Nigeria is gunning for a larger share of $11.5 trillion global digital economy fund, and investors, especially ICT investors, will be highly needed in this pursuit, the Minister of Communication, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has said. Dr. Pantami also said Nigeria’s economy was already marching towards greatness and that any
potential investor who failed to invest in the country now would regret. The minister said this during the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) at the ongoing 39th Gulf Information
Technology Exhibition (GITEX) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Wednesday.
He added that Nigeria’s geographic and financial position on the continent made it a very strategic
country and good starting point for investors interested in Africa. Dr. Pantami said, “If you invest in Nigeria, you will not regret you did. Let me add; any potential
investor who fails to invest in Nigeria now will regret now or later. The more you delay for a day the
more you regret it.” He further said the global digital economy was projected to account for a quarter of the global
economy in the next 10 years and that Nigeria would like to be one of its top beneficiaries. He added that, “Nigeria currently does not have a large slice of the global digital economy, but we are ambitious enough to position ourselves to play a leading role in contributing to this economy.
The increasing influence of ICT on our GDP gives us the impetus required to further develop the
digital economy in Nigeria.” He disclosed that the Federal Government had embarked on a few programmes like increasing
broadband penetration, digital literacy, e-governance, cybersecurity, IT regulation and local content
development to support the development of the country’s digital economy. He also urged investors to take advantage of 207 clusters of ICT and telecom access gaps that prevented about 33.2m people from accessing ICT or telecom services in the country.
He told the investors that Nigeria’s Financial Technology (fintech) sector recorded 1.9 trillion transactions valued
at N92trn in 2018 alone, explaining why the country’s e-commerce market was projected to hit $75
billion by 2025. He said the teeming digital-savvy youths in Nigeria could provide a ready pool of high quality and
cost-effective workforce for the investors.
