At the official opening ceremony of Nigeria’s pavilion at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World in Qatar, the newly elected Secretary General, Houlin Zhao, commended Nigeria on its broadband policy initiatives and the impressive successes recorded in the sector.
Mr Zhao emphasized the successful deployment of 4G for commercial services saying that singular move had put Nigeria ahead of much of Europe and China, both of whom are seen as powerhouses in the sector. The ITU Telecom World is an annual forum that brings together industry’s leading names to explore three major scenarios of disruption, cross-sector partnerships and the intelligent future. This year, Nigeria received an ITU award for bridging the gender divide through ICTs.
According to a statement from the Nigerian Ministry of Communication Technology, Minister Omobola Johnson also showcased success stories and invited potential investors at the occasion to capture a share of the growth in Nigeria’s ICT sector.
At the event themed “Future in Focus,” she also pledged the commitment of her ministry to empowering citizens through the adoption of requisite and enabling technologies.
“The Nigerian Government is currently taking concrete steps to diversify her economy, and results are becoming noticeable in key non-oil sectors such as Agriculture, Power, Manufacturing and ICTs. Nigeria thus remains one of the top three destinations for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Africa. In fact, Nigeria has attracted the most FDI (foreign direct investment) capital and the second most FDI projects in Sub-Saharan Africa,” she said.
Dr Omobola Johnson highlighted similarities between the theme and the Nigerian government, adding that Africa’s largest economy had developed the key policies and initiatives that have set the pace and basis for the widespread use of ICTs in the public and private sector.
“The theme of ITU world 2014 resonates with the Nigerian government as we work to build a better and brighter future for our people. Conversations at the ITU Telecom World on key trends, developments, business models and applications will be invaluable in helping us in to build a better future in the ICT industry,” she said.
The use of ICT in Nigeria is driven heavily by Small & Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the country as multiple studies show that more than half of such firms use computers, a fifth have corporate websites and 92 percent use GSM telephony for communication. This adds to the growing list of reasons to further invest in SMEs and boost their overall number and productivity.
By Emmanuel Iruobe
