Lagos – The National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) on Friday said the absence of local content policy translates into loss of revenue for the country.
Mr Femi Adeluyi, the Assistant Chief Scientific Officer, NITDA, disclosed this during the 2016 TechPlus Exhibition and Conference in Lagos.
Adeluyi spoke on the theme, “ICT and Local Content Development for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a Connected World’’.
He said that the economics of a country was a key motivation for the pursuit of its local content policy.
“To upgrade the local content of the country, there was need to reduce capital flight, which the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has 80 per cent rate,’’ he said.
“The 1 billion dollars annual spending on software importation and the N48 billion importation on mobile phones disclosed by the Nigerian Communications Commission should be discouraged,’’ he said.
Adeluyi said that SMEs needed local content for various purposes, which, inclusive keeping pace with local and foreign competition, increase capacity innovation and attain a level of standard.
He said that would enable a focused capacity building approach and enhance revenue generation.
Adeluyi urged SMEs operators to organise themselves in a more formal way and get documented, saying they are the engine of any economy.
“They are essentially for job creation, innovation and economic growth.
“In many developed economies, SMEs account for a great proportion of all business, but unfortunately in Nigeria, they are not well documented,’’ he said.
Adeluyi said that some of the challenges of SMEs, which technology could address were preferences for foreign products, limited market access, limited network, limited capacity, logistics and funding.
“Local content is expected to create jobs and generate wealth however we need to tackle the challenges of funding and investment to make it fruitful,’’ he said.
Adeluyi said that a National Software Policy, when enacted would ensure that local software were used in the country and could also be exported to other countries.
“The policy will ensure that the software are up to standard and a testing facility that will ensure the standard is also installed,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the TechPlus2016 Education and Women in Tech Forum is holding from July 21 to 23.
It is envisioned to harness viable ideas, processes and resources toward delivering premium education and expanding ICT education in Africa. (NAN)