The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami has said the Communications and Digital sector generated over one trillion naira to the Federal Government between 2019 and 2021.
Speaking at the 2021 Digital Nigeria Day held virtually, Pantami noted that it was imperative for Nigeria to join the world in celebrating this day as the country has recorded giant strides in its digitalization efforts.
Represented by Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, Mr Bitrus Bako Nabasu, Pantami highlighted and discussed some progressive achievements of the Communication and Digital Economy sector.
He said the sector played a pivotal role in lifting the economy out of recession, with the ICT sector recording the highest growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2020 (14.70 per cent), as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and stated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Minister said this growth rate was the only double-digit growth rate and that it exceeded the aggregate growth rates of all the second to the seventh fastest-growing sectors.
He noted that the ICT sector also had the highest growth rate in the year 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. He noted that the telecommunications sub-sector grew at 15.90 percent and that this was its highest growth rate over the past decade.
“Additionally, the ministry and its parastatals have generated over N1trillion for the Federal Government in less than 2 years. This translates to an average of about N44 billion every month or over N1.4 billion every day.
“About N360 billion of this revenue was largely from Spectrum, allocated by the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC). Another, over N600 billion was paid by ICT companies to the account of the Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).”
Pantami restated that over 1,667 projects and programmes have been established across the country in less than two years.
“In addition to those already established, we have over 455 other projects and programmes that are ongoing. All these are in full alignment with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria.
“As a ministry, we have consistently reflected our strong belief in the importance of creating a critical mass of highly skilled citizens as a prerequisite for developing a sustainable digital economy. In the last two years, we have offered direct world-class training to well over 219,198 citizens in digital skills and emerging technologies. This number does not include the many citizens that have benefited from trainings through our centres,“ the Minister explained.
He further stated that, “We have developed 16 national policies: 15 of them focus on specific pillars in the general National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria.
“We have offered these mass trainings as part of our efforts to promote a paradigm shift from the general societal focus on degrees to a strong focus on skills. We have not adopted an ad-hoc approach towards the development of Nigeria’s digital economy. Rather, we have followed a systematic and well-thought-out approach and this required the development and implementation of national policies. We have developed 16 national policies: 15 of them focus on specific pillars in the general National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria
“We have significantly increased the number of National Identification Number (NIN) enrolments since the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) joined the Communications and Digital Economy family in September 2020. From the inception of the NIN enrolment process to September 2020, there were 42 million unique NIN enrolments. Through our supervision, this number rose to 61,092,044 NIN enrolments as of August 11, 2021.”
He added that the increase of about 20 million enrolments in less than a year is unprecedented noting that, “We have also launched the Android enrolment software and have received Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval for the upgrade of critical ICT infrastructure of the National Identity Management System.”
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2020, declared 24th October as Digital Nigeria Day designated to promote the development of the Digital Economy in the country.
This year’s Digital Nigeria Day was celebrated as a sign of Vibrant Economy, Desirable Society and Accomplished Digital Governance.
Present at the virtual press conference was the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Inuwa Kashifu, Managing Director, Nigerian Communications Satellite, Mrs Abimbola Alale, Managing Director Galaxy Backbone, Professor Muhammad Abubakar, Post Master General of NIPOST, Dr. Ismail Adebayo Adewusi amongst others.
