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The Anambra State Government has set a 2030 target to deepen the digitalisation of government services and create a more digitally enabled business environment across the state.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State ICT Agency, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, disclosed this during an online media engagement on Thursday, saying the agency’s second phase would focus on expanding e-governance, digital infrastructure, smart government and the use of emerging technologies to drive development.
Agbata said the vision was to have government services increasingly delivered digitally while ensuring that businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are brought into the formal digital economy.
“My core vision is that we would have digitised every single government entity in Anambra State,” he said.
According to him, the agency is also working with the Ministry of Commerce to promote the formalisation of businesses operating across the state, particularly SMEs and businesses in major markets.
“One of the biggest challenges that we have is that SMEs are not formalised enough,” he said, adding that the agency was exploring partnerships to address the challenge.
Agbata said the digital transformation agenda would not be limited to government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), but would also extend to businesses and Ndi Anambra.
He explained that the agency was already building websites for government MDAs and moving them beyond being information platforms to providing actual government services online.
“We are building websites for all the MDAs. We are also automating them to be able to carry out services and give government support and government services through their websites,” he said.
The development is part of efforts to reduce the need for citizens to physically visit government offices to access basic services.
Agbata said the Smart Anambra platform was already providing evidence that residents were interested in accessing government services remotely.
According to him, the platform recorded about 14,000 visits between 9 July and 29 July, averaging approximately 700 visits daily, despite limited publicity.
He said the data indicated a growing demand for online access to government services, including applications, permits and identification-related processes.
“What the data is already showing us is that we really need to build a system that allows people to actually get government services remotely,” Agbata said.
He explained that the objective was to enable residents to begin processes online, complete forms remotely and only visit government offices where physical presence was eventually required.
This, he said, would reduce the cost and time citizens spend travelling to Awka or other government offices to access services.
The ICT boss said the agency was connecting services in areas including hospitals, schools and other government processes to Smart Anambra.
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He, however, said the transformation would be gradual because every major initiative within the state government still required the necessary approvals and resources.
On the possibility of Anambra becoming completely paperless, Agbata disclosed that the State Executive Council was already operating a paperless system.
He, however, expressed caution about setting a target for the entire civil service to become 100 per cent paperless, saying the complexity of government operations meant that some paper-based processes could remain alongside digital systems for some time.
“What might happen is a dual situation,” he said, adding that the agency was considering using selected ministries, departments and agencies as pilots for deeper digital transformation.
Agbata also identified cybersecurity and public trust as factors that could influence the pace of digital adoption in government.
He said the agency’s broader “2.0” agenda would build on infrastructure and digital initiatives established during its first phase, with greater emphasis on using technology to improve government efficiency and service delivery.
The agency is also looking at extending digital inclusion beyond urban centres.
Agbata said rural connectivity remained a major challenge because telecommunications operators were often reluctant to invest heavily in communities where deployment might not be commercially profitable.
He said the state would be willing to explore opportunities to leverage Federal Government infrastructure and the Universal Service Provision Fund to extend connectivity to underserved communities.
“We understand what digital inclusion means because we are dealing directly with these communities,” he said.
According to him, the objective is to ensure that rural residents are not excluded from the benefits of digital government simply because of where they live.
Agbata also said the state would continue to develop its digital skills and education programmes, including initiatives around Smart Schools and capacity development.
He said the state’s digital transformation would also require stronger collaboration between government, technology companies, telecommunications operators, local technology manufacturers and other stakeholders.
He cited the previous procurement of about 2,000 computers supplied by local technology company, Zinox, as an example of the state’s engagement with indigenous technology providers.
Agbata said the agency would remain open to partnerships that could support the state’s technology agenda.
He described the current phase of the agency’s work as “2.0”, saying the focus was to move from establishing digital infrastructure to using that infrastructure to deliver measurable improvements in governance, business and citizens’ access to services.
He said the ultimate objective was to build an Anambra where residents and businesses could increasingly interact with government digitally, while technology becomes a more central part of the state’s economic development strategy.
