Nigeria is leveraging digital technology to enhance public services. To achieve this, the government is actively pursuing international partnerships.

Nigeria is exploring a partnership with Ukraine to digitize its public services. The topic was discussed during a meeting last week between Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi (photo, center), Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Ivan Kholostenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Nigeria.

"The discussions centered on exchanging knowledge and exploring advanced digital solutions by leveraging technology to streamline public services, enhance transparency, and improve governance efficiency," NITDA stated in a social media release.

This initiative is part of Nigeria’s digital transformation strategy, which aims to digitize 75% of public services by 2027. As of now, the One Gov platform (Services - 1gov.ng) provides access to 271 digital public services, according to the GSMA. Meanwhile, the Data.gov.ng portal makes non-sensitive government datasets publicly available, promoting transparency and inclusion. The government is also rolling out an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) to digitize all administrative records.

Currently, Nigeria ranks 144th out of 193 countries in the United Nations E-Government Development Index, with a score of 0.4815 out of 1. While this places the country above the averages for West Africa and Africa, it remains below the global average. In the Online Services sub-index, Nigeria scores 0.5372 out of 1.

In contrast, Ukraine ranks 30th globally in e-government development, with a score of 0.8841, surpassing the averages for the world, Eastern Europe (0.8127), and Europe as a whole (0.8493). The country relies heavily on its Diia app, which the Ukrainian delegation presented to NITDA. This digital platform centralizes government services, databases, and state registries within a unified ecosystem.

While Ukraine has the expertise to support Nigeria, the partnership remains at the discussion stage, with no agreement signed or announced. Additionally, digital service adoption in Nigeria faces obstacles, including limited Internet access. According to the GSMA, 120 million Nigerians still lack access to mobile Internet.

Isaac K. Kassouwi