Prince Osuagwu
27 October 2009
interview
Recently, Intel's General Manager Sub-Saharan Africa Mr. Jacques Van Schalkwyk, arrived Nigeria to hold meeting with his company stakeholders on a faster way to connect the next billion PC users. But tried as he could, he could not escape the prying eyes of ICT reporters who cornered him at Sheraton Hotels and Towers Ikeja.
Van Schalkwyk who actually has been to Nigeria a couple of times in the past, however confessed that he had discovered a special hunger among Nigerian on new Technologies.
You came specifically to have meeting with Intel's stakeholders, can we share in the outcome of the meetings?
First of all, I think there is a real hunger and high desire for the adoption of new technology. Intel is as a matter of fact; ready to collaborate a lot more than what you've seen in the past, with both the private and public sector in a bid to jointly tackle some of the big issues. If you look at it from the usage models perspective, you will observe that this is also evolving. For instance, media delivery over the Internet is becoming a reality.
Nigeria is increasingly becoming a more focused usable society as many people communicate with relatives abroad or business people exchange ideas. But there are some challenges like credit systems being in state of instability. However, there is somewhere to go. In general, I think the feedback I am getting is that the latest technologies are being implemented; there is really the intent for that change to happen. And people are striving step by step forward to drive change.
What's your assessment of Intel performance in sub-Saharan Africa vis-à-vis the competition and the growth of IT?
At Intel, we see mobile going very fast; mobile technology is continuing to grow. The overall growth even in a fairly tight environment and the available market is becoming impressive and promising. This year was a particularly tough year everywhere in the world. However, there have been good signs of recovery, even in Nigeria. We believe that the growth and transformation are as a result of the adoption of technology all over the world.
What kind of response have you been getting from the government officials you've been meeting with?
In general, we have had a long relationship with the government officials; so it doesn't look like something new. However, we've made good progress and of course, good implementation on the progress especially in education nationwide as well as in the ETF- the Education Trust Fund. There has been continued support for those programmes to expand. In fact, I read something in the local press here that Intel is to give every child in the primary school a laptop.
Some of these activities have been driven by government. Generally, it has been looking for solutions; they want the public and private sector to really work together.
What informed Intel's more involvement in corporate social responsibility programmes than its core business?
There is a component of corporate social responsibility in Intel because we are essentially a company that is concerned about the well-being of the
communities we operate in. At the same time, if you look at the activities we are involved in, you notice that they are drivers for ICT adoption and growth.
At the end of the day, ICT adoption means more PCs being sought. So I think that it is creating the man and also doing the right thing. It is good business because it has to do with human development.
Can we know the level of commitment from Intel and that of government in all of this your partnerships?
We have to be 100% clear about the fact that a large percentage of these partnerships are being implemented by the government itself. Of course, we have made resources available and in some cases we have to either guide them or do it ourselves. This we've done in a both private and public schools. And to be honest
with you, what I experienced was exactly the same level of technology implementation, the same level of content being delivered. That exclusive gap is really eradicated; the students have the same level of access to information.
With regard to level of involvement, I don't want to say it's 50-50 or 40-60 or 60-40 but certainly, we are not doing government's own side. It is doing majority of the work while we are doing ours especially in the area of implementation. There is a healthy partnership.
Intel CEO has been leading campaign for the revival of the PC market, How can that succeed in this period of global cash crunch?
We can see demand especially in the consumer market, coming back worldwide. There are two drivers of this new development. First are the new users coming to the Internet, and that is what we mean by connecting the next one billion people; people who never owned laptops before, who are buying new laptops into their homes.
And there is another component which obviously is a very fresh market. There are a number of reasons for people to do that which are hinged on usage models, the process in demand behind those usage models. Just look at the digital camera for instance; every year new cameras come with higher mega pixels. Video conferencing is becoming a reality. People are skyping. We shall continue to see new people come into the Internet. We shall continue to see new usage models evolving for that niche technology. Intel will continue to invest in future technologies. How committed is government in all of these partnerships?
Like every other place in the world, government has so much money to spend at any given time. Everybody would want to have a government that is rich enough.
With my experience in Nigeria working with the government, it is not deliberate for the government to delay in the adoption of technology. One area I think we have to look at and which needs attention and acceleration, is broadband connectivity. We should make sure that the right regulatory environment is put in place and that the right spectrums and bandwidths are allocated. We should make sure too that the right policies are made around education. Those are some of the challenges that cannot be tackled overnight.
How successful can you say the Computer for All Nigerians initiative (CANi) has been?
CANi is successful and continues to run; I can't be specific about the volumes behind it. The programme is up and running. But I don't think that should be an indicator of the slowdown within technology adoption because we see a share of our business which was traditionally a government thing shifting; and of course the revenue shifting towards the consumer. At the end of the day, the CANi products will end up in the hands of the consumer.
At the time CANi was launched, there were no PC retail shops in the country but all that has changed now as you can now see retail shops selling PCs. This you couldn't see about four years ago. It has now become a consumer market. And if that is the end result then, CANi has done a good job.
Intel seems be upgrading products regularly, why ?
Technology has increased in performance and the price over the years has actually dropped.
Certainly, new technologies have benefited the consumer. The reason why we are still in business is because we bring out new technologies. Companies who do not innovate, who do not maintain leadership, how can they expect competition, which is the core of business?
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