Google’s GNBO (Get Nigerian Businesses Online) project seems to have stirred up a ruckus. The issues are clear, and I will be brief.

Google’s GNBO will see domain names, hosting and websites delivered at extremely low-cost to small businesses who would otherwise not have had a chance to get online at prevailing rates.

An example:
The GSM companies came into the country offering instant and cheaper access to telephone than the existing telecoms players did.

Yes; some players have died off – and more probably will.

But… take a look at the Nigerian landscape as a whole. Our telecoms indices have shot up. Everyone is talking. Much more people are accessing the internet via mobile internet. Innumerable jobs have been created directly and indirectly. Entrepreneurship has been gingered.

Fast-forward
Google’s GNBO will have the same effect. With a difference. The difference is that Google helps get more people online by giving them basic web services. Existing web services companies can leverage on this, as over time some of these newbies will need more than basic services. Who do these growing businesses go to, if not you?

The Way Forward
I ran a webhost business from 2003 to early this year. I know the terrain well.

If you run a web host and/or web design business, what can you do? Adapt, sell or die. You don’t have many options. Whatever path you choose, the Nigerian business landscape will be the better for Google’s GNBO.