The Silicon Review ^Asia

Nigeria is now recruiting US technology giants from Oracle Corp and Microsoft Corp as the government think of investing more to save costs and fight corruption. This initiative is led by Redwood; a California based oracle has permitted Nigerian authorities to expel 50,000 fake entries from the payroll.

Following that, Oracle decides to open an office in Abuja. The other firms which are interested to participate is IBM Corp and Sweden’s Ericsson AB. Galaxy Backbone’s budget has increased by 30 percent this year to 4 billion naira ($12.7 million), Kazaure, managing director of state-owned Galaxy Backbone, which provides technology services to the government  said in a phone interview last month. State funding for the company will probably increase at a similar annual rate for the foreseeable future, he said. Nigeria is investing 50 percent more on information and communications technology infrastructure this year, totaling about 41 billion naira, according to budget data.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country is on a verge to retrieve its worst economic downturn and is concentrating on technology for government’s revenue generation and investments. Nigeria’s ministry of industry, trade and investment is in talks with Microsoft to improve e-services, which ties into the government’s objective to improve its World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking, Constance Ikokwu, communication adviser to Minister Okey Enelamah, said in an emailed response to questions.