By Martin Ekpeke
The President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase has given reasons why Nigeria in its present state must look to Information and Communications Technology in order to diversify its economy.
Ruwase, while giving a welcome remark at the Information Communications Technology and Telecommunications (ICTEL) Expo, 2018 organised by the Chamber at the Eko Hotel two days, said ICT is strategy in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy.
“There is no better time to harness the benefits of ICT than now when the Nigerian economy is in dire need of diversification and sustainable recovery,” Ruwase at the 2-day event with the theme: ‘Developing Efficiency and Competitiveness in the Digital Age’.
He noted that virtually all sectors leverage ICT for optimal performance, which is evident in the financial sector, where electronic banking is now the vogue; agriculture sector, where the government allocates farm inputs through mobile phones to farmers.
Other areas where ICT is playing a key role, according to him is the consumer goods sector where online stores and e-commerce has brought an incredible transformation to retail business; the medical sciences where ICT applications are now being widely used for efficiency.
ICT has become the backbone of businesses, given the fact that it has witnessed a phenomenal growth over the past two decades. In fact, Nigeria is the biggest telecom market in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world.
Speaking of the essence of the ICTEL Expo, Ruwase said despite the enormous growth of the sector, there are still teething challenges. Thus, the EXPO, which he believes provides the platform to address the challenges and unlock its potentials.
He said as the foremost private sector body in Nigeria, the Chamber has the capacity to advance the potentials of ICT in Nigeria. “We are committed to the building of economic and commercial ties across all sub-sectors and players in the ICT sector,” he assured.
Nigeria is one of the fastest developing countries in the world and the most populous nation in the Sub-Sahara Africa continent with an estimated 198 million people, according to the National Population Commission (NPC).
Matching population growth with infrastructural development has become an issue of great concern across the country. These and others were the focus of the discourse at the 2-day just concluded Information Communications Technology and Telecommunications (ICTEL) Expo.
The event, which brought together various stakeholders within the Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry deliberated on ways to increase efficiency in the country through digitization.