Participants at the European Union- Nigeria Business Forum have expressed optimisms in the potency of the information and communication industry to provide grounds for youths to thrive.
The speakers at the 6th EU-Nigeria Business Forum with the theme “Youth as Engine of Broad-based economic transformation’ held recently in Lagos, stated that ICT sector is a critical economic enabler that supports GDP growth across horizontal sectors of the economy be it Manufacturing, Education, Agriculture, Healthcare, Services and Governance amongst other.
Ambassador Ketil Karlsen, Head of EU delegation to Nigeria and Ecowas, in a good will message at the event, reiterated that ICT is transforming global economies through innovation, reducing the cost of business and making governance more efficient.
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in their recent report has revealed that ICT accounted for 8.3% of the GDP in 2016.
EU believes that this growth was witnessed because of the Nigeria’s telecommunication revolutions which have boosted the digital economy particularly through increase in internet usage and use of online payment systems.
It revealed that investment in ICT infrastructure, ICT education and the role of Government regulations are critical issues which needs to be addressed in order to build on the successes of this digital revolution.
Youth plays a key role in developing the ICT sector, but the right business environment and regulatory framework should be put in place to allow youth and ICT to unlock all the potentials of digital economy.
The event had keynote presentations from Mr. Olivier Vandermoten, country manager, Ericsson Nigeria, who spoke on “Digital Transformation: Implication for Nigerian Economic transformation and digital development”.
While Mr. Adebayo Shittu, minister of Communications Technology, Spoke on “Riding on ICT to create jobs and exit recession”.
Mr. Olivier Vandermoten, stated during his presentation, “We are digital natives now, the point today is that digital is here to stay.
He added that Internet of things (IOT) is an important area in digital transformation; he estimated that cellular growth will increase between 2016 and 2022.
The forum also had a moderated panel discussion comprising of Mr. Adebayo Shittu, minister of Communications Technology, Ms.Helen Anatogu,CEO/Program Director Idea, Mr. Olufemi Odubiyi, commissioner for science and technology, Lagos State, Mr. Olivier Vandermoten, Country Manager, Ericsson Nigeria, Mr. Mohamad Darwish ,CEO,IHS Nigeria Limited, Mr. Olajide Ademola Ajayi, Country Ambassador, Africa Code Week-Team Manager,SAP Ireland, Mr.Moses Imayi, Project Director, Skool Media Nigeria Ltd and Mrs.Isabelle Van Grunderbeeck,Regional Representative Boost Africa Program, European Investment Bank (EIB).