As part of the , 100 business leaders in Nigeria were interviewed about the opportunities and challenges their organizations are facing – and their plans for the future.
As Equinix’s survey data highlights, there are huge opportunities for Nigeria’s businesses to successfully expand into new markets and reach new customers.
The survey in Nigeria revealed that 54 per cent of respondents are planning on expanding in an existing country in the next 12 months, 34 per cent into a new region and 33 per cent into a new country. And that 93 per cent of IT leaders in Nigeria said enhancing customer experience is a priority.
However, a number of potentially limiting factors were identified by businesses when it came to global growth including concerns and challenges in the supply chain, cyber security, and staff retention and recruitment.
Supply chain challenges
55 per cent said their business was plagued by global supply chain issues and shortages, while 50 per cent specified the global microchip shortage as a threat to their business.
Cyber security
There remain significant concerns around cybersecurity in Nigeria. Ensuring expansions are supported by resilient digital models is business-critical, particularly at a time of increasing volatility and emerging global threats.
As part of their digital-first strategies, 85 per cent of respondents in Nigeria confirmed a key priority is improving cybersecurity. 88 per cent said complying with local market data regulations is critical, while 85 per cent highlighted the need to future-proof their businesses.
According to IT specialists in Nigeria, the most feared threats were cyberattacks (73 per cent), security breaches and data leaks (68 per cent).
Staff retention and recruitment
Despite having one of the youngest populations and workforces in the world, 58 per cent of IT decision-makers in Nigeria view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business.
The survey showed that among the most common concerns for businesses in Nigeria are candidates with the wrong skill sets applying for jobs (56 per cent), pay and compensation (49 per cent), changing expectations around ways of working (41 per cent), and the retention of current talent (38 per cent).
77 per cent of IT leaders in Nigeria said they plan to move more business functions to the cloud including business-critical applications and security functions
Additionally, In Nigeria, the most in-demand tech employees are those with skills in areas such as AI/machine learning, data analysis, cloud computing specialists, data protection, security software development, IT technicians and security analysis
Tools to grow businesses
To help grow their businesses, 77 per cent of IT leaders in Nigeria said they plan to move more business functions to the cloud including business-critical applications and security functions.
Hybrid cloud models were the preferred approach for 36 per cent of respondents in Nigeria, although 18 per cent still rely on a single cloud provider and 2 per cent not using the cloud at all.
40 per cent in Nigeria said they plan to facilitate global expansion plans by deploying virtually via the cloud, with over a quarter (26 per cent) – 21 per cent among IT decision-makers in Nigeria – doing so using a bare metal solution.
Meanwhile, 47 per cent globally (46 per cent in Nigeria) said they expect increased spending on carrier-neutral colocation solutions to facilitate the planned rise in digital deployments, while even more (59 per cent at the global level, 70 per cent in Nigeria) said they intend to increase investment in interconnection services as they plan to progress digital transformation and build resilience.
COVID accelerates digital evolution
The pandemic also continues to have a significant impact on businesses’ digital strategies. More than half of IT leaders in Nigeria (64 per cent) say they are accelerating their company’s digital evolution because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Indeed, over half (64 per cent) confirm their IT budgets have increased as a direct outcome of its legacy—an insight into the now broadly acknowledged necessity for robust digital infrastructure to pivot to evolving business needs in an instant.
Furthermore, almost three-quarters of respondents (73 per cent) believe the technological changes and investments implemented during the pandemic are here to stay.
Funke Opeke, Managing Director, MainOne, an Equinix Company said: “The acceleration in digital transformation in Nigeria reinforces the need for businesses to have access to single points to interconnect locally. Increased speed of connectivity, increased flexibility of connectivity, and reduced cost of connectivity were identified by IT decision-makers in Nigeria as the most beneficial aspects of interconnection. MainOne provides a rich interconnection ecosystem that allows customers to connect to each other on multiple telecoms networks, and Cloud, Payment and Content Providers in a single location.’’
Earlier this year Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world’s digital infrastructure company™, expanded into Africa through the US$320m acquisition of MainOne, a leading West African data centre and connectivity solutions provider, with a presence in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of MainOne.
