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ISA Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, has said the federal government will continue to support Arravo, a technology solution provider, on its local content development drive. He said local content in Information and Communication Technology, ICT, would enhance digital transformation across the country.
Pantami, who gave the commitment during the recent launch of Arravo’s new brand identity in Lagos, said the switch from BCX Nigeria, which hitherto had foreign stakeholders, to Arravo, which is complete ownership by Nigerians, would enable the new owners to grow the company, using full local content that will benefit Nigerians.
“FG is determined to advance our indigenous content in ICT within Nigeria, particularly as it relates to our national digital economy policy for our digital Nigeria. Any effort that will promote the digital economy and indigenous content in ICT will be welcomed by the government. The digital economy is currently dominating the world economy. According to Oxford Economist, four years ago, the digital economy was valued at $11.5 trillion, and at that time, it was up to 15.5 percent of the entire world economy.
“Digital Economy in the United States of America, in 2017, created up to 5.1 million jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged the global economy, compelled nations to adopt and deploy digital technology, which is a clear sign that Nigeria among other nations, must also embrace digital technology to promote our indigenous content.
“Our digital economy journey started on October 24, 2019, when President Mohammadu Buhari consented to our request to upgrade the Nigerian ministry from Federal Ministry of Communications to Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. From that time, we were mandated to develop a national digital economy policy for our digital Nigeria, which we have already done and it was launched by President Buhari on November 28, 2019, in Abuja.
“Since the launch, we have been working hard to provide the enabling environment on which digital economy will thrive in the country. We came up with eight pillars, which include: developmental regulation, digital skills, solid infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital services, software infrastructure, digital society, and emerging technologies, and indigenous content development and promotion.
“Arravo’s vision for local content development is in line with the 8th pillar of government to promote indigenous content, and the government will support Arravo to achieve this. We encourage all stakeholders to promote local content and produce what we need, while the government will ensure that we consume what we produce locally,” Pantami said.
– Nov. 13, 2020 @ 15:49 GMT |
Tags: Minister drums support for local content development
