Politics will slow down IT development in Nigeria
Numbers Don’t Lie — The News
Nigeria is, of course, one of the fastest-growing Information Technology giants in Africa. The International Trade Administration gave a report in 2014, stating that the Information and Communication Technology sector of the Nigerian economy is the best prospect industry sector for the country.
In 2017, Nigeria ranked 15th in information communication technology (ICT) development in Africa by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) having smaller countries like Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Cape Verde, Botswana, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire, Sao Tome, and Principle, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Senegal respectively ranking ahead of the giant. In 2020, The country dropped seven places to rank 121st out of 131st compared to her 114th ranking in Global Innovation Index 2019. This clearly shows that the adoption of Information Technology in the country is low and the sector requires more support, especially from the government.
The most rapid growth rate is shown to be in E&M revenues over the coming five years. And this will be in less-developed markets and economies, where entertainment and media spending on a per capita basis is generally quite low. This is according to PwC’s Global entertainment and media outlook 2017 -2021.
The Reality
Nigeria is the economic giant of Africa, a country with the human and material resources to shame others. On the other hand, it lags behind in technology adoption. Informed Nigerians can see a future in Information technology and that future they see has become a propelling force that makes them embrace and develop innovative technologies that can potentially improve the quality of life.
TechCrunch, an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies made a recent publication on Nigeria becoming Africa’s unofficial tech capital. And they started thus
Africa has one of the world’s fastest growing tech markets and Nigeria is becoming its unofficial capital.
The West African nation is commonly associated with negative cliches around corruption and terrorism (which persist as serious problems), and it’s those issues that likely influenced the Trump administration’s recent restrictions on Nigerian immigration to the U.S.
Even so, there’s more to the country than Boko Haram or fictitious princes with inheritances.
Nigeria has become a magnet for venture capital, a hotbed for startup formation and a strategic entry point for Silicon Valley. As a frontier market, there is certainly a volatility to the country’s political and economic trajectory. The nation teeters between its stereotypical basket-case status and getting its act together to become Africa’s unrivaled superpower.
The upside of that pendulum is why — despite its problems — so much American, Chinese and African tech capital is gravitating to Nigeria.
A lot of amazing innovations have been conceived and some even developed in Nigeria and by Nigerians but many of those ideas and products never saw the light of day. This is a major issue that if looked into more closely and attended to can take Nigeria out of poverty and join the leading nations in the Global Economic Index.
The Glaring Truth — Why Information Technology May Never Get The Big Break In Nigeria
Nigeria has the potentials of rubbing shoulders with countries with higher GDPs and it’s sad enough that the government of the nation of Nigeria does not see that her growth lies in the amendment of certain policies. The International Trade Administration clearly commended the topic sector for being consistently buoyant but the recent slowdown has been caused by rising exchange rates which in turn resulted in foreign exchange scarcity, hampered investments, and resulted in increased cost of procuring equipment.
There are policies that govern the Tech industry and its operations but there’s a higher power more powerful than the policies. — Politics.
The Nigerian government in November 2019 launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020–2030) aimed at repositioning the Nigerian economy in order to take advantage of the many opportunities that digital technologies provide and to diversify the economy away from dependence on the oil and gas sector. The program in based on the ministry’s 8-pillars for the acceleration of the Nigerian economy. The 8 pillars are: Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy & Skills; Solid Infrastructure; Service Infrastructure; Digital Services Development & Promotion; Soft Infrastructure; Digital Society & Emerging Technologies; and Indigenous Content Development & Adoption. — International Trade Administration 2020
I will not have the time to look into these 8 Pillars of acceleration of the Nigerian economy that has been designed by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. It’s clear that these pillars can make or mar the sector depending on implementation and by whom.
The first Pillar, Developmental Regulation is for sure a deal-breaker. Several technology trends have come face to face with the first of the 8 pillars, survived, and later got discouraged. Several new ideas cannot come into the limelight because of these regulations and bureaucracy in the system.
Even after all that has been mentioned to be set up —
…The creation of government or private sector-led incubator hubs, youth innovation programs, and science-technology parks to be supported by the government. Abuja Technology Village, which serves as an example, received the Abuja government support to become a destination for research, incubation, development, and commercialization of Information and Communications Technology. Prominent among the partnerships with the private sector are collaborations with local accelerators like iDEA (startup) and the Co-Creation Hub (CC-Hub) in Yaba, Lagos. These initiatives have attracted foreign investors like the Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator who recently participated in pitches by Nigerian startups and New York-based Andela which established an incubation center in Lagos to recruit and train talented Nigerians to code and subsequently outsource them to foreign firms- International Trade Administration 2020
There’s still a very slim chance of Information Technology saving the day in the nation. I optimistically hope that all policies are in favour of the nation and the nation can take its place as an actual giant in the true sense of the word but unless corruption is out of the way, Information Technology may struggle to shine its light the brightest in a nation where it’s leaders are after their bellies and not after a better Nigeria. The world is watching!
