In a bid to reduce its spending and fight corruption, the Nigerian government has increased by 50% its budget for information and communication technology, bringing it to N41 billion ($118million). Moreover, it has started working with US tech giants, Oracle and Microsoft, in the same framework.

Oracle has actually helped Nigerian authorities remove 50,000 ghost workers or fake entries from government payroll, according to a statement of presidency released on June 29, Bloomberg reports. As for Microsoft, Constance Ikokwu, communication adviser to the minister of industry, said her administration is currently in talks with the IT firm to improve e-services in the country. This aligns with “the government’s objective to improve its World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking”.

Commenting the government’s decision to invest more in ICT, Hakeem Adeniji-Adele, director of public sector work at Microsoft Nigeria, said: “The government’s digitization drive is imperative in cutting out the middle man. The existence of middle men has left room for corrupt and illegal practices to thrive in governance and doing business in Nigeria”. He also invited the government to simplify its processes saying it would help improve the country’s ranking in Transparency International’s corruption index. Last year, Nigeria was 136th out of 167 countries listed on the index.

Nigeria is currently working to get out of its first recession in 25 years, driven by low oil prices and slump in production of the commodity from which it derives most of its revenues. The economy is also crippled by corruption which caused it to lose more than $480 billion, from 1960 to 2004, according to a Chatam House report.

Anita Fatunji