Information and Communication Technologies in the Nigerian Economy

Most developing nations have embarked on various reforms that foster the use of ICTs in their economies. These reforms tend to yield little or minimal benefits to economic growth and development, especially when compared with the developed countries of the world. Technological advancement is known to impact fast rate of economic development. In Nigeria, policy on adoption of Information and Communication Technologies was initiated in 1999, when the civilian regime came into power of government. The operations of the licensed telecommunication service providers in the country has created some well-felt macroeconomic effects in terms of job creation, faster delivery services, reduced transport costs, greater security and higher national output. This study intends to investigate the emerging roles of ICTs on Nigerian economy, and to evaluate the factors that influence the decisions of investors in the Nigerian telecommunications sector. Ordinary Least Square Method of Regression for the period 1999 – 2004, shall be employed. This period is considered appropriate in that, it was the time that policy on ICTs was adopted. The paucity of data prior to this time also poses restriction on meaningful econometric analysis. Significant and positive relationship between ICTs and economic growth is expected as it is portrayed in some economic literature. While telecommunication service providers receive commensurate profit on their investment efforts, the regulation from the government should ensure competitiveness. This strategy will increase the quality of the services offered, and possibly at cheaper price.