According to President Muhammadu Buhari, the digital economy sector has been the most effective in diversifying the nation’s economy, saving the Federal Government approximately N45.7 billion in IT project clearance.
On Thursday in Abuja, the President revealed and inaugurated two new policies established by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. While relating the two policies to the economy’s diversification and prosperity, President Buhari stated that the National Policy on Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains and the National Data Policy are critical to accelerate the nation’s digital economy sector’s growth.
He added that the Federal Government would continue to develop policies and programmes in furtherance of the diversification of the economy: “In the last three and a half years, we have intensified the development of policies, design of programmes and implementation of projects in the digital economy sector and the impact has been very impressive.
“For example, we have succeeded in diversifying our economy to a large extent. And this is obvious when we consider the contribution of the ICT sector to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2022 which stood at 18.44%, compared to the contribution of the oil sector to the GDP which was 6. 33% in the same period,” he said.
The president stated that Nigeria’s progress toward a healthy digital economy began on October 17, 2019 with the renaming and reorganization of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. The changes, he claims, have been astounding.
“We are proud of the great strides of our digital economy sector and the impact it has had on the different sectors of our economy and I commend the Minister for being committed to the implementation of the digital economy mandate.
“As part of our commitment towards ensuring the sustainability of our gains in the digital economy sector, we have taken steps to institutionalise the process by developing relevant policies and strategies,” he further stated.According to him, a total of 21 new national policies and strategies have been developed by the Federal Government since 2019.
“The policies and strategies are national instruments to support Nigeria’s digital economy at the national and sub-national levels. The national policies have led to significant development across all sectors of our economy.”
On the topic of digital identity for the country, Buhari stated that the current administration has aggressively supported it as a critical component of the digital economy’s long-term and secure growth. He went on to say that this will eventually encourage all Federal Public Institutions to utilize the correct identification.
While acknowledging that “the National Policy on Nigeria Government Second-Level Domains is a positive move in this regard,” he instructed all government personnel to avoid from using personal emails for official activities. According to him, Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) must move their websites to the appropriate government domains. The president expressed his excitement with SpaceX’s recent deployment of Starlink services in Nigeria, the first of its type in Africa, declaring:
“We are glad that Starlink services are already deployed in Nigeria. This has made Nigeria the first and only African country to have this link.
”With the deployment of Starlink services in Nigeria, we have 100 percent broadband penetration in Nigeria.” Earlier, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami said that the two policies being inaugurated were outcomes of compliance with the President’s directive to come up with a National Policy that was earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council.
He stated that the regulations were designed to build on the successes made so far in the digital ecosystem. The minister outlined the advantages of implementing the policies. He stated that the ministry relied on key sections of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended, and the NITDA Act 2007, believing that they would go a long way toward solidifying the successes in the digital economy sector.
On the National Data Policy, Pantami emphasized the importance of data in national life, highlighting that data was vital and could be used to enhance other areas of the economy.
