Emma Okonji
Considering the role of emerging technologies in the global digital transformation agenda, the federal government, in collaboration with industry stakeholders, has said it will not relent in its efforts in promoting emerging technologies that businesses can leverage to enhance development across the country.
Speaking to a cross section of stakeholders at the just-concluded Cyberchain 2022 conference in Abuja, the federal government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), reiterated its commitment to promote emerging technologies for digital transformation.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who reaffirmed the commitment, said the telecom sector had remained a key booster of the Nigerian economic activities, transforming the way people live and work as well as increasing efficiency in other sectors of the economy, and would continue to do.
According to Danbatta, the Commission is committed to driving the deployment and adoption of emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Blockchain, Robotics and Virtual Reality, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Telemedicine, among others, to stimulate greater contribution of the sector to the Nigerian economy.
Danbatta said: “It is gladdening to note that telecom has been an enabler of Nigeria’s economic growth and development as it contributes substantially to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). From $500 million investments in the sector as at 2001, the telecommunication industry has recorded over $70 billion investment till date, while the growth in the sector has been phenomenal, from some 400,000 functional phone lines in 2001 to over 209 million active mobile subscriptions, achieving a teledensity of 110 per cent, as at August 2022.
“The sector has provided over 500,000 formal and informal jobs for Nigerians. From an insignificant contribution to GDP in 2001, telecoms sector, as at the last quarter of 2021, contributed 12.61 per cent to GDP, while the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector as a group, has also contributed 18.44 per cent to GDP as at the second quarter of 2022.”
He said for Nigeria to reap the full benefits of emerging technologies in ways that further spur growth in national economy, NCC would continue to prioritise the need to improve and expand broadband infrastructure and the deployment of new technology such as the Fifth Generation of Mobile Communication (5G). “Our efforts in diligently driving this will facilitate the actualisation of the set targets in the federal government’s digital economy policy,” he said.
In a related development, Paxful, a leading global peer-to-peer (P2P) finance platform, also stressed the need for investment in Blockchain technology as another form of emerging technology that would drive national development.
Paxful Founder and CEO, Ray Youssef, who spoke during the Blockchain Day at this year’s annual Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition, which held in Abuja recently, noted that the youths are the bedrock of every society, and that they facilitate growth and economic development, adding that it is vital that they are empowered with financial education to thrive and become the nation’s next great leaders.
He said, “Financial education brings empowerment and entrepreneurship. Nigerian youth are leading a financial revolution and Bitcoin has already scaled tenfold compared to other regions. We must foster that momentum—it will open Nigeria up to the global market, grow local businesses, expand opportunities for international freelancers, and lessen Nigeria’s reliance on international governments who threaten to devalue local commerce. Through Bitcoin, Nigerians will lead the whole of Africa into a financial golden age.”
Youssef also spoke to hundreds of Nigerian youths in Abuja during the October 29th campus tour, discussing Blockchain as emerging technology, the future of finance and how Bitcoin can improve their daily lives.
