Ovia, Oracle, Google Executives At Zenith Tech Fair: How Youths Can Change The Narrative

By Emmanuel Aziken

Nigeria’s leading tech-savvy enthusiasts led by Mr. Jim Ovia gathered in Lagos Wednesday where they espoused the need to harness opportunities in technology to address Nigeria’s growing unemployment crisis.

Ovia, founder of Zenith Bank was joined by executives of Google, Oracle, Huawei Technologies among others at the opening of the Zenith Bank Tech Fair in Lagos.

Observing that an estimated 13.5 million Nigerian youths are unemployed, Mr. Ovia called for opening youths to the opportunities offered by technology which he said would help to channel their energies into better productivity.

He said that building the capacity of the youths would enable them to tap into the many openings that the Fourth Industrial Revolution offers.

Expressing concern that the youths could be left out if not sufficiently empowered with the knowhow, he called for educational curriculum to be properly adjusted to meet the demands of the future.

The Zenith chairman listed potential revenue from some evolving technology streams among which were 3D printing which he said would reach $34.8 billion by 2024; Artificial Intelligence (AI) $118.6 billion by 2025; drones, $43.1 billion by 2024 and augmented reality $85 billion by 2025 .

He also that at least 22.1 million units of robots including personal and domestic tasks robots would have been produced by the end of the year, 2019.

He also cited FinTech which he said could bring in $638 billion revenue by 2024; quantum computing, which he valued at $780 million by 2025; blockchain technology which he projected to exceed $10 billion by 2023; and Internet of Things (IoTs) which he said could produce $74.74 billion revenue by 2023.

Country Manager of Google Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor in her keynote address entitled ‘Machine Learning and QuantumComputing: The Next Frontier’ predicted that quantum computing would radically alter the way life is lived through its faster completion time.

While calling on Nigerian youths to plug into the opportunities offered by the technological revolution, she said:

“Application of emerging technologies could be leveraged upon to develop great skills and ideas. Africa’s biggest challenges could be addressed with emerging technologies,” Ehimuan-Chiazor said.

Country Manager of Oracle Nigeria, Mr. Adebayo Sanni on his part made a presentation on the effectiveness of using data to manage systems.

“Data is the core DNA for organisations like Oracle and I encourage other organisations to identify with data around them and to make effective use of such data,” the Oracle boss in Nigeria said.

Mr. Eric Zhang, Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Nigeria in an address presented on his behalf by Anthony Ethem, Director, Wireless Technology at Huawei, highlighted the importance of Fifth Generation (5G) technology challenged the youths to plug into it.

He listed the advantages of 5G to include massive connectivity, enhanced mobile broadband capabilities and ultra-low latency communication.

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