Raheem Akingbolu
With proper implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), other government interventions and investment in infrastructure, the
Abdullahi who stated this in an exclusive interview THISDAY pointed out that a lot is being done through the startups in the ICT sector to boost the entertainment industry.
The federal government, he stated, is doing everything humanly possible to encourage investment in that direction to be able to achieve its 2030 agenda.
He said his agency and other relevant agencies under the ministry of communication and digital economy are also working round the clock to position the SMEs as the bedrock of the Nigerian economy.
According to him, “Globally, SMEs provide more jobs than any other industry. In Nigeria, more than 98 per cent of jobs are from SMEs. It is contributing almost more than 50 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic products (GDP). These startups are part of the SMEs. But what we want to achieve with this is how we can use innovation and IT to enable all SMEs.”
He said emerging technologies and Nigeria IT ecosystem are accelerating growth in digital economy
“There are two promising emerging technologies that are going to change a lot of things in the world: Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. Based on two reports by PWC, they projected that by year 2030, Blockchain technology will add up to $1.76 trillion to global GDP. The report added that developing countries can add 4 per cent of the GDP if they use that technology.
“For example, Nigeria’s GDP today is more than $400 million. The 4 per cent of $400 million is more than $10 billion. That is the minimum GDP Blockchain technology can generate. They also projected that Artificial Intelligence can add more than $10 trillion to the global GDP by 2030. They said developing countries like Nigeria can add up to 5.6 per cent to the GDP. If Nigeria targets only $10 billion, which is far less than 5.6 per cent of our GDP today, we can have $20 billion comfortably, ”he said.
Speaking on how is NITDA supporting Tech Startups in Nigeria, he said, “Based on Startups Genome report of 2020, Lagos startups ecosystem is valued at more than $2 billion and also recently, two of our startups have reached unicorn level that means evaluation of more than $1billion each. They are Flutterwave and Interswitch. So, now we have $4 billion. Lagos ecosystem has $2 billion, Flutterwave $1 billion, Interswitch $1 billion, and then Jumia is already valued at $1.9 billion. Roughly you have $6 billion in Lagos alone talk less of the other parts of the country.”
He added, “If you look at the media and entertainment industry, it is powered by digital technology, mostly startups. Based on PWC report, the Nigeria media entertainment sector will be valued at $10 billion by 2023. So, you can see that we are almost at that targeted $30 billion. So, we hope we will exceed that target and we are on track based on our initiatives, based on government policies like the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), and other government interventions in form of policies and infrastructural interventions. All these can help us to reach that target of $30 billion by 2030.”
Abdullahi said digital skills and literacy is a pillar in the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan under the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy adding, “The government is serious about it because it is believed that one must first understand technology before embracing it for use.”
“To this end, we are working on two folds; firstly, we are committed to getting all Nigerians to understand how to use digital devices. Because you need to understand how to use the devices before you can be part of the digital economy. So, we embarked on so many initiatives, on training people with special needs, people living with disabilities, children, women, and artisans on how to use digital technology,” he stated.
Speaking on the relevant training initiatives being put in place to strengthen this drive, he disclosed that the agency recently launched its digital state initiative which majorly targeted three areas; Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Other focused areas according to him are; digital content creation and digital marketing.
Also, he explained while NITDA appears to be focusing more on digital platforms, pointing out that the decision was strategic to deepening digital revolution
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