The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, has said the Information and Communications Technology sector recorded the highest growth rate among all the sectors of the Nigerian economy in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020.
According to him, the Gross Domestic Product report has shown that the ICT sector is a catalyst for the diversification and growth of the economy.
Pantami said this was based on the Q4 2020 report on GDP released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
According to the NBS, the GDP grew by 0.11 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters.
The non-oil sector contributed 94.13 per cent to the nation’s GDP in Q4 2020 as opposed to the 5.87 per cent contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector.
The Technical Assistant on Information Technology to the minister, Dr Femi Adeluyi, in a statement on Friday, said it was noteworthy that the ICT sector grew by 14.70 per cent in Q4 2020.
He noted that this made it the fastest growing sector of the economy and the only sector to have grown by double digits.
According to him, the ICT sector grew at a rate more than four times the next fastest growing sector of Q4 2020, which grew at 3.42 per cent.
Adeluyi said, “The ICT sector also maintained its rapid growth rate in the year 2020 assessment, growing at 12.90 per cent, or over three times the next best sector, which grew at 3.81 per cent.
“Furthermore, the telecommunications sector recorded a growth rate of 15.90 per cent and this was its highest growth rate in the last 10 years. This performance is unprecedented.”
According to the statement, the minister said the giant strides recorded in the ICT sector are a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the administration of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
He added that the GDP report had shown that the ICT sector was a catalyst for the diversification and growth of the economy.
Pantami called on all sectors 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.
He congratulated all stakeholders of the ICT sector and urged them to continue supporting the policies of the Federal Government, saying that it would enhance the output of all the sectors of the economy and boost Nigeria’s GDP.
– Punch