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Over half of businesses in Nigeria planning to expand locally in 2023
By Ibrahim Adeleke
Despite the challenges facing the Information Technology sector, there are still huge opportunities for Nigeria’s IT businesses to successfully expand into new markets and reach new customers.
No fewer than 50 per cent of businesses in Nigeria are planning to expand locally in 2023 as revealed by the report of the Equinix 2022 Global Tech Survey.
In the report, it was stated that the most feared threats were cyber attacks, which accounted for 73 per cent, security breaches and data leaks which are 68 per cent.
According to the report, 100 business leaders in Nigeria were interviewed about the opportunities and challenges their organisations are facing, and their plans for the future.
The survey revealed that 58 per cent of IT decision makers in Nigeria view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business.
Other challenges border on cyber security, supply chain, and dearth of skills.
The survey indicated that 54 per cent of respondents are planning on expanding in an existing country in the next 12 months, 34 per cent into a new region while 33 per cent are planning to move into a new country.
It added that 93 per cent of IT leaders in Nigeria said enhancing customer experience is a priority.
A number of potentially limiting factors were identified by businesses in the aspect of global growth which include concerns and challenges in supply chain, cyber security, and staff retention and recruitment.
55 per cent of the firms surveyed said their business was plagued by global supply chain issues and shortages, while 50 per cent specified the global microchip shortage as a threat to their business.
There remain significant concerns around cyber security in Nigeria. Ensuring expansions are supported by resilient digital models is business-critical, particularly at a time of increasing volatility and emerging global threats.
As part of their digital-first strategies, 85 per cent of respondents in Nigeria confirmed a key priority is improving cyber security. 88 per cent said complying with local market data regulations is critical, while 85 per cent highlighted the need to future proof their businesses.
The survey showed that among the most common concerns for businesses in Nigeria are candidates with the wrong skill set apply for jobs to talking 56 per cent pay and compensation (49%), changing expectations around ways of working is 49 per cent while retention of current talent is put at 38 per cent.
However, it was revealed that there are huge opportunities for Nigeria’s businesses to successfully expand into new markets and reach new customers.
Additionally, in Nigeria, the most in-demand tech employees are those with skills in areas such as AI/machine learning, data analysis, cloud computing specialists, data protection, security software development, IT technicians and security analysis.
To help grow their businesses, 77 per cent of IT leaders in Nigeria said they plan to move more business functions to the cloud including busibess-critical applications and security functions.
Hybrid cloud models were the preferred approach for 36 per cent of respondents in Nigeria, although 18 per cent still rely on a single cloud provider and 2 per cent not using the cloud at all. 40 per cent said they plan to facilitate global expansion plans by deploying virtually via the cloud, with over a quarter.
Meanwhile, the Covid pandemic also continues to have a significant impact on businesses’ digital strategies. More than half of IT leaders in Nigeria (64%) said they are accelerating their company’s digital evolution because of the Covid-19 crisis. Over half (64%) confirmed that their IT budgets have increased as a direct outcome of its legacy – an insight into the now broadly acknowledged necessity for robust digital infrastructure to pivot to evolving business needs in an instant.
Furthermore, almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) believe the technology changes and investments implemented during the pandemic are here to stay.
Commenting, the Managing Director, MainOne, Funke Opeke, said: “The acceleration in digital transformation in Nigeria reinforces the need for businesses to have access to single points to interconnect locally. Increased speed of connectivity, increased flexibility of connectivity, and reduced cist of connectivity were identified by IT decision-makers in Nigeria as the most beneficial aspects of interconnection. MainOne provides a rich interconnection ecosystem that allows customers connect to each other multiple telecoms networks, and cloud, payment and content providers in a single location.”
