2012 in Nigeria has been something of a blur, where technology is concerned. In a bid to describe its overall complexion, I’ve watched some people try to label it with some convenient moniker, along the lines of “2012 was the year of…”
And that exactly is where it gets a bit tricky. Year of what exactly?
For one, I’m certain that it was the year of social media powered citizen governance. The country had hardly said “happy new year” before it was swept up in acute “occupy fever” that swiftly became epidemic, taking two weeks to run its course. Throughout the duration of the nationwide fuel subsidy protests, ordinary citizens armed with internet enabled phones became journalists, broadcasting events as they happened, from right inside the action zones, all over the country. NGOs and civil society groups organised demonstrations and co-ordinated relief efforts in real-time via social media, while online media and data platforms like Budgit had their day making sense of all the information coming in and steering conversation on the issues around which the protests were convened. In 2012, Nigerians have become more politically aware, more outspoken and more participative in governance than in many previous years combined.
Then I could also swear that it was the year digital entertainment as technology entrepreneurs launched a technology onslaught on the media industry in the film, music and gaming categories. Together, they’re heralding a whole new world of possibilities for the creative industry, rethinking the media consumption experience for consumers and cracking open a pandora’s box-full (not the streaming service) of game changing realities for the entrenched kingpins of Nigeria’s media and entertainment industry.
But wouldn’t it be unfair if I didn’t say it was also the year of Mobile Money? Already, there are more products than licences, and I’ve already given up on counting the number of mobile money products that appear to have been launching every over week since the third quarter. The irony is that in spite of all these launches, happening upon a working mobile money product in the wild is still the rarest thing.
I suspect I would have to turn in my blogger’s badge and retreat into technology exile if I didn’t acknowledge that 2012 could also have been the year of Nigerian e-commerce. Having gotten over the initial bewilderment at the sheer number of players scrambling into online retail, not to mention all the weird names, I’ve come to look at the development with a certain degree of equanimity. There’s a huge market no doubt, and a great many auspicious developments in Africa’s economics and technology suggest that it is a mother lode of opportunity. But the will and ability to buy online will take a while to catch up to the potential. In my opinion, it’s not so much about if it’s a bubble (as some have been announcing) as much as it is about who will survive the long trek to critical mass.
By now I hope it’s fairly obvious why I resist the temptation to settle for some half-assed 2012 label. Because for technology in Nigeria, it was the year of all these things and much, much, much more. Ahead then, to 2013!
Note: This article first appeared in the 2012 edition of Tech360’s African Tech Review, which Abiodun Thorpe was gracious enough to have asked me to contribute to. The review comprises six reports contributed by different blogs and the topics covered include mobile money, e-commerce, knowledge flow, mobile gaming, government policy, conferences, local entrepreneurship, and Nigerian web trends. All has been made available in a 19 page PDF that can be downloaded for free here.
