Communication Minister stresses need to prioritise digital access for economic growth

Nigeria’s Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami, has emphasised the need for government, private sector and individuals to prioritise digital access for economic benefits and development globally.

He was speaking at a one day workshop organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in Abuja, Nigeria.

The  workshop had as theme, ‘Building Capabilities for Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Transformation in Nigeria’.

Professor Pantami advised government’s and individuals to take serious the issue of prioritising digital access and skills saying they are needed for development and economic growth.

“Digital access and connectivity have become a necessity, as they play an increasingly vital role in our everyday lives and have become key drivers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This reiterates the fact that digital connectivity, access, and skills are no longer a luxury, but have become a necessity for human and economic development in both developed and developing countries. It is therefore important that governments, individuals and communities prioritise affordable access digital technologies,” he said.

He stressed that to achieve this, there is need to promote universal access to digital infrastructure, enhance digital skills and address affordability .

The Minister said the Nigerian government has developed 18 policies that are being implemented to drive the country’s Digital Economy which is in abide to close the digital access gap in the country.

“As part of our efforts to adequately position Nigerians as major participants in the growing global digital economy, we developed the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria”.

“One of the implementation strategies of the Solid Infrastructure Pillar is the development of a Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP).

“The Plan is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria of a minimum 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90% of the population by 2025, and the availability of 1GB of data at no more than 2% of average monthly income.

As a result of these, we had an unprecedented growth is broadband penetration and a significant reduction in the cost of broadband access- broadband penetration has gone up from just a little over 30% to 44.32%, as at June 2022, while the cost of 1GB of data has crashed from N1,200 to N344.48”, he said.

He assured that implementation of the Plan will accelerate the penetration of affordable and quality broadband connectivity, thereby increasing digital access in Nigeria.

He also said the Nigerian Government understands that enormous private sector support, as well as support from International Organisations are essential “to enable us realise our lofty goals for Nigeria’s digital economy and this has informed our decision to partner with key international organisations like the ITU and FCDO.”

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Professor  Umar Danbatta, said that the commission has programmes and policies in place which has positively impacted on the sector.

“The Commission has reduced the 200 clusters where there are digital access gaps to 114, leading to the attendant reduction of more than 40 million Nigerians without access to telecommunications or internet services to about 10 million. The Commission is implementing policies and initiatives to close identified gaps.”

“These initiatives includes the Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), that solely aims to bridge the digital divide existing in academia with the provision of computers and other ICT facilities to equip the lecturers and other experts in order to improve ICT skills and also to enrich the students.”

Danbatta further said the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), is a special intervention programme to address the digital information knowledge gap in the country, especially among the teeming youthful population.

“On the last count, the DAP Project supports 229 Secondary Schools across the Six (6) Geopolitical Zones of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory.” He added

He enjoined all stakeholders to contribute positively to improve the sector.