The Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) says the telecommunications sector has contributed about $70 billion to the economy.
The Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umar Danbatta, stated this while delivering a Keynote address at a Cyberchain Conference in Abuja, Nigeria.
He spoke on the topic:”Using technology to grow Nigeria’s GDP”.
Professor Danbatta, who declared that the impact of technology to the nation and the society has been tremendous, said the telecoms sector remains a key driver of the national economy.
Represented by the Principal Manager Digital Economy of the NCC, Mrs Ella Ehi, the NCC Boss explained the adoption of 5G, e-commerce, Fintech, Big data and other platforms have boosted the country’s revenue generation capacity.
He said “Nigeria’s adoption of digital technologies has enabled it to diversify its revenue and economy, create jobs, improve services and efficiency, reduce wastage, and optimise resources available.
“Telecommunications has contributed over $70 billion to the Nigerian economy, provided over 500,000 jobs in the formal and informal sectors, and improved the lives of millions of Nigerians.
“Most Nigerians today cannot comprehend life without mobile phones. Presently, the liberalised telecommunications sector has brought with it, instant messaging, instant information, financial inclusion, telemedicine, smart farming, eCommerce and virtual learning, however, the best is yet to come,” he added.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Convener, CyberChain Abuja, Jude Ozinegbe, said Nigeria was currently moving in the right direction towards embracing the gains of the tech ecosystem.
“We are moving from Analoge to digital, some people seem to have been left behind, that is why we have decided to gather leaders in the space to educate us.We have leaders in this space that have seen the possibility and opportunity in this ecosystem.
This is my contribution to expanding digital economy in Nigeria. As much as you can, contribute something positive about the space to amplify the good tidings within the ecosystem.”
Ozinegbe said with proper knowledge of Blockchain, Nigerian youths can earn by using their phones and data.
A Cryptocurrency Investigator, A and D Forensic, Adedeji Owonibi urged Nigerian youths to embrace the gains of Blockchain technology.
Speaking on the topic, “Blockchain Forensics and criminal elements, Owonibi said a better dimension had been added to Blockchain and Digital technologies in Nigeria with the participation of the government.
“If you are a criminal within the blockchain space, you could do anything in Nigeria, however with our coming and government involvement, we all have a part to play in bringing sanity to the sector.”
He said, decentralisation is a blessing for the ‘good guys’ in the blockchain sector, while a bad thing for those using it criminally.
“If you have any business in blockchain make sure you are compliance with rules and be crypto security conscious”, he said.
Blockchain technology is a decentralised, distributed ledger that stores the record of ownership of digital assets.
Hauwa Abu
