IT: Investments Decline By Over $50m In One Year

File Photo: NBS Head-office

The efforts channeled into the nation’s technology services seem not to pay off as investment in information technology sector plummeted from $74.74m at the end of 2019 to $21.68m as of December 31, 2020.

This revelation came to limelight through the analysis of the capital importation data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The released analysis designates a downward drop of $53.06m or 70.99 percent in one year.

Investment in IT services had risen to $19.25m from $4.51m in the first quarter of 2020, in par with the same period of the previous year.

It, conversely, plunged to $0.34m in Q2 2020 from $6.52m in the same period of 2019.

In Q3 2020, investment in IT services stood at $0.46m, down from $15.53m in Q3 2019.

In Q4 2020, investment in IT services fell to $1.63m from $48.17m in the corresponding period of 2019.

Recall that in 2019, the Federal Executive Council approved the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Communications as Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

Read Also: Nigeria Can Earn $20bn Yearly From Oil Palm Production – Obaseki

In following year – 2020, the Nigerian Communications Commission approved the creation of a Digital Economy Department, responsible for promoting the digital economic agenda of the Federal Government.

In December 2020, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, urged investors in the information and communication technology sector to invest in the country’s digital economy while delivering a keynote at the 2020 Africa Investment Forum, in Dubai.

In the first three months of 2021, investment in IT services mounted at $1.60m but dwindled to $0.03m in Q2.