Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has called on all African countries to get actively involved in the digital revolution going on in the world.
Speaking on Tuesday at an international conference on information and communications technology, in Ndjamena, the Chadian capital, President Jonathan observed that Nigeria and other African countries stand to gain a lot from the effective adoption of the new technologies due to the strong correlation between the efficient deployment of ICTs and socio-economic development.
“Africa and Africans must be active participants in the digital revolution that is taking place all around the world. We must in fact be at the forefront of that revolution, creating information societies and knowledge based economies,” he said.
“We need to encourage the development of our local ICT industries, creating companies to drive added domestic economic value, create jobs and support sustainable growth in GDP,” the President told the gathering which was hosted by President Idriss Deby of Chad.
Mr. Jonathan said to ensure Nigeria got the full benefits of new information and communication technologies, which include improving national commerce, the development of an ICT workforce, the creation of high skilled, high paying jobs, improved international competitiveness and the establishment of stronger, more competitive small and medium businesses, the Federal Government was judiciously implementing a National ICT Policy, National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content in the ICT industry.
