By Angela Nkwocha
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has expressed delight in the growth of ICT’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP in the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2020).
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released ‘Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product Report’ for Q1 2020 on the 25th of May, 2020.
The Report observed that the country’s GDP grew by 1.87% (year-on-year) in real terms in Q1 2020. The non-oil sector contributed 90.50% to the nation’s GDP in Q1 2020 as opposed to the 9.50% contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector. It is noteworthy that the ICT sector contributed 14.07% to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier (13.32%) and in the preceding quarter, in which it accounted for 13.12%.
A statement from the Technical Assistant on Information Technology to the Minister, Dr Femi Adeluyi states that
Pantami acknowledged that the growing contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP is a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The strategic policy directions of the Federal Government include the inclusion of Digital Economy in the mandate of the Ministry, the unveiling and implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and the National Broadband Plan, amongst others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how critical the ICT sector is to the growth of our country’s digital economy and, by extension, the general economy. The Honourable Minister calls on all sectors to take advantage of the Federal Government’s new focus on the digital economy to enable and improve their processes through the use of ICTs. This would enhance the output of all the sectors of the economy and boost Nigeria’s GDP”, the statement stated.
