FOR the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to improve on its contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, government support has been described as highly important for the industry.
The government support is expected to come from the enactment of favourable policies; provision of adequate infrastructure; protection of ICT facilities and of course, introduction of moderate taxes.
By the end of the year, the ICT sector is expected to have contributed about 11 per cent to the nation’s GDP, which would probably makes it the second largest contributor after the oil sector
Speaking to The Guardian, on the sideline of a capacity enhancement workshop for journalists in Lagos, the Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC), a multinational professional services network, Taiwo Oyedele, asserted that ICT remains the future of everything.
Oyedele said with innovations emerging regularly across the globe and with companies like Google making money through technologies, Nigeria needs not to be left behind.
He however, cautioned that Nigeria should not yet think of matching the efforts of the likes of USA, India and the rest, stressing that for instance, the Silicon Valley has been on for years, “but I think those governments gave absolute support to the growth of ICT and that is what they are enjoying today. So, our government here too should support the sector. There is still need for more investments in the sector in Nigeria.”
According to him, there is need for huge sectoral investments with a future plan, which is expected to also include how to get the villages yet uncovered in the ICT revolution covered.
Oyedele, a tax specialist, who also harped on the need to have moderate taxes on the sector, noted that development around ICT should also be backed with strong corporate governance.
He observed that the issue of multiple taxes does not affect the ICT sector alone, but also the manufacturers, among others.
While appealing to government agencies to thread softly on the issue of taxes imposed on players in the ICT sector, Oyedele said most people think the operators have enough money to play around, “so they come up with various forms of taxes. When you talk about ICT, what comes to mind are the likes of MTN, Globacom and others. They have forgotten that there are smaller firms in the sector, which are struggling and if they are overtaxed, they die prematurely. So it is important for government agencies to be wary of the manner of taxes to be imposed on players in the sector.”
According to him, startups should be given time to grow before they are slammed with taxes. “Apart from money made from ICT directly, the indirect contributions are enormous. Imagine the impacts on the banking sector, eCommerce, medicals, transport, among others.”
To the Partner, Advisory Services, Cyril Azobu, who spoke on ‘Governance and Corporate Reporting’, the ICT space needed appropriate security measures to guard against cyberattacks, especially now that everybody and everything are going digital.
This is where good corporate governance matters. Firms must not treat risk with levity. You will agree with me that technology is really driving business. So, we must provide security, especially as we move to the cloud. So responsible organisations should ensure that they take cyber security issues serious.. Internally too, organisations should work out their security measures, nothing should be taking for granted.
There should be proper structures, the boards, CIOs must be involved. ICT has gone beyond enabling things, it now dictates the whole process. We must not play catch up but move with the trends. It is a critical issue, which companies must be kept abreast of”, he stated.
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