For Nigeria, a country in dire need to diversify its economy, digital economic activities are key for diversification because they transcend all aspect of human endeavours and the economic sector.
Our heavy dependence on oil has drawn us back for many years and the corrupt leaders continue to borrow huge sums of money to line their pockets, that will take us decades to pay off.
The current oil prices are indicators of what is to come if we don’t shift our focus away from oil.
By implication, the dependence on oil revenue to finance national development has made the Nigerian economy highly susceptible to oil price volatility.
We have heard calls for diversification for decades without any administration being responsible enough to do the work.
Global economic leaders predicted that by the year 2023, over 60% of the world economy will be digital, while it was also projected that about 70% of new value created in the economy in the next decade will be based on digitally-enabled platforms.
This signals the fact that those saddled with economic policy formulation and implementation in different countries of the world are focusing on the digital economy as the next growth driver. Nigeria also stands a good chance of boosting economic growth by leveraging the potential of the digital economy.
No doubt, technology has changed the way we do things and the global outbreak of COVID-19, further defined how we need to use technology to better our livelihood.
Nigeria needs to accelerate growth and modernise its economy through the development of a digital-led growth strategy for the Nigerian economy.
It is pertinent to note that despite the economic shocks from COVID-19 pandemic, most of the growth observed in the economies were those from viable digital economies.
The technological sector in Nigeria is a sector that the Nigerian Government should be backing with both measurable investments and good governmental policies that will help businesses in the sector thrive and provide employment to our young people. And when making policies about emerging technologies and digital transformation, the focus should not be to stifle or weaken the growth of digital transformation.
Technological advancement is known to impact fast rate of economic development.
If Nigeria as a whole can embrace tech more and the government can allocate more budget to it, it will create more employment whereby we will have more employment and more independent workers who do not necessarily need office spaces or have to spend on transport to go to work.
Nigeria must stop paying lip service when it comes to investing in the technology sector. Putting money in the sector will help, giving access to controlled funds with which entrepreneurs can build capacity and innovation is key and creating policies that will encourage an atmosphere where technology will flourish while encouraging the interest in science and tech at the grassroots.
Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and other digital tools would lead to economic diversification in Nigeria.
Being the most populated country in Africa, with the biggest economy, and the dwindling oil revenue , there is a need to harness other areas to diversify the economy.
Adoption of AI solutions are expected to increase tremendously in the next few years, and competition among major AI companies is expected to be intense.
There is need to look at other areas in the digital space that will enable skills development and the growth of trade investment, using the right infrastructure. Also strengthen the cybersecurity drive in Nigeria.
We can also see the growth potential of FinTech companies in Nigeria, how they are attracting foreign investment.
The truth is, government policies could make or mar digital transformation agenda.
