MSMEs will contribute $53bn to Nigeria’s economy If digitised — NITDA

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said digitisation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs) will increase their revenue by 26 percent as well as reduce operating cost by 22 % and will contribute $53billion to the Nigeria’s economy.

NITDA’s DG, Kashifu Inuwa, stated this Friday while delivering an opening remark at TechMyBiz Pitch-A-Thon event held at the Digital Transformation Center Nigeria (DTC Nigeria), Lagos.

The event which was jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development offered a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and startups within the Nigerian ecosystem to register their already created digital solutions.

Inuwa noted that digitisation is about operational excellence, using technology as an enabler for business efficiency, more productivity, increased revenue and cost savings.

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He said despite the available opportunities, there are challenges that need to be addressed in order to realise the potential of digital transformation in SMEs.

He added: “Firstly, we need to create innovation-friendly conditions in our country in terms of enabling policies and laws, government services, ease of doing business, and so on.”

“Secondly, we need to have support organisations — platform that will assist to digitise MSMEs for innovation hubs around the country to incubate ideas, because innovation is a process of taking an idea from inception to impact that means you can have an idea, and you can be innovative, but that is not enough, you need to commercialise your ideas.”

“Then we need the infrastructure, this is important to MSMEs, but Africa is lacking in digital public infrastructure. Digital public infrastructure is beyond having connectivity and access to computers. The Second Industrial Revolution was about massive production which requires enabling infrastructure for transportation, but today we are in the fourth Industrial Revolution, which is about digital services, therefore, we need the required infrastructure to aid digital services.”

“Lastly, is the challenge of digital skills and literacy. The digital offerings require digitally literate consumers to benefit from the services, therefore there is the need to enlighten and educate the populace to acquire digital literacy skills.”