The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, said the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector has contributed an unprecedented 14.07 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Pantami stated this in a statement signed by Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant, Information Technology to the Minister recently in Abuja. Pantami said he was delighted to hear of the growth of ICT’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020.
According to him, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released Nigeria’s GDP report for Q1 2020 on May 25. “The report observed that the country’s GDP grew by 1.87 per cent year-on-year in real terms in Q1 2020. “The non-oil sector contributed 90.50 per cent to the nation’s GDP in Q1 2020 as opposed to the 9.50 per cent contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector. “It is noteworthy that the ICT sector contributed 14.07 per cent to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier, which was 13.32 per cent and in the preceding quarter, in which it accounted for 13.12 per cent. This contribution is unprecedented,” he said.
Pantami said that the growing contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP was a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the Federal Government. He said the Federal Government strategic policy direction included the inclusion of digital economy in the mandate of the Ministry, unveiling and implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy as well as National Broadband Plan, among others. The minister noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how critical the ICT sector is to the growth of the country’s digital economy and by extension, the general economy. He called on all sectors to take advantage of the government’s new focus on the digital economy to enable and improve their processes through the use of ICT. “This would enhance the output of all the sectors of the economy and boost Nigeria’s GDP,” he said.
It has been said that “The time has come to fully embrace ICT to enhance transparency and good governance if we really are to fulfil the ‘change’ mandate Nigerians voted President Muhammadu Buhari to bring about. “It is arguably one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Nigerian economy and is the second-largest ICT market in Africa. “Industry analysts have extrapolated that ICT tools and devices, software solution, IT outsourcing and e-commerce sectors alone could employ over 40 million Nigerians and contribute billions of dollars to our economy,” he added. Shittu said that the mission was to deploy ICT in all the sectors in a very effective and efficient manner so as to diversify the economy in a sustainable manner. He said that it was important to maximise the potentials and remained competitive for the economy to be strong to withstand shocks.
There is no doubt that Information and Communication Technology has found its niche in every sphere of Nigeria’s polity. Information and Communication Technology has been defined as “a broad-based technology (including its methods, management and application) that supports the creation, storage, manipulation and communication of information”. Also, information technology means a set of tools that helps you work with information and perform tasks related to information processing”. The term originated as Information Technology (IT) until recently when it was thought that the communication component ought to be highlighted because of its significance. It was then that the concept transformed into Information and Communication Technology ICT. The ICT industry appears to be making significant inroad into the Nigeria society. Before 1999, ICT resources and facilities were grossly limited in the country. Only very few wealthy Nigerians had access to these facilities and services. Internet facilities and services were rare to come by and the facsimile (ie. Fax) remained for a long time, the only means available to Nigerians for transmitting and receiving data or documents to other parts of the world. Public awareness of ICT and its application was low.
Connectivity—whether the Internet or mobile phones—is increasingly bringing market information, financial services, health services—to remote areas, and is helping to change people’s lives in unprecedented ways. New information and communications technologies (ICT), in particular high-speed internet, are changing the way companies do business, transforming public service delivery and democratizing innovation. With a 10 per cent increase in high-speed Internet connections, economic growth increases by 1.3 per cent. The mobile platform is emerging as the single most powerful way to extend economic opportunities and key services to millions of people.
ICT provides economic opportunities to both urban and rural populations. One common contribution is that it increases productivity and makes the market work more efficiently, although the magnitude of the impact on economic growth is likely to be different. The fact that virtually all-new mobile customers in the coming years will be in developing countries, and more specifically in rural areas, means that the ICT platform is reaching population with low levels of income and literacy. As a result, ICT is becoming the largest distribution platform for providing public and private services to millions of people in rural and poor areas. Market information, financial services, education and health services had largely been unavailable in those areas in the past due to lack of connectivity of any kind. Now the wireless platform is promoting new economic and social opportunities at all levels for the poor population.
The primary ICT resources are
- Computers: Computers are no longer just mathematical tools but essential management resources. As we all may know, different operations can be handled more efficiently using Computers. With the computer, such activities as information generation, processing, analyzing, storage and communication for sustainable development could be executed easily. The greatest assets of the computer are speed, cost-effectiveness and optimal utilization of available resources. Some other computer accessories worthy of mentioning are CD.ROM, diskettes, flash drive, etc.
- The Internet: This has proven to the most valuable vehicle for accelerated information flow. It is a network of computers that communicate with each other, often over telephone lines. The potentials of the internet lie in the provision of a global platform for information sharing among organizations and individuals. Information sharing creates awareness, ensures continuous use of products and services, provides feedback and support for the organization. The contention here is that any organization or government that has current and useful information is empowered to enhance productivity and good governance.
- Electronic Mail (E-mail): This is the most widely used resource of the Internet. It is provided for sending and receiving mails (messages) through electronic devices. Intra and inter-organizational communication have been made faster and cheaper. An e-mail has become the life-wire for many business and organizational communication.
- World Wide Web (WWW): World Wide Web is also an Internet-based resource. It is a utility based on hypertexts (Hypertexts simply documents through keywords in document or page). A visit to a website helps individuals or organizations to locate products, information, pursue political or social agenda and transact business. From the above, we can infer that being on the web would put any nation or organization on the right course of speedy and sustainable development in line with the emerging changes in technology, economic and political paradigms. Consequently, many organizations, ministries and parastatals in Nigeria have their websites through which they make relevant information available to members of the public.
The potential attributes and benefits of ICT to policymakers in society have been accepted as an imperative paradigm. To all intents and purposes, ICT is the acclaimed engine room of modern-day global development and sustainable growth. In the same vein, no institution or organization can still rely only on the traditional printed information resources to perform efficiently. The infusion of ICT into public administration enhances efficiency in the delivery of services to the people. ICT helps in taking high-quality decisions and at the same time saves time. It is in line with the laudable roles that the federal government of Nigeria in order to ensure the full exploitation of the potentials of ICTs in sustainable democracy laid the foundation for e-government in Nigeria.
Countries that have adopted and applied electronic services (ICT) to their operations have witnessed a dramatic improvement in their development efforts. For countries such as Singapore, United States, Canada, Japan and most European nations, ICT is a strong tool for sustainable development and improving governance, widening democratic space, increasing productivity, administrative effectiveness and cost-saving. It is not surprising therefore that the application of ICT in governance is engendering much concern in many countries of the world.
The economic benefit of telecommunications is enormous, both as a growing industry in its own right and in terms of its influence on economic development. Telecommunications is making the world a smaller place and creating new information highways of high-speed electronic data exchange. The economic implication of ICT are far-reaching; mobile telephones, satellite television and automatic teller machines are just a few examples of the way in which ICT is changing how people communicate, become informed or do business.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network is the basic facility through which information needs of industry, commerce and agriculture can be satisfied. Industrial development requires the coordination of a series of operation, including the acquisition of supplies, recruitment of labour, control stocks, processing of materials, and delivery of goods to buyers, as well as billing and record-keeping. Information technology is vital to the effective development and control of many of these operations. Commerce is essentially on information processing activity; effective buying, selling and brokerage rely on the continual supply of up-to-date information regarding the availability of prices of goods and services. Farmers, on the other hand, must not only grow food but they must sell effectively and buy seeds and fertilizer. They also need information on weather conditions, disease outbreaks and new agricultural techniques.
ICT policies in its economic and social development role are just catalyst meant to aid national development. The benefits of ICT policies to a national economy should be measured as an input to other economic activities. And more importantly, should also be considered as complementary to other sectors. ICT development is linked with and complements the development of industry, trade, farming, education, housing, health and financial institutions. It is this complementary role of ICT that makes it appropriate to link ICT planning to a national economic and social planning.
*** Written by Jide Ayobolu.
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