Nigeria Slashes Cost Of Data By 70% In Two Years-FG
Fred Omotara, Lagos
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami on Tuesday revealed that Nigeria has reduced cost of data by 70 percent in the last two years.
The Minister disclosed this during the maiden Digital Economy Regional Conference held in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the Minister, “As of today, we are providing Federal Government optic fiber cable to every state. We have them in nothing less than 34 states and by April this year, it will be available in each and every state.
“In Nigeria’s National Broadband plan we have a target to reduce the price of 1 gigabyte from 1200 to 390 Naira but as of today, two years before the deadline, the current price of 1 gigabyte is 350.
“The reduction of more than 70 per cent is a huge achievement because the price of every other commodity increases.
“If you complain about diesel, the ICT sector consume more diesel than any other sectors.
“We are affected by cost of diesel, we are being affected by forex, but yet the price is coming down, why? Because we always work harder to ensure that we reduce the cost of production.”
Pantami pointed out that the Digital Economy Conference was predicated on the need for the various West African countries to converge and brainstorm on how to boost the continent’s economy using Information Communication Technology (ICT).
“If you look at our economy growth, it is lower than our population growth. There are situations where the population growth is higher than the economic growth.
“This by implication if care is not taken, the poverty will continue to increase within that population and in this context within the Africa continent.
“It is because of this we feel it is necessary to be proactive to organise West African continent so that we can come together and see how we can compliment each other.
“This is to make sure that our sub-region is specific and our continent in general is very successful, he said