The Federal Government is targeting $40billion private capital investments in digital infrastructure and facilitating the formation of up to $1 billion in private equity. The government estimates public investment of N150billion, according to National Development Plan 2021-2025 outlined to the media yesterday.
According to the document, the 2017-2020 period recorded increased investment in infrastructure development, higher internet penetration and technology start-ups. “Nigeria accounts for over 29 per cent of all internet usage in Africa, and much of this internet access is via mobile devices, powered by service provision from telecommunication and internet service providers (ISPs).
“The contribution to GDP (gross domestic product) from these telecommunication and ISP companies increased from 1.0 per cent in 2003 to 11 per cent in 2020. Further, Nigeria’s mobile penetration has grown to over 80 per cent, and broadband penetration increased from 27 per cent in 2017 to 46 per cent in 2020,” the document stated.
Furthermore, the telecommunications sub-sector recorded a growth rate of 15.9 per cent. It is the highest growth rate in the last 10 years. This strong growth was driven by the innovative activities of entrepreneurs, but also enabled by recently introduced policies which include the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030), the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) and E-Government Masterplan to mention a few,”.
