HOW AGRICULTURE, ICT SECTORS’ CONTRIBUTION IN Q2 2021 ACCELERATED NIGERIA’S GDP BY 5.01% YEAR-ON-YEAR

contribution a year earlier and in the preceding quarter, in which it accounted for 14.91 per cent, adding that it is the highest contribution ever of ICT to Nigeria’s GDP.

Pantami said this in a statement released by his Technical Assistant on Information Technology, Dr. Femi Adeluyi. According to Pantami, “The growing contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP is as a result of the commitment of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, to the development of the digital economy. The 16 National Policies developed by the ministry, the 1,667 projects and programmes, the large scale digital skills and general capacity building efforts, stakeholder engagement and creation of an enabling environment, have all played an important role in this achievement.”

He added, “The support of President Buhari has contributed immensely to the impressive developments in the sector. The unprecedented contribution of ICT to Nigeria’s GDP can also be attributed to the dynamic and results-oriented leadership of the sector, which has been acknowledged and appreciated by a wide spectrum of the stakeholders in the sector, both locally and internationally.”

Pantami said the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Mr. Houlin Zhao, had commended him for Nigeria’s accelerated digital transformation. He also said the Chairman of the United States-Nigeria Council (USNC), also commended him for the commitment to diversifying Nigeria’s great economy through digital technology and innovation.

Pantami further said the recent GDP report showed how critical the ICT sector is to the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy and, by extension, the general economy. The minister therefore called on all other sectors of the economy to take advantage of the federal government’s new focus on the digital economy to enable and improve their processes through the use of ICTs, which he said, would enhance the output of all the sectors of the economy and further boost Nigeria’s GDP.

Industry analysts have however attributed the GDP performance to some interventions put together by the federal government to reposition the economy after the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The analysts however noted that the GDP growth does not necessarily indicate that the challenges confronting the economy were over.