‘My presence at global IT forum attracted $4 billion to Nigeria’

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says his participation at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS Forum 2017) in Geneva, Switzerland has facilitated a $4 billion investment from India.

A statement quoted the minister as making the remarks during his presentation at the occasion showcasing the latent opportunities in the telecoms sub-sector of the nation’s economy.

He wooed investors to take a full advantage of Nigeria’s strategic position in Africa by doing profitable businesses with the nation.

According to him, renewed transparency as well as new capabilities and business ethos brought on board by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration were the impetus for timely returns on investments.

During a meeting with business moguls and key investors, a couple of Indian entrepreneurs, moved by the minister’s avowal, expressed readiness to pool resources in excess of $4 billion for investment in Nigeria’s telecoms sector with emphasis on rural telephony and grassroots development.

The statement, which informed that the two parties are due to meet next month to fine-tune the modalities, noted that other countries with technical expertise have equally indicated interest to assist the country in the area of satellite technology with a view to expanding the scope of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT).

Meanwhile, the proposed ICT University of Nigeria, one of the pet projects of the minister, has got global backing.

Shittu, at a meeting with Facebook’s Robert Pepper, a resource person at the conference, pledged Nigeria’s readiness for the earnest commencement of the institution.

The university, to be run on a multi -campus across the six geo-political zones, is to address the shortage of technocrats among other challenges in the industry.

Pepper assured the minister of his company’s full support, saying it falls within the confines of Facebook’s vision for Africa.

In related interactions with representatives of Google, Access Partnership, Microsoft Group, AT&T and other investors, Shittu also urged them to look in the direction of Nigeria, playing up her population and strategic position as the largest economy on the continent.

The minister used the occasion to invite institutional investors and resource persons for the Nigeria’s Smart Cities Summit 2017 holding in the first week of August in Abuja.