By Perpetua Egesimba and Christy Dada

Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu in Lagos recently reiterated that information and communications technology (ICT) would continue to drive the global economy, providing huge opportunities to social and economic development.

Shittu said this at the Indo-Africa ICT Expo 2017, organised by the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) in partnership with NASSCOM, where he encouraging techpreneurs to invest more in the country.

According to him, the unrealised ICT demand in Nigeria offers huge opportunities for Indian companies, arising in segment such as products and services, mobility, security solutions, telecommunications, education and capacity building.

Shittu further explained that there are numerous opportunities for partnerships between the two countries in the public and private sectors, as he implored Indian investors to explore areas to further enhance the lives of Nigerians through technology.

“Nigeria is committed towards ICT innovations and is well placed in the technology space as it is the fastest growing ICT market in Africa and throughout the world.

“Our commitment towards ICT innovations has made Nigeria well known in the tech space. Today, we have over 145 million mobile subscribers, representing a penetration of 85.5 per cent, while Internet penetration stands at 70 per cent for Nigeria,” he said.

The event, which was themed “Digital Vision of Developing Nations,” had Indian techpreneurs investing $4 billion to boost ICT in Nigeria.

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The minister, who was also seeking partnership in ICT between Nigeria and India, said one of the key areas of ICT development in Nigeria was the fact that Nigeria has not succeeded in providing adequate network, particularly in rural areas.

He added that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said, out of the 940 million people living in the least developed countries, most of them being in Africa, only 89 million people used the Internet, corresponding to a 9.5 per cent penetration rate.

The ITU, he said, had projected that by the end of 2017 only 50 per cent of households in developing countries would have Internet access, compared with more than 80 per cent in the developed countries.

“These statistics are a clear call for the need to identify opportunities for collaboration, sharing best practices, and exploring inclusive technologies to drive the world into a truly connected community,” he said.

He urged investors looking forward to invest in Africa to take the best opportunity Nigeria offers for their hub activities: “We have a robust economy with many opportunities for collaboration, a well-educated population, pro-investor policies and focus, and when we mean business, we mean big business.”

Earlier, chairman, TEPC, Shyamal Ghosh, said India, through the Indo-Africa trade arrangement, has facilitated an investment worth about $10 billion to African in the last few years.

Ghosh said telecommunications should be priotised for the development of ICT in Africa, adding that government support is also important.

to making the sector more efficient.