The minister of digital economy Dr Bosun Tijani in his first budget proposal since assuming office in August this year has asked for N28.54 billion to achieve his vision for Nigeria’s digital economy for 2024.
The 2024 figure is about 46 per cent lower than the N46.48 budget for 2023. The 2023 figure was 70.93% lower than the N159.87 billion that was allocated to the ministry for the financial year 2022.
A breakdown of the figure shows that the ministry pans to N20.95b for recurrent projects and N7.59b for capital. Tijani plans to execute 25 capital projects in the new year, made of 12 new projects and 13 ongoing.
The capital projects include N826.32 for an overhaul of NigcomSat satellite control and operations in Abuja and Kashi centres. Another N780m will be spent on NigComSat broadband and rural connectivity infrastructure. The ministry headquarters will gulp N700.79m while the NigComSat ground station upgrade will take N558.25m and the Radio Frequency infrastructure will take N540m.
