FG earned N408.7 billion from spectrum sales, taxes in ICT ― Pantami

Pantami

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami has said that N408.7 billion was made by the federal government through spectrum sales and taxes in the Information Communication and Technology(ICT) sector.

Pantami disclosed this while addressing journalists ahead of the third edition of Digital Nigeria Day.

The Minister said the ICT sector provided major contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country in the last 3 years, which include 14.07% in Q1 2020, 17.92% in Q2 2021 and 18.44% in Q2 2022.

He said the ICT sector played a critical role in enabling Nigeria to exit the recession.

“The quarterly revenues also generated for the Federal Government rose from N51.3 billion to N408.7 billion, through spectrum sales and taxes from the sector,” he said.

Pantami said over 863,372 citizens benefited from digital skills programmes and we have agreements with leading global companies like Microsoft and Huawei, to train millions of Nigerians.

“On assumption of office on the 21st of August 2019, the official broadband penetration figures stood at 33.72% and today it is 44.65%, representing close to 13 million new broadband users.

“Similarly, there were 13,823 4G base stations and we now have 36,751, representing a 165.86% increase. The percentage of 4G coverage across the country also increased from 23% to 77.52%.

“Additionally, the cost of data has crashed from N1,200 per GB to about N350, making it easier for Nigerians to connect to the Internet,” he added.

He further stated that the ministry has also developed an IT clearance portal to support inoperability, eliminate duplication and ensure value for money in the implementation of ICT projects in the country.

“The quarterly savings from the IT projects’ clearance process rose from N12.45 million to N10.57 billion,” he noted

He said the government aims to create a pool of Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs) to accelerate the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

“Through our efforts, 355,610 direct and indirect jobs were created. Privacy concerns are also being addressed through the newly established Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB).

“The drafting of the data protection bill has reached an advanced stage. The Digital Identity enrolments have also been very successful, with issued National Identification Numbers (NINs) rising from less than 40 million to over 90 million,” Pantami added.

The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa said “this day was designated as Digital Nigeria to promote digital economy in Nigeria, it was designated in 2020 and it was first celebrated that”.

Inuwa said it is going to be a week-long event to celebrate what NITDA has been able to achieve in driving Nigeria to a digital economy.

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