By Daniel Tyokua
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the telecommunication companies have contributed $70b to country’s economy.
Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof Umar Danbatta said the impact of technology to Nigeria has been tremendous.
He stated this at the weekend, during a Cyberchain event in Abuja while speaking on the topic, “Using Technology to grow Nigeria’s GDP”.
Danbatta who was represented by the Principal Manager Digital Economy, Mrs Ella Ehi explained that Nigeria’s adoption of 5G, E-commerce, Fintech, Big data have boosted the country’s revenue generation capacity.
According to him, “Nigeria’s adoption of digital technologies has enabled it to diversify its revenue and economy, created jobs, improved services and efficiency, reduced wastages, and optimised resources available.
“Telecommunications has contributed over $70 billion to the Nigerian economy, provided over 500,000 jobs in the formal and informal sectors, and improved the lives of millions of Nigerians.
“Most Nigerians today cannot comprehend life without mobile phones. Presently, the liberalised telecommunications sector has brought with it, instant messaging, instant information, financial inclusion, telemedicine, smart farming, e-Commerce and virtual learning, however, the best is yet to come.
He added that, “the benefits of technology are endless, and with technology becoming affordable, accessible, and available, these benefits will increase tremendously”.
In his remarks, the Convener, CyberChain Abuja, Jude Ozinegbe, said Nigeria is currently moving in the right direction towards embracing the gains of tech ecosystem.
“We are moving from Analogue to digital, some people seem to have been left behind, that is why we have decided to gather leaders in the space to educate us. We have leaders in this space that have seen the possibility and opportunity in this ecosystem.
“This is my contribution to expanding digital economy in Nigeria. As much as you can, contribute something positive about the space to amplify the good tidings within the ecosystem”.
