Nigeria, India collaboration on technology exchanges will boost long-term partnership
By Emmanuella Anokam
The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says collaboration between Nigeria and India in technology exchanges would build a mutually beneficial long-term partnership.
Dr Abubakar Al-Mujtaba, President, ACCI, made this known at a webinar organised by the ACCI in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group, focused mainly on Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing industry.
Al-Mujtaba said that the chamber believed the collaboration between the countries would benefit both sides in terms of leveraging technology, business growth, employment and the creation of a platform for exchange of ideas.
He explained that it desired to contribute and expand business activities through ICT which will bring about an increasing advancement of ICT solutions.
“The Digital Economy is a very important sector to the ACCI. In 2020, we had an e-commerce webinar where key stakeholders and top practitioners were invited within the Nigerian e-commerce sector.
“One of the outcomes of the meeting was that the Federal Government of Nigeria should institute a consolidated legal framework for the sub-sector to enhance its sustainability and expansion,’’ he said.
He noted that Nigeria had been described as the fastest growing telecommunications country in Africa, with growth rates reaching an amazing 21,891.1 per cent in 2014.
“This is regardless of the fact that less than 60 per cent of the population are active Internet users. What this means is that there is still a growth expectancy of about 40 per cent as regards the internet market in Nigeria.
“This is important because it shows the need for addressing issues that deal with online contracting, whilst using the internet,’’ he added.
He said that it has been argued that the increase in Internet usage had been sporadic and can be much better, adding that this had, however, stalled because of the reluctance of Nigerians to embrace the online community, due to lack of trust.
Al=Mujtaba further noted that Nigeria’s ICT sector remained a critical non-oil growth driver and major contributor to the economy, supported by a sizeable young population and the rapid adoption of mobile Internet services.
Dominated by four large mobile operators, he said, the telecoms industry had been on a steady growth trajectory, as rising smartphone penetration and investment in mobile Internet networks continued to grow.
He noted that in the IT sector, government efforts to boost broadband penetration had begun to gather steam, even though the country may face a number of challenges in achieving its ambitious mid-term expansion targets owing to issues in deploying new fibre-optic infrastructure.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a sweeping impact on economic activity, it has also resulted in an exceptional surge for the ICT sector.
“Workers around the world have shifted to telecommuting and online conferencing, while students follow their classes remotely, supported by a variety of digital technologies.
The webnar has its theme as `Nigeria-India Partnership Towards a Structured ICT Market and Digital Economy’. (NAN)
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