How ICT Can Reduce Poverty, By Prof Umar Danbatta

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, has said that although poverty can be pervasive in developing countries, the Nigerian Government is using the potency of ICTs to tackle it frontally. To this end, the Government has set up various ICT intervention agencies and programmes to contain poverty in the face of unexpected oil revenue crash.

Danbatta also said that the strategic vision of the Commission which is anchored on an 8-point agenda, among them, Facilitate Broadband Penetration, Improve Quality of Service, Optimize Usage and Benefits of Spectrum, Promote ICT Innovation and Investment Opportunities, and Promote Fair Competition and Inclusive Growth, just to name a few, will contribute in no small measure to Government’s efforts in fighting poverty with ICTs.

However, in the pursuit of ICTs for development and poverty reduction three things are very important. They are the three As – Access to Service, Availability of Service and Affordability of Service.