Nigeria - ICT infrastructure plan

Nigeria's ICT Infrastructure Plan validated by Stakeholders

Following a workshop held in Lagos on 17 January 2008, over 100 experts from various stakeholder groups, comprised of Government ministries, private sector, non-government organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), academia, women and youth groups endorsed Nigeria's Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) Plan. This is the result of a series of activities started in January 2006 following signature at the end of 2005 of an agreement between the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the framework of the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) process within the African Information Society Initiative (AISI).

The work was coordinated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which established the National Strategic Action Plan Committee mandated by the Federal Government to draw up an e-strategy action plan and programmes in line with the national development objectives and priorities of the country, especially the “Vision 20-20-20 aimed at positioning Nigeria amongst the 20 leading economies in the world by year 2020”.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, the Director-General and CEO of NITDA, Prof. Cleopas O. Angaye, said: “On behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will like to express my sincere gratitude to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) for sponsoring this project. They have contributed immensely in terms of funding and human resource.”

The ICT4D Plan is organized into 11 broad policy focus areas led by Resource Persons under the coordination of an international ECA consultant:

1. ICT Infrastructure
2. e-Health
3. e-Agriculture
4. e-Government
5. ICT in Education
6. Private Sector Participation
7. Human Resource Development
8. Research and Development
9. IT Popularisation and Awareness
10. Security and Law Enforcement
11. Legal and regulatory framework

The ICT4D Plan has identified programmes for short, medium, and long-term implementation by stakeholders. Following incorporation of comments from stakeholders, the Plan will be submitted to the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria for approval and implementation by all stakeholders at the federal and state levels.

Funding of the Nigeria Plan stems from the Finland Project (The Cooperation in the Development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Africa) related to NICI development.