ICT experts canvass 2 million capacities in three years to rejig economy

Information and communications technology (ICT) experts have canvassed building of two million ICT capacities in different sectors for the next three years to revive the nation’s economy.

Urging the Federal Government to urgently diversify the economy, they said Nigeria should have diversified its economy about 20 years ago, saying if that had happened, people should be working three shifts a day, including teleworking.

They stressed that the falling global oil prices projected doom for the country if adequate measures were not taken.

President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, said the country’s economy would go into a recession in line with the global recession predicted post-COVID-19.

Teniola said the Nigerian economy has always been fragile even before the COVID-19 pandemic and was predicted to grow by only 2.2 per cent by the end of 2020.

“Estimates by various economic experts is that our economy is now set for contraction and will enter a ‘U-shaped’ recovery by the second half of 2021 at best. So an opportunity now exists for us to speed up the diversification of our economy away from oil dependency and employ the youth to engage in agriculture, ICT and healthcare (infrastructure building).”

On his part, Chief Executive Officer, Mobile Software Solution, Chris Uwaje, who said diversification of the economy should have happened 20 years ago, noted that Nigeria needed to build about two million ICT capacities in different areas in the next three years.

Uwaje said the globe now live in an ICT-first world, stressing that no meaningful economic and social development can be earned without the mastery, deployment and constructive diffusion of ICT at all levels.

Also, Executive Vice Chairman, Signal Alliance, Collins Onuegbu, pointed out that the country needed enough funds to effectively fight coronavirus pandemic.

Onuegbu said a bigger challenge would still emerge after the pandemic has been contained and life needed to return to normal.