A report released by the World Bank Group on Tuesday indicated that Nigeria still has low internet connectivity, despite the huge potential that digitalisation holds in driving nationwide development.
The 2016 World Development Report, which focused on Digital Dividends, suggests that the use of internet holds a lot of development importance for any country when a good percentage of its population is connected.
But speaking at a presentation of the report in Abuja, Dhanaraj Thakur, the research manager, Alliance for Affordable Internet, said there was insufficient communication infrastructure throughout the country to drive this, more so, the low income per capita was another challenge facing affordable internet in the country.
“This is relevant because the average income per capita is about 3,000 dollars per annum. But the problem is that half of the country earns less than half of that.
“So, if we are talking about affordability in terms of this average, most Nigerians still can’t afford the reasonable Internet fees because of their income.
“So, small earners like small farmers, shoe shiners, hair dressers and so on, will find it difficult to afford the Internet,” he said, while presenting a paper on Affordability in Nigeria.
Thakur said the cost of smart phones and tablets would also have to reduce to encourage people to use the internet, suggesting that the government should look into eliminating tax on communication devices.
On his part, the lead ICT policy specialist, World Bank, Tim Kelly, said “Nigeria stands the chance to have an economy that is more inclusive, efficient and innovative if it harnesses its internet services.”
He said that better Internet connectivity would lead to better trade by encouraging e-commerce and creating jobs, improve utilisation of state capital and advance fair competition of prices.
“The main message of the report is that digital development strategies need to be much broader than ICT strategies. Connectivity for all remains an important goal and a tremendous challenge.
“But to bring the largest benefits, countries also need to create the right environment for technology. When analogue complements to digital investments are absent, the development impact will often be disappointing.
“But when countries build strong analogue foundations, they will reap ample digital dividends in faster growth, more jobs and better services,” he said.
Ernest Ndukwe, former executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communication Commission, noted that Nigeria had a long way to go in becoming digitalised.
“The first priority is to give operating companies Right of Way. In many parts of the country today, state governments are still not embracing the importance of broadband in the daily lives of Nigerians.
“Which means that they have to as a matter of urgency start encouraging companies to come to their domains to install the necessary infrastructure and make it available to the people.
“Also, it is important for NCC to give out more spectrum, because without frequencies, you can’t have wireless broadband and that is the way to go if we want to catch up with the developed countries.
He said Nigeria needed to also improve its local content. He said for instance, that Nollywood has increased the country’s content generation capacity and more of such is now needed.
