Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
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00:00:54welcome to the beam where curiosity tests conversations taking us a step further into
00:00:58the
00:00:58of future we desire. Here we bring you the issues that matter, the
00:01:02voices that challenge and the insights that inspire. I'm soon as
00:01:06Nathaniel, our world is evolving and it's evolving so very
00:01:09fast, technology is
00:01:11of evolving alongside, artificial intelligence is becoming
00:01:14infrastructure, capital is
00:01:17of becoming more selective, global politics is becoming more
00:01:21protectionist and African founders are having to build
00:01:24in a world that
00:01:25of looks very different from the one that existed just few years
00:01:29ago. so the question has then become, do we have the
00:01:33courage and conviction to build the new world and
00:01:36what would that actually require? today we're having that conversation with
00:01:40our guest Frank elana, he is the head
00:01:43of the enterprise and policy desk at Tech Cabal, Mr. Frank, welcome to the
00:01:47beam, thank you so much and uh, I'm very happy
00:01:51of to be on the show today, yeah, welcome back, welcome back,
00:01:55let's get right into it,
00:01:56you know, technology, the tech ecosystem, digital economy,
00:02:00and you know looking at what we're talking about, conviction,
00:02:03courage, to build uh for new world uh looking at that whole
00:02:07space, we see that there
00:02:09are there are gaps, what are the biggest gaps and what are the most significant
00:02:12efforts that are currently on the way to see that these gaps are
00:02:16addressed from our ecosystem down to the world? i think if
00:02:20we if we look at what has happened
00:02:23of in that ecosystem over the years um we're talking about
00:02:26from 2022 when
00:02:28of there of was
00:02:29a record uh funding attention that came into that
00:02:34of industry um where we had um funding of up to $4 billion dollars
00:02:38and then um from there there was some kind
00:02:42of a lag between 2023 and
00:02:452024 and then we sort of bounce back
00:02:49of in the in 2025 to that peak of a $4
00:02:53billion dollars again
00:02:55you know you will see that um there's a
00:02:59certain consistent. that's starting to be associated
00:03:02with the tech ecosystem in Africa and that's as
00:03:05a result
00:03:05of the fact that over the over time we have we we are
00:03:09starting to see more infrastructure uh being
00:03:13deployed in in the entire
00:03:15ecosystem so infrastructure talking
00:03:19about uh for connectivity because um at the
00:03:23foundation of every transaction or the foundation of every other thing that you call
00:03:27technology is the... infrastructure that
00:03:31powers it, um, you've got to have internet for you to go online,
00:03:34um, you've got to have internet for
00:03:36you to do transactions, do any other thing, maybe even if it's AI
00:03:40that you're planning to do, whatever
00:03:42it is that we're building the solutions for today, um, all
00:03:45of them rest on the fiber cables that we
00:03:49um, how many fiber cables that are laid in the country, um, how
00:03:53many towers are deployed, um, how many data
00:03:56centers that are built, you know, and over time we're
00:04:00starting to see that the number
00:04:03of of that infrastructure is starting to
00:04:07of increase um also the number of investors that are coming to
00:04:11the country and deploying capital to build up
00:04:14these infrastructure across different
00:04:18uh um segments um it's also increasing
00:04:22um we are seeing over more facilities for data
00:04:25centers that are being built and then just this year
00:04:29alone the central bank and the central bank as well
00:04:33as the um the central bank as well as
00:04:36the um as well as
00:04:40nida are already thinking about our cloud
00:04:42infrastructure and how to make it lot
00:04:46stronger than what it is um currently i
00:04:49think um that those are the indices that are showing
00:04:53that we making progress um within the technology
00:04:56ecosystem in in Africa yeah it's you
00:05:00you brought that, that combination between nider
00:05:04and all the those who are supporting the work there when it comes to
00:05:08the drive for the digital economy, but one of those things that has come into play when it
00:05:11comes to... mentions as regards the this whole ecosystem, the tech
00:05:15ecosystem, digital economy and the future that we're looking at is the moon shot.
00:05:19you want to take us through what the moon shot is, and what it's really needs
00:05:23to do or what is coming to do, what is been doing when it comes to the
00:05:27gaps that we're seen within the system? yes, moon
00:05:31shirt is is like response
00:05:34to gap that we
00:05:37saw um when it comes to the gathering the tech
00:05:41ecosystem in... Africa um yes there has been
00:05:45events that um that brought together
00:05:48founders, investors and even regulators within the
00:05:52ecosystem, there has been these events,
00:05:55but um how how much of those
00:05:58events have have
00:06:00as as and have created the conversation that needed to be had within that
00:06:04ecosystem and also talking from the point of view of those
00:06:08who are actually building the um the rails that are building the
00:06:11innovation. that building everything that um
00:06:15that we've come to know as a African tech ecosystem, that is
00:06:19where that is where a
00:06:22moonshirts um came in, moonshirt is
00:06:26like
00:06:26it is like a mark of excellence, trying to tell the
00:06:30world look Africa has arrived, africa is
00:06:34ready and at moon shot you see
00:06:37you see everyone that is building
00:06:41everything. significant or anything significant within
00:06:45the technical system, um, you see founders, you
00:06:49see investors, you see consumers as well, you
00:06:53see regulators, you see also those who are powering
00:06:57the infrastructure and deploying the capital um
00:07:00within within the ecosystem, all them come come
00:07:04together in one room, field
00:07:08with um conversations and teams of different kinds,
00:07:12to just find the way forward um for
00:07:16the ecosystem and every year what we have done is that we think
00:07:20about what has happened this year, how do we push the
00:07:24conversation forward,
00:07:25you know um last year we were talking
00:07:28about um um taking the
00:07:31ecosystem to the next um um
00:07:35level, but this time around we are looking at convenction
00:07:39because we are starting to see some form of stabiliz. uh
00:07:43um stability within the ecosystem and that
00:07:47and and that for us is something that you need to um
00:07:50enphosize and you need people or the
00:07:54the regulators in one room everyone just
00:07:57dissecting what is the next future how do we get
00:08:01ourselves to that point where Africa doesn't just
00:08:04doesn't just be um in the room but also
00:08:08Africa is sitting on the table and also making the...
00:08:13that will affect
00:08:15- um affect the continent um you will agree with me, mean issues
00:08:19around AI, issues around
00:08:22data, how do we how do we bring
00:08:26back our data home and if we're bringing it back home,
00:08:30what are the infrastructure requirements, what are the infrastructure
00:08:34needs that we need to do and what where do we get the capital
00:08:37even to bring that data back home and that
00:08:41has the biggest issue that we've heard this year again
00:08:45referencing
00:08:46what i said earlier about the CBN mandating banks to bring back to
00:08:49to
00:08:51bring back their data and also
00:08:52seedas cloud
00:08:55infrastructure talking about localization
00:08:59everything this year has been about localization bringing back
00:09:02everything home and that also for us speaks
00:09:06about time is time for quality we need to see
00:09:09more companies that are building quality stuff not just about the
00:09:13hype anymore, we have gone past the era of hype for
00:09:17the continent, we're now in the era where we are demanding more quality
00:09:21from every company that is building within the continent, and that is what moonshut
00:09:25is all about, bringing all those guys together to say, how
00:09:29do we build a quality ecosystem that
00:09:33is sustainable and that takes us to the next
00:09:36level um that technology
00:09:39demands? yeah, so
00:09:41you see it... sounds hopeful, it sounds you know
00:09:44exciting, but my question in in if we are really
00:09:48being frank about it, as a person who analyzes tech as a
00:09:52one who's in the space who's been there for a while, do we really have that
00:09:55courage you know and the conviction as people as a nation as a continent,
00:09:59have you really seen that courage and conviction to you, make the new world
00:10:03come into existence, bring it into existence the way it will work for us, do we
00:10:07really have that going for us? i do
00:10:11think there is... something moves and efforts
00:10:15currently ongoing that does show that we
00:10:18are um heading in the right direction um if you think
00:10:22about the policies that have uh come out this
00:10:26year, um, you think about the national
00:10:29AI strategy, you think about the national
00:10:32cloud strategy, there is uh also
00:10:36the nimsy act that was signed this year,
00:10:40um, just of course uh, just some few days
00:10:43ago we had a post code uh, and the
00:10:47digital post code system that the government also released, so
00:10:51there's a lot of um effort being put in place
00:10:55you know to sort of um
00:10:59rightly position us from the ground up before we were
00:11:02building from from top you know as in everybody was just
00:11:06building without the foundation um yes there
00:11:10was internet and no matter how how poor that internet
00:11:14was um many people just didn't care as long as you were building something and people were
00:11:18just seeing it however um we're starting to
00:11:21see um more emphasis being placed on um
00:11:25infrastructure deploy an deployment, which is why uh the
00:11:28government is thinking about the 90 thousand kilometer fiber um although
00:11:32that hasn't started yet, we hope that it will it will get on the way
00:11:36before the end the year um we still have - to december to make that
00:11:40happen, but even if we're still waiting on that
00:11:44we still have operators like uh like
00:11:47MTN like uh Airtel all them
00:11:51thinking about putting more money into the market. you know
00:11:55to push forward the infrastructure um
00:11:58uh um services so we are seeing more cables being deployed across the
00:12:01country, we're seeing more um we even seeing
00:12:05deals around tower companies so um the mtn
00:12:09iHS uh company um deal that is currently
00:12:12ongoing all of that is to facilitate an
00:12:16environment where um we have more robust
00:12:19infrastructure so um if you're building any innovation that you're
00:12:23building it will be it will be
00:12:27reliant or it will be a foundation that
00:12:31is um that is much more resilient than what we used to have
00:12:34before and that's also why if you look at what the NCC has
00:12:38released um so far as at July um
00:12:41internet penetration has gone to around 47% you
00:12:45know it probably might get up to 50% before the end the year um
00:12:49although we're not hitting the target of 70% uh we should get there
00:12:52but um there's some movement going on there, so you can look
00:12:56at
00:12:57that and say, yes, we are, we are heading in the right direction, that's still
00:13:00a lot more room to grow, there's a lot more thing to be
00:13:04done, and some of us who are who
00:13:08think that's more peace should be should be given, will say more
00:13:12speed, you need more speed, because the world is currently
00:13:16moving lot faster than Africa, the world is
00:13:20currently moving lot faster um than even when Nigeria is currently,
00:13:24we're talking about 47% uh
00:13:26internet penetration and out of
00:13:30that, out of that fist internet is still not up to
00:13:3310%, we need to get that fix internet up
00:13:37to um more than 10%, getting it to 20%, um
00:13:41and start playing where our pairs like Kenya, South
00:13:45Africa are starting to play, if you look at penetration now in in
00:13:49South Africa, face internet is much more than mobile broadband, you
00:13:52know, um, Kenya is also pushing his
00:13:56own um f internet to get at par with his
00:13:59mobile broadband. Nigeria needs to get his game
00:14:03on with fist internet. We haven't done that. Um, that's also
00:14:07why, um, it's just few people that are currently
00:14:10on
00:14:11uh on fist broadband. And we had 5G of
00:14:15course, we have uh pushed 5g, but I don't think the speed with which
00:14:19we're pushing 5G um, is enough? Currently there are about
00:14:239.2 million uh. subscribers on
00:14:265G, that's certainly not enough if you want to push that
00:14:29technology um lot faster where the rest the world is,
00:14:33but i know there are concerns around the
00:14:36business case for it and also the cost of deploying the infrastructure that's
00:14:40needed for that to happen, but certainly i think
00:14:44that gradually we're starting to um to to hit the
00:14:48right notes to sing the right um tunes you
00:14:52know um but do we need to get lot
00:14:55faster, I do certainly think so, and uh uh,
00:14:59maybe from next year a lot more things will start to happen in order when we
00:15:03put more um more policies in place, but certainly
00:15:07we're moving um in the right direction. All right, uh, your watching the
00:15:11beam where comfort is questioned, power is examined and the future is held to
00:15:15account. The world of technology is really moving fast and we need to get into the
00:15:19future right now. We'll come back and after that when we get back we're going to be discussing
00:15:23further how to take this nature. into the future when it comes
00:15:27to the digital economy, when it comes to the future of technology itself. Stay
00:15:30with us, we'll be right
00:15:31back.
00:15:36All see the world. differently, but our time
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00:15:43and sometimes conflict all converge in one
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00:15:51brings you those headlines from around the world with in-depth
00:15:54discussions that help you understand the world we live in.
00:15:58don't be in the dark, catch us weekdays at 5:30
00:16:02p.m. only on channels
00:16:04television.
00:16:10"welcome back, you're still watching the beam and we're continuing that conversation with Frank
00:16:14elan, he's the head the enterprise and policy desk at
00:16:18Techkabal, very vast when it comes to technology, and we just started talking
00:16:21about the you know the inventions, we talking about conviction, we're talking about courage
00:16:25as to build that new world when it comes to the future of technology, when it comes to the
00:16:29digital economy that we're pushing forward for, and we were talking about how much
00:16:33speed we need when it comes to meeting the world uh speed.
00:16:37one of those things I would say though is that we've been having so many conversations like
00:16:41this, moonshots is another very important conversation right, and the question for me
00:16:45would become, what exactly are we taking from this,
00:16:49are there resolutions that are going to be made, what exactly makes this different,
00:16:53why should a founder, you know, why should a policy maker,
00:16:57when they meet, what
00:16:59exactly should we get
00:17:00from it, because we don't just want to have another conversation, so what
00:17:03exactly are we getting
00:17:05from it? all right, so ' there are different
00:17:09uh content um tracks at the moon shirt,
00:17:12but just beyond the content tracks and the content
00:17:16tracks is is the fact that when you come to mot is
00:17:20a whole lot of experience, it's a different type of
00:17:23experience um so you're not just meeting
00:17:27investors which i've talked about um or
00:17:31other founders and networking you know you can do that for every this
00:17:34is channel's television please stay tuned as well. go live to
00:17:38Kogi state for the P-bat door to door rally in
00:17:41Lokoja,
00:17:55this is a live channel's television
00:17:57event,
00:18:01thank you so much excellency, at
00:18:05this point we will fight for. very short good
00:18:08messages, the state youth leader the All
00:18:12Progressives Congress,
00:18:15honorable Buhari Lokoja, please come forward
00:18:18and say a word all to this
00:18:21crowd, honorable Buhari
00:18:24Lakoja, state youth leader the All Progressives
00:18:28Congress, welcome
00:18:31members of this movement, be but door to
00:18:35door 2027.
00:19:22your excellency, my father,
00:19:25mentor, destiny
00:19:27helper, the youth
00:19:29governor,
00:19:35the native boy,
00:19:39my honorable chairman the largest party in
00:19:42africa, engineer
00:19:46momo, right honorable
00:19:49speaker, cogi state house of
00:19:52assembly, honorable
00:19:55ali umar assignment,
00:19:59every other dignity
00:20:01is here, presence, your
00:20:04excellency, what you
00:20:07Today, it is a manifestation of your good
00:20:10work, your excellency, the youth
00:20:14of Kogi State are never had it good like this
00:20:17time, your
00:20:21excellency, your
00:20:24excellency, it used to be a
00:20:28mere statement, a mere prophecy
00:20:32that youth are the leaders of tomorrow, in your own
00:20:36time, you are the leaders in kogi
00:20:39state for
00:20:41president,
00:20:46kogi state is APC, apc is cogi state.
00:20:50under the leadership ofmed
00:20:53Usmano, of
00:20:57course there are noise makers, but you can't
00:21:01take the fact that our governor is connected to his
00:21:05people, and nobody de state under
00:21:09this humble leadership of inclusive government and find
00:21:12citizen, your
00:21:15excellency, the party of SPC is
00:21:19so structured that no complain anywhere, it
00:21:22is your wisdom, your humility, your adherance
00:21:26to the system. your excellency, the youth of
00:21:30cogistate will forever remain grateful to
00:21:32you.
00:21:35president, don't border coming to koji
00:21:39state, the governor who is your dear son is doing your
00:21:41job, for we, the youth wing who
00:21:45constitute more than 60% the formation
00:21:49of. will vote
00:21:52president under the directive
00:21:55ofodo.
00:22:00your excellency, when it is time for your
00:22:02campaign is going to be
00:22:06normal proceedings the legislative house. those in support
00:22:09say hi, you have done so
00:22:13well that we don't have opposition in kogi state,
00:22:17but president.
00:22:22is doing the righting for Nigeria, all what the youth of
00:22:26Nigeria require is patient, the process
00:22:30is going positively, president will
00:22:34take us to the promised, let's not get
00:22:38did, let's keep our hope
00:22:40alive, the governor is doing a great job for
00:22:44us, i want to leave the stage, but
00:22:47before dan there is no
00:22:51complain anywhere because people are sleeping with their two eyes closed.
00:22:55security of cogide is so paramount and important to your life, which
00:22:59is why you don't stay an hour out of communicating to all the security agency and the
00:23:03youth in general. under your watch that never been protest of any
00:23:07kind, it means you are doing
00:23:08well. nobody comes to
00:23:12ki state as a governor will not
00:23:15encounter lot of issue because the complicity the tribe and
00:23:19religion.
00:25:20with very large
00:25:21heart.
00:25:26state accountant general. our respected leaders of this
00:25:30great movement, our distinguish stakeholder, our
00:25:34coordinators across the local government and worlds and
00:25:37all member of this grace gathering. i salute you
00:25:41all, our, i salute you all.
00:25:45are you happy to women, are you happy to be
00:25:48here?
00:25:51Wonderful, may God bless you all, today
00:25:55is very special day, I give all glory to God
00:25:58Almighty, I am deeply honored to stand before you.
00:26:02today as the newly inaugurated state woman leader of
00:26:05president movement in kogi
00:26:09state. first, i sincerely talk the chief
00:26:12servant of this noble state, governor
00:26:16dodo, my own
00:26:17m and
00:26:21the leadership of this great movement, for the convidence reposed
00:26:25in me, i promise not to take it for granted.
00:26:29my appointment is not just title, it is a cost. for
00:26:32responsibility, a car to unity and a court to
00:26:36work together with our women across the
00:26:39states, motherers are
00:26:42you.
00:28:11Are you ready to organize? I make
00:28:15your voice heart, that is the spirit I want to see,
00:28:19we was united, organized, peaceful and
00:28:23committed to our responsibilities, my nation is to
00:28:26work with men across all levels, states, local
00:28:30government, what are school? we will
00:28:33encourage participation, listen to our members,
00:28:37strengthen our structure and ensure that women are treated
00:28:41with dignity and respon. our thought
00:28:45movement must reach the people, we must listen to them,
00:28:49understand their concerns, share accurate information
00:28:53and engage our community
00:28:55respectively. my
00:28:59dear people, i cannot do this work alone. I need
00:29:03your cooperation, your dedication, your advice
00:29:07and your support. Together, we can build movement where
00:29:10every man, every woman has a voice, and every
00:29:14member understand their responsibilities. As we move
00:29:18forward, under the leadership of this movement, let our
00:29:21action reflect discipline, honesty,
00:29:25respect and commitment. Women, are we ready to
00:29:29work together? Yes, we ready to serve
00:29:33our communities, then let us rise to this
00:29:37responsibility before us and i god
00:29:41will help us, amen. before i end this
00:29:44speech, i want to teach our women the slogans we shall be
00:29:47using, when i say we stand
00:29:51together, we respond, we move forward, we
00:29:55stand together, we move
00:29:56forward, our
00:30:00parent. We move forward our
00:30:04priority
00:30:05every
00:30:10finally, I thank our leaders, our women, our
00:30:14youth and every member present here today, may almighty
00:30:18God protect our families and grant us wisdom to serve
00:30:22with integrity, long leave our
00:30:25women, long leave our great movement, long
00:30:28leave peace and unity in our states, god bless our!
00:30:33God bless Federal Republic of
00:30:34Nigeria,
00:30:38thank you so much, thank you, thank you, honorable
00:30:42commissioner for youth and sports development, thank
00:30:46you,
00:30:49abc,
00:30:53abc,
00:30:57abc.