By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, has appealed to leaders in the African continent to consider adopting Fourth Industrial revolution (4IR) for accelerated economic development.
The Minister said developed nations such as United States, Japan Germany, China and India have prioritised 4IR and are the largest economies in the world, in addition to their record of growing financial systems.
At the maiden Digital Economy Regional Conference, with the theme, “Positioning West Africa Digital Economy for the Future,” in Abuja on Tuesday, Pantami reminded Africans that 4IR deals on digital technologies yet to be fully embraced nations on the continent.
“Being proactive is key to achieving digital economy. You cannot achieve digital inclusion without collaboration. This informed our decision to organise this first ever Digital Economy Conference for West Africa for members to come together, brainstorm and also live such lives witnessed in developed economies to see how we can live better life.
“Our population growth is higher than the economic growth. Where the population growth is higher than the country’s economic growth, the implication is that poverty will continue to increase if we do not arrest it. Our population is very important, but we must seize the advantage by being very proactive in adopting emerging technologies”, the Minister stated.
The Minister while urging African countries to come up with laws that support young innovators to be job providers warned that unemployment remains a time bomb, insisting that the continent must leverage its youthful population for desired development.
He expressed dissatisfaction that the African economic situation was worrisome, considering that of the world’s economy worth $101.6 trillion, the entire continent’s wealth, with a population of 1.6 billion, is less than that of Japan, which is $4.4 trillion.
Citing African Development Bank source, Pantami stressed that the continent houses about 430 million unemployed youths, some under-employable and others unemployable.
World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, called on Nigeria to increase its broadband penetration to provide internet access to people in rural areas and remote areas, stating that the great potential in the nation’s digital sector will further be harnessed.
