The State of ICT in Nigeria

This paper explores the economic value of ICT investment in Nigeria. Data were gathered from secondary sources after which different statistical packages were used to extract relevant information. Investigation revealed that ICT investment was on the increase from 2001 when the telecoms industry in Nigeria got their liberalization. The empirical results suggest that ICT investment has a significant impact on Nigeria‘s economic growth during the period reviewed, suggesting good payoffs from the investment. R-squared result shows that a high proportion (95%) of total change in GDP is accounted by private investment in ICT, ICT contribution to GDP and number of subscribers. ICT investments made by the private sector seem to have contributed significantly to the country’s growth. However, in order to sustain economic growth leveraged against ICT, more concerted efforts need to be made to increase ICT investment diffusion in the country. Such initiatives will ensure that the value potential of ICT investments in the economy is maximized, due to greater ICT-enabled potential that can translate to economic growth.

2007

Research ICT Africa! (RIA!) seeks to fill a strategic gap in the development of a sustainable information society and network economy by building the ICT policy and regulatory research capacity needed to inform effective ICT governance in Africa.

Nigeria. Being an exploratory discourse, the paper relied on secondary data while the technological determinism theory was applied. ICTs adoption is an indicator that shows access and utilization of ICTs in a country or location with consideration to the number of people in that country. Adoption rate (internet) in Nigeria was found to be below 50% based on information from the Federal Ministry of Technology and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. Also, mobile subscription was found to be as high as 98%. In the area of application, available literature shows ICTs can be applied in different areas such as education, agriculture, economics, health ,journalism etc. The application of ICTs in economics and journalism was extensively discussed to reflect to overall objective of this study. Based on existing literature, the paper recommends among others the need for government to formulate policies that can aid Nigerians harness the full benefits of ICTs.

The telecommunication industry has been regarded as one of the Nigerian economy pillars, just behind the oil and agricultural industries. There is currently a paucity of data to define the extent of influence the telecommunication sector has had from its introduction to date. This study investigates the industry's impact in the 15 past years since the commencement of GSM network service providers' commercial operations on the economy and Nigerians. Our study relied upon primary qualitative data via in-depth interviews with 20 key stakeholders who have been active in the telecommunication and economic sectors throughout the period in review (2004-2019) and available secondary data. Results indicate that the telecommunication sector has contributed to around a-tenth of the country's Gross Domestic Product, providing millions of jobs directly and indirectly through the value chains. The telecommunication sector was also revealed to enhance the productivity of other sectors like Banking, Stock Exchange, Education, and Trade. It was concluded that the sector has the potential to make more significant impact in the coming years if there is increased investment and enhanced government commitment.

In prepaid markets where the majority of subscribers own more than one SIM card, it is only through nationally-representative surveys that accurate and disaggregated data can be collected. Nationally-representative demand-side surveys are the only means through which reliable estimates on gender, urban-rural ratios and income groups can be drawn. In 2017, Research ICT Africa (RIA) conducted the After Access Survey as part of a 20-country Global South survey in Nigeria and six other African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania. The Survey in Nigeria demonstrates that a significant portion of Nigerians (71%) do not use the Internet while 36 percent do not have mobile phones. Among the surveyed countries, Nigeria ranks second in Internet penetration, behind South Africa, though the penetration level in Nigeria is still low at 29 percent, not much more than half that of South Africa. The main barriers to Internet use in Nigeria are affordability, web literacy and a lack of access devices such as smartphones and computers. The Survey also demonstrates, as it did with voice services, that the mobile phone plays a significant role in enabling access to the Internet at household and individual levels. Among the individuals who reported having used the Internet, 89 percent claimed to use smartphones. Nonetheless, the high prices of both devices and services constraints uptake by non-users as well as the extent of use by users, hence the need to develop policies and regulations that increase the affordability of access to smart devices and services for low-income earners.

This paper explains the concept of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and its impacts in the Nigerian economy; with highlights on the merits and demerits of ICT in economic advancement as well as recommendations geared towards harnessing ICT for the overall development of the socioeconomic and political status of Nigeria.

J. Hum. Ecol, 2007

Technology infrastructure which comprises energy, transportation, communication, water supply and human capital is vital prerequisite for economic and industrial development and growth. The level of technological development of a nation is evaluated on the ability to acquire, adopt, adapt, imbibe, diffuse and innovate technology as well as technology infrastructure in place. African countries are classified as underdeveloped on the basis of the above criteria. One reason that is often adduced for the poor state of economic, industrial and technological development in Nigeria is the excessive involvement of the public sector in virtually every aspect of development-health, education, industrialization and provision of technological infrastructure. Government involvement is often characterized by inefficiency, poor performance and poor accountability. Focusing critically but exclusively on the telecommunications sub-sector, the paper examined the performance of public-private sectors in provision of this technological infrastructure. The paper argued that telecommunications sub-sector which hitherto remained poor, inefficient, inaccessible and grossly underdeveloped has witnessed significant improvement with private sector involvement. The paper therefore recommended that in as much as the role of private sector is welcomed in the telecommunications sub-sector the consumers must be protected against undue exploitation and arbitrarily price increases through periodic monitoring of these operators.

International Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Human Development (IJICTHD), 2021

Thecurrentresearchinvestigatedthetelecommunicationsubscriberdatain2020fromthesystem report of Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), which revealed that Nigerian monthly subscriptions are progressively increasing per monthly spending, reaching a total of 186 million telecommunication subscribers in January 2020, while in February the number of subscribers hit 87.4million and 189.3million in March of the first quarter(Q1)of2020.Inthesecondquarter(Q2) ofApril2020,thenumberoftelecommunicationsubscribershit191million,whileinMay192.3 million subscribers are recorded and 196.4million subscribers in June 2020.Theresearch further established that Nigerians spend N320 billion in January 2020 on calls and data services and N323.2 billion by February ending. Five structured questions were put forward to guide the out come of the research findings. The findings of the research suggest that if the government does not regulate the citizens spending on telecommunication essential services ,many Nigerians will be forced to spend out of pocket by 2030.