NITDA Estimates That Digitized MSMEs Might Contribute $53 Billion To Nigeria’s GDP
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA , Kashifu Inuwa, stated that the digitization of MSMEs will increase revenue by 26% and reduce operating costs by 22%, and contribute $53 billion to the Nigerian economy.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of businesses and economic growth.
Inuwa made this statement during the opening remarks of the TechMyBiz Pitch-A-Thon event in Lagos, which was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and the Digital Transformation Center Nigeria (DTC Nigeria).
The TechMyBiz Pitch-a-thon, which is a procedure for choosing Digital Innovations in Africa, began with a “Call for Digital Solutions” campaign that provided a platform for many innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups within the Nigerian ecosystem to register their already created digital solutions. Out of the 50 chosen for the Pitch-a-thon, which was held from July 12th to 14th, 30 are expected to emerge as winners.
The DG pointed out that digitization is about operational excellence, using technology as an enabler for business efficiency, more productivity, increased revenue and cost savings,” he said.
He claimed that despite the opportunities there, issues still need to be resolved if SMEs are to fully realize the benefits of digital transformation.
In terms of enabling legislation, services provided by the government, ease of doing business, and other factors, we must foster an environment in our nation that is conducive to innovation.
Because innovation is a process of taking an idea from inception to impact, we also need support organizations — platforms that will help digitise MSMEs for innovation hubs around the country to incubate ideas. Having an idea and being innovative are not enough; you also need to commercialize your ideas.
“Then we need the infrastructure, this is important to MSMEs, but Africa is lacking in digital public infrastructure. Digital public infrastructure is beyond having connectivity and access to computers. The Second Industrial Revolution was about massive production, which requires enabling infrastructure for transportation, but today we are in the fourth Industrial Revolution, which is about digital services, therefore, we need the required infrastructure to aid digital services.”
“Lastly, is the challenge of digital skills and literacy. The digital offerings require digitally literate consumers to benefit from the services, therefore there is the need to enlighten and educate the populace to acquire digital literacy skills, ” he stated.
Inuwa emphasized that MSMEs contribute to 96% of enterprises, 83% of the workers, and 43% of the country’s GDP, quoting the DG of SMEDAN.
“With digital technology SMEs can have an exponential growth transformation that will upscale businesses.”
He elaborated on the need for having a digitally sovereign infrastructure and said that Nigeria’s government is putting the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) into practice to support local talent to meet these issues.
In a related development, Inuwa has given the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Certified Fraud Investigator of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) president assurances that the Agency is prepared to work with the Institute on digital forensics in order to revitalize the tech ecosystem and reduce cybercrimes in the digital space.
Inuwa provided the guarantee while welcoming Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbak, President of CIFCFIN, and his colleagues at the NITDA Corporate Headquarters in Abuja.
The DG emphasized the necessity of developing ability for protection against the dishonest elements as she bemoaned the dangerous impact cybercrimes have on the economy of a nation, organizations, and people.
“Sometimes in our efforts to digitise services, we lose sight of cybersecurity and only think about security when there is a problem, this shouldn’t be the case, we should always design or digitise with security in mind in whatever we do – that is the only way we can be safe,” Inuwa advised.
Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbak, president of CIFCFIN, had already emphasized the Institute’s intention to collaborate with NITDA on digital forensics and cybersecurity.
Dr. Gashinbak also requested financial support for computers for the Nigerian College of Forensics and Fraud Investigators (NCFFI), technical help for the deployment of their integrated e-portal and e-learning platforms, and Postgraduate Scheme/Scholarship in addition to the requests already listed.
However, the Institute President vowed that his organization would be dedicated to performing its obligations in a way that would ensure the success of the newly formed collaboration.
