Isah Pantami, the minister of communication and digital economy, says the technology, especially digital, is deployed globally for economic diversification.

Mr Pantami said this at the first economic confidential public lecture and book presentation on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him, countries that excel in technology are leading globally in economic growth.

He said such countries had diversified their economies through a knowledge-based economy.

“The economy of the world today does not depend on natural resources; countries are leveraging their natural resources to build their knowledge-based economy,” the minister explained. “Digital technology and digital economy are both knowledge-based, particularly the trajectory of the first, third and fourth industrial revolutions.”

The chairman of the occasion, Muhammadu Shehu, said diversification was eminent in economic growth and advised that the nation should “diversify or sink.”

Mr Shehu, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) chair, explained that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) did not come from natural resources but through taxes from the FIRS, amongst others.

He noted that diversification was key to achieving economic growth while calling for diversification in all levels of government for sustainable economic development.

(NAN)