• Says industry employs more Nigerians than
oil & gas
• Discloses $15b investment plan by Chinese
investors
THE Minister of Communications has
disclosed that the Federal Government is
planning to create two million jobs
through the Information and
Communications Technology sector.
Minister of Communications, Adebayo
Shittu, who made this known at the
weekend during the maiden Nigeria
Communications retreat organised by the
Federal Ministry of Communications at
the International Institute for Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State said
that the ICT industry would attracts
investors from developed countries like
China that would invest about $15 billion
in the sector.
He said: “Information and
Communication Technology today
creates more jobs than oil and gas and
that can further be enjoyed, as investors
from China would be investing $15
billion in the ICT sector in Nigeria. So,
potential two million jobs will be made
available through investments in the
sector.
“The time has now come to fully
embrace ICT to enhance our lives,
transparency and good governance if we
are to really fulfill the “change” mantra
that Nigerians voted President
Muhammadu Buhari to bring about.”
The minister said that 550 post offices in
different local councils of the country
would soon start engaging in financial
services like Internet services and call
services apart from the traditional letter
posting.
On the administration’s roadmap for the
sector, the minister said that the Federal
Government is poised to reduce both the
public and private infrastructure deficit
in the country’s ICT sector for
substantial improvements in quality of
service, stressing that inadequate
infrastructure is the bane of ICT
development in the country and a
leading cause of quality of service
deficiencies.
Shiitu, who also disclosed that the
Federal Government would invest in a
second back-up satellite for NIGCOMSAT
and would also encourage foreign
investors in the sector, said: “We will
also explore the investment in a second
back up satellite for NIGCOMSAT and
actively engage other global
infrastructure providers to invest in the
sector.
Meanwhile, Oyo State Governor Abiola
Ajimobi in his welcome address tasked
stakeholders in the sector to exploit new
ways that will take Nigeria out of the
doldrums to boost its economy.
The governor said the ICT is useful in
virtually all aspects of human life,
especially now that crude oil price is
experiencing a free fall in the
international market, thus impacting
negatively on the nation’s economy.
Ajimobi, who quoted the National
Bureau of Statistics, said that ICT was a
major contributor to Nigeria’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) with 8.68 perpercent
Source: http://www.morelight.ml/2016/01/govt-plans-two-million-jobs-through-ict.html?m=1

Would love a breakdown of the opportunities inherent in d sector?