Nigeria’s mobile ecosystem has added about N3.13 trillion ($10)
billion value to the growth of the economy in the last few years.
Minister
of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, who revealed this figure yesterday
at the 2016 Information Communication Technology & Telecommunication
Expo (2016 ICTEL EXPO) organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (LCCI), said that with the upsurge in telephone density across
the technology platforms, the sector has impacted substantially on the
growth of the economy.
Shittu said ICT is the only sector that has
recorded a positive growth of about 10 per cent in the first quarter of
this year and it has become a major contributor to the nation’s GDP.
The
minister said that the mobile ecosystem currently contributes over $10
billion in value addition to the Nigeria economy and that mobile
services have the potential to enable Nigerians to benefit from the
exchange of information for business and social needs for increase
productivity.
Shittu said the global quest for ICT for development
is enormous to both developed and developing countries because
technology skills are critical to the success of enhancing national
development in a globalised era.
“In this regard, our government
is focused on creating opportunities for citizenship participation in
ICT training, knowledge and skills acquisition, and general application
and usage of ICT tools to solve problems, promote their wellbeing and
enhance national growth.
“No doubt, with the dwindling revenue from the oil and gas sector,
the Federal Government has realized more than ever before that
telecommunication and ICT are amongst the main drivers for the social
and economic development of Nigeria and play a vital role in enhancing
access to basic services in all sectors of our national life,” he added.
Charging
the organisers of the event, the minister enjoined the President of
LCCI, Mrs. Nike Akande, to continue to connect businesses and create
opportunities for Nigerians in the ICT sector as the nation strives to
diversify its economy from the non-oil sector.
In response, Akande
observed that there was no better time to harness the benefits of ICT
than now, when the Nigerian economy is in dire need of diversification.
She stressed that ICT is strategic in driving productivity and
efficiency in all sectors of the economy.
According to her,
virtually all sectors of the economy leverage on ICT for optimal
performance as “this is evident in the financial service sector, where
electronic banking is now in vogue, the agricultural sector, where
government now allocates fertilizer through mobile phones to farmers;
the consumer goods sector where online stores and eCommerce have brought
incredible transformation to retail business and many more. ICT has
become the backbone of businesses.”