The federal government hinted yesterday that financial services within Nigeria’s digital economy will create over 3 million new jobs and add $88 billion asset to the nation’s economy over the next 10 years.
This was disclosed at the meeting of ministers of developing countries under the auspices of Friends of E-commerce for Development (FED) who have resolved to put forward a policy agenda to bridge the digital divide as well as provide development solutions inthe long term.
The developing countries include Nigeria, Mexico, Kenya, Argentina, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Pakistan.
The job figures are in line with estimates of a study carried out by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Further studies indicate that potential gains of the digital economy will be manifest in digital accounts, payments, mobile money, health and educational services and other sectors of the economy.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah who led the Nigerian delegation to Geneva, explained that the Ministry was already developing the Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project and that the objective is to solve efficiency problems, create leap-frog opportunities in the economy, improve competitiveness and foster technology development and innovation more generally.
Enelamah said, “The Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project is Nigeria’s response to an area of intense economic and technological activity by Nigerian youths, where there is a growing pool of talent.
“It is a sector of the economy where the private sector already has ownership. The role of government would therefore be to ensure a sound pro-competitive regulatory environment and hardware infrastructure to foster rapid growth of this area”.
The Minister who also noted that there are currently 150 million active mobile users in a country of 170 million people, of which over 60% are connected to the internet.
There are some 17 million Facebook users and new technology start-ups and young people writing apps that solve problems and spur growth. Lagos, the largest commercial city in Africa accommodates some of Africa’s well-known consumer tech businesses such as iRokotv, Hotels.ng, Jobberman, Andela, Balogun market, and Truppr.com.
Meanwhile, FED yesterday gathered for its first Ministerial Meeting in Geneva on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) E-commerce week.
In a communiqué at the end of their meeting, the group said that the road map put together by member countries would form the foundation for sustainable economic development as well as pave the way for conversations at UNCTAD and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in advance of the ministerial meeting of the WTO in Argentina later this year.
The communiqué noted that FEDs came together to build an inclusive and open space for discussion of e-commerce viewed from the development perspective and that they “view e-commerce as an instrument that brings the digital, development and trade agenda together and as a tool for inclusive and sustainable economic growth”.
The FED is a diverse, non-negotiating, group of WTO Members and UN Member States at different levels of development, with an understanding of the impact of E-Commerce and its ability to create sustainable economic opportunities for all.
In light of Nigeria’s strong engagement in the fast developing area of digital economy of which e-commerce is a part, on April 24, Nigeria’s Chief Negotiator, Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, was invited by the office of the UNCTAD Secretary-General to deliver the Keynote Address at the UNCTAD E-commerce week session on E-commerce in Africa.
In his address titled, ‘Trumping Timidity: The Importance of Audacity in the Digital Economy’ Osakwe urged African countries to integrate digital economy strategies and action plans into domestic structural reforms for diversification, modernization and growth.
Meanwhile, the federal government has said the support of the banking industry is critical to the successful implementation of the Economic Recovery Growth Plan which was recently launched.
It assured that fiscal, monetary and trade policies will be aligned to stimulate the economy and support growth, while preventing overheating.
Speaking at the 22nd World Conference of Banking Institutes hosted by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos yesterday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stressed the importance of the banking sector to the achievement of the desired growth level for the economy that had gone into recession last year.
Osinbajo who was represented by the Special Adviser to the President on economy, Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu, noted that because the private sector is expected to play a major part in plan execution, especially through public-private partnerships, “it follows that the banking and financial sector will be a major source of the private capital expected to complement government investment”.
He explained further that “to start with, the financial sector is expected to help mobilise the resources required for government domestic and external borrowing to underpin plan execution.
He said, “It is quite evident that the banking and finance sector has a key role to play in supporting the ERGP. In addition to its traditional role of financial intermediation, the banking sector is critical to the successful implementation of the Plan.
“We do realise of course that our interventions in the domestic capital market should not be allowed to crowd out the private sector which is why we are intent on re-balancing the ratio of domestic to foreign debt in favour of the latter. By this means also, we will be saving on interest payments given the disparities between domestic and international interest rates.
“It should also be acknowledged that the banking sector is playing a critical role in the delivery of Federal Government social investment programmes. The spread of banks has made it somewhat easier to make payments to beneficiaries of the scheme although I must say that more needs to be done with regard to financial inclusion so as to extend banking services to the poor and those living in rural areas”.