The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have made case for immediate deployment of 5G technology in the country.
The two agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy said nothing should stand in the way of 5G technology to enable the country to leapfrog its economic growth and development.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta and the Director-General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu Abdullahi said 5G would accelerate the development of Blockchain Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as Internet of Things (IoTs) in the country.
They argued that Nigeria stands to gain from AI global market size of 58.3 billion dollars in 2021 which is projected to hit 309.6 billion dollars by 2026.
According to them, small businesses would benefit from a global BlockChain of 180.7 million dollars in 2019, which is expected to grow to about 1.12 billion dollars by 2027.
The duo made the remarks during their virtual presentations at Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition 2021.
Abdullahi said besides, Nigeria would lead the rest of Africa in economic diversification through the various digital platforms and emerging technologies.
The NITDA boss said: “Africa, particularly Nigeria, with a growing population and dwindling revenue from oil, have put significant pressure on the economy. There is a need to harness other areas to diversify our economy. Emerging technology is one of these areas, and will play an important role in economic diversification if properly harnessed.”
Abdullahi, who described the conference theme: ‘Building a New Africa with AI & Blockchain’, as aptly stated that digital technologies are changing the world at a faster pace than previously experienced waves of technological innovation.
The NITDA boss said Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) flagship initiative supports the digital transformation strategy for Africa, prepared by the African Union (AU), the DE4A initiative also recognizes that the digital economy can help to accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the World Bank Group’s twin goals.
He noted that recently, a call to action was made with the unveiling of the “Economic Sustainability Plan 2020” which seeks to put technology at the forefront of driving development in Nigeria.
“This conference is a meeting point for professionals, practitioners, and policymakers to brainstorm on the best ways of harnessing these technologies to the advantage of the citizenry,” added Abdullahi.
As a keynote speaker, Prof. Danbatta, nudged Africa in taking advantage of the unprecedented quantities of data, now being generated on sentiment, behaviour, human health, commerce, communications, migration and more.
“Adoption of AI solutions is expected to increase tremendously in the next few years and competition among major AI companies is expected to be intense,” said Danbatta.
He noted that, in a recent report published by Markets and Markets (M&M), the global AI market size is projected to grow from 58.3 billion dollars in 2021 to 309.6 billion dollars by 2026, it is a compound of enormous growth rate of 39.7% during the forecast period.
He explained that BlockChain is the foundation for cryptocurrency such as bitcoin; one of the newest technologies that has received extensive global attention in recent times.
Blockchain-based applications are springing up, covering numerous fields including financial services, refutation systems, Internet of Things (IoT), health and so on, he said
Danbata made reference to the ‘Emergent Research’, a research consulting firm forecast on small businesses, projected that the global BlockChain market of 180.7 million dollars in 2019 is anticipated to reach 1.12 billion dollars by the year 2027.
