Apart from achieving 70 percent broadband penetration in four years and digitalizing government processes for openness and speed of service delivery, another key objective of the digital economy pursuit is to achieve a 95 percent digital literacy level in the next 10 years.
This was a disclosure by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at the ‘Meet the Regulator Forum’ which was held at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja Campus yesterday.
According to the telecom regulator, 95 percent of digital literacy will ultimately boost the Nigerian economy, which many analysts and industry watchers have advised should be berthed on the foot of digital technology rather than oil and gas, which reality checks show is no longer sustainable.
“The key objectives of the Digital Economy Strategy Document is to achieve 70 percent broadband penetration in 4 years, attract and grow digital jobs across all sectors of the economy and achieve a 95 percent digital literacy level within 10 years,” said Ibe Ngwoke, Principal Manager, Legal & Regulatory Services Department at NCC, while highlighting the Commission’s Strategy Towards a Digital Economy at the forum.
He added that with the implementation of the Digital Economy strategy, which is being championed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami and other relevant government agencies like the Nigerian Communications Commission, it is expected that the technology start-ups ecosystem will be developed.
This, according to him will significantly improve contribution from ICT in the days ahead as the sector contributed 13.1 percent (N2.6 Trillion) to the Country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last quarter of 2019, as against Oil & Gas which contributed 11.32 percent over the same period.
As part of initiatives to implement its new policy thrust of expanding the frontiers of the digital economy ecosystem, the Federal Government re-designated the Federal Ministry of Communications as Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy on October 17, 2019.
A Digital Economy Strategy Document was launched on November 2019 in that regard. The key objectives of the document include meet 70 percent broadband penetration in four years, digitalization government processes for openness and speed of service delivery and attract and grow digital jobs across all sectors of the economy.