Is Nigeria And The Continent Of Africa Ready For The Metaverse?

Since the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, the internet may happen to be the next big thing. The arrival of the internet gave Nigerians access to the outside world in more ways than we can imagine. It has blessed us with an opportunity to share our culture, art, entertainment with the world. The world has come to appreciate our diversity, resilience, and strength, a lot of countries in the world today have embarrassed one thing or the other from Nigerian. But the big question yet unanswered for some of us today is, is Nigeria ready for the metaverse?

Although the arrival of the internet in the country at some point witnessed some negative side. However, a lot of Nigerians have moved beyond the negative aspects and have started to use this technology for more advanced purposes instead.  Entertainers and local businesses have leveraged the internet for businesses and promoting their craft. Over the years, the Nigerian Tech space has also recorded tremendous growth and advancement, all thanks to the availability of the internet.

Weeks ago, Facebook announced a name change to Meta, the company announces a name change as part of its plan to continue to focus on its near future ambitions of developing the metaverse. While the metaverse may not be fully ready for a few years as technology companies need time to build their infrastructures, one would ask if a developing country like Nigeria is getting ready for the metaverse and all the opportunities that come along with it.

The metaverse space and virtual world as you may like to also call it will be powered by cloud servers that automatically require an amount of stable and strong internet connections to gain unrestrained access. Even with the advent of the 4G service, Nigerians still battle unstable and unreliable internet service. Most Nigerians depend on multiple internet service providers in a bid to enjoy 100% satisfaction. Most countries of the world have either pivoted towards 5G or trans-Atlantic fiber optic cable systems and fiber broadband internet services. Nigeria still depends on the 3G and 4G services which might raise many concerns while trying to access metaverse. We really need to fix that, we need more stable and reliable internet services. The Nigerian Communications Commission, an independent regulatory body for the Nigerian telecommunications space recently signified its readiness to roll out the fifth-generation technology to Nigerians. Although the commission emphasized its 97% readiness to take on 5G deployment. but some questions still need answers.

Some Nigerian internet providers still rely on the use of masts that were originally created to boost 2G and 3G networks. While internet connection has been upgraded to 4G by some service providers, infrastructures available still need to be upgraded in other to accommodate the 4G network. To catch up with the rest of the World today, Nigerian telecom operators need to start investing in more advanced internet infrastructures as upgrading to the 5G network is very much achievable.

For average Nigerian internet users, the current cost of the internet can be a challenge especially if it’s for the purpose of accessing the metaverse. With the slow internet, this average user finds it challenging to use. If access to metaverse has to be a thing, Nigerian service providers need to provide cheaper internet that is immune to snail-paces.

In addition to the issues of snail-paced internet services and the rest of them, the lack of technical know-how on how the metaverse works can be a challenge. However, Nigeria is not the only affected one with this, the whole world is. While it would take some time for the metaverse world to stabilize, the world needs to catch up. Creating a VR world is one thing, but optimizing for the rest of the world to take advantage of is a whole different ball game. While Nigeria and Africa may appear as far from ready for the metaverse, the rest of the world is still playing catch up to drive usage for the upcoming technology.