FG targets 50% local content in ICT

Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson

The Federal Government plans to achieve 50 per cent local content target in the nation’s Information and Communications Technology industry.

The Minister of Communications Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, disclosed this at the ICT Centenary Awards held in Abuja last week.

Although the ICT sector has burgeoned in recent years, contributing above eight per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, much of the inputs into the sector have come from more technologically advanced nations.

The minister said the government planned to reverse this trend and achieve 50 per cent in local content through a guideline which had been developed for the industry.

She said, “Local content guideline that will enable Nigerians to participate in the ICT industry to achieve a target of 50 per cent local content in the ICT industry has also been launched by the ministry.

“Software development is being aggressively promoted and the ministry in partnership with the private sector has launched a number of initiatives that will accelerate software development.

“Focusing on policies that seek to transform Nigerian youths is a deliberate step that is yielding positive results. Our software development initiatives are adding value and building a young generation of software entrepreneurs that will have positive impact on Nigeria’s development.”

Johnson said investments in Nigeria’s ICT sector had risen to $32bn as the ICT sector was the fourth largest contributor to country’s GDP.

She added, “The Nigerian telecoms industry is one of the fastest growing in the world and one of the largest in Africa. Active telecoms subscriptions rose from 88m in 2010 to 130m in 2014. Active Internet subscription currently stands at 70, 477, 251, while the tele-density ratio increased from 63 per cent in 2010 to 93.41 per cent in July 2014.

“The Ministry of Communications Technology since its creation in 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan has consistently worked in line with its mandate to leverage ICTs to facilitate the transformation of Nigeria to a digitalised economy.

“A National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap Plan that will facilitate Nigeria’s vision of being amongst the top 20 world economies by the year 2020 has been developed and is being implemented.”

The Executive Vice Chairman at the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said the regulatory agency was addressing the challenges militating against widespread deployment of broadband infrastructure.

According to him, increased broadband penetration has catalytic impact on any nation’s economy. He added that the process of licensing two infrastructure companies for broadband penetration would be concluded before the end of the year.

Also speaking at the event through video conferencing, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, said increased broadband penetration had the capacity to unite the nation, tackle security challenges, deliver quality health care and improve access and the quality of education.

The Chairman of ICT Media Initiative, Mr. Aaron Ukodie, lauded the ICT industry for being the most significant and most valued sector of the economy in terms of value addition in the past 15 years.

 

Source: The Punch