The foreign companies, which are partnering with a Nigerian company, Creazioni Communications Limited, are targeting the growing broadcast, film and allied industries that have over the years, contended with the challenges of unavailability of state-of-the-art equipment and skilled manpower, a situation that has led to capital flight to advanced media centres in places like South Africa, the United States and United Kingdom.
Speaking on the investment initiative, chairman of WTS Broadcast Nigeria Limited, Otunba Ayodeji Osibogun, said the company would be a broadcast equipment company that would operate world-class showrooms and state-of-the-art studio facilities in Lagos and Abuja and would offer the industry the latest technology, “placing emphasis on service and support to differentiate itself from ordinary media traders.”
This he said would be achieved in partnership with television stations, advertising agencies, the country’s growing movie and music industries and other media brands targeting particular market segments.
Osibogun observed that in the past decade, Lagos and Abuja had served as central hubs through which national events and news were transmitted to other parts of the country and the rest of the world and lamented that available facilities, skills and equipment had posed serious challenges to the effective delivery of values.
This, he said had led to the hiring of foreign media companies from South Africa to mobilise equipment and human expertises at huge costs.
Citing an example to buttress his point, he explained that it cost between N6 million and N10 million to effect a satellite connection and another N25 million to move equipment and pay for services rendered adding that with the availability of similar equipment and skills in-country, this cost will significantly be reduced.
The Managing Director of the WTS group, Mr. Ofir Mor said, “Our corporate desire is to provide alternative world class solutions where customers will have frequent access to locally available programmers and equipment for broadcast and transmission to their immediate environment at all times and at reasonable cost.”
