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AS part of the palliatives for COVID-19 to stimulate investment in infrastructure in the economy, the federal government has waived payment for Right of Way, RoW, on its highways across the country. Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, said a memo to that effect had been forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval.
Speaking at a virtual meeting convened by MTN Nigeria to unveil its TheRevvProgramme targeted at developing small businesses, Pantami said Babatunde Fashola, minister of works and housing forwarded the memo to the Presidency. He explained that other critical agencies of government, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and National Inland Waterways, NIWA, are party to the deal.
He urged investors to take advantage of the window that has been opened to lapse by 2022. The minister said Small, Medium Enterprises, SMEs, remained the engine room of the economy, contributing about 48 percent to the nation’s gross domestic product, GDP, according to figures from the national statistical agency, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
According to Pantami, there are 41.1 million SMEs in the country while 96 percent of enterprises are SMEs. According to the World Bank, 90 percent of businesses fall under SMEs, providing 50 percent of jobs. He said the development regulations to drive the digital economy of the country was ready, adding that other agencies of government such as the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, are expected to come up with ‘subsidiary regulations’ to drive the digital dream.
He stressed the need to toe the path of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, a model of Innovation Driven Enterprises, IDEs, development. He commended MTN Nigeria for supporting the digital economy drive of the country.
“As stakeholders in the public and private sector, it is our collective responsibility to implement the digital economy initiative of the government. I am glad that MTN has been supportive of this policy and is organizing The RevvProgramme, which I believe will go a long way in transforming Nigerian entrepreneurs, most especially, those in the Micro and Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector,” he said.
– Aug. 21, 2020 @ 15:59 GMT |
Tags: FG waives RoW on highways – Pantami
