By Prince Osuagwu
Central Bank Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi may be an authority in banking, may make purposeful contribution to the economy, but when it comes to tecvhnology, he has to be taught and that is what the Second National Operator seemed to have done pennultimate week when it showcased the potentials of its international submarine cable, Glo 1 to top business and public sector chief executives including the CBN Governor himself.

Sanusi and many other personalities had the opportunity to try out video conferencing via the Glo 1 platform at The Economist group’s Nigeria Summit held in Abuja on Thursday .

While at the Glo 1 stand at the summit, Sanusi was able to speak face to face with a counterpart in Lagos and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from the conference Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Commenting on the experience, the CBN Governor said he was impressed that the “magic” was being executed by a Nigerian company.  “This is a great development for this country, I am happy that this technology is coming from a Nigerian company with whom we in the CBN also have a good relationship”.

Other dignitaries who experienced the video conferencing demo at the Summit include the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Development Company, Mr. Chike Onyejekwe; Country Manager of Google, Henrico Liggeri; Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, Christo Giannopoulos; Area Director (West Africa) of British American Tobacco, Beverly Spencer Obatoyinbo; Managing Director of BHL, Randy Buday and Chief Executive Officer of Glaxo Smithclime, Chidi Okoro among others.

Globacom was a major sponsor of the Nigeria summit which attracted the cream of Nigerian business. The Summit is a forward-looking conference which brings the country’s political leaders together with international investors and business leaders to discuss developmental challenges.

According to Mr. Folu Aderibigbe, the Head of Glo’s Business Enterprise Solutions, Globacom supported  this year’s Summit because the management of the company believes that Nigeria has the potentials to play on the same level with developed nations. “We simply need to set a direction and then consistently stay on course for a decade or two and then the nation will emerge out of decay to set the pace in  the 21st century” he added.

The speakers spent two  days to critically examine the Government’s reform programme, shed light on the realities of operating a business and identify emerging investment opportunities.

According to the organizers of the conference, the operating environment for business in Nigeria remains challenging, with wide disparities across states, in terms of the ease of paying taxes, registering property, enforcing contracts, obtaining permits or setting up a business, issues which multinational and local investors need to see remedied by  federal and state governments.