What a year 2022 has been! While 2022 was better than the previous two years, with better growth post the COVID-19 pandemic, this growth was subdued, due to rising inflation, high-interest rates, debts, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on food prices in the world’s most food-insecure region.
It is possibly because of the changing times that companies like ours, which enable digital connectivity, access, partnerships, and innovation for economic growth and global opportunities, continue to remain relevant.
We continued to sustain human connections in 2022, whether via connecting businesses to their stakeholders, or connecting people to their loved ones. We increased our subscribers by 37%, from 2.4m last year to 3.8m this year.
We celebrated our 10th anniversary with rolled-out red carpets culminating in an ostentatious Black tie dinner ceremony. And for good reason too: As the number #1 fixed operator with the largest connected and active subscriber base in Nigeria, Tizeti has impacted significantly in the telecommunications industry, and contributed to the tripling of internet users in Nigeria from 16% in 2012 to 51% in 2022.
Partnerships, platforms, and ecosystem development
Broadband is important to society, hence its new classification as an essential infrastructure. While broadband applications are far-reaching, broadband infrastructure itself serves as a platform that enables different outcomes. While having an internet connection does not boost health outcomes, using the internet to access remote health care providers, services, and information can serve as a conduit to improved physical and mental health. Two years ago, when we started our annual technology conference, NextGEN (Next Generation), we sought to discuss the digital environment in Africa and highlight how digital transformation will empower more Nigerians, stimulate economic activities, provide a foundation for a robust and thriving digital ecosystem for Africa in the 4.0 world and complement the digital efforts of other industry stakeholders.
Our 2022 edition of NextGEN gave us an inkling of how important our ‘platform’ can be. We hosted 10 companies that are key players in Africa’s digital revolution. These companies are enabling customer retention (Termii); connecting people to education (Teesas); scaling fast-growth startups (Interswitch); connecting globally and locally (MainOne); building the bank of the future (Providus Bank); connecting the underserved by satellite (Eutelsat); building digital financial products (Brass); creating digital insurance (PaddyCover); creating wealth online (Trove); extending wireless broadband infrastructure (Cambium), and closing the global digital divide (Microsoft Airband).
To jointly improve broadband penetration in Nigeria, especially in underserved locations and make it easier and cheaper for people to access the internet and get connected to the digital economy, Tizeti also partnered with global companies, such as Microsoft and Eutelsat.
Kendall Ananyi, Tizeti’s founder and CEO, at NextGEN 2.0 in August 2022
Tizeti at 10
To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we flew in our employees from all zones and regions to celebrate with an ostentatious dinner at the Grand Ballroom of the Oriental Hotel in Lekki, Lagos, It was an evening to decompress, unwind, and interact with other staff members.
We had a guest appearance from one of Nigeria’s top music artistes, Peruzzi. Tizeti employees also competed in the “Tizeti Got Talent” competition.
Expansion, consolidations and new appointments
We expanded our network coverage area within Nigeria and Ghana, into Oyo State and Ghana Central Region respectively, as well as West Africa’s francophone region, in neighboring Cote d’Ivoire and Togo. We also announced plans to connect about 40 million new West Africans in new regions in Nigeria and Ghana, and are exploring fundraising options such as listing on local or/and international stock exchanges.
To improve our product portfolio, we revamped our customer dashboard, and relaunched our community Wi-Fi product, under a new name, Tizeti Hotspot, complete with a brand-new
retailer portal and launched the beta version of our Tizeti Super App.
To position Tizeti for the next phase of growth, we announced the appointment of Emmanuel Ikazoboh, immediate past Group Chairman of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), and Chairman of ARM Pensions Managers Limited (Pensions Fund Administrators) as Tizeti’s Board Chairman. We also appointed new executives for finance, business development and sales and marketing.
Thanks to its innovative model of addressing the digital divide with solar-powered masts to deliver the most cost-effective and reliable unlimited internet services, and its contribution and commitment to broadband penetration and digital inclusion in West Africa, Tizeti won the Internet Service Provider of the Year award (2022) award, organized by the Beacon of Information Technology.
Looking to 2023
We are so proud of all we achieved this year and look forward to making a continued positive impact in 2023 with our unlimited internet service. We plan to satisfy our existing 3.8 million subscribers, and grow with exceptional service, improved customer satisfaction, and increased network availability. We will double our customer base in 2023, as we expand into ten new cities in Nigeria, three new regions in Ghana and capital cities in Cote DÍvoire and Togo.
While we are delighted that we embraced new ways of working remotely, using digital technology to communicate with ourselves and stakeholders post-COVID, we will resume hybrid work for most locations, with physical resumption at the office for most employees.
We will also expand our network coverage with new partners across West Africa.
We firmly believe that this will propel us forward to face 2023 with renewed positivity and confidence.
We take this opportunity to wish all of you a peaceful Christmas and a better, healthier, and happier 2023 and look forward to working with you in the new year.
