Emerging ICT Bank will drive industry activities with lower interest rates—Minister
The Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, has once again observed that the plan of the federal government to launch an ICT Development Bank is among other things, to reduced the dependence on commercial banks for funding and also offer lower interest rates and grow the ICT industry.
Speaking in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital recently at the launch of the Bayelsa Ecosystem and Ignition Week, Shittu noted that in pursuant of the ministry’s mandate of leveraging ICT in its entire ramifications and in order to promote local manpower of ICT sector, growth of incubation hubs across the six geopolitical zones in the country have started boosting empowerment and growth in the sector.
Represented by the former Director of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack, at the event by the Young Innovators of Nigeria (YIN) in collaboration with the Bayelsa State Government, the minister noted that the ICT Bank will among other services, reduced the dependence on commercial banks for funding and also offers lower interest rates and grows the ICT industry.
He said key role of the ICT Development Bank will be the provision of funding for the industry in order to promote and encourage young entrepreneurs in Information Communication Technology ICT.
Shittu added that “The current administration at the federal level has been conscious of the role of ICT and has, therefore, been committed over the last three years to ensuring that ICT facilities and services are expanded rapidly across the country”.
On fears that the nation’s broadband target of 30 per cent by yearend remains elusive, the Minister assured that “We are working round the clock to ensure that the achievement of 30 percent growth in broadband by the end of 2018 is sacrosanct.”
Before now, stakeholders had expressed fears that the target may end up being a fluke considering the current hostile environment faced by Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) in lacing the country with Optic Fibre Cables (OFCs) and other key facilities needed to achieve the target. Some of the well-known limitations include multiple taxation, issues of Right of Way (RoW), forex scarcity and inability of the government to see telecoms installations as critical national infrastructure.
