Benjamin Babine, Abuja
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, has expressed his delight to hear of the growth of ICT’s 14.07% contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (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 and the Report Observed that the ICT sector contributed 14.07% to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier (13.32%).
Pantami, through a statement signed by his Technical Assistant on Information Technology, Dr Femi Adeluyi, noted 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, GCFR.
The statement read in part: “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 COVD-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
Governmenť’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.”
Pantami’s was appointed as Minister on 21st of August 2019, and he led the reform of the then Ministry of Communications to become what is now the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.