Why every Nigerian should be excited about tech

Mar 28, 2022|Michael Famoroti

Right now in Nigeria, everybody eye dey red.

The current energy situation, with frequent blackouts, rising diesel prices, and scarce petrol, is utterly lamentable and arguably distracts us from more significant problems like persistently high inflation and unprecedented levels of unemployment.

Amid all of this, there is hope. A silver lining. Green shoots of promise. You may recognise Nigeria’s most likely saviour if you look close enough.

Technology.

Key takeaways:

Nigeria’s real economy and digital economy are rapidly diverging, and the fate of the real economy increasingly depends on the success of the digital economy.
Whilst investment in Nigerian tech is way ahead of other parts of the continent, investment in the real economy is declining.
The technology sector is already a key engine of job creation in Nigeria, even at its early stages.

It’s easy to roll your eyes at tech bros with messiah complexes shouting into the wind, but they are on to something. Nigeria’s technology sector has blossomed beautifully in the last decade, despite the challenges plaguing the broader economy. It is hard to dispute the claim that the fate of the Nigerian economy will hinge on whether we get things right with governance and tech.

Now more than ever, Nigerians need reasons to believe, so here’s why we should all be excited about tech.

The digital economy is doing so much better than the real economy

There’s currently no reliable way of gauging the economic performance of the digital economy or technology ecosystem in Nigeria today. And this is not to disparage Nigeria’s statistical authorities. As we discussed recently, measuring the size and performance of the digital economy is an arduous task with the tools we have available. Today's best proxy is the Telecommunications and Information Services sector tracked by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Imperfect as this sector may be as a snapshot of the digital economy, it still shows just how much better tech is doing than everything else.

Nigeria’s Telecommunications and Information Services sector grew by 7.3% between 2020 and 2021, double the growth