Digital is not only the new normal; it is also the currency of the future. With technological advancements over the years bringing everything to everyone everywhere, the world is now a global village heralding new innovations every day. From closing multi-million-naira business deals on virtual spaces, to finding love or hailing a taxi ride at the touch of an App, technology is simply at the heart of the 21st century everyday life.
Interestingly, the digital world doesn’t run itself, it depends heavily on a blend of other elements of which efficiency and affordability of the internet are key. This explains why government and concerned stakeholders are making frantic efforts to deepen internet penetration across the world.
Findings released by Internet World Stats show that as at the third quarter of 2017, countries in the European Union recorded a whopping 85.7% internet penetration. The story is the same for the American continent with an internet penetration of 88.1%, while Latin America follows closely with 66.1%.
While Asia and Africa remain the lowest in internet penetration with 48.1% and 35.2% respectively, still, a lot of progress has been made. In Africa, for instance, the ‘Digital in 2018’ report released by We Are Social and Hootsuite, shows that Africa has seen the fastest growth rates in internet penetration, with the number of internet users across the continent increasing by more than 20% compared to 2017.
Regardless of progress made so far, if Nigeria and Africa will catch up with the rest of the world in a rapidly evolving digital space, stakeholders need to rise to the occasion and show commitment strong enough to bring all efforts at deepening internet penetration on the continent to fruition. And this is why the recent introduction of ‘Red Cheetah’ by the leading broadband service provider, SWIFT Networks, is a step in the right direction not just for Nigeria, but also Africa.
In March, SWIFT announced that it was on a quest to enable over 10,000 free hotspots across Lagos State. The Red Cheetah free Wi-Fi service innovation, which was birthed in 2016 and unveiled two years after, follows in SWIFT’s tradition of demystifying and making technology work for Nigerians and empowering them to explore the incredible opportunities that abound in the digital ecosystem.
On SWIFT’s rationale for this innovation, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company, Charles Anudu, noted that the digital world has come to stay and one of the best ways to maximize the revolution is by providing the teeming masses with means to remain digitally engaged.
In his words, “In Nigeria, most people don’t have internet and unfortunately, the people who do not have this internet are those who need it the most. Therefore, bringing free broadband service to the masses will boost the economy and empower the youths in many ways.”
This cutting-edge service model has started with a plan to distribute its initial 10,000 hotspots to strategic locations across Lagos state over the next 6 months and will extend rapidly to more cities in Nigeria and the continent. Already, within a month after its announcement, the Red Cheetah hotspots are available in over 500 locations including Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, Hard Rock Café, Eko Hospital, VGC Club, over 200 BRT Buses, among others, with more locations being added on a daily basis in a bid to meet the target of 10,000 locations within Lagos State over a period of six months.
To ensure sustainability for the Red Cheetah project, coupled with the need to offer the service 100% free to drive internet penetration in the country, SWIFT struck partnerships with leading global brands committed to supporting the innovation with advertising revenue. Red Cheetah fascinates even further against the backdrop that everything about the Red Cheetah project is fully Nigerian, including the App development. This is an indicator of how much talent exists in our country and the fact that we can do great things when we commit to solving the problems of our society taking our local context into consideration.
As a testament to the dogged underlying efforts that went into this innovation, especially in the area of security and cyber-attacks, the Chief Operating Officer of SWIFT, Chukwuma Okoye, enthused that “The security of every user’s access is enhanced by the Red Cheetah App which establishes a distinct and secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to the internet for each device on the platform.” He strongly believes that this dogged work of over two years is the ideal model that will empower Nigerians to live their most productive lifestyles in a digital world.
Indeed, the digital world is here to stay and internet is the driver. The benefits of an innovation such as the Red Cheetah free Wi-Fi service cannot be overemphasized in an environment such as ours where fast and reliable broad band access remains a luxury to some people. Not only will it drive internet penetration that will ensure Nigeria and the African continent catch up with the rest of the world, it will also champion more exciting lifestyle, social inclusion and individual productivity in a constantly evolving universe.
No doubt, SWIFT’s Red Cheetah model comes off as a timely innovation that will cement Nigeria’s place in today’s digital society and key stakeholders need to join in and partner with the brand to make this initiative sustainable and scale-able over time.
