The Minister for Communication and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Pantami, on Tuesday, disclosed that Nigeria has the requisite capacity to commence local production of Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) cards.
Mr Pantami disclosed this in Abuja, while briefing members of the House of Representatives on the importance of an Executive Bill which seeks to ‘provide for the creation and development of an enabling environment for Technology Enabled Startups in Nigeria.’
According to him, the proposed bill further seeks to create enabling environment for technology innovators in Nigeria to maximise their potential by becoming job creators in the ICT sector and attract investments to expand numerous business ideas by young Nigerians who come up with problem-solving innovations on daily basis without having to depend on government for sustainability.
Pantami said since the private sector controls 91 per cent of financial inflow into the economy as demonstrated by available statistics, the Bill when passed into law will encourage investors seeking to expand innovative ideas.
According to the Minister: “There are 7 Unicorns in Africa and five have roots in Nigeria with offices in Nigeria but registered in other countries due to lack of enabling laws to protect their innovations and investment.
“One of the start-ups that came up in 2018, by 2020, their value rose to $3 trillion which is the largest in Africa, and they are based in Lagos.
“The essence of this Bill first of all is to create jobs for the teeming youths through these innovations and improve the economy,” Pantami said.
He said the Bill when enacted will create a regulatory Council which will be chaired by the President, with a view to providing policy guidance to tech startups.
“There will be a Council to be chaired by the President which is the best practice anywhere in the world. He has accepted to be the Chairman and my humble self as Minister will deputise Mr President on the Council,” he said.
While speaking, some of the members, led by the Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa demanded for details on the competitiveness of the sector under the Council to be chaired by the President and the Minister as Deputy.
They also raised concerns on the area of funding, asking if the proposed Council won’t add further burden on the already overstretched federal purse, as well as its effects on the role of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).
While responding, the Minister explained that the Bill seeks to encourage competition and not discourage it.
He said the Council will be chaired by the President means no bottleneck will hinder it and the implementation of executive policies in the start-up subsector.
He added that “funding can’t be an issue because the Private sector controls 91% of financial inflow into the economy,” and that “the Council is to create an enabling environment for inventors to come in and invest in the startups which is what obtains anywhere in the world.”