Grace Ashiru
Nigeria’s newly announced President-Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu released an 80-page manifesto in October 2022 which expresses his plans for the technology sector titled, “The Digital Economy: Taking advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Note that the President-Elect, is a two-time governor of Lagos state, Nigeria, and in His Manifesto, he highlights areas for the tech ecosystem including manufacturing, e-commerce, blockchain, service provision, and outsourcing that will be handled. He claims that within his first 2 years as president, one million new jobs will be available in the ICT sector with the use of technologies that will only drive massive growth business-wise.
One of the areas to be developed is the outsourcing sector. The Manifesto shows that policies will be implemented that will equip Nigerian youths, however, it fails to address certain technical aspects, like whether it will be the government or private organization that provide access to this training, also, how the federal government intends to replicate this goal across the 36 States in the country.
The e-commerce sector, which is one of the areas mentioned, is to be boosted through the upgrading of infrastructure needed for the transport industry, claiming that an upgrade in the transport system will simultaneously drive progress into the e-commerce sector. However, different external factors pose a challenge to how e-commerce will be employed throughout Nigeria and the manifesto fails to explain this.
Tech manufacturing, according to Tinubu, is a field that will create job opportunities for many Nigerians, as he plans to have Nigerian produce its smartphones instead of the usual importation from other countries. In June 2022 Nigeria’s manufacturing production increased by 9.40% while industrial production fell by 10.5% YoY in September of that same year. Importation does cost Nigerians millions of dollars and with the increase in Nigeria’s manufacturing, tech manufacturing really could be a turning point in Nigeria’s economy.
The availability of broadband was a policy the outgoing administration pitched forward that would ensure 90% of people living in Nigeria would have access to it. Though it is not described how this will be achieved or how it will be made affordable for every Nigerian as they are reported to spend more on data than most African states.
Tinubu’s Manifesto plans to, “encourage the prudent use of blockchain technology in finance and banking, identity management, revenue collection and the use of crypto assets,” by establishing an advisory board to review the blockchain industry and the regulatory commitments surrounding it as well as the virtual asset services in hope that a more business-friendly regulatory framework can be developed. The new administration is set to encourage the Central Bank of Nigeria to enhance the use of digital currency in the country.
Though this manifesto seeks to advance Nigeria’s tech industry, concerns have been raised as to the legitimacy of the elections and that the administration plans may be lacking in some areas. In time we will come to know if it will remain a manifesto alone or evolve into more.
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