Nigerians would have better appreciated software if Zukerberg had come last year

In this interview, John Obaro, CEO, Systemspecs, talks with Osa Victor Obayagbona and Jumoke Akiyode about potentials in Nigeria’s software industry and the turbulent times faced by his company when it was alleged that its software solution ‘Remita,’ developed as a payment gateway for the TSA, was fraudulent. Excerpt:

 

What would you say about Nigeria’s software industry? Would you say it is growing at a fast pace, and how has government been supporting this industry?

I think things are getting better and it will improve even further, because there are some challenges that come your way and at the end, they become a blessing in disguise. Foreign exchange is a major issue in Nigeria now, so it is forcing more people to look at alternative options locally.

Apart from that, the quality of software solutions available locally is also increasing at a very fast pace so it is going to be difficult to ignore it and justify why you want to look for those same solutions outside the country. That way, I see a brighter future for the industry. About government support, it is one thing to say something and it is another thing to actually implements it.

How can technology be seen as the next income generating source for economic diversification as opposed to oil, which is dwindling in prices?

It is not wise for us to continue to dwell on oil as we have all agreed. Technology provides an alternative for us and software is one area where we can easily ramp up and with a good number of our youngsters showing interest in that area, we just need to encourage innovation and create an atmosphere for people to blossom and I believe we can play the world from software.

We need to encourage as many people as possible to go on inventing apps for instance, some may fail but we just need a few successes to do well first in Nigeria and then hit the global market.

Nigeria’s IT export is currently about $5 million in worth, what do you think is responsible for this and how do you see the value of our IT export growing?

That is probably in reflection of the fact that our IT industry is still struggling. Other countries have done very well such as India and even small countries like Estonia are doing very well in terms of software export and that is part of what should encourage us that these countries are not better than us in any way.

We have Nigerians from the best schools around the world so we have the skills, competence, creativity and the drive but we also have challenges with the enabling environment and challenges with business ethics but we need to realise that these are not unsolvable problems and we need to remain determined and continue to move forward. First we need to optimise in the local market and then the external market too.

Nigeria has suddenly started having an encouraging uptake in Fintech where banks, insurance companies and other industries have taken interest in Financial Technology, how can local software developers help grow the Fintech industry?

Fintech is already changing the way a lot of things happen. It is like a whole new industry in its own light, and one analogy that comes to my head is when mobile phones first came, many people did not quite understand the different sectors that would be affected. Today, with your mobile phone, you carry torchlight, calculator, camera, notepad and a lot of other useful applications in this small device.

When it first came, it was just a phone, used for communicating through phone calls and text messages but it started attacking different industries and providing alternative ways for doing things people had been doing before. That is the kind of thing that is going to happen with Fintech. So initially, you’ll think it’s just a payment platform but then later, you’ll find that payment is what sits at the base of all other industries.

So it would affect how those industries operate and I am delighted that Nigeria is beginning to do well in that area. We have a number of people coming up, different products working together to redefine the landscape. If you want to look at the traditional way of doing things and your competitor comes and optimises on Fintech, on the face of it, you’ll think you’re still in the same industry but the game would just have changed under you. The biggest gainers at the end of the day will be the public. The economy itself and the quality of service across the country would improve in all sectors and any industry that does not wake up to leverage technology.

Has the case of alleged fraud with the Remita software app used for the single treasury account (TSA) been resolved with the National Assembly?

Incidentally, it was about this time last year, when we were really at the centre of the storm and a good portion of the noise around this allegation was driven by ignorance and a lot of wild figures were thrown around to generate sentiments and took focus away from the real issues, but at the end of the day, the established fact is that this is a technology that works and a lot of things had become dependent on this software.

So, it was not easy to just stop using it and thank God for the wisdom we had, we did not want to get involved in the noise since the focus was on the financials, we returned the money in contention and continued to do the job. As we continued to do the job, more people understood what the application stood for and recently, the President of Nigeria got involved and gave directions on how the matter is to be resolve.

That is what we are working with the different arms of government to have a clean closure, but the important thing is that it continues to render service to the MDAs, they can make their payments from the platform and all collections from the different people go into the treasury account and everything is monitored by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

 Do you think the troubles given to firms developing useful software apps would discourage other innovative Nigerians who are prepared to develop the country with technology?

Like I said, a good portion of it was ignorance and issues surrounding the fact that we are not a bank and so we should not collect money, arguments about the fees. For those in the industry, we know that those are very embarrassing issues to bring up. You don’t need to be a bank to remit funds, in fact, one bank cannot do it and what we are providing is a communication platform for the industry, so that when people make payments, they are able to debit in one bank and move it to another bank.

On the issue of the fees that was centred around 1 percent, when the global average is between 1.5 percent to 5 percent, and at 1 percent a lot of noise was made about the figure, when in this same country, as at the time we came on board, there were collection platforms from government earning as much as 46 percent but the 1 percent was meant to standardise everything.

There was just a lot of unnecessary noise but we are appreciative to God that more people now understand what we are doing and our focus is how to keep on improving the platform.

What are the effects of the controversy on the company – Systemspecs and the Remita software platform?

It was turbulent, I must admit, especially at the early stages because we just did not know where all that was coming from. We anticipated possible resistance to the use of technology in government but we did not anticipate direct attacks on the organisation itself. However, it has made us a lot stronger, it has helped us in two ways, such that it made us more popular and we came out of it unscathed, and that has made more people appreciate what we stand for as an organisation.

We see ourselves at a strategic position, quietly contributing our own quota to the development of our country. We are quietly operating a platform that will put transparency in governance. Like the minister of information mentioned sometime ago, yes we have economic challenges today in Nigeria, but without the TSA, the story would have been worse than what we have today. So, we are happy that we have been able to play that role and we will just continue to work with all those that love this country, to see how things can work better.

Systemspecs had a good showing at the recently concluded Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) conference held in Dubai, in comparison with other countries who came to showcase their tech industry capabilities, how would you rate Nigeria’s software industry?

Relative to other countries, I would say we can relate with others on the possibility of doing things together but we need to tidy up things faster at our own end to make sure that we are able to benefit from the kind of opportunities that are beginning to open up.

We made an announcement at the conference that we will launch an expanded Remita mobile app before the end of this year, and essentially, what the app does is that it moves a lot of power into the hands of the individuals. Today, when you want to make a payment, you don’t have to necessarily go to the web or to bank, you will be able to initiate and conclude all the payments from your mobile app.

How would you review the system so far?

In terms of moving towards cashless, a lot of progress has been made. In the last three year, a lot has happened but there is still a lot more ground to cover. There are still a number of things that can be done electronically, which are still being done manually. I would even want to go beyond cashless and talk of chequeless.

A good portion of the transactions by government, businesses and individuals would be done on the mobile in one form or the other and there is no need to either carry cash, cheques, and invoices or even receipts. All of this can be managed from this powerful device called a mobile phone with applications like Remita or even other innovative applications that will come up in future. We have countries today that we can reasonably say that are cashless like Sweden, Norway, Australia, which is moving aggressively in that area. I see Nigeria leading this block in this part of the world to make a clear statement near total ceaselessness.

What is the best management advice you have ever received, and how has it affected your business?

My best advice, not just for business but in life is integrity. That is, doing the right thing all the time even when no one is watching. That has helped us during our turbulent times to remain true and focused. It would appear not to pay in the short term but in the long run, when people know what you stand for, that works out positive.

What do you think would be the value of Nigeria’s software industry in the next five years?

Personally, I don’t get interested in all these figures being babbled about, we just want to focus on doing the job, create exciting solutions that add value to the society and the numbers would take care of itself. We encourage other people to play in the software technology space. In fact, we gave some startup grants to three software houses, just to ensure that the eco-system begins to grow and some of the solutions are adding value, it wouldn’t really matter what the figures turn out to be.

I think the visit of Mark Zukerburg showed that there was interest in the wealth of talent in the country. That was a positive impact on the IT industry but I just wish the Facebook founder had come around this time last year, maybe more people would have appreciated what software means and not stand on hallowed ground and declare that people developing software are doing nothing and making money for doing nothing. Now they understand that creativity and developing software is a lot of work and is one of the smartest ways to make money without stealing.