tech awards ceremony, which was held recently in Lagos, Nigeria.
The growing adoption has seen IoT Africa sign agreements with operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and would be announcing the deals very soon. The downstream oil industry is plagued with losses, risks, and theft. So they have been very keen on IoT because it can save them close to 30-40 per cent of losses.
Beyond oil and gas, Ayoola said IoT also holds prospects for financial services in terms of safety and security.
“For instance, most banks that have a smoke alarm system are not able to transmit information effectively when there is a fire outbreak. Even if they have an intrusion system, it would sound an alarm to security men that might be asleep before being transmitted to a central command centre so they could call for help.
“Also, many banks are not always aware that an ATM has gone bad, they are not always aware that the batteries that provide the uninterrupted power supply are at a dangerously low level,” he stated.
According to him, a critical aspect of using IoT Africa’s solution is the longevity of the battery, adding that most of the devices have battery life in excess of three years, many are five years, some eight and 10 years.
He said IoT Africa plans to complete phase two of its network in the next two or three months, which will ensure it scales the technology across Nigeria.
