With global trends shifting towards technology, findings reveal that financial services within Nigeria’s digital economy could add $88 billion and create over 3 million new jobs over the next 10 years, Okechukwu Enelemah, minister of industry, trade and investment, said.
The minister’s assertion follows a resolve by developing countries – Nigeria, Mexico, Kenya, Argentina, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Pakistan – under the auspices of Friends of E-commerce for Development (FED) agreed to put forward a policy agenda to bridge the digital divide as well as provide development solutions in the long term, during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday.
A statement from the Ministry of Industry on Tuesday said the job figures were in line with estimates of a study carried out by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Further studies indicate that potential gains of the digital economy will be manifest in digital accounts, payments, mobile money, health and educational services and other sectors of the economy.
Enelamah, who led the Nigerian delegation to Geneva, explained in the statement that the ministry was already developing the “Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project” and that the objective was to solve efficiency problems and create leapfrog opportunities in the economy, improve competitiveness and foster technology development and innovation more generally.
“The Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project is Nigeria’s response to an area of intense economic and technological activity by Nigerian youths, where there is a growing pool of talent, he stated.
“It is a sector of the economy where the private sector already has ownership. The role of government would therefore be to ensure a sound pro-competitive regulatory environment and hardware infrastructure to foster rapid growth of this area,” Enelamah said.
The minister also shared the fact that there were currently 150 million active mobile users in a country of 170 million, of which over 60 percent was connected to the internet. There are some 17 million Facebook users and new technology start-ups and young people writing apps that solve problems and spur growth
Lagos, the largest commercial city in Africa, accommodates some of Africa’s well-known consumer tech businesses such as iRokotv, Hotels.ng, Jobberman, Andela, Balogunmarket, and Truppr.com.
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