Nigerian now has the capacity to produce 200 million Subscribers Identity Module (SIM) cards annually, not only for its consumption but for the African continent, minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami has said.
Pantami, who stated this while addressing journalists at the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on Thursday, added that Nigeria now also produces smartphones.
The minister said both the production of SIM Cards and smartphone was the result of the deliberate policy of the Federal Government to ensuring about 70 percent of what the country needs in the telecommunications sector is produced locally.
“When this administration came on board, even SIM cards were imported to Nigeria but as it is today, the Federal Government has provided an enabling environment for the private sector and as it is today, we have the capacity to produce SIM cards not only for our consumption but for the rest of Africa.
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“We have the capacity to produce a minimum of 200 million SIMS annually. We have provided an enabling environment for the private sector to start the production of smartphones. Today in Nigeria, we are producing smartphones”, he said.
Pantami also disclosed that as of March 2021, his ministry saved over N22.4 billion to the federal coffers by executing its mandate to support the anti-corruption drive of the Federal Government through the implementation of the information technology (IT) projects clearance policy.
“Under this policy, over 727 institutions have complied with over 323 projects cleared in accordance with the laid down guidelines. Under the DigitalNigeria portal, over 210,000 citizens, including women, youths and the physically challenged have been equipped with various digital skills for economic empowerment.
