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By Emmanuel Elebeke

Nigeria has retained its 137th position in the World ICT Development Index.

This is contained in the  recent IDI index  report of 2016 by the International Telecommunications Union, ITU.

The report showed that Nigerian ICT sector recorded 2.72 per cent growth in 2016 as against 2.48 seen in 2015.

On the fixed telephony subscription, the Nigerian ICT sector recorded 0.10 per cent growth out of every 100 inhabitant, while in the mobile-cellular telephony subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, there was 82.10 per cent coverage.

For international Internet bandwidth per internet user (Bit/s), Nigeria spent N2,986.16 on each user. The per cent of households with computer in Nigeria was 9.84 per cent in 2016, whereas the percentage  of households with internet access in Nigeria was 11.40 in the same year.

For individuals using the internet, Nigeria recorded 47.44 per cent in 2016.

Meanwhile, the active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in Nigeria stood at 20.95 per cent also in the year under review.

Enrolment ratio: For Nigeria, the report indicated that Nigeria had 43.83 ration of secondary school enrolment in 2016 and for tertiary gross enrolment, the country recorded 10.41 ratio.

Regional Comparison: At the regional level, Nigeria, maintained same position as in 2015 ranked 14 out of 39 African countries rated in the 2016 study. Mauritius which ranked 73 in the world and 1st in Africa also maintained its previous position in the rankings as well as Kenya which is 129 in the world and 9th in Africa.

On the other hand, Cape Verde, which is 4th in Africa moved two steps up from 99 position to 97. Other African countries that moved up are Botswana 5th in Africa moved from 109 to 108, while Namibia jumped from 121 to 120 and occupies 7th position in Africa.

Global level: On the global stage, the Republic of Korea topped the IDI rankings in 2016 for the second consecutive year.

The top 10 countries of the IDI 2016 also include two other economies in the Asia-Pacific region, and seven European countries.

The Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Brahima Sanou, which produces the report each year said the three island countries in the Caribbean: St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada featured among the most dynamic countries with strong improvements in their IDI value and rank.

“This year’s results show that nearly all of the 175 countries covered by the index improved their IDI values between 2015 and 2016. “During the same period, stronger improvements have been made on ICT use than access, mainly as a result of strong growth in mobile-broadband uptake globally.

‘‘This has allowed an increasing number of people, in particular from the developing world, to join the information society and benefit from the many services and applications provided through the Internet,” he added.

In his submission, ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, said “To bring more people online, it is important to focus on reducing overall socio-economic inequalities.

“Education and income levels are strong determinants of whether or not people use the Internet. ICTs will be essential in meeting each and every one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this report plays an important role in the SDG process.