Ndiho Media

By Paul Ndiho

Scores of Nigerian mobile phone users are heading to Abuja’s Global System for Mobile Communications Village for phone swaps or great deals known as Kankara. The market has become a popular destination in the capital, with clients cutting across all spectrum’s.
Abuja’s GSM Village, also known as the Wuse zone one is the place to be for Nigerians looking to buy a new or used mobile phone – or to trade their current one. The zone is a bustling market for sellers and shoppers of all sorts of phones. Many residents of Abuja and its suburbs frequent this market to buy mobile phones and accessories along with other phone services. But, there is catch!! Almost all the different types of phones sold here are imported from China and other parts of Asia.
“We import them from China, Hong Kong, owners of Nokia, Samsung, HTC, any smartphone in fact, we can do quite well.
All types of phones are brought back to life due to the ingenuity of these mostly young people who are determined to succeed in a country with very few opportunities.
“It takes me less than 30 minutes to put a new screen on iPhone. I taught myself how to do it. I knew I can do it better than I know. Any type of phone I can fix. Any kind of phone, Ipods, iPhones, any kind I can fix. Kenneth, software engineer, is another incredible phone technician.
“I do install applications on locked and unlocked phones. I flash out phones that have malfunctioned; I maintain PC’s or computers. I have a lot of software for blackberries, Samsung, for techno, for HTCs and so on and so forth.”
A visit this market is to witness entrepreneurship at its best, it’s a place where customers get great bargains on the various brands of phones….

“If you’re look for anything to do with a smartphone, a tablet, or if your phone has problems and you want a solution, a quick fix to the problem, this is the place where you come to get your phones, you get your computers fixed.”
“It’s a market where young people will come to get out displaying their entrepreneurial experience. Nigeria is a country where we have entrepreneurial from all sectors, and with the advance of telecommunications, we decide to come together to fend for ourselves.”
The trade entails a buyer handing over an their old phone in exchange of a new one – sometimes you may be asked to add some little money depending on what kind of phone you are looking for. The GSM village offers you the opportunity to get your dream phone according to one of the market officials.
“GSM has been in existence for quite some time now and is a very good market, a market that is full of a lot of youth, so vibrant and hardworking people.”
However, Abuja’s GSM village market is not without its challenges– including a lack of electricity, insecurity and poor infrastructure, such as the availability of parking spaces.
“There are a lot of challenges as you can see. We are a preferring to move and make some arrangements to move this market forward. That is our mission.
Analysts say that Abuja’s GSM Village offers great opportunities for youths, especially young graduates looking for employment.