Nigeria Saves N200bn From Digital Map Yearly – Lai

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the use of digital map saves the country N200 billion a year.

Mohammed said this at the inauguration of the Economic Value of Geospatial Services by Google on Friday in Abuja.

Advertisement

According to him, digital maps, popularly called Google map for location of street addresses, had also reduced travel time in the country by average of eight per cent.

The minister explained that the use of google map to get location and real-time directions, has made lives very convenient for the people.

He said, ‘’Many of us cannot imagine how we got by before the advent of the digital mapping services which we now use daily.

“It is incredible to think, for instance, from today’s launched research that digital maps reduce travel time in Nigeria by an average of eight per cent.

Advertisement

“This reduced travel time alone saves our people nearly N200 billion a year.

“If digital mapping services have made such a difference in the last five years, we can only imagine what the next five years will bring,” he said.

The minister stated that tourism as well as arts and culture, played pivotal role in the nation’s economic recovery and growth programme.

According to him, currently, tourism and hospitality account for 4.7 per cent of the Nigerian GDP ‘’and we know we have all the raw ingredients necessary to increase that percentage.’’

He said the Federal Government is looking to adopt the tool to showcase the country’s natural and cultural heritage.

Advertisement

“It is now about bringing those ingredients together in a way that encourages people to experience all of Nigeria’s best features.

“As we look to make Nigeria a major tourism destination in Africa, technologies such as Google Maps, but more specifically StreetView put forward by Google, will become increasingly important on that front.

“We hope to see even more value as increasing number of people use tools like Google Street View to explore Lagos.”

Mohammed said the use of Google Street View tool could be incredibly powerful in drawing tourists to Nigerian cities, considering the impact it had had on destinations around Africa.

Leave a comment

Advertisement