Dr, Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications has official unveiled Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Roadmap 2017- 2020 two years after it was approved by the federal government.
Shittu, speaking during the sensitization programme with the theme “The role of the private sector in implementation of Nigeria ICT Roadmap” expressed regrets that the sensitizations is coming two years after its approval by the federal executive council, noting that some aspects of the plans are already been implemented.
He noted that the private sector is a key player in the implementation of the Nigeria ICT Roadmap, adding that government is working assiduously towards sustained economic recovery and growth with the private sector.
He added that the information and communications technology revolution which commenced over a decade ago has impacted positively on the national economy.
“This is evident in its significant contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 0.6% in 2991 to 9.8% in 2014.
“Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Foreign Domestic Investments (FDI) made by telecommunications operators, service providers and other stakeholders from 2001 till date is in excess of US$32billion dollars”.
The minister also emphasized that the sector is essential for the proper functioning of many other key sectors of the economy including Agriculture, Commerce, Banking and Finance, Health and Transportation.
In spite of its dramatic growth, the sector had challenges and constraints some of which were inadequate local content, poor infrastructure leading to the lack of access by many Nigerians, poor skills to leverage ICT opportunities, and lack of confidence in the use of ICT.
“It is for this reason that, on becoming the Minister of Communications, I made the commitment to turn the ICT sector into a ‘cash cow’ so as to revive the economy. Working with my team, we promised to ensure prompt and quality service delivery so as to revive the economy.
“To deliver on these promises, and for Nigerians to benefit from ICT, in addition to well-articulated policies and strategies, there was need for an integrated implementation framework.
“My desire and aspiration was to leverage business process outsourcing and other ICT sector opportunities to create two million jobs, establish a technological park and ICT exhibition centre, create ICT innovation hubs across the nation and reposition NIPOST to enable it provide cost effective 21st Century services.
“For this purpose, the ICT sector roadmap which is being unveiled today is conceived as an implementation framework focusing on five pillars".
Shittu stated that the intention in developing the Roadmap is to create broad, yet flexible pathways to ensure that ICT reaches all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
At its core, the Roadmap promotes public-private-partnerships to attract investments in high quality infrastructure facilities and services.
According to the Minister, the Roadmap provides both the private and public sectors, a fresh impetus for not only implementing existing policies but has further articulated fifty one (51) interlinked initiatives of which twenty (20) are primarily geared towards job/wealth creation, eighteen (18) in the area of Capacity Building for sustainability in the sector and thirteen (13) of these initiatives have primary focus on improvement in Government revenue generation.
He urged all stakeholders to embrace the Roadmap as a veritable instrument for achieving their various aspirations.
He added that government on its part shall continue to provide required enabling environment, incentives and support towards ensuring the growth and success of the industry player, noting that government is convinced that Nigeria ICT sector will continue to be an investment haven for forward looking investors.
“Those who invested in the past and responded to government priority focus of market deregulation have had no regrets.
“Keying into the ICT Roadmap is definitely a right step in the right direction,” he said.
