Segun Olatunde is a tech entrepreneur and founder of Oshegz Telecoms, and NaijaSub. In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, he speaks about his journey with tech as an undergraduate and his passion for tech business, among other issues.
You studied religious studies. Why did you abandon religious endeavours for a telecom/tech career?
In my second year, in Obafemi Awolowo University, I developed passion for technology. I researched and got information and news on anything that evolved around tech. I discovered that the new passion would not affect my studies, but it will rather equip me more. Being born into a poor family, where feeding and paying bills were really difficult, the quest for survival motivated me to pursue a career in the tech space. I started using my experience and research in technology to fix some software problems for my roommates, and others on their mobile devices and laptops at particular fees.
You have a certification on how to leverage information to build businesses from Australian Deakin University. How has this certification helped your business skills and career?
The certification has contributed a lot in my business, most especially in areas of identifying certain societal and economic issues and how to build business solutions around them. Information technology drives innovation, and innovation is a path to business success.
You are the founder of Oshegz Telecom. Tell us about Oshegz and how you are using it to add value to the society.
Oshegz Telecoms started in 2014, and was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in 2018. Oshegz Telecoms is a platform that offers services that include internet data plans and bill payments in wholesales. In order to reduce the unemployment rate in Nigeria, we have agents nationwide that earn profits from reselling our products and services.
Also, with Oshegz Foundation, we have been able to assist through donations of cash, items, equipment and other supplications to the less-privileged and orphans. We believe this is a way of contributing back to the society.
One of your business ventures, NaijaSub, involves generation and printing of recharge cards. This is what many people do. What makes yours unique and accessible?
NaijaSub is an online platform that offers internet data and airtime sales. We discovered that the major challenge data subscribers face is the difficulty in recharging offline. In order to tackle this challenge, we innovated data recharge card to look like the conventional airtime scratch cards we are all familiar with. This means that users can top-up their mobile line using NaijaSub Data Scratch card without having online access. These scratch cards also give users opportunity to resell. This card can also serve as a gift to family and friends, or as souvenirs during occasions.
Recently, there is a speculation that the federal government is considering to introduce excise tax on airtime and data services. If this happens, how do you think it would personally affect your business and the telecom industry?
One of the challenges in the telecom industry is the high cost of data and airtime which is what my company is trying to tackle. An increment in the VAT will create discomfort and affect our business negatively, as our mission to ensure cheapest Internet subscription for all will be made difficult.
These days, people complain that internet data providers are not giving them true value of the data they are paying for. How would you react to this and other related complaints?
Many people make these complaints, but the fact remains that most consumers need to understand how they can optimise their data usage and consumption. This can be controlled on Android, iOS or any other operating system. There are certain background apps that consume data without using them and, at the end, makes it look as if true value was not given.
As a cryptocurrency investor, how are you coping with the ban on cryptocurrency in Nigeria? And what do you hope to expect from CBN ‘digital naira’ by 2022?
The cryptocurrency ban in Nigeria has affected businesses built around it, as businesses were unable to process deposit or withdrawal of cryptocurrencies. On our website naijasub.com, we had to stop offering this service since our payment solution partner stopped processing our payment pending the time we can find a solution. We basically make use of peer-2-peer (P2P) system to fulfil deposit and withdrawal of cryptocurrencies.
The CBN’s attempt to launch a digital naira is a good way to start a journey into the block-chain ecosystem. We hope CBN will make this decision a reality because the adoption of cryptocurrency is now the order of the day. Pegging the naira coin to the USD pair will be good, as it will make naira to have a wider adoption, most especially in Africa.
As a tech person, how is the Twitter ban by the government affecting your business? And how would advise the government in this regard?
The Twitter ban has had a negative impact on our business as we cannot engage our customers and potential customers on Twitter. Certain campaigns and promotions, interaction and competition that tend to promote our business have been stopped. I implore the government to revisit this ban and reach a meaningful agreement with Twitter so as to restore Twitter operation to Nigeria.
Do you have plans of expanding into other telecom/tech businesses? And where do you see yourself in five years?
I have plans to build tech tools and software to assist the telecommunication industry in discharging their service effectively.
In the next five years, I see myself becoming one of the telecom giants and expanding to other Africa countries, providing internet solutions and creating employment opportunities.
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