TECHDIGEST – The ratification of an Enterprise Licensing Agreement for Microsoft goods and the freeing of C-band spectrum are two recent steps taken by the Federal Government to hasten the rollout of 5G services in the nation.

This comes after Isa Pantami, the minister of communications and digital economy, presented three memos during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on June 29, 2022.

The Technical Assistant (Research and Development) to the Minister of Communications and the Digital Economy, Dr. Femi Adeluyi, made this information in a statement.

READALSO:CHOGM 2022: MTN Commends Pantami Over Nigeria’s 5G Roadmap

Government software acquisition costs will be reduced through the Government-wide Enterprise Licensing Agreement for Microsoft products, which will be implemented by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the direction of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

The Federal Government is working to keep the cost of IT projects within manageable ranges as part of this agreement.

Going further Adeluyi in the statement said, ‘’The Agreement will give the government access to discounted prices and other cost benefits, as well as reduce project duplication across Federal Public Institutions (FPIs).

‘’It will also guarantee proper technical support for Microsoft products and services, thereby ensuring protection against cybersecurity threats, which will guarantee availability and reliability of government IT services.

‘’The Enterprise Licensing Agreement will provide a projected savings of a minimum of 35% of Governments current investment in Microsoft Products and Services.

‘’This will not only substantially reduce the cost of license procurement for FPIs, it will reduce and simplify licensing complexity, facilitate accounting and cash flow predictability and monitor utilisation and impact of Government investment.’’

According to the statement, FEC instructed all FPIs to enter the Agreement while purchasing Microsoft licenses and services.

In order to successfully roll out and implement 5G technology in Nigeria, the council also authorized the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) request to free up a portion of the C-band spectrum used by the nation’s telecoms industry and move any existing customers on that frequency.

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TECHDIGEST – The Federal Government approved tax reliefs for tech startups to enable the implementation of strategies to encourage and support the development and growth of more Innovation-Driven Enterprises.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, said this in a statement Sunday by his technical assistant, Femi Adeluyi.

Pantami also said the tax reliefs and incentives would help to create millions of jobs in the country.

READ ALSO: ITU Appoints Pantami To Lead World Summit On Information Society Forum 2022

He said a number of the proposed strategies resulted from recommendations that were made at an interactive forum held on 22nd February 2022, where the Minister led a Federal Government delegation on a working visit to the Lagos digital innovation ecosystem.

“This will also help to develop innovative solutions to societal problems, and rapidly grow, as well as diversify the Nigerian economy, in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a digital Nigeria,” the statement read.

“Nigeria’s startup ecosystem attracted about 35 per cent (estimated at $1.4billion) of the over $4billion raised by African startups, which is the highest raised by any startup ecosystem on the continent.

“The Nigeria Startup Bill was earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council and forwarded to the National Assembly and the process is about 90% complete.

“The approval of the incentives at the council will consolidate the gains recorded for far in the NSB process.

“The implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy emphasises the importance of the innovation and startup ecosystem to the development of an indigenous digital economy.”

The minister said the government would continue to position Nigeria to develop the tech ecosystem to transform Nigeria into a country with a sustainable and thriving digital economy.

Source : punch.ng

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TECHDIGEST – The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has appointed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, as the Chairman of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2022. The event will take place at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The appointment was conveyed to the minister through a letter from the Secretary-General of the ITU, who noted that Professor Pantami was appointed “in light of his overall commitment to Information and Knowledge Societies and the active role he has played in the WSIS Process” and it followed consultations with various stakeholders. The Forum is to be attended by several high-level stakeholders, including Cabinet Ministers from ITU countries.

READ ALSO: Pantami, Danbatta Lead Industry Experts To Chart Way For 5G Rollout At PIAFo

The WSIS Forum 2022 serves as a key forum for discussing the role of ICTs as a means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, with due regard to the global mechanism for follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UNGA Resolution A/70/1). The WSIS Forum also provides a platform to track the achievements of WSIS Action Lines in collaboration with the UN Agencies involved and provides information and analysis of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005.

The WSIS Forum, is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD with the engagement of 24 other United Nations Agencies, including FAO, ILO, ITC, UNDESA, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNHCR, UNODC, UNEP, UPU, UN Tech Bank, WMO, WIPO, WHO, WFP, UN Women and UN Regional Commissions. In a follow up to the UN General Assembly outcomes in 2015 on the Overall Review of the implementation of the WSIS Outcomes that called for a close alignment between the WSIS Process and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the overall theme for this year is ”ICTs for Well-Being, Inclusion and Resilience: WSIS Cooperation for Accelerating Progress on the SDGs”. The Forum aims at enhancing cooperation, partnership, innovation, exchange of experiences and good practices in ICTs for sustainable development.

“The appointment of Professor Pantami has given Nigeria, and indeed the African continent, the unique role of coordinating the activities of the WSIS in its 20th year, following the WSIS Phase I meeting that took place in 2003. It is apparent that the world has taken notice of the giant strides of Nigeria’s digital economy under the supervision of the Honourable Minister. Prof Pantami extends his immense gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for the constant support he has given the sector,” said the ministry in statement signed by Pantami’s Technical Assistant (Research & Development), Dr Femi Adeluyi.

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TECH DIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, has attributed the consistent positive performance of the ICT sector to the support of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for the Digital Economy sector.

He expressed satisfaction that the ICT sector has retained its role as the industry with the highest growth rate of all the main sectors of the Nigerian economy in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021) based on the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In a statement signed by his Technical Assistant (Information Technology) Dr. Femi Adeluyi , the minister observed that the Federal Government has provided an enabling environment for the ICT sector to thrive, through the development and implementation of policies like the National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria, Nigerian National Broadband Plan and the Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration, amongst others.

Pantami noted that the GDP report has shown that the ICT sector continues to catalyze the growth and diversification of the economy and commended the Chief Executive Officers of the parastatals under the ministry and stakeholders on the consistent performance of the sector and encourages them to continue supporting the policies of the Federal Government.

He stated that Post and Courier Services grew by 2.53 per cent in Q1 2021 adding that these services are under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy but currently listed under the transportation sector in the GDP Report.

According to the NBS, “Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.51 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2021, marking two consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020”.

The report noted that in terms of contribution to aggregate GDP, the oil sector accounted for 9.25 per cent of aggregate real GDP in Q1 2021, while the non-oil sector accounted for 90.75 per cent of aggregate GDP in the first quarter of 2021.

The Bureau also noted that the “growth in the non-oil sector was driven mainly by the Information and Communication (Telecommunication) sector while other drivers include Agriculture (Crop Production); Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Real Estate; Construction and Human Health & Social Services”.

It is worthy of note that the ICT sector grew by 6.47 per cent in Q1 2021, making it the fastest-growing significant sector of the Nigerian economy.

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TECH DIGEST – The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, FNCS, FBCS, FIIM, is highly delighted that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector retained its role as the sector with the highest growth rate of all the main sectors of the Nigerian economy in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021). This was based on the Q1 2021 Report on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released yesterday, the 23rd of May 2021, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released.

According to the NBS, “Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.51%(year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2021, marking two consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020”.

The Report noted that in terms of contribution to aggregate GDP, the oil sector accounted for 9.25% of aggregate real GDP in Q1 2021, while the non-oil sector accounted for 90.75% of aggregate GDP in the first quarter of 2021.

The Bureau also noted that the “growth in the non-oil sector was driven mainly by the Information and Communication (Telecommunication) sector while other drivers include Agriculture (Crop Production); Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Real Estate; Construction and Human Health & Social Services”. It is worthy of note that the ICT sector grew by 6.47% in Q1 2021, making it the fastest growing significant sector of the Nigerian economy.

It is also interesting to note that Post and Courier Services grew by 2.53% in Q1 2021. These services are under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, but currently listed under the transportation sector in the GDP Report.

The Honorable Minister attributes the consistent positive performance of the ICT sector to the focused and committed support for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR for the Digital Economy sector. The Federal Government has provided an enabling environment for the ICT sector to thrive, through the development and implementation of relevant policies.

These include the National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria, Nigerian National Broadband Plan and the Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration, amongst others.

The GDP Report has shown that the ICT sector continues to serve as a catalyst for the growth and diversification of our economy. The Honourable Minister congratulates the Chief Executive Officers of the parastatals under the Ministry and stakeholders on the consistent performance of the sector and encourages them to continue supporting the policies of the Federal Government.

Dr Femi Adeluyi
Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the
Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy
24th May 2020

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TECH DIGEST – The Federal Government of Nigeria has some reservations with regards the recent updated Privacy Policy of the WhatsApp messaging application.

To this end, the government has engaged with Facebook to table the observations, according to a statement credited to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami).

He said the attention of the Ministry was brought to the Policy which states that WhatsApp will share information about the users on their platform with their parent company (Facebook), as well as other Facebook companies.

Speaking through his Technical Assistant (Information Technology), Dr. Femi Adeluyi, the Minister said that the information includes user phone numbers, “transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services, mobile device information, your IP address”.

“Furthermore, WhatsApp has indicated that users who refuse to accept their revised privacy policy risk not being able to use the service at all.

“The Federal Government released the Nigeria Data Protection Regulations (NDPR) in 2019 and is committed to upholding the data privacy of Nigerians.

“We are also aware that the European region is exempt from the provisions of the updated Policy and it is also being challenged in a number of countries.

The Minister has therefore directed the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), as the Regulator of the Information Technology sector, to engage vigorously with Facebook to understand the processes, level of security, etc., of the data of Nigerian users in order to ensure that Policies proposed for Nigeria strictly adhere to the provisions of NDPR.

“Nigerians can be assured that the Federal Government will give uttermost attention to the privacy of their data, in line with the NDPR and the National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria”, the statement concludes.

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TECH DIGEST – The Federal Government of Nigeria has lifted the ban on the registration of new Subscribers Identification Module (SIMs).

This was made known in a statement signed on Thursday by the Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Femi Adeluyi.

According to the government, the new SIM card registration will commence on April 19, 2021.

It however placed NIN registration as mandatory for registering new SIM cards.

The statement read, “The implementation of the Policy will commence on Monday, 19th of April 2021.

“The issuance of New SIMs and other suspended activities will resume on the same date, as long as verification is done and the guidelines are fully adhered to.

“The Minister has also directed NCC and NIMC to ensure that the provisions of the Policy are strictly followed by all operators and subscribers.

“The Policy includes Guidelines on New SIM Acquisition and Activation, SIM Replacement, New SIM Activation for Corporates and Internet-of-Things/Machine-to-Machine (IoT/M2M), amongst others.

“The possession of a National Identity number will be a prerequisite for each of these categories. For the Corporate registration, institutions will be required to appoint a Telecoms Master (at the minimum of an Executive Management level) to provide the operational Primary NIN representation.

“The Telecoms Master will also be responsible for ensuring that the users provide their NINs to serve as a Secondary NIN.

“For IoT/M2M activations, SIM security protocols would be implemented on the SIM profile to ensure that SIMs can only be used for point to point data services specific to the URL they are working with. All other services will be barred.”

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TECH DIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), has expressed his delight over report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which depicts Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as the fastest growing sector in Nigeria’s economy.

The sector recorded the highest growth rate of all the sector​​s in both the fourth quarter of 2020 (Q4 2020) and the entire year 2020.

This was based on the Q4 2020 Report on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released on Thursday, the 18th of February 2021, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the NBS, ” Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.11% (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters.”

Pantami said, “This indicates that we have strongly exited recession. In real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 94.13% to the nation’s GDP in Q4 2020 as opposed to the 5.87% contributed to total real GDP by the oil sector.

“It is noteworthy that the ICT sector grew by 14.70% in Q4 2020, making it the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy in the last quarter and the only sector to have grown by double digits.

“The ICT sector grew at a rate more than 4 times the Agriculture sector, which was the next fastest growing sector of Q4 2020, with a growth rate of 3.42%,” the Minister said in a statement signed by his Technical Assistant (Information Technology), Dr Femi Adeluyi.

According to the NBS report, the ICT sector also maintained its rapid growth rate in the overall year 2020 assessment, growing at 12.90%, or over 3 times the Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation sector, which was next fastest growing sector of 2020 with a growth rate of 3.81%.

Again, the ICT sector was the only sector with a double digit growth rate.

Furthermore, the telecommunications sector recorded a growth rate of 15.90% and this was its highest growth rate in the last 10 years. This performance is unprecedented.

The Minister notes that the giant strides recorded in the ICT sector are a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The strategic policy directions of the Federal Government include the National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, amongst others.

“The GDP Report has shown that the ICT sector is a catalyst for the diversification and growth of our economy.

“The Minister calls 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”, he said.

He also congratulates all stakeholders of the ICT sector and calls on them to continue supporting the policies of the Federal Government. This would enhance the output of all the sectors of the economy and boost Nigeria’s GDP.

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TECH DIGEST – The Federal Executive Council has at its meeting on Wednesday, the 14th of October, 2020, approved the Policy on Virtual Engagements for the Public Service, according to a statement signed by Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

The approval followed the presentation of the draft policy by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr (Mrs) Folashade Yemi-Esan.

The COVID-19 pandemic had led to a sudden migration of official meetings from the conventional physical meeting format to virtual platforms.

Much as these changes were welcome, provision was not made for such meetings in the Public Service Rules.

This Policy on Virtual Engagements for the Public Service was, therefore, developed to legalize as well as provide the framework and standards within which Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals, and Government-owned companies can use virtual engagements as an administrative procedure in the Public Service.

The Policy is aimed to institutionalize the use of virtual platforms for effective and efficient service delivery; and to encourage remote collaboration among stakeholders, including the private/public sector, individuals and International Organizations.

It also aims to effectively adopt and deploy digital technology for virtual engagements in order to improve service delivery in the Public Sector; to enhance learning and manpower development across the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in order to create a smart workforce; and to improve transparency in government and fight corruption.

The Honourable Minister tasked all MDAs, Parastatals and Government-owned companies to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Policy and ensure full compliance.

To ensure the inter-operability of technologies adopted for inter-governmental meetings, Government institutions at the State and Local Government Levels are also encouraged to adopt the Policy.

“The implementation of the Policy will improve service delivery in the country and will support in the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria.

“The Policy can also be supported by subsidiary legislation from our regulatory parastatals supervised by the Ministry,” the statement read.

The statement quoted the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy as expressing its commitment to supporting all government institutions towards the successful implementation of the Policy.

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