Twitter ban costs Nigeria N10.72 trillion- LCCI

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has estimated the cost of the seven-month Twitter ban in Nigeria at N10.72 trillion.

The Director-General of the LCCI, Dr. Chinyere Almona, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Lagos, South-west Nigeria.

The LCCI also urged the Federal Government to create an enabling regulatory environment that supports global technology companies in achieving their potential and are sustainably profitable.

Addressing the lifting of the Twitter ban and several other matters in her statement, Almona said,

“The Federal Government’s press statement conveying the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria is well received and commendable.

“In business terms, the cost of the seven-month shutdown of Twitter operations in Nigeria is estimated to be N10.72 trillion (26.1billion dollars) according to Netblock’s Cost of Shutdown Tool.” 

Almona also stated that digital platforms have become a viable tool for business operations and governance in engaging with a diversified audience and boosting digital transactions.

“Currently, the Information and Communications Technology sector is one of the growth drivers in the economy even as we see additional activities of digital platforms adding more potential to the sector.

“We, therefore, urge the government to create an enabling regulatory environment that supports global technology companies in achieving their potential and are sustainably profitable,” she said, adding that improving Nigeria’s digital infrastructure from a policy perspective would boost healthcare delivery, agric-technology, learning, e-governance, and fintech.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, sometime this week, announced a lift on the ban on Twitter, seven months after the operations of the microblogging platform was blocked in Nigeria.

The Office of the Presidency reacted to the lifting of the Twitter ban in Nigeria, stating that the resolution made with the social media company will lead to a mutually beneficial future with endless possibilities for both sides.

Source: Nairametrics