Omatek Computers has commenced the local production of computers under the "Computers for All Nigerians Initiative" (Cani), a government-private sector collaboration aimed at increasing PC penetration in Nigeria.
Omatek in a press statement stated that the development is also expected to create a more computer-literate workforce in the country.
According to Florence Seriki, managing director of Omatek Computers, "there is a glaring and strong relationship between PC penetration and economic well-being of a nation."
She said "the ratio of seven computers to 1,000 Nigerians according to ITU figures is disturbing and embarrassing to say the least."
Seriki said a good way of responding to the situation is the creation of a Government-Assisted PC Programme (GAPP) like Cani to offer ICT-related benefits to more people in the country."
Seriki stated that with Cani, an ICT foundation is built and citizens become more technology savvy and Nigeria can boost its productivity and e-readiness competitiveness in the comity of African nations. "For this, we need to be grateful to the federal government for taking this bold step, she said.
Seriki said Omatek has already started to produce the computers locally under the initiative in conjunction with Intel as a way to bringing the prices down. "This eliminates the production of these computers abroad and had caved way for more employment generation, youth empowerment and technology transfer among our youths," she said.
The release stated that the step taken by Omatek is in fulfilment of the federal government's commitment to bridging the digital divide as a policy challenge towards increasing Nigeria's PC penetration from its present abysmal low rate of seven per 1,000 inhabitants, according to International Telecommunications Union (ITU). This, analysts believe, will encourage mass computer literacy among the citizenry.
President Olusegun Obasanjo praised local computer system builders who are part of the Cani programme saying the initiative will boost the PC home ownership and would bring about affordable, locally assembled PCs into the market
The president singled out Omatek Computers who, according to him, "has done Nigeria proud and put Africa onto the map of the ICT world by winning the prestigious 2005 Microsoft Best System Builder Award that covers East, Central and West Africa.
The initiative is a private/public partnership under which affordable personal computers are to be locally produced and distributed to Nigerians for use at affordable rates through their places of employment, whether in the public or private sector.
Sponsored by National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda), Microsoft Nigeria Limited and Intel, the initiative involves stakeholders in the ICT sector and system builders like Omatek in making the project a success.
The Cani project, in its first phase, is expected to empower not less than 500,000 Nigerians in the first two years of its operations.
The Computers for All Nigerians Initiative is the Nigerian model of GAPP, part of the broader digital inclusion programme that forms a section of Intel's Global World Ahead programme to assist and advance the information society, and speed up access to technology and information in developing nations by focusing on the three key areas of accessibility, connectivity and education.
Many countries of the world have implemented GAPP through incentives driven models to boost their PC penetration, productivity levels and economies of scale.
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