Niger’s Minister of Communication, Posts and Digital Economy, Sidi Mohamed Raliou, presented his priorities on Wednesday: the digitalisation of the administration and the construction of a national data center.
During an interview with Tele Sahel, he detailed the progress and challenges of his action since coming to power on July 26, 2023.
Niger’s Minister of Communication, Posts and Digital Economy, Sidi Mohamed Raliou, defined on Wednesday the digitalisation of the administration and the construction of a national data center as
priorities.
“Zero paper is a priority. We have developed a national digital development policy, which will be rolled out as soon as it is adopted,” said Mr. Raliou in an interview with Tele Sahel on the assessment of his action since the events of July 26, 2023, marking the arrival of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP) in power.
The minister announced that his department is “working on building a national data center to store and secure the country’s data,” an infrastructure deemed essential for Niger’s digital transformation.
This strategy is accompanied by the deployment of connectivity infrastructure. “We are deploying infrastructure such as fiber optics to interconnect regions,” the minister said, emphasizing that “the
goal is to digitalize the administration to eliminate paperwork and optimise management.”
For the implementation of this program, Mr. Raliou indicated that he has “an interconnection and modernization program for the administration to connect all municipalities and publicadministrations” and “a universal access fund to finance these projects.”
The minister also mentioned the development of a “national strategy to promote the digital economy, including cybersecurity and the creation of a national cybersecurity agency,” recognizing that “digital technology is a development accelerator.”
Securing digital exchanges is among the recent advances, with the adoption of “a decree on electronic transactions to secure exchanges.”
Mr. Raliou insisted on the transversal dimension of digital technology which “must be integrated into all sectors: agriculture, health, education, trade, etc.”
At the same time, the minister announced an ambitious objective for the public operator Niger Telecom, which “occupies only 2 percent of the market” and now aims “to increase its market share to 10 percent by the end of the year.”
Mr. Raliou nevertheless acknowledged constraints, particularly for the deployment of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT): “The financial conditions did not allow us to deploy everything”, he admitted, while stressing that “13 million Nigeriens” remain “without a telephone, mainly because of poverty.”
AC/Sf/fss/as/APA