A recent Statisense survey has shown that Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is ranked 24th on the continent in terms of digital progress.
Nigeria is ranked behind a number of smaller countries in the report, which was released on Thursday and assessed countries based on their Information and Communication Technology development index, The Punch reported.
Libya is the most digitally developed country in Africa, scoring an astounding 88.1 on the ICT index. Closely behind with ratings of 86.8 and 84.7, respectively, are Morocco and Seychelles.
Other high-performing countries are Algeria (80.9), Mauritius (84.2), and South Africa (83.6), suggesting that a considerable number of North African nations are among the top achievers.
Nigeria, on the other hand, scored lower than its neighbours, including Ghana, which comes in at number 15 with a score of 66.2, with an ICT index of 46.9. Kenya, which has a score of 58.5, is ranked 18th out of the major economic players in sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria’s percentage of the population using the internet as of March 2024 was at 43.53%. With a gradual increase from previous levels, this number represents the percentage of the population with access to broadband services.
Aiming to achieve 70% broadband penetration by 2025, the Nigerian Communications Commission, the country’s telecom regulator, is implementing the National Broadband Plan.
Nigeria’s co-founder of XChangeBOX, Abiola Jimoh, responded to the findings by saying that despite having a population of over 200 million, the country is encountering major obstacles to its digital development.
He said that although early investments in mobile technology increased data acceptance and usage, the nation still trails behind in terms of overall digital growth.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 3.19% (year-over-year) in real terms in Q2 2024.
The data showed it was up from 2.98% in Q1 2024 and 2.51% in the same time the previous year.
The agriculture sector’s real GDP contribution in the second quarter of 2024 was 22.61%.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
