Stakeholders to X-ray Nigeria’s Renewed Digital Economy Agenda at PIAFo

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

All roads will lead to Radisson Blu Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 8:30 am for the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo) organised by BusinessMetrics Limited.

The theme for this year’s event is Accelerating Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency and will have several stakeholders in the sector, including the Minister of Communications, Innovation Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, presenting some papers.

Recall that recently, the federal government released policy plans for achieving a $1 trillion economy through technology and this forum, in its sixth edition, will provide an opportunity to discuss how the digital economy would be used to achieve the goal.

Currently, Nigeria has standing targets of a 70 per cent broadband penetration rate by 2025; 80 per cent population coverage by 2027; up to 500 per cent increase in broadband investment by 2027; 22 per cent increase in net GDP contribution; 100 per cent surge in telecoms revenue to the coffers of the federal government by 2027; 50 per cent improvement on Quality of Service by 2024 ending; and reduction in unserved population in rural areas to 20 per cent by 2027.

Other targets include a 100 per cent increase in the number of startups that have access to incentives in Nigeria; a 100 per cent increase in the number of tech-enabled startups with access to procurement opportunities in Nigeria; ranking among the top 50 countries in AI and creating over 50,000 jobs in Nigeria’s AI industry by 2030; attaining 70 per cent digital literacy for youths and adults by 2027 and up to 40 per cent women participation across all training initiatives; among others.

“There are many targets before us and achieving them within the stipulated timelines is central to the aspiration of Nigeria to unleash a digital ecosystem essential for efficient modern economies, enhanced business operations, smart public services, and job creation.

“This is why we have devoted this year’s edition of PIAFo to this course to create a midpoint dialogue platform for digital economy policymakers, private sector players and relevant local and international bodies to cultivate coordinated efforts towards achieving the targets,” the Lead Executive at PIAFo, Mr Omobayo Azeez, said of the forthcoming programme.