Awarding high tech project contracts in Nigeria to emerging world economies

Category: IT World Published on Monday, 04 February 2013 05:00

Awarding contracts for high tech projects in developing countries such as Nigeria can be a non-trivial task if this is done in a way that utilizes the human potential of the country and respects the need of the country for some level of national security. Bringing in emerging economies such as China or India to develop Nigeria could actually be risky for certain projects! The following are relevant issues.
Nigeria should not develop like Dubai
First of all, Nigeria need not develop like Dubai! I have read news clips in Nigerian dailies in which prominent, well-meaning Nigerian political figures (including at least one past president of the country) have advocated for the country to outsource (virtually all of) its development needs to other nations. They cite Dubai as an example of a place where this model has been “successful.”
Obviously, Dubai is a masterpiece in terms of infrastructure development and the emirate generously consumes the high tech conveniences that have been innovated in the west. But there is a problem with the UAE model: The country is being developed almost entirely by others! The ownership of Dubai is indeed not very clear, even though the UAE government might have paid for the projects. What happens in the event of a scuffle between UAE and the countries that are building it is anybody’s guess. How will the infrastructure and high tech presence be maintained in such situations? What identities do the natives have? And so on.
The UAE model will not work for Nigeria because Nigeria is too expansive in terms of its population, human capital, and mineral sources. For a country like Nigeria that has the potential to become a true world superpower, why embark on a development model that perpetually guarantees mediocrity? Should our children and grandchildren fold their arms while foreigners come in to develop our country? Any sustainable development plan must allow Nigerians to eventually take over the helms.
Is national security luxury for developing countries?
From the manner in which federal/state governments in Nigeria award telecom-based contracts, it seems that the government either chooses to ignore national security or is totally clueless on the link between national security and telecommunications equipment.
Related to the well-known issues of hacking and infiltration, is the ability of foreign interests, through companies, to implement surveillance capabilities within solutions delivered through telecommunications equipment. The military and financial sectors are particularly vulnerable in this respect. Note that mobile computing is particularly susceptible to security breaches. Even with the use of encryption technology, the developer of mobile devices can listen in on information passed through wireless means.
Thus, the path to tech development requires immense discipline on the part of the government. Local companies should be developed, somehow, to handle sensitive technologies.
Developed countries have a deep appreciation for the role of telecoms in national security and use that knowledge to determine the companies they contract for telecom-related projects. Advanced, first-world countries are attractive for telecom projects, even if they are more expensive to use, because of their established systems, refined ways, and respect for IP issues.
IP protection issues
In general, emerging countries have extremely poor track records in the area of intellectual property (IP) protection. For example, whereas the United States patent and trademark laws date back to almost a century, China did not have comprehensive copyright laws prior to 1996. The situation in India is probably as bad, if not worse. Incidentally there have also been numerous claims of companies in some emerging countries stealing technologies from the developed countries, with a large number of jailed persons to prove. The American telecommunications company, Cisco, has made public claims of the theft of its devices by the Chinese company Huawei. If Cisco should go after Huawei on this and file an injunction to “stop use,” as an example, projects in Nigeria that have used such stolen technologies could be affected.
Quality control
Emerging economies tend to deliver poorer quality products and services when compared with developed countries.
Local companies are usually looked down upon
Nigerians do seem to prefer anything foreign! There are stories of indigenous companies being passed over in the award of contracts, not because they cannot do the job, but simply because they are not foreign! I have even heard of a particular agency of the Nigerian government that has a cap on the size of projects it can award to any indigenous Nigerian company, independent of the ability of the company to provide the required service. Beyond that threshold Naira amount, the contract automatically goes to foreign companies. I would like to believe this is totally false, but then I am aware of Nigerian companies that hire white and colored, non-black, people to front for them in contract negotiations. This is obviously very unfortunate.
I wish to emphasize that I have no problems against awarding foreign companies contracts in Nigeria. However, such companies must truly be the best, and must be made to hold the hands of at least one potential indigenous company in the same line of work. Developed, rather than emerging, countries should be preferred for projects that impact national security.
Some projects can be safely outsourced to any country!
Having said the foregoing, it is my believe that “pure” manufacturing projects – construction of roads, buildings, trains, automobiles, etc., can be safely outsourced to emerging companies, provided, of course, the Nigerian government does due diligence to ensure that local companies in similar lines of business are involved for the purpose of “mentoring.” In today’s infrastructure landscape, I doubt if any country can compete with China on building trains.a