By 
By Oluwatobi Opusunju and Chinedu James
To increase foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country’s ICT sector, the Nigerian government has assured India of its continuous commitment to create a level playing ground for all investors including Indian businesses to thrive.
Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu while speaking this week at the 4th edition of the indo-Africa ICT Expo 2018 in Lagos reiterated government’s goal to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive even as he assured Indian investors that Nigeria has one of the highest return on investment (RoI) on the continent.
Shittu said the fourth industrial revolution with rapid digital evolution has made the deployment of ICT critical to the development of any nation’s economy. The Nigerian government therefore remains committed to accommodating FDIs into the country.
FDIs into the country’s ICT sector are currently put at USD 70 billion. But Nigeria is aggressively making efforts to deepen investments to grow the ICT sector and make broadband pervasive in the country.
“The expo is timely and a milestone in the history of partnerships between India and Nigeria which will further promote ecosystem of digital transformation; and forever change the way of seeing things and doing business in Nigeria.With the comparative advantages of India in the technological market, we believe that Nigeria would tap into the skills. We want them to prioritize the establishment of their industries in Nigeria,” said Shittu.
India is projected to overtake both the UK and French economies in 2018 to become the fifth largest economy in the world with a nominal GDP of USD 2.9 trillion.
A report by the India Brand Equity Foundation shows that the IT – business process managements (BPM) sector in India expanded at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.14% to reach $154 billion in fiscal year 2017 (FY17) from $74 billion in FY10. It is estimated that the size of the industry will grow to $350 billion by 2025.
Shittu said the Nigerian government was impressed with Indian growth and seek to and to partner the Asian country on ICT sector.
