The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has highlighted measures the Commission has taken and implementing to consolidate the gains of Information and Communications Technology revolution in Nigeria.
The NCC Boss, gave the highlights in a lecture titled ‘Empowering the Nigerian Youth Through Information and Communications Technology’, which he delivered last week during the 10th and 11th Convocation Ceremony of Fountain University, Oke-Osun Osogbo.
He said as a measure to consolidate the gains of the ICT revolution in Nigeria, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020-2030 (NDEPS) and the National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025 were launched, by President Muhammadu Buhari, to further strengthen ICT usage and adoption in the country.
The NDEPS, according to him has eight (8) pillars, which were carefully selected to include all the key aspects that Nigeria needs to focus on, in order to actively participate in the global digital economy and to empower its teeming youth population.
Also, the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020 – 2025 is the Federal Government’s policy document which implementation will maximize the benefits of broadband by establishing enabling institutions and enacting necessary regulatory and developmental measures to deepen broadband access and penetration across the country for national development.
“The broadband vision for Nigeria is one of a society of connected communities with high-speed broadband access and connectivity that facilitate faster socio-economic advancement of the nation and its people,” he explained.
He added that the Plan has further provided insights into what “high-speed internet” is, as connectivity delivers a minimum of 10 Mbps in rural areas and a minimum of 25 Mbps in urban areas by 2025. Accordingly, an effective coverage to be available to at least 90% of the population by 2025, at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.
The former University lecturer also disclosed in the lecture that the NCC has developed a Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP) for the years 2021-2025, that leveraged on the provisions of the NDEPS and NNBP, as well as the Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2020 – 2024.
He stated that Nigeria is expected to account for over 55 percent of the Sub-Saharan Africa’s additional 167 million telecom subscriber enrolment in the next five years, with the region also projected to be the fastest-growing region with respect to ICT with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6 percent.
The Nigerian ICT Sector has been consistently contributing above 10 percent of Nigeria’s GDP for over 10 years, which as of 4th Quarter of 2020, the telecoms sector alone contributed 12.45 percent to GDP. Also, Nigeria is Africa’s largest ICT market with 82 percent of the Continent’s Telecoms Subscribers and 29 percent of Internet usage.