Buhari Want To Make Nigeria Leading Exporter Of ICT Hardware In Africa

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration is committed to making Nigeria an export hub for Information Communication Technology (ICT) hardware in Africa.

The President said ICT is strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy and his administration is currently leveraging on this to increase productivity.

He said this during the commencement of the 2017 e-Nigeria Conference organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), at the International Conference Centre, in Abuja.

Buhari said Nigeria as the most populous country in Africa can achieve the purpose of creating jobs for youths, and enhance the quality of locally produced infrastructure in the country by harnessing ICT.

“As the most populous country in Africa, there are huge opportunities for ICT manufacturing in Nigeria. This, when harnessed, will provide job opportunities for our teeming youths, enhance the quality of locally produced infrastructure, reduce the cost of acquisition and increase government revenue.

“There is, therefore, the need for deliberate efforts, both from the government as well as the private sector to see to the realisation of this. I urge you to come up with viable recommendations on how we can make the country an export hub for ICT hardware in Africa,” he said.

He expressed the administration’s “commitment and the strong belief in using ICT as a major driver of our developmental governance and economic reform plans aimed at bringing about the true change we promised our people.”

Buhari said ICT is strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy and currently, almost all sectors of our economy leverage on ICT to increase efficiency, productivity and performance.

“About 80% of ICT hardware purchases are imported through local distributors of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) by MDAs and other government establishments.

“This makes it difficult for us to benefit from the dividends of continuous procurement and consumption of ICT infrastructure and limited value retention within the country,” he said.

He stated the areas in which ICT has been harnessed to include the introduction of IPPIS and BVN in the country.

Another initiative leveraging on ICT and making huge impact on the economy is the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN). Its implementation has helped to eliminate the menace of ghost workers thereby reducing waste in the system by saving the government over N20 billion monthly.

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