Broadband penetration hits 23%, says minister

The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu has disclosed that the country has achieved a broadband penetration of 23 percent from a penetration of 14 percent in 2014.

He made the disclosure at the 2018 eNigeria conference organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Recall that in line with the declaration of the International Telecoms Union (ITU) to make broadband accessible to all citizens by 2020, the Federal Government in 2013 had set a target to achieve a 30 per cent broadband penetration by December 2018.

The minister noted that the 23 per cent broadband penetration was possible because the government realised the role broadband plays in the development of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

“This informed our decision to develop a national broadband plan with the aim of increasing the penetration to 30 per cent, up from 14 per cent in 2014. I am happy to inform you that we have been able to achieve a penetration of 30 per cent and we are not resting on our oars until we achieve our target.”

The minister also stated that the foreign investment in the ICT sector has increased from $3.2billion in 2015 to 4$ billion in 2018. This, he said, was a result of the friendly policies initiated by the current administration that promote startups and existing business.

He observed that emerging technologies are creating new industries with opportunities, adding that Nigeria can leverage on these technologies to attract Foreign Direct Investment to the sector.