Abuja, Dec. 20, 2022 – President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the contributions of the digital economy to Nigeria’s development, saying that the $547 million generated from the 5G spectrum auction would further fuel developments.
President Mohammadu Buhari said this today while inaugurating the National Shared Services Centre, a one-stop-shop for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to interface with citizens which also houses a Cybersecurity Operations Centre, Network Centre and Call Centre.
The President, who as accompanied by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, said the National Shared Services Centre would provide services that are swift, secure and seamless.
He said that the Information, Communication and Technology Sector (ICT) had accelerated the diversification of the economy as Q2 Gross Domestic Product Report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the extent of growth, with the ICT contributing an unprecedented 18.44 percent to the GDP, close to three times the 6.33 percent contribution of the oil sector in the same quarter.
“As part of our efforts to expand our digital infrastructure, we increased our 4G base stations from 13,823 to 36,751 from August 2019 to date, and this has increased the percentage of 4G coverage across the country from 23 percent to 77.52 percent, also from August 2019 to date. We have also followed this up with the roll-out of 5G services.
“It is noteworthy that the digital economy sector has excelled in generating revenue for the government. In particular, at the Ministerial Retreat that I chaired from the 18th to 19th of October 2022, our independent analysts adjudged the digital economy sector to have generated 594 percent of its revenue target from the 2019 baseline. This is very commendable.
As part of these unprecedented achievements, the sector generated over 547 million dollars from the auctioning of the 5G spectrum alone,’’ he said.
