Nigeria reaches 2.7m digital literacy beneficiaries

Nigeria reached over 2.7 million beneficiaries under its digital literacy initiative, representing 5.54 per cent progress towards the target of reaching 50 million people by 2027.

The is contained in a digital literacy dashboard summary, made available on Wednesday to our reporter in Abuja.

The dashboard shows that 252 organisations are actively reporting their contributions to the initiative across the country.

According to the dashboard, the programme has reached all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 14,664 communities.

The report shows that young people below 35 years account for 2,092,697 of the beneficiaries, while women represent 32.9 per cent of participants.

It also indicates that 1,609,183 informal sector workers have benefited from the initiative.

The dashboard further records 65,767 rural beneficiaries and 17,156 persons with disabilities among those reached.

A breakdown of participating organisations shows that private companies account for the largest share, with 151 organisations, representing 59.9 per cent of active reporting entities.

Government institutions account for 43 organisations, representing 17.1 per cent, while non-governmental organisations (NGOs) account for 34, or 13.5 per cent.

Other participating entities comprise 14 organisations, while cooperatives account for six and community organisations four.

The dashboard identifies Cisco as the leading contributor to national digital literacy, with 1,073,604 Nigerians trained.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) ranks second, with 960,424 beneficiaries, while Meta Platforms Inc. ranks third, with 333,816.

Other leading contributors include Imo Digital City Ltd., with 72,896 beneficiaries; the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Economy, Sokoto, with 58,573; and the Bureau for ICT and Digital Economy, with 56,582.

The Jigawa State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency recorded 52,814 beneficiaries, while the Kaduna State Government’s Kaduna AGILE Project trained 45,758 people.

The Zamfara Information Technology Development Agency recorded 24,756 beneficiaries, while the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) trained 22,563 Nigerians.

The figures highlight the contributions of government institutions, private companies and civil society organisations to expanding access to digital literacy across the country.

However, with progress at 5.54 per cent of the 50 million target, the dashboard indicates that significant additional efforts will be required to meet the 2027 goal.