The investments in the information technology services sub-sector has dropped from $74.74 million at the end of 2019 to $21.68 million as of December 31, 2020.

This is according to analysis of the capital importation data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

This indicates a drop of $53.06 million or 70.99 percent in one year despite the  intensive promotion of the nation’s technology sector.

In the first quarter of 2020, investment in IT services had risen to $19.25 million from $4.51 million in the same period of the previous year.

It, however, plunged to $0.34 million in Q2 2020 from $6.52 million in the same period of 2019.

In Q3 2020, investment in IT services stood at $0.46 million, down from $15.53 million in Q3 2019.

In Q4 2020, investment in IT services fell to $1.63 million from $48.17 million in the corresponding period of 2019.

In the first three months of 2021, investment in IT services stood at $1.60 million but dropped to $0.03 million in Q2.

Recall that the Federal Executive Council had in 2019 approved the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Communications as Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

Also, in 2020, the Nigerian Communications Commission approved the creation of a Digital Economy Department, responsible for promoting the digital economic agenda of the Federal Government.

In December 2020, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, urged investors in the information and communication technology sector to invest in the country’s digital economy while delivering a keynote at the 2020 Africa Investment Forum, a side event at the GITEX Technology Week in Dubai.

He had said, “Nigeria is both a geographic and an economic gateway to sub-Saharan Africa. As a geographic gateway, we have a prime location between West and Central Africa.

“In other words, investing in Nigeria gives investors easy access to close to 550 million people – 200 million from Nigeria, another 200 million West Africans and about 150 million Central Africans.

“Investors in our digital economy can be assured of access to a large pool of youthful and skillful employees at a more cost-effective rate than it would cost to engage employees in other parts of the world.”