Country Manager of Google Nigeria, Juliet
Ehimuan, has said that 250,000 roads in the country as well as 200,000 places
of public interest have been mapped by the company.
That is about three-quarters of the distance between the earth and and the moon. When stretched the distance is over 250 times the length of Lagos-Sokoto.
She spoke on Tuesday at the unveiling of Android One
in Lagos. The mobile device, which runs on the latest version of Android Operating
System (Android 5.1.1 Lollipop), was unveiled by Infinix in partnership Google,
MTN Nigeria and Jumia Nigeria.
She said the digital mapping has made it
possible for Nigerians to visit those places with the help of Google Map rather
than bothering others for direction.
On the impact mobile telephone has had on the
Internet, Ehimuan said 65 per cent of searches done in the country were
conducted via mobile devices – a demonstration of the rate of growth of
telecommunications.
She, however, said a lot of mobile telephone users
had yet to connect to the Internet.
“More and more Nigerians and other Africans will be
empowered by the Internet. But for the Internet to be relevant to many
Nigerians, local content has to be created,” she noted.
Also speaking on the Internet content creation, the Vice
President (Product Management), Google, Caesar Sengupta, said apps of Nigerian
origin, such as Afrinoly, had started “creating excitement in different parts
of the world.”
Sengupta, who was in Nigeria for the first time,
said the growth of the Internet in the country was amazing. With 10.2 million
Nigerians connected to the Internet in 2024 alone, the Google Vice President
said Nigerian businesses could still benefit a lot from online.
“Imagine that small and medium enterprises in
Nigeria go online? That will mean a global exposure for their services or
products. The Internet is driving entrepreneurship all over the world, and
Nigerian businesses can gain a lot from this,” he said.
The Vice President said he had visited the Ikeja
Computer Village, Lagos, and was amazed by the growth of the telephone market.
He said many Nigerians were still buying devices with older versions of
operating system. This, he said, would limit their smartphone experience.
Sengupta observed that high cost of data was an
issue in Africa and other emerging countries. To reduce the burden of expensive
data on Nigerian Internet users, he said Google would unveil offline YouTube
and Google Map in Nigeria, Kenya and a few other African countries in coming
months.
If Google’s plan is implemented, people would be
able to navigate Google Map and watch YouTube videos offline.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Michael Ikpoki,
who took part in the panel discussion, said that Internet usage in the country
was still very low despite the increase in penetration.
“To address this, we need to create local content
that is relevant to Nigerians users. It means we need to educate and enlighten
the public,” he said.
Ikpoki, who put the country’s active mobile lines at
120 million, said more businesses would be created as more Nigerians go online.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Jumia
Nigeria, Jeremy Doutte, said the Internet had revolutionised Nigeria’s retail
industry.
“When we started, a few people believed that online
retailing would be successful in Nigeria. But we have exceeded our expectation.
Our vision is to double our volume in the next 12 months,” Doutte said.
He said 50 per cent of the company’s revenue “come
from smartphone sale,” adding that the Internet had huge potential for
retailers.
The Managing Director of Infinix, Mr. Benjamin
Jiang, added, “The nature of Lagos has made online a suitable means of
marketing. It takes about two hours to connect Victoria Island from Ikeja;
hence many people would rather do online transaction.”
Before coming to Nigerian market, Android One was
unveiled in 10 countries. Five more African markets will receive the product in
the next two weeks, said Google.
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