By Ayo Jones
The Digital Economy sector under Professor Pantami as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy has continued its trend of playing a key part in the growth on Nigeria’s economy with the ICT sector contributing 18.44% to the total real GDP in Q2 2022.
The feat according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that it was the highest contribution of ICT to the GDP and marked the third time that the sector had achieved an unprecedented contribution to Nigeria’s GDP during Pantami’s tenure.
The oil sector contributed 6.33% to the total real GDP in Q2 2022, which was lower that the contribution in Q2 ‘2021 and Q1 ‘2022, where it contributed 7.42% and 6.63% respectively. The non-oil sector’s contribution grew by 4.77% in real terms, resulting in a 93.67% contribution to the nation’s GDP in the Q2 ‘2022, higher than Q2 ‘2021 and Q2 ‘2022, where it contributed 92.58% and 93.37% respectively.
Pantami noted that the growing contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP was due to the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to the development of the digital economy. He added that the diligent implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria, stakeholder engagement and creation of an enabling environment played an important role in the achievement.
‘’The support of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has contributed immensely to the impressive developments in the sector. The unprecedented contribution of ICT to Nigeria’s GDP can also be attributed to the dynamic and results-oriented leadership of the sector. The GDP Report has shown how critical the ICT sector is to the growth of our country’s digital economy and, by extension, the general economy,’’ he added.
The Minister congratulated all stakeholders in the digital economy ecosystem and renewed his call to all sectors to take advantage of the Federal Government’s focus on the digital economy to enable and improve their processes through the use of ICTs.