- ICT Sector To Double Oil/Gas Contribution to GDP -Pantami
Mr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the newly appointed minister of communication, has said Nigeria’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector will double oil and gas contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next two years.
The ICT sector currently contributes 13.8 percent to GDP while the Oil and Gas account for 8.8 percent of the total GDP.
Pantami, who spoke at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World 2019 in Budapest, Hungary, made the statement on Monday.
“The recent statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the future is indeed in ICT. This is a clear indication that at the pace ICT is growing in Nigeria, most probably in the next two or three years, the contribution of the ICT to the GDP will at least double that of the oil sector. This is a country that was relying so much on oil sector but they are not even neighbours now; the gap between the two is wide – eight and 13. The credit should, however, go to every stakeholder in the sector including, a driver,” the minister said.
The minister also explained that the Nigerian delegation attends the annual ITU telecom world event to network and get the best ideas on technology happenings.
“And when we return home we put all of them to work towards the development of our country,” he said.
Pantami thanks the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for successfully putting together Nigeria’s participation and told the delegates “to maximise the opportunity provided by the
attendance by thinking global and acting local.”
“I want to thank the NCC for organizing Nigeria’s participation to this very important event. The effort is highly commendable. We hope the tempo will be sustained.”
“I’ve been saying it and I’ll repeat it again that the future of the world is in the ICT. It is a privilege to be part and parcel of this sector and at the same time to be with the stakeholders of the ICT in Nigeria,” the minister said.