By Omodele Adigun
Nigeria, Africa’s rising Information and Communication Technology (ICT) may have invested over $60 billion so far in its ICT sector since the Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) debuted in 2001.
This disclosure was coming at a time when close to 80 million jobs would be needed every year to gainfully engage its youths.
The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, and Ambassador-cum Head of European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria, Ketil Karlsen, disclosed these Thursday in Lagos at the just-concluded 6th EU-Nigeria Business Forum, with the theme;Youth as Engine of broad-based Economic Tranformation.
According to them, the youth play key role in developing the ICT sector. And Nigeria was “putting in place the right business environment and regulatory framework to allow young people unlock the potential of digital economy” , said Shittu.
The Minister explained that the Federal Government has been conscious of the role ICT plays in national development and has also been committed, in the last 15 years, to ensuring that ICT facilities and services are rapidly expanded.
He stated: “Since the democratic governance was birthed in May 1999, the attention of the world returned to Nigeria as the country with the highest potential for investment on the continent. So far, over $60billion has been invested in the ICT sector since 2001 when digital mobile services were launched.
“Over 26 million Nigerian youths are unemployed or underemployed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and businesses and organisations are feeling the effects with our educational institutions producing thousands of graduates, many of whom are not likely to secure appropriate jobs.
“Government is addressing the issues of investment in ICT infrastructure, ICT education and regulation in order to build on the successes of this digital revolution. We are very mindful of the fact that riding on ICT to create job and exit recession as well as unemployment is not insurmountable provided ICT is deployed with purpose and vision.”
In his address, Karlsen noted that there is already flourishing relation between Nigeria and the European Union, adding that the EU has already laid the foundation for the future by focussing on the role of women and the youth as a stepping stone to the EU-AU Summit coming up in Abuja next month.
He added: “For the fast growing population in Africa, there is a need to generate 80 million additional jobs every year. And considering the sheer size of Nigeria, a very significant proportion of those jobs are needed.”