rLG Commissions US$50 million ICT project in Nigeria

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong with files from Vanguard- Nigeria

rLG Communications, the pioneer mobile phone assembling company in Ghana has commissioned US$50 million information and communication technology (ICT) project in Osun State, Nigeria.

Barely four years ago, rLG Communications signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Osun State as a first step to enter into the Nigerian market.

As part of the MoU signed, rLG supposed to replicate the Applied ICT Module of National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) by training over 20,000 beneficiary youth from Osun state.

The Osun state project, which worth over US$10 billion (about 1.6 trillion Naira), involve the engagement of technical experts, equipment, tools and the setting up of training facilities across the State for effective roll out of the project.

Upon the roll out of the project, rLG was to construct US$20 million assembly plant in Osun State and other offices in Lagos State to commence full commercial activities within the shortest possible time.

Addressing the gathering at the commissioning of the rLG US$50 million project, the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, stressed that technology has become an escape route out of poverty in the continent.

Daily Express gathered that the ICT factory, which will create 10,000 jobs directly and indirectly, has the capacity to produce 5,000 mobile phones, in addition to 2,500 computer sets on a daily basis.

The 3-year project seen as the version of Silicon Valley which expected to have six towers of different dimensions – one tower 270 meters height (75 storey’s, the tallest in Africa), two towers of 216 meters (60 storey’s), and three towers of 152m height (42 storey’s).

When the entire project is completed, it is expected to provide work for 50,000 people and will host 25,000 residents. Hope City will also have a university, shopping centers, offices, residential areas, game centers with bridges connecting all the towers.

The factory, which can also produce LED television sets and other devices, promised to be one of the most productive assets in the State of Osun, while creating employment and revolutionizing the industry through assemblage of electronic communication devices.

Governor Aregbsola said the project, which is in partnership with the state government, was a result of the innovation of the present administration to boost the economy of the state through technology.

He stated that the investment of the state in the project was the training of 20,000 youths, which have been done in batches of 5,000 on ICT and the procurement of the land on which the factory is built, as well as the provision of a transformer for the factory.

The Chairman of rLG and Agams Group of Companies, Mr Roland Agambire stated that the intention of the company was to sow a seed, so that Nigerians will know that the company has come to stay and not just to make money and leave, noting that rLG has a dream that will take Africa out of poverty, as the facility is a sure way to creating jobs.

‘The company will always be ready to partner the state for progress. It is our objective of increasing the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state at a very high rate, while taken into consideration the youths of this country as the creation of job creation is very important,’ said Agambire.

Prior to the commissioned of this part of project, in 2012 rLG signed an agreement worth US$10,000 with Nigeria’s Osun State to help the government achieve its goal of building human capital and creating sustainable jobs for 20,000 youth.

The Nigerian project is giant step towards rLG’s bid to become a leading integrated ICT company in the West African sub-region within the next two years.

rLG in the last quarter of 2010, signed similar agreement with the Gambian government to train 70 beneficiaries in that country.

According to a statement from rLG office in Ghana, due to the success of implementation of training first batch trained, the Government of Gambia started negotiations with rLG for the training of additional 2000 youth.

The company has over the years trained and set up over 15,000 youth in all regions of Ghana. It is targeting to train an additional 24,000 youth before the end of 2011.

In March 2013, rLG Communications launched the first project in Ghana. The company is to construct a US$10 billion project dubbed Hope City at Weija in the Ga West District of Greater Accra region. But the project has been relocated to Prampram in the Greater Accra region.

The Hope City project is the cluster for rLG ICT Park, focused on Information Communication Technology (ICT), as initiative of Roland Agambire, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, as part of the national development policy framework, turning Ghana into a knowledge-society and an active player in the global economy.

When Ghana’s project completed, Hope City will accommodate 50,000 people and will host 25,000 inhabitants. The cluster is articulated on a plot of 100,000 square meters, developing a total Gross Floor Area of approximately 1,200,000 square meters, for a total built area of approximately 1,500,000 square meters.

Hope City is designed by Architect OBR as a vertical city composed by towers linked together by a system of bridges at different height, including common activities and amenities, creating an interconnection of different functions from very public to very private.

In this way the towers are not a series of separated objects in the landscape, but define together a unique compound as a new urban polarity in the widespread cityscape, creating a very effective urban life based on easy and sustainable interconnectivity and visual-physical communication between people.

The cluster is composed by six towers of different dimensions: one tower of 270 m height (75 storey’s, the highest in Africa), two towers of 216 m height (60 storey’s) and three towers of 152 m height (42 storey’s).

The towers are designed to create a central space as a Piazza on three levels, which characterizes the podium as a very a social place. An inner Garden becomes the connection between architecture and landscape, representing the very common space where people can meet in interconnected way.

The company assembles rLG brand of ICT products including mobile phones, laptops, internet modems, LCD TV screens and internet routers.