Why Nigerian businesses should support local digital infrastructure – Expert

A Nigerian technology entrepreneur, Joseph Effiok Hogan, has called on businesses to consider local technology providers when sourcing digital services, provided such services meet required standards.

Hogan, founder of HoganHost and CEO of ZuumHost, made the call in a post shared on LinkedIn while discussing the role of businesses in strengthening Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

He said supporting local digital infrastructure should not be interpreted as a call for businesses to abandon international technology companies or exclusively use the .ng domain.

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Rather, he urged businesses to assess available options and patronise Nigerian providers where they can offer reliable, secure and competitive services.

Hogan said a Nigerian business could, for instance, retain a .com domain to serve an international market while using a Nigerian company to host its website.

He said such an approach would enable businesses to maintain their preferred online identity while contributing to the growth of the domestic technology sector.

He said: “If I want to patronise a Nigerian business and I notice that the company is not using a .ng domain, but its website is hosted by a Nigerian hosting company, I can still confidently do business with them.”

However, Hogan said local technology companies must also demonstrate their capacity to compete for customers on the basis of service quality rather than patriotism.

“Supporting Nigerian technology should not be based on sentiment alone. We have to earn that trust,” he said.

He identified reliability, customer service, infrastructure, security and competitive pricing as some of the factors local technology companies need to prioritise.

Hogan also acknowledged that international technology providers remain relevant, particularly for businesses with specialised requirements or operations that require services not readily available from local providers.

He said businesses should therefore not assume that foreign providers are automatically better, but should compare available services based on their specific needs.

On the .ng domain, Hogan said it could provide businesses targeting the Nigerian market with a distinct local identity, but added that the use of other domain extensions should not be regarded as a rejection of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

He argued that businesses using .com, .org or other domain extensions could still contribute to the local technology sector by patronising Nigerian companies for hosting and other digital services.

According to him, greater patronage of capable local technology companies could contribute to the growth of the domestic digital industry by supporting employment, investment, infrastructure development and the expansion of locally developed technology services.

He, however, stressed that building a sustainable digital ecosystem would require commitment from both technology providers and their potential customers.

While local technology companies must improve the quality and reliability of their services, businesses should also consider capable domestic providers when making technology-related decisions, he said.

As more businesses adopt digital platforms for their operations, the choices they make regarding technology providers could influence the development of Nigeria’s domestic digital services industry.