The Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami ,FNCS, FBCS, FIIM has said that Broadband penetration supports the development of the digital economy and consequently improves the nation’s traditional economy by enhancing financial inclusion, security, education and is key enabler to all the other sectors of the economy.
The Minister stated this on Thursday 25th March 2021 while speaking at the Virtual Structured Engagement with Key Stakeholders in the Nigerian Telecom and ICT sector organized by the association of telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) on the New Broadband Plan for 2020-2025. In attendance at the event were Director Generals, Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors and Heads of various organizations in the private and public sector.
Dr Pantami recalled that due to the tremendous economic growth opportunities afforded by the deployment of broadband technologies, he inaugurated a Presidential Committee made up of different expertise across the public and private sectors on the 16th December 2019 to harness those opportunities. He added that barely three months after, the inuaguration of the Committee, it came up with the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNDP) for Nigeria 2020-2025 which was unveiled and launched by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR on the 19th of March, 2020.
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The Minister said that the Plan targets the deployment of nationwide fibre coverage to reach all state capitals ,as well as provide point of presence in at least 90% of Local Government
Headquarters in the Country. He said that the plan also targets tertiary educational institutions, major hospitals in each state and fibre connectivity at statutory rates of N145/meter for Right of Way (ROW).
The Minister said that in implementing the plan, four focus areas which includes, infrastructure, policy, demand drivers and funding were recommended with 55 other initiatives identified towards the actualization of the targets.
Dr Pantami stated that the Federal Government cannot address all the challenges alone without involving the active support and participation of the private sector. He then emphasized on the imperative for diligent implementation of the recommendations in those focus areas through multi-stakeholder approach which is necessary to give the country a push into economic prosperity including job creation with an overall improvement in the nation’s Gross Domestc Product, GDP.
The Minister used the opportunity of the forum to applaud the keen interest and positive reactions which was received on the project at the meetings earlier held with the members of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum and the National Economic Council chaired by His Excellency, the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osibajo.
Harping on the same theme, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCIE in his presentation noted that Broadband penetration offers unprecedented opportunities for economic growth by providing access to information, connecting people to businesses and opening new markets.
He said that Broadband penetration is transforming the conventional economy into an innovative economy. In his words, “In terms of human development, it impacts almost every aspect of life from education to health,to entrepreneurship and unlocks the digital economy which reduces extreme poverty and enhances social inclusion.”
Mallam Abdullahi said that a study by Deloitte concludes that providing internet access to developing countries can boost productivity worldwide by 25%, generate $2.2 trillion in GDP, create 140 million new jobs and lift 160 million people out of poverty.
He said that even though a lot has been achieved so far towards broadband penetration in Nigeria, the need for innovative models to bridge access gaps cannot be overemphasized. He particularly stated that with the rising demand for internet access and broadband services as well as the persistent efforts of the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami towards providing an enabling policy for investment, new opportunities have been created for more investments in the Telecommunications sector.
