Leading innovative telecom services and network solutions provider, MainOne has made a case for data hosting in-country rather than hosting abroad to heighten capital flight.

Speaking at the Digitization Hangout with the Digital Transformation Technical Working Groups (DTTWGs) organized by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja, the MainOne chief executive officer, Ms. Funke Opeke, explained that data is the new oil and therefore very valuable for marketing all kinds of business development, reports Vanguard.

She stated that MainOne had entered into various strategic partnerships to make this a reality, pointing to an existing partnership with NITDA which focuses on  bringing all of Nigeria’s data under one umbrella.

She described MainOne as a wholesale and infrastructure service provider, with submarine cables that carry traffic between Nigeria and other countries. She noted that the company also has major data centres across West Africa.

According to her, “partnership between MainOne and NITDA focuses on bringing all of our data as Nigerians because everybody says data is the new oil data and is very valuable for marketing all kinds of business development including the storage and processing of the data in banks, service companies and engineering companies.

Data from these sectors can be analyzed and used to create new developments. So, we want to see more of Nigerian data hosted here in Nigeria, particularly as we try to expand our digital economy. That is why we are working with the MDAs. Hosting data locally will not only help in building capacity, it will also create job opportunities, just as it will check capital flight to a considerable extent,” she added.