Broadband penetration in Nigeria is currently at 6 percent, says the Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson. During a visit to Silicon Valley in California, USA, the minister spoke with Bloomberg TV, saying the total investments in the telecommunication sector over the last few years have hit $25 billion.
She said, “Nigeria is a fast growing ICT industry. It has been growing at 20 percent over the last five years. What we are trying to do is create more Nigerian companies. We are here at Silicon Valley to learn how Silicon Valley has helped to create some of the largest ICT companies in the world. What is it that they have done? We are not trying to create another Silicon Valley but trying to see what they have done (in order to domesticate that in Nigeria to create more local companies).”
“Internet penetration is important. Obviously we have a long way to go. So for us, the priority is first to connect the physical infrastructure and then we talk about access and affordability.”
She also said, while mobile subscription has passed the 100 million mark, the same could not be said of internet users, which she says is 45 million of 170 million Nigerians.
Photo Source: risenetworks.org