By Patrick Imo
Following the release of Nigeria’s GDP report for the first quarter of 2020 on May 25 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology sector has contributed an all-time high of 14.07 percent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Its contributions in the last two quarters were 13.32 percent and 13.12 percent respectively.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, while stating this through his technical assistant on Information Technology, Dr. Femi Adeluyi, expressed delight over the growth of ICT’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP.
According to the report which showed that the country’s GDP grew by 1.87 percent year-on-year in real terms in the review period, the non-oil sector contributed 90.50 percent as opposed to the 9.50 percent contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector.
Dr. Pantami said this unprecedented growth in the sector’s contribution to the GDP is no doubt a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the Federal Government.
In his words: “This is a direct result of the Federal Government’s strategic policy direction which includes the 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.”
