Buhari Approves N5bn To Boost Digital Economy – Pantami

President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to delivering the national digital economy with appropriate infrastructures and attractive conditions of service in agencies saddled with the responsibility to do so, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami said on Tuesday.

Pantami cited the upward review of the capital budget of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) from between 500 to 700 million in the previous years to about 5 billion Naira this year as part of the commitments of the President for a Digital Nigeria.

He commended the President for his support and approval of proposals relating to the development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, asserting that the contributions of the ICT sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product in the last quarter of 2020 was as a result of his support.

Dr Pantami made the remarks at the presentation of the National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA) Employee-Centric Condition and Scheme of Service documents to the public at Frasel Suites, Abuja.

“We are grateful for His Excellency’s support and the confidence he has reposed in us.

We are doing our best to justify this confidence by ensuring that our initiatives support the programmes of the Government, “ the Digital Economy said.

He added; “The 2020 Fourth Quarter (Q4 2020) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Report recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that our modest efforts are yielding positive results; this reflected in the significant growth experienced by the ICT Sector.

“The Report indicated that the ICT sector recorded a 14.7% growth rate, making it the sector with the highest growth rate. The growth rate of the ICT sector was over 4 times the growth rate of the Agriculture sector, which was the sector with the second-highest growth rate.”

He explained that the Scheme of Service would serve as a tool for making NITDA more functional as it develops into becoming one of the most strategic government institutions in Nigeria.

He said the documents provided the approved status for the agency and specifies the skills and certifications required for appointment and promotion, stressing that the Scheme identifies 15 different cadres for the Agency.

The Digital Economy Minister said NIMC and NIPOST would be supported by the Federal Government to enable them to carry out their critical and statutory functions which would boost national Identity and security and promote a digital economy.

He noted that Conditions of Service is to re-engineer the operations and structure of government agencies with the aim of providing an enabling environment for effective strategy development and execution.

“This will match the global industry requirements that are needed to develop and regulate the innovative and agile digital economy industry.

“We are committed to attracting and retaining highly skilled and highly motivated personnel in the Digital Economy sector, including all the parastatals under our supervision,” the Minister added.

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