FG plans to rebase digital economy

The Federal Government has announced plans to rebase the country’s digital economy to stimulate growth and innovation.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this in a statement on Linkedin recently.

Rebasing the digital economy refers to the process of updating the metrics and methodologies used to measure the contribution of digital activities to the overall economy.

The minister stated, “I had an extremely progressive discussion with the National Bureau of Statistics today, led by the Statistician General, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, on their ongoing efforts to rebase the digital economy, which will help us better understand and support growth in the sector.

“I am excited about the work they are doing, as it will help us calculate total factor productivity better and enable us to showcase the contribution of the digital economy to the broader Nigerian economy.

“To support the NBS’s efforts, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy will be setting up a ministry-wide committee to accelerate their efforts to properly calculate and rebase the sector,” he said.

The Nigerian economy became Africa’s largest economy in 2014 (surpassing South Africa) by rebasing GDP, going from $270bn to $510bn.

Meanwhile, Tijani has been appointed co-chair of the International Telecommunication Union  Digital Innovation Board.

The announcement was made during the inaugural meeting of the board held in Geneva, recently.

As co-chair, Tijani would collaborate with the chair and Director of ITU-BDT, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, and the co-chair and Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications in India, Neeraj Mittal.

The minister said in a statement that they would provide strategic guidance, expertise, and advocacy for ITU’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, to foster a more inclusive and equitable digital future for all.

According to Tijani, the Digital Innovation Board will focus on accelerating the delivery of key priorities, including trend research readiness, open technology innovation, entrepreneurship and SME growth, policy experimentation, and ecosystem initiative acceleration.

The minister noted, “The Digital Innovation Board, which I am honoured to serve as co-chair alongside the chair, Cosmass Zavazava, Director, ITU-BDT, and my fellow co-chair, Neeraj Mittal, India’s Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications, will provide strategic guidance, expertise, and advocacy for ITU’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, to achieve its objectives.

“The board will also support the acceleration of the delivery of the following priorities: trend research readiness, open technology innovation, entrepreneurship and SME growth, policy experimentation, and ecosystem initiative acceleration.”