Nigeria spends $3.8 billion yearly from the importation of Information and Communication Technology goods and services, including software, the Director General of Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, has revealed.
The NITDA DG, Mr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, on Tuesday, November 22, at the 9th edition of eNigeria in Abuja, said that locally manufactured or assembled computers in the country accounted for less than 8% of all the computers used locally.
He said:”Nigeria is projected to expend about $143.8 billion on ICT by 2019- a vast sum that translates to over 7 times the value of the 2016 national budget.
“We strongly plead with our international manufacturers to domesticate their products in order to achieve a win-win relationship.”
“Within the limits of the mandate that set up NITDA, we are repositioning ourselves to filter the IT gadgets being imported to the country in the overall interest of the nation.
“We want to transform NITDA from its administrative outlook to IT-driven and knowledge-based agency, and we request the support of all to materialise this aspiration.
“There is tremendous gain to be made from a Local Content Policy that encourages the development of local ICT products and services. Among other things, it will significantly reduce capital flight.
“In addition to the emphasis that NITDA will lay on regulation, local content development and capacity building, we are making concerted efforts to create, as well as review, existing standards and guidelines. This will enable us to regulate the sector in line with the highest global standards.
“We are committed to ensuring that the proliferation of fake and sub-standard ICT products and services in the country is eliminated or at least significantly curtailed.
Mr Pantami promised that security in the 21st century is highly reliant on ICTs and we want to encourage the development of ICT-enabled security services across all sectors of the economy.
