The inclusion of Digital Economy by the Federal Government in one of its ministries’ mandate as part of its strategic policy directions has resulted in an increased contribution of ICT to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr Isa Ali Pantami who disclosed this at the weekend added that the unveiling and implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and the National Broadband Plan have also helped to increase ICT contribution to GDP 14.07 per cent. Daily Trust reports that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released ‘Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product Report’ for Q1 2020 on the 25th of May, 2020 where it said the ICT sector contributed 14.07%  in the first quarter.

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The report observed that the country’s GDP grew by 1.87% (year-on-year) in real terms in Q1 2020. The non-oil sector contributed 90.50% to the nation’s GDP in Q1 2020 as opposed to the 9.50% contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector. The 14.07% contribution to the total real GDP in Q1 2020, higher than its contribution a year earlier(13.32%) and in the preceding quarter, in which it accounted for 13.12%.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how critical the ICT sector is to the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy and by extension, the general economy. He called on all sectors to take advantage of the Federal Government’s new focus on the digital economy to enable and improve their processes through the use of ICTs.