By Nkechi Eze
The Nigeria Tech Outlook Report launched by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has identified significant investment opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy, particularly in healthcare technology, digital financial services and access to digital devices.
The report, unveiled by NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, on the sidelines of the Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition (DNICE), is designed to provide reliable data on the country’s technology landscape and guide investors, policymakers and innovators towards underserved areas of the economy.
Highlighting findings from the report, Abdullahi disclosed that although more than 80 per cent of Nigerians had used telemedicine at some point, fewer than 20 per cent had actually accessed the service, indicating a significant gap between demand and availability.
He identified healthcare technology as an area with considerable investment potential, noting that the willingness of Nigerians to pay for quality healthcare services presents opportunities for technology-driven solutions.
The report also highlighted gaps in digital financial services, showing that while more than 80 per cent of Nigerian adults had bank accounts, fewer than 20 per cent had accessed digital credit.
Abdullahi said technology could help address the trust and information barriers preventing small businesses from securing loans by providing financial institutions with digital records and transaction histories to assess the activities and creditworthiness of small and medium-sized enterprises.
He explained that the report would give investors a clearer understanding of market potential, unmet demand and areas where existing services had yet to reach a significant number of Nigerians, helping them identify opportunities and assess risks before committing capital.
The NITDA chief said the initiative was also aimed at addressing Nigeria’s longstanding shortage of credible, locally generated data on the technology sector, noting that the country had largely depended on information from the World Bank and other international institutions to guide policy decisions.
He stressed the need for a reliable national data baseline to support effective regulation, investment planning and innovation, adding that NITDA was working with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to improve the collection and analysis of data on the digital economy.
Abdullahi further argued that the conventional measurement of the digital economy, which largely captures the contribution of the Information and Communications Technology sector to national Gross Domestic Product, does not adequately reflect the role of technology in other sectors such as finance and the media.
He announced that the Nigeria Tech Outlook Report would become an annual publication, with the second edition expected to be ready by June 1, 2027.
He also disclosed plans to develop the report into an interactive portal where citizens, investors and other stakeholders could access information, submit feedback and suggest improvements, supported by real-time data exchange among regulatory institutions.
Also speaking, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, described the report as an important intervention in addressing the country’s technology data gap.
He said the report provided a consolidated source of credible evidence on how Nigerians and institutions across the country access and use technology, adding that it would establish a foundation for measuring the country’s digital development.
Adeniran disclosed that the NBS collaborated with NITDA to conduct a nationwide telephone survey using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI), covering 2,147 households and 539 primary healthcare facilities across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He said the exercise demonstrated how digital tools could modernise official data collection and reaffirmed the bureau’s commitment to working with NITDA to produce reliable statistics for national planning and development.
