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Digital Transformation The Way For Job Creation In Africa

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

The digital sector in Africa is currently booming and it has helped in the provision of jobs for a lot of individuals in the region. I will say covid was a menace that ravaged almost every part of the world, albeit it benefitted a few individuals. Permit me to say that it was a “necessary evil”. Asides from the loss of jobs attributed to the covid pandemic, it also boosted the digital transformation of Africa by making people look for remote solutions during the time of lockdown. Although it has deepened inequalities with African societies by preventing equal sharing of the benefits.

According to the director-general of the community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP). He stated that the booming digital sector is an opportunity for the government to help start a new growth cycle after the covid-19 crisis. Digital transformation can help improve youth employment in Africa which is very crucial for the future. The new digital era offers a whole lot of opportunities and holds great promise in the terms of the emergence of start-ups and local ecosystems. The African region seems not to be left behind in the area of tech, as there have been remarkable groundbreaking achievements in the region.

The advent of digital finance otherwise known as fintech has strongly stimulated entrepreneurship and self-employment in Africa. In West Africa alone, according to stats, the mobile ecosystem already employs 200,000 people formally and 800,000 informally, particularly in the sale and distribution of mobile services and devices, and also contributes 3.5% to gross domestic product (GDP). In addition to those directly employed in the sector, there are 600,000 indirect jobs. Although there are some shortcomings attributed to the full implementation of digital transformation to ensure that there is proper job creation for youths in Africa.

This is where the government comes in. Seeing that the transformation of digital space in this region will actively create a lot of jobs for the unemployed, there are certain things I feel the government should do which are;

The installation of technology parts and start-up incubators: Technology business incubation is a public or private entrepreneurial economic and social development process designed to nurture technology-based business ideas and start-up firms through a comprehensive business support program to help them establish and accelerate their growth and success.

Investing in skills development and digital-related and vocational education and training initiatives for youths: Some people in this region might be interested in entering the digital world but then lack the resources needed to acquire the set skills. This is where the government comes in by setting up digital and vocational centers where youths can be trained before going ahead to acquire the jobs available.

Supporting SMEs and small producers to use digital technologies and strengthen their integration into local, regional, and global value chains

Strengthening regulatory frameworks and supportive measures to expand the adoption of fintech products: With global fintech adoption reaching 64%, fintech is becoming mainstream in all surveyed markets. It will be an ideal thing for the government to ensure that regulatory frameworks and supportive measures are adopted to expand fintech products in the region.

Digital transformation indeed will bring about lots of opportunities especially concerning the employment of youths. It will challenge the issue of unemployment. Beyond creating jobs, the digital ecosystem improves productivity in many sectors.

Managing Disruptive Employees In Workplace

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

A workplace comprises different categories of people. You get to see those who are cool-headed and respect authority, you also get to see those who are recalcitrant. These ones are often rebellious towards constituted authority. They sometimes flout orders without minding whose ox is gored. First of all, the ideal thing any company should do apart from having laid down rules that guide the activities in the workplace is to nip an employee’s disruptive behavior in the bud, before it escalates into something unbearable.

Dilly-dallying on such matters can cost the company a lot of things because it often leads to low productivity, and in the workplace. Employee morale, productivity, and customer service levels are at their highest when employees work effectively as a team and practice basic tenets of civility and respect for each other. This unfortunately is not always the case when employees display inappropriate and disruptive behavior.

There are various types of disruptive employee behaviors which are; Gossiping, Bullying, Sexual Assault, Exhibiting Insubordination, Disobedience, Display Of Incivility or Insolence, etc. Any display of such behaviors should be treated appropriately. One thing a company must understand is that there are so many impacts of disruptive behaviors in the workplace. It can decrease productivity, performance, and employee commitment.

It is often said that “one bad egg spoils the bunch”, meaning one person’s negative demeanor or bad behavior can affect a whole group of people influencing them to have the same negative attitude. In summary, toxic behavior spread like a virus.

In a 2016 survey conducted by Weber Shandwick, civility in America VII: The state of civility, 30% of managers indicated that they had forced or threatened to fire someone due to incivility and nearby 25% of employees said they had to quit a job due to an uncivil workplace. These disruptive behavior are not trivial, and they should be treated with urgency. There are strategies a company can use to deal with difficult employees and disruptive behavior.

Be Observant And Listen: Often, why employees display disruptive behavior is because they feel they are not being listened to. Experts providing RPO solutions can explain how people often look for new jobs because they feel disrespected by their colleagues or managers when they are ignored and their opinions are not valued. The ideal thing a good manager does when such behaviors happen is to observe closely and understand fully the issue. If possible, the manager should have a tete-à-tete with the employee asking the reason for such behavior. By so doing, they get to hear their point of view and also understand the employee’s issue causing them to be rebellious.

It is funny that not being heard can be a factor in de-escalating negative behavior. It might probably be that the employee proffered a solution that could improve the company but he or she wasn’t given attention, or his/her idea despite how good it was, was not implemented. To ensure that there is less display of disruptive behaviors, managers should ensure that they listen carefully to employees’ remarks, suggestions, etc.

Document and follow disciplinary policies: Often, employers tend to forget that job performance expectations include behavioral expectations. Managers need to see the importance of documenting employees’ interactions after exhibiting disruptive behavior. Employees who exhibit such behavior should be made to sign a document ensuring that they would behave better. It is understandable that after causing a disruptive behavior, managers hope the behavior will go away and the employee will turn a new leaf.

But if unfortunately, it doesn’t have the documentation in hand, it will support a manager’s action to either discipline or terminate before such behavior becomes untenable. Not documenting and following disciplinary policies makes it difficult to fire an employee because it is ideal when he or she is shown an agreement written that was breached. One very important thing employers need to note is that even if job goals are met, any employee displaying negative behavior in the workplace is still being disruptive.

Follow Up With Employee: Once an employee is being disruptive in the workplace and has been cautioned, the manager shouldn’t close up the matter and put the file away. Rather there should be a thorough follow-up on the employee. One of the greatest factors in sustaining employee improvement and performance is to follow up on their improvements. It should be recognized and employees should also be held accountable for the failure in correcting their wrong behavior.

While a follow-up is advised is because there is a high probability of an employee repeating such behavior. Nothing irks other employees than seeing disruptive behavior go unaddressed or ignored. This automatically gives them the impression that the manager is incapable of dealing with such a situation.

The Political Dilemma of Russia’s Vladimir Putin

By
Stanley Alieke
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1

There has been a serious tension going on in the world’s politics at the moment. The threat and fear of another war breaking out; World War III which has been brewing in Europe and it’s neighborhood.

The Russian Government has been threatening fire and brimstone to invade Ukraine, their neighboring country. Their reason for threatening to invade Ukraine is that Ukraine, a country that was initially part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) wants to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); an intergovernmental military alliance of 30 countries. The Russian government claims that if Ukraine joins NATO they will be a military threat to the Russian government due to how geographically and politically close Ukraine is to Russia.

This threat has been made by Mr. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia and this  has caused a wild tension in the world as this is most likely not an empty threat by the Russian government. To back up this threat of invasion, Russian military troops have been camping at the border of Russia and Ukraine and Russia has been aggressively stocking up and restocking their military manpower, fully ready for war. 

Most of the world power countries  have openly condemned the Russian government’s plan to invade Ukraine over Ukraine attempting to join NATO. One of the public critics of Russia’s planned invasion is the United State government. The United State government has openly warned Russia that if they ever invade Ukraine, the US and her allies will invade Russia in a retaliatory measure and will also place political and economic sanctions on Russia.

The Russian government is definitely in a political dilemma; if Russia invades Ukraine there will be a war; World War III and no country no matter how much military power they possess and how much ready they claim to be for war really want to go to war due to the negative impacts war leaves on a country; financial impact, economic impact, political impact, medical impact etc, and most countries never recover from the crisis and blow of war…, But If Russia fails to invade Ukraine as they have threatened, they might lose their place as a world power as other countries may begin to see them as a toothless bull dog who only barks and does not bite. This will also have a negative impact too on Russia’s foreign political policies as other countries that rated Russia highly and were scared of them will no longer be scared of Russia. 

The Russian government is really in a fixed Dilemma; should they invade Ukraine and bear  the harsh consequences of war or should they back down and bear the harsh consequences of losing its place as one of the most dreaded countries of the world?

Whatever decision Mr. Vladimir Putin and the Russian government makes will affect the rest of the world; it will shape the world’s economy, politics, policies, economics, finance, health etc so they better think deep and think hard before making up their mind in order for them not to make the wrong decision.

Kannywood’s Ladin Cima And Using Registered Business Name To Improve Negotiations

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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3

In FUTO, after the course on logic and philosophy, another course that was extremely valuable was the one on engineering management. The professor (Dr Onwuka) had an MBA and explained one secret while teaching a sub-area they called “Engineer Turns Manager”. Explaining engineering consulting, he dropped a vital hint: when you negotiate as a company, you look big, but when you go as a person, you are small.

Since that course, I have never approached any valuable business transaction as a person; I always go via a company. During NYSC when NYSC Plateau approached me to help on the structured office wiring of the Jos secretariat, I negotiated from Ultinet Systems, a business name I registered in Jos, while in NYSC camp. They saw a company, not Ndubuisi, and they paid good money which gave me my first car.

Why am I writing this? Ladin Cima, a very famous Kannywood actress, just revealed that she has been paid N5,000 ($10) or lower in her roles. According to Premium Times, she said to BBC: “I am in the Kannywood, but it will surprise you that all my time in the movie industry, I never earned beyond N5000 naira. It is always N5000 and below. I did not have enough to save and do anything tangible for myself all these years because of how poorly we get paid. Let me tell you, even before this interview, I was at a movie location, and after my recording, I was paid N2000 naira only.”

Sure, some producers have responded that they paid her sometimes N40,000 (!!!). But at the end, someone needs to help people like Ladin and this is where I expect some NGOs and government agencies to lead.

A simple business name like “Ladin Cima Entertainment” and requesting that producers negotiate via that company which she controls will do magic. She will see herself as a staff of that her company. No human being will ask a company to provide a staff for a movie role for $10 but humans can ask people to appear for a role for $1 or free!

Meanwhile, some producers, including Ali Nuhu and Falalu Dorayi, debunked Ladi’s comments after the interview.

While speaking to BBC Hausa, Nuhu said he had paid actress Ladi N40,000 in all the films she ever appears from the stable of FKD, his company.

Another producer, Dorayi, said he paid the actress between N30,000 and N40,000 for appearing in his movies.

People, someone should help Ladin and others in this type of situation. The missing link here is knowledge.

Digitizing the Nigerian Radio Broadcasting Industry As We Celebrate World Radio Day

By
Fred Nwaozor
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0

Today February 13, the world is commemorating World Radio Day. The day was proclaimed on 3rd November 2011 during the 36th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

It was originally proposed by the Spanish Kingdom. The first procedure was in January 2008 by the President of the Spanish Radio Academy, Mr. Jorge Alvarez. The day, 13th February was chosen in recognition of the day the United Nations Radio was established in the year 1946.

Afterwards, in December 2012 precisely, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) endorsed the Proclamation of World Radio Day, thereby enabling it to become a day to be celebrated by all the UN Member States, agencies, as well as their partners.

Various radio industry bodies around the world have hitherto been supporting the initiative by encouraging radio stations in developed countries to assist those in the developing world.

Presently, the radio set seems to be the easiest and most affordable means of telecommunication. Until the invention of social media, it was widely regarded as the only handy medium for information dissemination.

It is the easiest, in the sense that most current electronic devices such as GSM among others have access to radio signals. Most affordable, in the sense that anyone regardless of his/her status can boast of an access to radio communication.

For instance, a portable radio set can currently be obtained at the rate of two thousand naira (N4000) in any local market in Nigeria, and the Direct Current (DC) battery, which could be used to power the said device, can be purchased at about two hundred naira (N200).

But a GSM, which could guarantee access to a certain social media such as Facebook, can never be obtained at less than five thousand naira (N10,000).

In most cases, it takes only Symbian phones such as Android, Phantom, iPod, iPhone and Blackberry for one to gain access to most recent social media like Whatsapp, Telegram, Twitter, Instagram, BBM and what have you, and such phones cannot be obtained at less than twenty thousand naira (N25,000) or thereabouts.

The television communication system is not left out in this analysis or comparison. In an average electronics market in Nigeria, a 14-inch television set is sold at about thirty thousand naira or above.

After purchasing the TV Set, the consumer still needs to obtain an outdoor antenna to enable him to boast of absolute clarity while using the device. Sometimes, he may still need to buy a Power Generating Set to aid power supply since there is no assurance for steady power supply anywhere in Nigeria.

This implies that another remarkable phenomenon to be considered while comparing a radio communication system with other means of telecommunication is that due to instability of power supply in most developing nations like Nigeria, acquiring information through the communication system in question (radio) has remained the only reliable means of telecom in existence.

On the other hand, considering other means of communications such as the print media, how many Nigerians can afford a  two hundred and fifty naira (N250) newspaper or a two hundred naira (N200) tabloid, as the case may be, on a daily basis, or even a five hundred naira (N500) newsmagazine weekly?

It’s needless to say that the print media is not just expensive to an average Nigerian but no doubt an exorbitant means of communication, compared to radio broadcasting service.

As the global society celebrates the annual World Radio Day, there is need for the totality of the Nigerian Radio Broadcasting industry to be overhauled. In this regard, the concerned bodies should as a matter of urgency, be mandated to switch over from the ongoing analogue broadcasting to digital broadcasting.

In view of this, the recent mandate of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in line with the directive of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regarding migration from analogue to digital broadcasting by all the broadcasting firms in the country, ought to be taken very seriously by the concerned authorities.

On their part, the members of the National Assembly are expected to enact a formidable law that would mandate the closure of any media firm that fails to meet the stipulated deadline as well as sanction anyone that attempts to return to analogue broadcasting in future.

The proposed law should also mandate NBC and other relevant authorities to ensure that provision of digital broadcasting equipment by any upcoming or intending media firm is a prerequisite to issuance of license to the company in question.

In addition, the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) ought to in its capacity assist the government in conscientizing their members on the significance of digital broadcasting. Thus, they should at all times maintain a cordial relationship with the NBC with the aim of actualizing a totally digitized broadcasting industry in Nigeria.

The generality of the civil society is as well expected to follow suit in this sensitization crusade. Every relevant body needs to be holistically intimated on the innumerable benefits attached to digital broadcasting.

Yes, radio broadcasting service remains the most reliable and affordable means of communication in the world, but it is worthy to note that its reliability or affordability is liable to become a thing of the past if abused or if adequate attention is not given to the sector.

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