Digital Economy: Nigeria has an enabling environment for investment to thrive

The Nigerian government says the country has an enabling regulatory environment and policies for digital economic growth.

The Minister of Communications and  Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, gave the assurance at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC), in Barcelona, Spain.

In a presentation titled “Accelerating Digital Transformation – A Case Study of Nigeria”, he called on investors to take advantage and harness the potentials of Nigeria’s digital economy sector.

Dr. Patanmi  while highlighting some of the gains of digital economy in Nigeria’s economic growth noted that the digital transformation journey in Nigeria has been demanding but very rewarding.

“The stakeholders and members of the ecosystem are indispensable in the drive to transform the digital landscape of any country.

“Having the buy-in and support of the top leadership is critical to sustainable success.

“The support of Mr President has made a lot of difference. We are always ready to partner with sister ministries and stakeholders” the Minister said.

Broadband peneptration

On the issue of broadband penetration, he explained that one of the approaches is the prioritising of broadband penetration and increase in the number of data centers. This is captured in the Nigeria National Broadband Plan 2020-2025.

He noted that some of the challenges faced in the sector were excessive Right of Way charges and vandalisation of critical national infrastructure

Dr. Patanmi also noted that after addressing these challenges “We had unprecedented growth in broadband: over 10% in just over a year, almost 60% drop in the cost of 1GB of data in just over a year. Telecommunications sub sector recorded a growth rate of 15.90% and this was its highest growth the last 10years” he said.

On Indigenous Content Development and Adoption, the Minister affirmed that  “We have created the policy environment and now have indigenous companies that are servicing the needs of Nigerians and other African countries. We also developed a policy to promote indigenous content in the Nigerian Telecom industry and it was launched by Mr. President” Pantami said.

Nigeria’s digital economy policies

Participants at the Digital Transformation Roundtable which was attended by Ministers from other African countries, DG Smart Africa and other stakeholders was inspired by Nigeria’s digital economy success. They expressed willingness to come to Nigeria for a study visit to learn more about the digital economy policies.

Dr. Pantami also held a meeting with the United States of America candidate for the post of Secretary General of International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Mrs Doreen Bogdan-Martin.

Mrs Doreen Bogdan-Martin sought the support of Nigeria through the Minister for the next election and also discussed the Digital Transformation of Africa.

Mrs Bogdan-Martin also commended the effort of Nigeria towards implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria.

The Minister also met with the candidate of the Republic of Lithuania for the post of Deputy Secretary General of ITU, Mr Tomas Lamanauskas.

During the meeting, Mr Lamanauskas explained his blueprint for Africa and used the opportunity to seek the support of Nigeria through the Minister for the next election.

Emmanuel Ukoh