Business
‘Intervention In ICT’ll Stimulate Economic Growth’
The Administrator, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Dr Ike Adinde has called on governments in Africa to launch aggressive intervention in Information Communication Technology (ICT) by investing in digital skills to stimulate economic growth.
Adinde made the call on Tuesday at the ongoing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Digital Bridge Institute Regional Human Capacity Building workshop in Abuja, and said that investment in ICT would also bolster youth employment.
The theme of the three-day workshop is “Strengthen Capacity on Internet Governance in Africa’’.
“Digital literacy in the 21st century has become as important as the ability to read and write was in the 19th century.
“Policy makers and governments in Africa ought to launch aggressive intervention into the ICT industry by investing in skills development to stimulate economic growth and reduce youth unemployment and insecurity in Africa.
“Ironically, a few of our youths have the wherewithal to enrol for some of the human capacity training opportunities provided by the ITU centres of excellence and other tertiary institutions.
“This makes the case for intervention even more imperative,’’ Adinde said.
According to him, there is a convincing argument that if Africa wants to transform and become a global player, it must transform its human capital.
Adinde said that Africa must open access to quality education and training for the young population by deliberately creating funds that would increase access to acquisition of digital skills.
He said that Smart Africa Scholarship Fund launched during Transform Africa Summit 2015 in Rwanda, which had over 2,500 delegates from 81 countries was a good example.
“The Fund aims to provide financial support to our youths who are seeking post-graduate and certification- level training at the continent’s best ICT Centres of Excellence.”
According to him, the ITU Centres of Excellence in Africa strongly canvassed this position in 2016 at the Capacity Building Symposium in Nairobi, Kenya.
“It is time that we made a bold decision in this direction to provide funding access for digital skills literacy by earmarking a proportion of Universal Service Fund (USF) for digital skills literacy.
“This resonates strongly against the backdrop of indications that surplus balance exist in USFs across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), he said.
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.