Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has launched a digital trade desk in a bid to significantly increase the technology sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP. The initiative, undertaken in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Trade, aims to propel the sector’s share upwards from the current 14-18% to 21% within the next three years.
The move is expected to unlock $5 billion in funding for Nigerian startups. “Trade, the fifth pillar of our strategic blueprint, presents a crucial opportunity to promote Nigerian technology exports,” Tijani stated on LinkedIn. “The launch of this Trade Desk provides a robust foundation to offer tailored support to local technology companies, empowering them to access and compete in markets across Africa and globally.”
The government plans to leverage learnings from countries like China, South Korea, Estonia, and India to enhance productivity and attract foreign investment into key sectors such as fintech, agritech, healthtech, edtech, and e-commerce. This initiative is also expected to significantly improve Nigeria’s position in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), a crucial metric for measuring a country’s economic sophistication. In 2022, Nigeria ranked 127th out of 133 countries on the ECI.
Read also: Inside ‘Bosun Tijani’s plan for Nigeria’s digital economy
Establishing the digital trade desk is the latest in a series of policy initiatives to foster Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. Key milestones include the enactment of the Nigeria Startup Act in 2022, the approval of a National Blockchain Policy in 2023, and the recent push for the Digital Economy and E-Governance bill.
This move comes amid criticism of Tijani’s perceived neglect of his core constituency and the telecom sector. Critics opine that the minister has not paid enough attention to the telecoms industry where Globacom and 9Mobile, the sickman of the industry have struggled in the past years. Not enough has been done in terms of fibre infrastructure, network improvement, right of way and funding which Nigeria continues to lag behind Kenya two years on.
At TechCabal’s Moonshot event in October 2024, Tijani acknowledged the criticism but deemed it largely unfair. While strategic, the focus on a digital trade desk may raise concerns as Nigeria currently ranks 131st out of 190 economies in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking, hindering smooth trade operations. Establishing a digital trade desk is another slight departure from his core function.
Additionally, challenges like insecurity and over-reliance on imports could hinder the effectiveness of the digital trade desk in achieving its desired outcomes.
