Economy
News Analysis by Ijeoma Olorunfemi
TRANSITING government processes from papers to computer-readable formats is one of the key reasons behind the Federal Government’s e-Government Master Plan.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in October 2019 approved the re-designation of the Ministry of Communications to Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to reflect that objective..
The implementation process began on Oct. 24 giving birth to the Digital Nigeria Day (DND) which coincided with the UN World Development Information Day.
The day has been set aside to propagate Information and Communications Technology and its implications for development.
The day further got embedded in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategies (NDEPS) 2020-2030, launched in November 2019 and has been celebrated as e-Nigeria Day and modified to DND.
This year’s conference as part of the activities to celebrate the event was held between Oct. 25 and Oct. 27 and focused on “Digital Transformation: A Path to Sustainable Digital Economy”.
The National Information Technology Development Agency is the focal government agency with the mandate to drive e-Government processes.
Prof. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, at the conference quoted the World Economic Forum as predicting that $100 trillion addition to the world economy through digital transformation from 2016 to 2025.
This averages $10 trillion annually.
Pantami further said that by 2025, interactions driven by platforms are expected to enable roughly two-thirds of the $100 trillion value at stake from digitalisation.
“The ICT sector provided three unprecedented contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country in the last three years, with 14.07 per cent in Q1 2020, 17.92 per cent in Q2 2021 and 18.44 per cent in Q2 2022.
“At each time, that has been the highest ever contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP and the ICT sector grew by 14.70 per cent in Q4 2020.
“That made it the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy in the last quarter of 2020 and the only sector to have grown by double digits,’’ he said.
On the digital literacy skills pillar, he said over 863,372 citizens have benefited from digital skills programmes so far and there is a current Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft to train one million Nigerians more on high demand digital skills, while ICT hubs created across the country.
“The Solid Infrastructure pillar addresses the need to provide broadband access and data centres required to enable citizens to access the digital solutions that characterise the digital economy.
“As of August 21, 2019, the official broadband penetration figures stood at 33.72 per cent, representing close to 13 million new broadband users.
“Similarly, there were 13,823 4G base stations and we now have 36,751, representing a 165.86 per cent increase. The percentage of 4G coverage across the country also increased from 23 per cent to 77.52 per cent.
Also speaking at the conference, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General, National Information Development Agency (NITDA) said digital transformation is all about technology and processes that deliver things according to individual’s requirements with minimum stress.
Full of promises and yet pitfalls, Inuwa said that digital transformation and sustainability were becoming increasingly important and intertwined.
On emerging technologies such as blockchain, Inuwa said the global market for blockchain technology is expected to grow over $39billion by 2025.
Blockchain, is a type of distributed ledger technology that consists of growing list of records securely linked together
The success of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Metaverse, and Web3, Inuwa acknowledged, are taking over the industrial and financial space.
“With blockchain technology supporting these new-age concepts, we can expect that the future will belong to decentralised resources.
“After cryptocurrencies gained much traction, blockchain technology emerged as one of the most promising technologies to transform businesses”, he said.
Inuwa said that NITDA was inclined to deploy its statutory responsibility towards innovative technologies to develop strategies for a healthy IT ecosystem that encapsulates emerging technology such as blockchain.
He said: “we developed a blockchain Adoption Strategy to facilitate the effective utilisation of Blockchain technology towards creating a digital economy.
“The strategy outlines the roadmap and schemes for the adoption of blockchain technology by the government in the digital transformation agenda, in a way that supports efficiency, transparency, and productivity.”
“Innovation is what is lifting countries out of poverty which has made America to stand out with people like Elon Musk, using their innovative ideas to create wealth and prosperity.’’
Clarifying the difference between innovation and invention, Inuwa said innovation creates value while invention is a cost venture.
According to him, to be innovative, one needs to have the ability to commercialise the value you invent, adding that money is in the commercialisation not in the invention.
Sen. Yakubu Oseni, Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and cyber security emphasised the need for the ministry and relevant stakeholders to create awareness on the Nigeria Start-up Act (NSA), 2022.
The Act was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Oct. 19.
With the Act directly targeting the innovative youthful population, Oseni believes it offers great opportunities for ICT in the country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said ICT sector is the fastest growing sector globally and has impacted economies and created job opportunities.
Mohammed said though it has its own challenges such as being a platform for spreading fake news, the benefits of ICT far outweigh its disadvantages..
“Even with obvious benefits of the sector to the economy, it has also contributed to problems which include propagating of fake news and hate speech on social media platforms”, he said .
He hinted that federal government will keep taking steps to curtail misinformation, and disinformation in the country.
Mr Ousman Bah, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, The Gambia, said the adoption of blockchain technology, could assist in speeding up the international money transfer.
Bah said the Gambia is learning from Nigeria’s experience in using ICT to boost the economy and enhance service delivery.
Analysts argue that adopting emerging technologies, establishing policies and regulations would consolidate the nation’s digital transformation drive and further drive the economy. (NAN)
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Tags: Ijeoma Olorunfemi Prof. Isa Pantami
