ICT contribution of 14.07% to Nigeria’s GDP unprecedented – Pantami

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, said the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has contributed unprecedented 14.07 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Pantami stated this in a statement signed by Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant, Information Technology to the Minister on Sunday in Abuja.

Pantami said he was delighted to hear of the growth of ICT’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020.

According to him, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) releases Nigeria’s GDP report for Q1 2020 on May 25.

”The Report observed that the country’s GDP grew by 1.87 per cent year-on-year in real terms in Q1 2020.

”The non-oil sector contributed 90.50 per cent to the nation’s GDP in Q1 2020 as opposed to the 9.50 per cent contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector.

”It is noteworthy that the ICT sector contributed 14.07 per cent to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier, which was 13.32 per cent and in the preceding quarter, in which it accounted for 13.12 per cent.

”This contribution is unprecedented,” he said.

Pantami said that the growing contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP, was a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the Federal Government.

He said the Federal Government strategic policy direction included inclusion of Digital Economy in the mandate of the Ministry, unveiling and implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy as well as National Broadband Plan, among others.

The minister noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had  shown how critical the ICT sector was to the growth of the country’s digital economy and by extension, the general economy.

He called on all sectors to take advantage of the government’s new focus on the digital economy to enable and improve their processes through the use of ICT.

“This would enhance the output of all the sectors of the economy and boost Nigeria’s GDP,” he said. (NAN)