If its potential is properly harnessed, the Information Technology (IT) sector remains one of the few domains that would create the platform for Nigeria to grow its economy with about 20 per cent contribution from services in the year 2020, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Nigerian Information Development Agency (NITDA) have stated.
Indeed, the agencies, through a Memorandum of Understanding have also agreed to work together on developing the export of professional services in the ICT sub-sector to ensure that Nigeria benefits tremendously from the existing opportunities within the World business of Information Technology.
The agreement was reached during a courtesy visit by NEPC’s Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun Awolowo to the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NITDA, Peter Jack in Abuja.
According to a statement, Awolowo stressed the importance of information technology services sector as a singular index whose contribution has fast prospects of deepening the Nigerian economy.
He said the global services share of World GDP grew from 53 per cent to 68 per cent between 1971 and 2004 – and now the services trade alone currently contributes about 65 per cent to global GDP of developed economies.
As at 2013, the World Trade Organsiation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) summed the services sector as the most rapidly growing segment of the World economy.
“Services represent 66 per cent of World production, 66 per cent of World employment, nearly 50 per cent of World trade on value-added basis and 60 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment,” he said.
He further noted that after the rebasing of Nigeria’s economy in 2013 services export contributed approximately 51% of the country’s GDP.
The DG of NITDA, Jack in his response welcomed the idea of a closer relationship with NEPC as this would further enhance the contribution from the sub-sector to Nigeria’s economy, with IT being an important emerging sector for many countries now.
“As a catalyst to virtually all others sectors the IT remains one of the few domains that would create the platform for Nigeria to grow its economy with about 20% contribution from services in the year 2020”.
Jack maintained that it was due to NITDA’s believe in what IT has to offer the nation’s economy that informed the establishment of several innovation hubs for development across the nation including the digital belt way for e-agric, e-education and e-sport, apart from the digital sahara for e-solid mineral, adding that NITDA also plans to introduce a Government on-line auction process.
The evolving synergy between NEPC and NITDA would include sharing of relevant data, contribution to the export segment of the Nigeria Trade Hub Portal hosted by Customs Service, apart from capacity building in information management for NEPC staff.
