Experts canvass framework to legalise electronic payment

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:52:37 +0000

As Nigeria seeks to join the committee of nations which deploy electronic transactions to facilitate economic growth and development, information technology (IT) experts have called for the formulation of an all-inclusive framework to legalise electronic payment system.
This is even as the Federal Government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has proposed a new law to ensure that all electronic documents and signatures are as valid as their paper and ink counterparts.
The experts, however, say that the proposed legal framework must not only address the commercial aspects of transactions, but also cater for the inherent technological issues because the primary vehicle for e-transactions is the internet and information technology.
According to them, most existing laws and regulations in Nigeria do not provide for the electronic element in e-transactions, saying that by itself necessitates the formulation of new laws and regulations to accommodate this very essential element.
They further expound that this new law would promote public trust in the use of e-transaction while assuring adequate protection for privacy of information of individuals in such transactions.
This they say would invariably give teeth to section 37 of the Nigerian constitution of 1999 which categorically states that: “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversation and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.”
BusinessDay gathered that the proposed bill represents the first main step at amending the Evidence Act which will make copies of documentary evidence admissible in courts where the original had been lost, is unavailable, or in custody of public officials.
Conversely, the Nigerian evidence law makes no provision for digital signatures and even admission of e-mail as documentary evidence, particularly when not signed.
Informed sources say that when the law comes into effect, electronic sound, symbol or process connected with an agreement or transaction would be acknowledged as electronic signature.

ITU to sharpen Africa’s technology initiative

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:45:47 +0000

Technology offers African nations a unique opportunity to transform from poverty to riches in a short space of time and they are not yet taking full advantage of this, Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union, has said.
For this reason, Toure said, countries from across the African continent will be brought together in national pavilions to address the overarching theme of bridging the digital divide at the ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 summit holding in Geneva, for five days from next October 5. (Geneva, 5-9 October).
The African countries will be supported by a broad range of organisations from the non-profit, private and research and development sectors with the common goal of reasserting their commitment to ICT and digital development.
Toure was speaking at the weekend at the Africa Telecom Development summit which held in Abuja. He said it pained him that many African nations still went cap in hand seeking charitable assistance from the developed world and added that in the history of the world, no nation had attained development or prosperity through charity from other nations.
He said :”We live in the knowledge age and in the area of intellectual capacity, all nations are equally endowed. This means that developing nations now have the chance to play catch up on the developed nations.”
He added:”What is needed now is a major push forward in broadband access, where Africa still lags behind every other world region. By the end of last year, there were still only 635,000 fixed broadband subscribers across sub-Saharan Africa - or less than one-tenth the population of Lagos.
“I believe mobile broadband may prove to be the answer. Indeed, in the first five years since the first African mobile broadband services were launched, growth has been far more rapid than in fixed broadband and by the beginning of 2009, there were over seven million mobile broadband subscriptions on sub-Saharan Africa.
“I believe that the pace of ICT development - including broadband take-up, hinges on the policy and regulatory framework. Political will is needed at the very highest level of government, to establish an enabling environment which will create a level playing field for all stakeholders in promoting the rollout of ICTs.
“I am pleased to report that Africa is doing very well in terms of sector reforms, and indeed is now the region with highest percentage - 91 percent - of countries with a separate telecom/ICT regulator. In Nigeria, you are fortunate indeed in having a regulatory agency, the Nigerian Communications Commission , which has a very clear and focused vision of the future development path for your ICT sector - one of the reasons , I am convinced , why Nigeria has been able to make such rapid strides forward in ICT access.
“Many countries across the continent have also embarked on the process of privatisation - here in Nigeria, as you all know, the timetable has just been announced for the completion of the sale of Nitel.
“It is also good to note that competition in basic services is now the norm in Africa, with more than 60 percent of countries allowing multiple players in this market. African nations now have a unique opportunity to build on the success of initial sectoral reforms.
“We all need to focus now, therefore, on implementing universal access and broadband policies which can play an essential role in helping us achieve those targets.
“It has been an extraordinary decade for Africa, and it gives me great personal pleasure to see how the continent has taken huge steps forward in bringing connectivity to Africas people. Just ten years ago, virtually nobody in Africa had a mobile phone. Today, across the continent, mobile cellular subscription teledensity has reached 32.6 percent, with some 250 million subcriptions in sub-Saharsn Africa alone.
“Internet growth has also mushroomed. Ten years ago, the Internet was accessed by just a tiny handful of wealthy people in the continents biggest cities but today, more than 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, access the web.

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Experts canvass framework to legalise electronic payment

ITU to sharpen Africa’s technology initiative