The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has commended the World Bank for its role in facilitating capacity building in the sector.
The Minister, who addressed participants during a virtual interaction where he served as the Special Guest of Honour, expressed satisfaction that the partnership between the Ministry and the financial apex body was yielding the desired results as the training on Innovative Business Models for Expanding Broadband and Closing Access Gaps, was already underway.
Dr Pantami also disclosed that the training which will subsequently include the public and private sectors, as well as the Academia and professional bodies, is an initiative of the Ministry and the World Bank aimed at strengthening Digital capacities in the sector, specifically in the area of broadband improvement and access.
Lead Facilitator of the programme and World Bank Global Broadband Specialist, Doyle Galleops expressed immense gratitude to the Minister for the partnership and the opportunity to facilitate the project.
According to the minister, the Importance of Broadband has often been referred to as a key enabler of economic growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Following a report by Ericsson titled “How Important Are Mobile Broadband Networks for Global Economic Development”, 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration results in approximately 0.6% to 2.8% rise in gross domestic product (GDP).
He said Broadband supports the development of the digital economy and a focus on growing the National Digital Economy will also improve the nation’s traditional economy.
In a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the contribution of ICT to the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria rose to 17.83% in the 2nd Quarter of 2020, this was unprecedented and it reflects how much of an impact technology, including broadband, can have on the economy if channelled properly.
As according to him, “the contribution of the digital economy would even be much higher when we add the contribution of digital services to the GDP”. He noted.
It will be recalled that the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy had, in December 2020 initiated the strategy in partnership with the world bank.
