Buhari Inaugurates Presidential Council on Digital Economy And E-Government
The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and E-government as part of his administration’s efforts to take advantage of digital technologies to transform every sector of our economy.
President Buhari noted in his speech at the inauguration of the Council that the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) has been implementing activities in these areas for about three years, as part of the mandate of the Ministry under his supervision.
He stated that this Presidential Council will provide the oversight that will bring about a veritable structure for accelerating our achievements in Nigeria’s digital economy and in the implementation of e-government in the country.
“I launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) on the 28th of November, 2019 and expanded the mandate of the then Ministry of Communications to include Digital Economy. The implementation of that policy and mandate have enabled us to achieve significant progress and record a number of unprecedented achievements.
“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy showed that the steps we took in developing and implementing NDEPS were indeed timely.
“For example, the Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The sector’s 14.70% double digit growth rate was instrumental in supporting our country to exit the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, far earlier than predicted by experts. The significant contribution of 17.92% by the ICT sector to our GDP in the second quarter of 2021 is another example of the important impact of the digital economy to the overall economy.
“In the same vein, the growth of our digital economy sector enabled us to cope with the effect of the lock-down as both activities of the government and private sector, as well as educational activities, were able to move to online platforms,” the president said.
He pointed out that the approval of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions also helped to formalise government online meetings, stressing that as such, statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council meetings, Council of State meetings and other meetings can now effectively and legally take place online.
Our progress as a country, he said has been noted by the international community and has elicited recognition from international stakeholders.
He cited the most recent of these, which is the appointment of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), as the Chairman of the 2022 Forum of the highly regarded World Summit of the Information Society. Congratulations to the Hon. Minister!
According to him, “In addition to our strides in the development of Nigeria’s digital economy, we have also made great progress in the implementation of e-government and government digital services in Nigeria. As part of our administration’s commitment towards fostering strategic partnerships, we have partnered with the government of the Republic of Korea- a leading country in the implementation of e-government.
“The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy partnered with the Korea International Cooperation Agency to develop a National e-government Master Plan, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in August 2019.”
He disclosed that among other things, the partnership has led to the following:
- the launch of an E-Government Training Centre that was handed over to the Federal Government of Nigeria in November, 2019;
- training of over 1,400 Nigerian public servants in both Nigeria and South Korea;
- the signing off of Phase II of the e-government Project – “Project for Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2020-2026)”.
The implementation of these projects, he said, will further strengthen the capacity of the government to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies that can make the government more efficient and transparent, as well as improve our global standing in the ease of doing business index.
He stated further that the inauguration of the Digital Economy and E-government Council is in line with global best practice and will serve to provide the leadership and structure required to accelerate the impressive gains in the two domains.
Buhari announced that membership of this Council has been arrived at after a painstaking and thorough process and urge every member of this council to see this as a national assignment and the trust that we have in their ability to support and significantly enhance the digital transformation of Nigeria.
This Council, he added has been rightly called the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and E-government and this reflects the high level of priority that we place on the Council.
“The plan is for the Council to be chaired by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I hereby direct the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy to Chair the Council on my behalf and report regular updates to me.
“The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), and other stakeholders have coordinated the digital economy sector very well and their commitment is commendable. I am confident that you all have the capacity and willingness to make this Council a success,” he emphasized.
