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The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami on Friday said the implementation of the national digital economy strategy unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari at the e-Nigeria Conference in November 2019 had started.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Pantami made this known on Friday at a media parley and press briefing with members of the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Information Technology Reporters Asssociation (NITRA), which took place at Treasure Suites, Maitama, Abuja.
The Minister justified the necessity, appropriateness and significance of the re-designation of the Federal Ministry of Communications as Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE) in October 2019 by President Buhari, as he recalled the modest strides of the Ministry and strategy for accomplishing the digital economy policy for national development.
He said the re-designation was done to position Nigeria for the gains of digital economy as ‘communications’ captured just the channels. Hence, the term became inadequate in describing the essence of the new vision that embraces the content, as well as the utilisation of both channel and content to achieve the central focus of the Ministry to migrate the nation to a digital economy.
Pantami said this is particularly significant as it enables Information and Communication Technology (ICT) – which is the most diverse and fastest growing sector – to mobilise other sectors and align with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government.
The Minister said this is quite fitting, as it also ensures that the name of the Ministry captures its objective in keeping with best global practices.
Following the re-designation, the Minister stated that the Federal Government directed the Ministry to develop and implement a national digital economy strategy. This, he said, was done by the Ministry and unveiled by the President at the e-Nigeria Conference in November 2019.
Pantami said the policy captures the thematic focus while the strategy speaks to how the various themes will be achieved.
Speaking further, Pantami declared that all other MDAs are connected to the strategy in view of the centrality of ICT to development in other sectors of the economy. He emphasised that the role of the Ministry is to coordinate the implementation of the policy and the strategy.
The Minister stated that the implementation of the strategy had started, and stressed that by the end of the decade, the Federal Government expects every Nigerian to have connected with and expressed the goal of digital Nigeria by being computer literate, owning a digital device (which the agencies in the Ministry have been assisting to facilitate), having access to the Internet, owning a bank account that can be accessed and operated digitally and online.
Beyond financial services, the Minister said the Federal Government hopes to see majority of the citizens undertake many activities electronically.