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Tag: Digital Economy

  • “Over 6.9 million attacks were recorded on election day” -Prof Pantami

    “Over 6.9 million attacks were recorded on election day” -Prof Pantami

    The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, has revealed that over 6.9 million attacks were recorded on election day (February 25, 2023) alone.

    He noted that no fewer than 12.9 million cyberattacks were recorded from within and outside the country during the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly polls.

    Disclosing this on Tuesday, Pantami explained that the attacks were successfully blocked owing to the sophisticated infrastructure on the ground by different agencies of government charged with the responsibility of protecting the nation’s cyberspace.

    During this period, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and IPS attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing

    While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the enabling environment for agencies of government to perform their assignments without let or hindrances, the Minister stated that in the build-up to the presidential elections, threat intelligence revealed an astronomical increase in cyber threats to Nigeria’s cyberspace.

    “A total of 12,988,978 attacks were recorded, originating from both within and outside Nigeria. It is worth noting that the Centers successfully blocked these attacks and/or escalated them to the relevant institutions for appropriate action,” Pantami said, according to a statement by his media aide, Uwa Suleiman.

    “During this period, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and IPS attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing.

    "Over 6.9 million attacks were recorded on election day" -Prof Pantami
    Prof Isa Pantami

    “The parastatals, under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, have played a crucial role in providing the enabling environment for the successful conduct of a credible, free, fair, and transparent election.”

    He also commended the cybersecurity centre established under his Ministry, including the National Information Technology (NITDA)’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), and Galaxy Backbone (GBB)’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) for a job well done.

  • Nigeria hosts regional digital economy conference

    Nigeria hosts regional digital economy conference

    Policy makers and stakeholders in the digital economy ecosystem in the West African sub-region will converge in Abuja from January 31 to 1srt February for the Digital Economy Regional Conference to discuss the future of digital economy and intensify regional public private partnerships for the region.

    The event is being hosted by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the World Bank.

    The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who will deliver the keynote address at the event will be joined by his Federal Capital Territory (FCT) counterpart, Mohammed Bello, to welcome Ministers and top government officials from the subregion.

    The Conference, with the theme “Positioning West Africa’s Digital Economy for the Future”, will provide a platform for countries in the region to discuss issues that will strengthen the digital economies in West Africa and by extension the continent.

    The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy said the conference will also create an avenue for peer review to accelerate digital transformation and increase collaboration to secure partnerships within the region to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem while intensifying regional public-private partnerships for digital economy funding, research, and development.

    It is expected that the gathering will also provide an opportunity to showcase the progress made in the development of digital economy in the West African sub-region, identify winning strategies, discuss challenges, and prepare for the future in addition to creating awareness of the region’s needs in the areas of policies and framework for the digital economy and attracting private sponsors for digital transformation in the region.

  • How Nigeria’s digital economy grew by double digits at peak of Covid-19

    How Nigeria’s digital economy grew by double digits at peak of Covid-19

    The Nigerian Government says the digital economy sector currently contributes over 18 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and has become the fastest growing sector in the nation’s economy.

    According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a digital economy is one which incorporates all economic activities reliant on or significantly enhanced using digital inputs.

    Addressing global leaders in the Information and Communications Technology sector and policy makers at the on-going International Telecommunications Union Plenipotentiary Conference, ITU PP2 in Bucharest, Romania on Thursday, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami, said that the growth of the sector has been significantly steady.

    “In the first quarter of 2020, the sector contributed more than 14 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP, while in the second quarter of 2021, it contributed 17.90 per cent,” he said.

    He noted that digital economy was the only sector that grew by double digits at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and has witnessed unprecedented growth since then. Nigeria established two virtual academies during the pandemic, dedicated to the empowerment of citizens with digital skills, and the various partnerships with global technology giants to train ten million citizens.

    The Nigeria Startup Law aimed at providing an enabling environment for indigenous innovators, to provide solutions to existing national and global challenges is currently before the National Assembly and has reached an advanced stage.

    As a result, Five of the seven unicorns in Africa originated from Nigeria, representing to over 70% of the entire unicorns in Africa and the country’s digital economy sector is valued at approximately $100 billion in terms of revenue flow.

    Despite the accomplishments and prospects of the sector, experts say there is need for the government to provide attractive tax-based incentives to tech companies, especially start-ups and facilitate ease of doing business.

    The bill which also seeks to ensure the sustainability of the business climate and give statutory force to Executive Order 001 of 2017 on the promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business, passed its second reading at the House of Representatives on Thursday.

    The Nigeria Digital Economy Diagnostic report said that with improvements in digital connectivity, digital skills, digital financial services and other core areas of digital development, Nigeria can fully unleash new economic opportunities, create jobs and transform people’s lives.

    The report provides an assessment of the state of the country’s digital economy around the five pillars of the Digital Economy for Africa initiative (DE4A); digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital financial services, digital entrepreneurship and digital skills, which are key foundational elements of a digital economy.

    “As the biggest economy in Africa with one of the largest populations of young people in the world, Nigeria is well-positioned to develop a strong digital economy, which would have a transformational impact on the country,” World Bank Senior Digital Development Specialist and co-author of the report Isabel Neto said.

    Through innovations and investments, the Nigerian economy can harness digital data and new technologies that link individuals with markets and government services.

  • NCC to support indigenous innovative solutions based on 5G

    NCC to support indigenous innovative solutions based on 5G

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will support the development of indigenous innovative solutions based on the use cases of 5G technology by funding hackathons, research fairs and startup hubs.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports this is contained in the National Policy document on Fifth Generation (5G) Networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy, which has identified a number of use cases of 5G technology.

    Already, the regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria has set in motion the process to amend regulatory instruments in anticipation of 5G revolution in Nigeria, which the Commission has envisaged will result in the proliferation of devices in the country.

    A vital advantage of 5G is the number of use cases it will enable and the emerging technologies it will facilitate.

    This rides on its ability to provide wireless broadband services at Gigabit speeds and data connections well above 10 Gigabits per second, latency below five milliseconds and the capability to exploit any available wireless resource, from Wi-Fi to 4G and to handle millions of connected devices simultaneously

    5G technology will support the development of new applications which will connect devices and allow innovative applications and business models due to its software virtualization abilities.

    The NCC in the National Policy document identified use cases of 5G technology to include enhancements in application areas such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Drones, Advanced Communication Systems, Cloud, 3D Printing, Mixed Reality, Simulation/Imaging and Gamification.

    “These application areas will impact and create new improvements in areas such as Manufacturing, Transportation, Public Services, Health and Social Works, Agriculture, Energy, Logistics, Media and Entertainment, Mining and Quarrying, Machinery and Equipment, Automotive, Education, Information and Communication, Urban Infrastructure, Consumer experience, Sports, Semiconductor Technologies, etc,” the document reads in part.

    To drive the revolution, NCC is under the mandate to encourage stakeholders to provide innovative solutions and partner with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other relevant agencies to facilitate the adoption of these technologies.

    TNG reports the Commission is also under the mandate to collaborate with relevant agencies of government to support MSMEs and provide suitable enabling environments that foster innovation and creativity.

    The Commission will also continue to collaborate with the academia and research institutions to fund research proposals that encourage the development of innovative solutions based on 5G.

  • Buhari inaugurates Presidential Council on Digital Economy, e-Government

    President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and e-Government, promising that his administration will continue to take advantage of digital technologies to transform every sector of the economy.

    Speaking at the event on Friday in Abuja, the president directed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, to chair the council on his behalf and give regular updates.

    He tasked members of the council to work towards further strengthening the capacity of government to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies to make government more efficient and transparent, thereby improving Nigeria’s global standing in the ease of doing business index.

    The president noted that the council, whose members have been arrived at after a painstaking and thorough process, would provide the oversight needed to bring about a veritable structure for accelerating achievements in digital economy and in the implementation of e-government in the country.

    He enjoined every member of the council to consider the task as a national assignment and justify the trust reposed in their ability to support and significantly enhance the digital transformation of Nigeria.

    ‘‘I launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) on the 28th of November, 2019, and expanded the mandate of the then Ministry of Communications to include Digital Economy.

    ‘‘The implementation of that policy and mandate has enabled us to achieve significant progress and record a number of unprecedented achievements.

    ‘‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy showed that the steps we took in developing and implementing NDEPS were indeed timely.

    ‘‘For example, the Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics.

    ‘‘The sector’s 14.70% double-digit growth rate was instrumental in supporting our country to exit the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, far earlier than predicted by experts.

    ‘‘The significant contribution of 17.92% by the ICT sector to our GDP in the second quarter of 2021 is another example of the important impact of the digital economy on the overall economy.

    ‘‘In the same vein, the growth of our digital economy sector enabled us to cope with the effect of the lock-down as both activities of the government and private sector, as well as educational activities, were able to move to online platforms,’’ he said.

    Furthermore, Buhari expressed delight that the approval of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions had helped to formalise government online meetings.

    According to him, statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Council of State, and other meetings can now effectively and legally take place online.

    He added that Nigeria’s progress in e-governance had been noted by the international community, eliciting recognition from international stakeholders, including the appointment of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy as the Chairman of the 2022 Forum of the highly regarded World Summit of the Information Society.

    While congratulating the minister, the president acknowledged that the ministry has partnered with the Korea International Cooperation Agency to develop a National e-government Master Plan, approved by FEC in August 2019.

    The president listed benefits from the partnership, including “the training of over 1,400 Nigerian public servants in both Nigeria and South Korea on e-governance; the launching of an E-Government Training Centre handed over to the Federal Government in November 2019, and the signing off of Phase II of the e-government Project – ‘Project for Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2020-2026)’.’’

    In his remarks, Pantami noted that NDEPS launched in 2019, made provision for the establishment of the Presidential Council to coordinate the development of an indigenous digital economy.

    While describing the implementation of NDEPS for a digital Nigeria as very successful, the minister said in the last two years, the sector had provided ICT intervention to no fewer than 1,667 institutions at the federal and sub-national levels.

    He stated that the recent auctioning of spectrums by the ministry generated over 400 per cent revenue to the Federal Government coffers while two virtual institutions established by government had trained some 500,000 Nigerians on digital and emerging technologies.

    The 27-man committee chaired by Pantami on behalf of the president has the following members: Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State; Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State; Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo; Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and Sen. Hope Uzodinma, Governor of Imo.

    Others are Dr Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation; and Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Nigerian Communications Commission.

    Prof. M.B. Abubakar, Managing Director/CEO, Galaxy Backbone Limited; Dr Abimbola Alale, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited; and Aliyu Aziz, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission, are also members of the council.

    Also in the committee are Mr Oswald Guobadia, Senior Special Assistant, (Digital Transformation) to the President; Olufemi Olufeko, Director, e-Government Dept, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy; A.B. Okauru, Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum; Prof. Simon Sodiya, President Nigeria Computer Society; and Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

    Other members are Prof. Kabiru Bala, rRepresentative of Academia and Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Prof. Nnenna Oti, representative of the Academia and Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri; and Kashifu Abdullahi, Secretary and the Director General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

    Mr Sungil Son, Country Director (KOICA); Dr Olufemi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to Minister of Communication & Digital Economy; and Abubakar Dahiru, Special Assistant (Cyber Security & Digital Identity) to the Minister are also members of the Committee.

  • NCC to sustain drive for digital economy transformation – Danbatta

    NCC to sustain drive for digital economy transformation – Danbatta

    The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has emphasised the commitment of the Commission to continually drive initiatives that accelerate deployment of digital infrastructure, in order to enhance economic transformation of Nigeria.

    Danbatta reiterated the commitment of the Commission while speaking at the NCC Day, at the recently-concluded 43rd Kaduna International Trade Fair, organised by the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA).

    Speaking on the overarching theme of the event “Strategising Nigerian Economy for Global Competitiveness,” in the context of the regulatory activities of the Commission, the EVC, who was represented by a Senior Manager at the Commission, Attah Ogbadu, said the NCC has been at the heart of providing the digital impetus for transforming the businesses and sustaining socio-economic activities in Nigeria.

    Danbatta stated that due to the COVID-19-induced economic downturn and continued volatility, many countries are exploring policies to stimulate growth and create new jobs. “Information Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the fastest-growing industries because it triggers the creation of millions of jobs and therefore an enabler of innovation and socio-economic development”, Danbatta stated.

    The EVC also asserted that while COVID-19 pandemic came with its attendant challenges, the Commission has continued to work assiduously with various stakeholders to see how more businesses can embrace digital platforms for delivering their services to the consumers.

    He explained that aside accelerating digital infrastructure, NCC is also paying attention to ensuring a level-playing ground for operators to promote investment and ghe delivery of innovative services to individual consumers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and big business owners by ensuring enhanced consumer quality of experience.

    “So, as a regulator, we also ensure we constantly inform you, the consumers, on how to be protected to prevent cases of online fraud and otherwise ensure you do not fall victims to cybercrimes while using the internet, legitimately”, Danbatta stated to underscore NCC’s commitment to consumer protection.

    Also speaking at the NCC Day forum, The President of KADCCIMA, Suleiman Aliyu, who was represented by an official of the Chamber, Farouk Sulaiman, commended NCC for its regular and impactful attendance and participation at the trade fair. He also placed on record NCC’s commitment to improving network coverage and consumer-centric initiatives, which are increasingly impacting job creation, the emergence of new services and industries, workforce transformation, and business innovation.

    On the theme of the event, Aliyu said the theme was chosen to complement the efforts of the government in promoting economic growth. Aliyu asserted that the critical impact of the communications sector on the nation’s economic output is evident in its contribution to the Fross Domestic Product (GDP).

    According to Aliyu, “the competitiveness of Nigeria would depend on our ability to leverage new technologies in light of the rapid growth of the number of active mobile subscriptions, internet subscribers, and broadband penetration, indices of telecom sector’s mark as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country.”

    Meanwhile, majority of telecom consumers, who attended the trade fair, also visited the NCC Day event and the NCC corner of the Exhibition Group of the KADCCIMA. There, officials of NCC’s Consumer Affairs Bureau educated the enthusiastic consumers on the various consumer-centric initiatives instituted by the Commission to inform, educate and protect consumers.

    The telecom consumers also seized the opportunity of the platform provided by NCC at the Fair, to make complaints and to resolve their service-related challenges at the NCC Stand of the Exhibition, which also housed representatives of telecoms operators who responded to the concerns of the consumers.

  • Coalition of CSOs commends NCC for digital economy initiatives

    Coalition of CSOs commends NCC for digital economy initiatives

    …presents Danbatta with certificate of performance

    The Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG), a coalition of over 180 civil society organizations, has commended the Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) led by its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, for driving various regulatory initiatives for the development of country’s digital economy.

    President of the group, Comrade Ogakwu Dominic, gave the commendation during a visit to the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja on Thursday, October 21, 2021 to present an award and appreciation letter to the EVC.

    According to Dominic, the certificate of performance presented to the EVC was in recognition of his efforts in driving regulatory initiatives under his supervision and more importantly, to appreciate NCC’s support for the successful hosting of a recently concluded ‘Round Table on Digital economy’.

    “The EVC has demonstrated high level of patriotism, commitment and statesmanship and as such, the Certificate of Performance (COP) we are presenting today is to commend you for your renowned track record as a leader with great passion focused on effective growth and advancement of the Nigerian economy as the basis for enhanced national development,” Dominic said.

    Receiving the delegation on behalf of the EVC, the Assistant Director, Digital Economy, NCC, Uket Bassey, appreciated the award and certificate presented to the NCC boss, saying it is symbolic of the fact that, an important organisation like the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance appreciate the good work the Commission has been doing to create digital access for all and sundry.

    Bassey said, as the telecom regulator, the Commission aims to support and partner with all relevant stakeholders and Nigerians at large. This, according to him, will ensure that the growth of the country’s socio-economic system is sustained through promotion of universal access and service to all Nigerians, regardless of their circumstances.

  • FG keen on developing Nigeria into digital economy, says Minister

    FG keen on developing Nigeria into digital economy, says Minister

    Dr Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy has said the Federal Government is keen on developing Nigeria into a digital economy.

    Pantami stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the National Dialogue on telecoms and ICT sector in Nigeria organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) with the theme “Harnessing the digital resources for the building of our national economy”.

    The Minister, in his keynote address, acknowledged the challenges of developing a digital economy in Nigeria.

    “In Nigeria, we are keen to develop a digital economy that will have a great impact on every sector of Nigeria’s economy,” he said.

    He enumerated some challenges of developing a digital economy in the country to include; rapid evolution of technology and widening inequalities between the digital “haves” and “haves-not” and the need for new regulations.

    Pantami named others to include cybercrime and other threats; low level of digital literacy; and need for infrastructure.

    Speaking further he said that a number of opportunities were abound in the economy, once it was placed on the right track.

    Pantami said they included economic growth and productivity, increased transparency, growth of digital innovation and entrepreneurship, digitisation of work, and useful insights from big data.

    In addition he said, digital economy can contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) more than ICT which contributed 17 per cent in 2019.

    “According to the Q2 ‘2020 GDP Report by the National Bureau of Statistics, ICT contributed an unprecedented 17.83 per cent to the GDP.

    “The effect of the digital economy is even far greater than the ICT contribution shows.

    “The digital economy encompasses ICT and all digital services, which includes all online activities in financial institutions, ecommerce, online tax payment, any form of online payment, online banking, etc.

    “When we consider these, the contribution of the digital economy could be up to 45 per cent or even more.

    “The telecom and ICT sector stand to gain a lot from the development of our digital economy and the public and private sectors need to partner to maximise the impact,” he said.

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in his paper pledged the commission’s commitment towards driving the nation’s digital economic policy.

    “The NCC remains committed to driving the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025 for advancing the digital economy vision of the federal government.

    “As you are aware, our role is to drive major digital initiatives and policies of the government, hence, we have continued to work with government as a critical stakeholder,” he said.

    He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to fulfill its part of the agreement with the infracos, which was a major aspect in achieving the national broadband plan of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025.

    “We are committed to the execution of the counterpart funding agreements with the Licensed InfraCo to facilitate increase in fibre deployment in the country.

    “To ensure, at least one Point of Access (PoA) in each of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria enhance digital transformation.

    “The commission has, so far, awarded the sum of N336.4 million as research grants to the academia and has endowed professorial chairs in two Nigerian universities.

    “The NCC has also remitted N362.34 billion from 2015 till date to the Federal Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), through spectrum fees and operating surplus,” he said.

  • Nigeria reaches new high with high-speed Internet subscriptions

    Nigeria reaches new high with high-speed Internet subscriptions

    Subscriptions to broadband or high-speed Internet services in Nigeria have increased significantly to a peak of 82.7 million as at the end of August, 2020, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed this while speaking at a two-day first virtual Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) 2020 organised by InnovationHub Africa, which started on Tuesday, September 5, 2020.

    The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who presented the keynote speech at the Summit, noted that Nigeria’s quest to become a truly digital economy is on course with the launch of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in November 2019.

    At the summit, with the theme: ‘Innovating in Critical Times’, Danbatta said the Commission has increased broadband penetration from less than 6 percent in 2015 to 43.30 percent by August 2020.

    This, according to him, translates to 82, 653,247 broadband subscriptions in the country.

    Represented by the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde at the virtual conference, Danbatta said Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and, more specifically, broadband infrastructure has become the major backbone for government activities and local businesses.

    He said that such services require fast broadband and reliable connectivity, noting that NCC will continue to work assiduously with its stakeholders in ensuring that the nation’s ICT infrastructure is able to meet the increased demand for connectivity occasioned by the pandemic.

    “The NCC has been the major linkage in the drive for optimum economic development, as it remains the pioneer for all the major disruptions that would drive the nation’s economic reboot, especially the financial systems riding on electronic innovations.

    “These innovations are driven by the availability of a robust communications infrastructure made possible by the Commission’s continuous quest for investment in the sector,” he said.

    He further stated that for innovation to thrive, as the anchor for accelerating economic growth post COVID-19, a robust broadband infrastructure upon which ICT innovations will ride is a necessity.

    “The most important outcome of COVID-19 for us, as a nation striving for digital economy, is the need to continue to invest in infrastructure development in critical sectors of the economy, particularly the ICT sector, which has become the bastion of modern economies,” he said.

    He restated the NCC’s commitment to taking proactive steps toward stimulating investment needed to support a more robust and resilient broadband infrastructure that will spur digital innovations in the country.

  • FG reiterates commitment on Digital Economy

    FG reiterates commitment on Digital Economy

    The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment towards developing a digital economy for Nigeria, especially with the advent of COVID-19 pandemic.

    Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy said this at the Nigeria Innovation Summit 2020 organised by Innovation Hub Africa on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Pantami was represented by Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), at the event.

    He said that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to ensuring that Nigeria was abreast with global innovation trend as well as positioning the country to become a digital economic giant in Africa.

    Pantami said that the theme of the 2020 summit “Innovation In Critical Times” was interesting, because COVID-19 has forced people to embrace new practices and innovations as a means of reducing the impact of the disease.

    “In Nigeria, we are lucky to have the right leadership at this time, the government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari,has set the foundation to innovate even before COVID-19.

    “On Oct. 23, 2019, the President renamed and expanded our ministry’s mandate to cover the digital economy,also on Nov. 28,2019, the President launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for Digital Nigeria, and he urged us to start implementation immediately.

    “On March 19,just before COVID-19 lockdown, the President launched the National Broadband Plan and unveiled Digital Nigeria initiatives, and also launched digital skills and literacy trainings,” he said.

    The minister said that COVID-19 has been the worst health and economic crisis of the present generation.

    He said that the World Bank predicted that COVID-19 would lead the global economy into the worst recession since World War 11.

    “According to World Bank, it is also a learning crisis because at the end of March, over 180 countries closed schools, forcing over 1.5 billion students to stay home and we are forced to unlearn, relearn how we live and work to navigate our way out of the pandemic, “Pantami said.

    He said that the ministry has been championing efforts on remote working and setting the pace for innovation since the advent of the pandemic.

    “We conceptualised and implemented groundbreaking initiatives under the lockdown and those initiatives set the foundation that helped us as a country to innovate and navigate our ways from the crisis mode to the recovery stage.

    “We collaborated with stakeholders in the ecosystem to host the COVID-19 Innovation Challenge, where innovators were invited to showcase their ideas on how to manage the pandemic.

    “The winners got prizes and fundings that helped them turn their ideas into impactful ventures and we handheld them to develop into products and services,” he said.

    He named some of the exciting inventions at the competition to include an indigenous ventilator currently being tested on an animal, a smart decontamination chamber and MyClinic, an online platform that enable users to hold video consultations with medical personnel.