LCCI blames protest for low turnout at ICTEL expo

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has linked the poor turnout of participants and the absence of regulators at the Information Communication Technology and Telecommunications Expo 2024 to the uncertainty around the ‘end bad government’ protest.

The ICTEL Expo was held in Lagos from July 30 to 31, 2024, and was organised by the LCCI.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani and Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, who were the special guests of honour at the expo, could not make it, because of a presidential directive to return to the Federal Capital Territory considering the nationwide protests on August 1, 2024, according to the LCCI President, Gabriel Idahosa.

Idahosa told The PUNCH that the schedule for the expo had been drawn up months before the nationwide protest began to surface in the news and there was nothing the LCCI could do to prevent the absence of the public officers.

He said, “We understand that a lot of them had their programme changed. For example, the senator, who was meant to come this morning, (because he) was supposed to be on recess, got called back to Abuja by the President of the Senate. He just took a flight and went to Abuja.”

He explained that the minister was also affected, as he got a call to be on the ground for a briefing, to help engage their communities and bases.

“ICTEL was the main casualty in terms of the regulators’ attendance; NITDA, NCC, Nigeria Satellite Commission, all of them were meant to be here because it’s their show. I guess the crisis has reset all their engagements,” the LCCI president added.

At the ICETL Expo 2024, themed ‘New Technology, New Threats, and New Opportunities’, a variety of renewable energy companies, internet service providers and e-commerce platforms exhibited their products and services.

He remarked that the theme for the 10th ICTEL expo encapsulated the transformative power of emerging technologies, their challenges, and their vast potential.

“It is a call to action for all stakeholders to engage, innovate, and capitalise on these advancements,” he stated.

An exhibitor at the expo, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Afriipower, Srinivas Pilla, said the LCCI was a reputable organisation with a credible platform.

Pilla appreciated the combination of information technology and renewable energy in the 2024 expo and said Afriipower was a major player that offered affordable and renewable energy.

He said the renewable energy market had been good since he began doing business in Nigeria in 2018, but faced a decline in demand in 2023 due to the removal of fuel subsidy.

Pilla observed that the expo was not attended as much as earlier editions and he stated that the planned protests for August 1, 2024, alongside the high cost of transportation, would have contributed to discouraging people from stepping out of their homes.

Another exhibitor, the CEO of AWPS Renewable Energy Ltd, Yinka Ewemoje, noted that the expo allowed his company to showcase its products.

He mentioned that AWPS was the sole distributor of Solax Power, which offered financing to customers across multiple plans to enable them to afford renewable energy.

He explained that current economic headwinds had not negatively impacted AWPS’ market, as more customers were turning to renewable energy following the upgrade of households to a more expensive Band A by electricity distribution companies.

\A highlight of the expo was the panel discussions with experts from the energy sector sharing insights on alternative power generation, renewable energy deployment, and energy security.