ICT created 2.5m jobs in 10 years – NCC

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Dambatta, on Thursday, revealed that the information and Communication Technology sector alone contributed N500 billion into the nation’s economy in 2014, adding that the sector also created about 2.5 million jobs in 10n years.
The EVC stated this in Abuja, when he hosted industry stakeholders in his office.
Meanwhile, the EVC has called on Federal Government to reconsider its stands on its policy on fiscal and monetary policy, particularly as it affects the telecom operators, saying that failure to reconsider such stands would spell doom for the the industry.
Dambatta said: ‘‘I want to join in calling on government to revisit the policy on fiscal and monetary policy as it concerns the operators, and by extension the telecommunications industry,’’ adding that “the Commission is going to address some of the negative statistics staring the sector in the face to prove that investments are needed in the sector.”
He also revealed that the sector attracted a volume of $30 billion foreign investment from 2003 to 2014, an indication he said justifies NCC’s believe that the sector could provide the needed alternative to the oil and gas sector, which has experienced a dwindling fortune in the past few months.
He said: ‘‘The ICT sector contributed N500 billion in 2014 alone, which no other sector has succeeded in contributing to the federation account, except the oil and gas sector. I am not in any doubt about the economic/social impact of telecom will have on the economy.’’
Dambatta, who was quoting the Global System Telecommunications Association report on Nigeria from the sector, said such contribution was a glowing tribute to what the sector is doing to the economy, hence the need for government to support every positive step would advance the growth of the sector.
Beside the financial contribution, he also stated that sector had also created bout 2.5 million jobs between 2003 to 2014, a feat he also said is unprecedented with the exception of the oil and gas sector.
His words: ‘‘The sector has also created more than 2.5m jobs in 10 years, which no other sector has created in the economy, except, maybe, the same oil and gas sector, in addition to the 10 per cent contribution to the GDP.’’