FG Eyes 50% Local Content in ICT

Mrs Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology, said that the guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT were targeted at achieving 50 per cent local content in ICT in few years' time.

The minister said this in Abuja on Tuesday while making a public presentation of the guidelines at the 2013 e-Nigeria Conference.

Johnson said that there had been an appreciable increase in the number of homes and public places with computers and access to Internet services.

She said that the guidelines would provide a good platform that would facilitate the transformation of many local ICT companies into larger and strategic companies.

``As impressive as these figures may seem, the Nigerian IT landscape suffers from a clear negative trade balance, as the economic value generated locally with imported technologies used by Nigerians is still extremely low.

``'With the presentation of the guidelines on Nigerian Content Development in ICT today, I think that we have reached a significant milestone in our journey to achieve the target of 50 per cent local content.

``However, there is clearly still a lot of work ahead of us as an industry,’’ she added.

Johnson said that the use and adoption of various information and communication technologies in Nigeria had witnessed unprecedented growth over the past decade.

``The telecommunications sector is the fastest growing sector in the Nigerian economy and it is the fourth largest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP.

``Tele-density figures of 0.73 per cent in 2001 have leapt to the impressive 85.25 per cent in April 2013, with approximately 112 million active telephone sets,’’ she said.

In his address, Dr Sani Daura, acting girector-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), said that the conference would strive to address issues confronting the development of local content in ICT.

Daura said that this year’s conference would stimulate collective thinking on the right path needed for local content development in the Information Technology (IT) sector.

``If this is accomplished, we will be on the right track in efforts to create jobs for our teeming youths.

``It will also help in our efforts to diversify our economy from dependence on petroleum resources to a knowledge-based economy, driven by IT, while aiding efforts to achieve the goals of our Vision 20:2020,’’ Daura said.

Dr Tosin Ajayi, who spoke on behalf of the Governing Board of NITDA, said that the eNigeria Conference was a veritable platform for creating ICT awareness, developing appropriate frameworks and setting the agenda for best practices in the sector.