GB TECH : ICT industry growing at 20%, says Minister

                                    

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has stated that Nigeria’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry is growing at about 20 per cent yearly,.Mrs. Johnson who made this known at the unveiling of the ‘1000 Girls For ICT Training Programme’ in Lagos yesterday, said it is the fastest growing sector in the nation’s economy. It is being implemented with a leading global ICTsolutions provider, Huawei, where 100 women are being trained in ICT Basic Knowledge.

She said ICT has the transformational power to accelerate the development of women by helping them to be more efficient and effective in their jobs, careers and businesses and to generate new employment opportunities.

Mrs  Johnson said ICT has the potential to contribute to increasing the social welfare of women. 

She said: “Nigeria’s ICT sector has increased tremendously in the past 12 years growing at 20 per cent annually, making it the fastest growing in the country and women must be part of the revolution.”

With a foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow running into over $25 billion, she said the sector is contributing about eight per cent to the country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Mrs Johnson said: “So, about 1, 000 female students will benefit from the one year programme and the training will be organised in Huawei ICT Training Centre in Abuja and Huawei Exhibition Hall in Lagos.”

Johnson added that the specific skills that the trainees would acquired are some of the highly-priced in the industry, making them well sought ýafter by IF companies, immediately after the training.

Huawei said the launch of the programme was also part of its strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the country and in solidarity with female students who are willing to explore their careers in ICT industry across the country.

According to the Vice President, Huawei West Africa, Mr. Hover Gao, the programme was part of Huawei’s commitment to localisation, technology transferring to Nigeria and employment promotion.

“Huawei is the first ICT solutions provider to establish an ICT training centre in Abuja back in 2004 and since then, the training centre has provided more than 5, 000 opportunities to ICT practitioners.

He, however, noted that the Huawei and the Ministry of Communication Technology orientation programme on ICT Basic Knowledge for female students is not a one-time-off event.