The Covid-19 is accelerating the 4.0 revolution in Nigeria. According to the Minister of Communications and the Digital Economy, digital should contribute to more than 45% of GDP by the end of 2020. It will be driven by broadband, the penetration rate of which should reach 50%.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami assures that the digital economy will contribute more than 45% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2020.

The boss of the national telecoms sector revealed it at the opening of the Virtual Forum on Internet Governance in Nigeria 2020 (vNIGF) which was held from 23 to 24 September 2020 under the theme: ”  Achieving a development inclusive digital economy in the post-Covid-19 era ”.

The restriction of movement of populations, which has boosted the rapid digital transformation of many companies, has accelerated the development of various strategic segments of the digital economy such as e-commerce, digital finance, etc.

Even e-government has seen some evolution. The various revenues generated by these booming activities have benefited the State, whose budget has been deprived of certain financial resources because of the global pandemic.

Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami indicated that following the disease, the current contribution of the ICT sector alone to the GDP is already around 15%, and could increase further while it was still around 10% in previous years. To maintain this overall uptrend, the government intends to raise the broadband penetration rate to 50% by the end of the year. The initial target, in 2019, was to reach nearly 40% by 2021. But because of the need for connectivity caused by the coronavirus, this penetration rate has already climbed to 42%.

Source: Agence Ecofin