Nigerian Economy Depends On ICT Sector To Grow Bigger- Pantami
Nigeria’s Minister of Communication and digital economy has said the Information and Communication Sector is the most vibrant sector to drive the country to economic growth and diversification.
This was disclosed on Friday in a statement signed by his Technical Assistant on Information Technology, Femi Adeluyi.
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The minister said this in reaction to the National Bureau of Statistics report which shows that the sector outperforms other sectors in real growth terms.
Nigeria unexpectedly posted a weak recovery from recession with a GDP growth of 0.11 in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The growth received a huge boost from the non-oil sector which grew by 1.69 per cent in the fourth quarter. The growth in the non-poil was following positive performance from the ICT sector.
The ICT sector grew 14.7 per cent in fourth quarter 2020, representing four times the performance of the agric sector which is the next fastest growing sector in the fourth quarter with 3.42 per cent.
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Nigeria’s ICT sector growth in 2020 stood at 12.9 per cent, which is over thrice the Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation sector, which was the next fastest growing sector of 2020 with a growth rate of 3.81 per cent.
The sector’s total contribution at the end of 2020 stood at 15.05 per cent according to NBS.
In reaction Pantami said, “The GDP Report has shown that the ICT sector is a catalyst for the diversification and growth of our economy.
“It is noteworthy that the ICT sector grew by 14.70 per cent in Q4 2020, making it the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy in the last quarter and the only sector to have grown by double digits.
“The telecommunications sector grew 15.90 per cent, representing its highest growth rate in the last 10 years. This performance is unprecedented.”
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The communication minister further advised all sectors to take advantage of the Federal Government’s new focus on the digital economy to improve their processes through the use of ICTs.
