The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has launched the Nigeria Tech Outlook Report and Dashboard to provide reliable data on Nigeria’s technology sector and guide policy decisions, investment and innovation in the digital economy.
The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa unveiled the report on the sidelines of the Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition (DNICE), describing it as a major step towards addressing the country’s longstanding shortage of credible, locally generated technology data.
Inuwa said Nigeria had largely relied on data from the World Bank and other international institutions to guide decisions in the technology sector, stressing the need for reliable domestic statistics to support effective policy formulation, regulation and investment planning.
He explained that NITDA had been collaborating with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to develop a comprehensive understanding of the country’s technology ecosystem, adding that both agencies would sustain the partnership to generate data capable of tracking Nigeria’s digital transformation.
According to him, the conventional approach to measuring the digital economy, which focuses largely on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), fails to capture the growing influence of technology across other sectors, including finance and the media.
He said a broader measurement framework was necessary to establish the actual contribution of technology to economic activities and identify emerging areas for innovation and investment.
Highlighting opportunities identified in the report, the NITDA boss pointed to significant gaps in healthcare, financial services and digital devices.
He 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, describing the gap as evidence of significant unmet demand and investment potential in health technology.
In the financial sector, Inuwa said the report showed that while more than 80 per cent of Nigerian adults had bank accounts, fewer than 20 per cent had accessed digital credit.
He noted that technology could address trust and information gaps that often prevent small businesses from accessing loans, explaining that digital records and transaction histories could help financial institutions assess the activities and creditworthiness of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The DG said the report would provide investors with clearer insights into market opportunities, unmet demand and underserved areas, reducing the cost of preliminary market research while enabling them to assess risks before committing capital.
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.
Inuwa also disclosed plans to transform the report into an interactive portal where citizens, investors and other stakeholders could access information, provide feedback and suggest improvements.
He said NITDA would strengthen its collaboration with the NBS and other regulatory institutions to facilitate real-time data exchange and ensure that the portal remained updated.
Also speaking, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, described the report as a significant intervention in addressing Nigeria’s technology data gap.
He said it provided, for the first time, a consolidated source of credible evidence on how individuals and institutions across the country access and utilise technology.
Adeniran said the report would establish a reliable foundation for measuring Nigeria’s digital development, adding that the country’s assessment of technology’s contribution to the economy must extend beyond the performance of the ICT sector.
He disclosed that the NBS collaborated with NITDA to conduct a nationwide special 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.
According to him, the exercise demonstrated the potential of digital tools to modernise official data collection and strengthen the production of reliable statistics for national planning and development.
He reaffirmed the NBS’s commitment to sustaining its partnership with NITDA to improve data availability and support evidence-based policymaking.
