LAGOS: Standing outside a small mobile shop in Lagos, one would think the need for high-level technology is not needed. The dirt in front of the small shop highlights the divide between here, on the outskirts of the city and the center, where technology is booming and companies battle one another to develop the latest gadgets. “What is a duel SIM,” one customer, who had been trying to get a new charger for his mobile, said on Monday afternoon, braving the crowds who had come to the shop to get the “needed” essentials for their technology. That consists of mainly a mobile phone and that's about it. “We are all workers so all this new technology that makes people excited, we don't care about. We care about jobs and living,” said Martin Ebou, a textile factory manager who recently upgraded his mobile to have Bluetooth. In the rural areas of Nigeria, the most modern technology is not vital to the daily lives of its people. But on Monday, Nokia and Airtel Nigeria launched the country's first Nokia duel SIM device, the X1-01, to much fanfare among business executives and analysts who say the increase in technology development will help push the country's economy. The new SIM will give users the ability to enjoy the latest Nokia phone and deliver Airtel Nigeria's “innovative, affordable and value-rich telecom solutions,” the companies said in a press statement. Airtel's Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director Deepak Srivastava said “the partnership between Airtel and Nokia offers Nigerians the perfect opportunity to enjoy the benefits and value that comes with such an innovative collaboration between two of the powerful brands that impact the lives of many people daily.” For Lagos-based community leader and former IT specialist with the Nigerian communications ministry Omar Hussein, the idea that larger companies have of their new products impact on society as a whole is misleading. “Progress for progress sake can only take us so far,” he began. “What these companies should also be doing is to deliver mobile and telecom training and understanding to the rural areas in order to bring them into the economic situation of Nigeria.” He retold the story of a recent visit to a makeshift village just outside Lagos and how young children kept asking when they would get the newest mobile phone they saw on television. When he asked them if they knew how to use a computer, “they told me they had no idea, so it is frustrating that they dream of having the latest mobile phone and at the same time don't even know how to use a computer.” With Nigeria's central government looking at new means of promoting technological development in the country, there have been some movements toward educating the rural areas as telecom operators begin to move outside city centers. This has led the telecom operators to see that there is an untapped market of Nigerians that should be integrated into the country's economy. For one of MTN's managers William Johnston, who is consulting with MTN Nigeria on looking at new ways of attracting customers and boosting overall penetration on a deeper level, the rural areas are the places where telecom operators need to go. “We have to see this as a win-win situation,” he said. “First, these are untapped users who can deliver a great source of income, while at the same time a lot of those people in the rural areas deserve the education and use of new technologies because this will translate into bettering their local economies as well as the national one.” That might be the mode of the future for Nigeria. The reality that new mobile devices spur interest in the sector cannot be understated, with those standing around the dirt road in front of the mobile shop clamoring for a view of the latest gadget. “I definitely want to get one of those some day, but right now, I have to focus on making sure my family has enough to live, so this little phone will do just fine for right now,” said one of the customers. Right now, maybe, but in the future, development, economy and technological advancement appear to be hand-in-hand. BM
