Ghanaian firm plans multi-billion naira PC, phone assembly plant in Nigeria

FOR technology transfer and local content development in Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, a Ghanaian firm, RLG Communications, has unveiled plans to commission a multi billion-naira Personal Computer and phone assembly plant in Nigeria.

With about five years of operations in Ghana, the firm, which entered the Nigerian market in 2012, operating as RLG Communications Nigeria Limited, informed that the assembly plant, which has its site in Osun State, should be ready by May ending and commence operations in June.

The Chief Operating Officer of the company, Mr. Taiwo Latilo, made this known in Lagos at the weekend at a programme organised for the disabled titled: ‘Communication and the disabled’.

Latiwo, who said promised that the company would churn out quality products that can compete with the other known brands around the world, stressed that the world was rapidly changing in the area of technology and people with disabilities needed to be equipped with ICT skills that will make them fit for the job market.

“For us, this is a mandate to revolutionise ICT in Africa and create one million jobs for the youth in the world. In this regard, we have just commenced the construction of  ‘HOPE City’ (an acronym for Home, Office, People and Environment), which is an ICT Park modeled after Silicon Valley in America. That will be the first of its kind in Africa,” he added.

According to him, if communication meant thought, messages and information exchanged through mediums like speech, visuals, signals, writing or behaviour, a significant segment of society would not be able to communicate effectively.

According to him, this significant segment is for people living with disabilities, and represents 15 per cent of the population of the world (by The World Health Organisation’s figures), which is about 800 million people worldwide.

Indeed, he stressed that this set of people might have visual impairments, hearing impairments and/or physical impairments, “how then can this class of people overcome the hurdles in their way of communication?   The answer is simply ICT. Our organisation is in the forefront of training people with disabilities in ICT, not just to communicate but also to learn and thereby have more access to opportunities open to the rest of us,” he said.

The forum had in attendance officers of the Federal Road safety Corps, National Union of Journalists, religious leaders, Mrs. Funke Oga of NTA Channel 10 (who is the coordinator), among others.

Latilo said in Ghana, the firm had unveiled an ICT training programme initiated by government and RLG for persons with disabilities, adding, “The initiative is worth N2.1billion and is to train 5,000 people living with disabilities in phones and computer repairs.

He disclosed that graduates from the scheme will be employed as instructors in various resource centres and will be assisted to set up shops to sell and market RLG products, stressing that some others will work as engineers and technicians in the firm’s plants across Africa.

He said RLG Nigeria was prepared to work with government at various levels in Nigeria to replicate this initiative and bring hope to people living with disabilities, and make their dreams a reality.

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