Nigeria has trained nearly 2.8 million citizens in digital skills over the past three years as part of an ambitious national drive to expand access to the digital economy, official data shows.
The figures were revealed on Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling of the National Digital Literacy Dashboard by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The platform, which tracks training metrics across 252 reporting organizations—including government bodies, tech firms, and NGOs—recorded 2,769,512 beneficiaries across all 36 states and 774 local government areas.
The achievement represents 5.54 per cent of the government’s target to train 50 million citizens by 2027 under its Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) program.
Focus on youth and inclusion
According to the dashboard, young people under 35 accounted for over 2 million of the reported beneficiaries, while informal-sector workers comprised 1.6 million.
Women made up 32.9 per cent of participants, while the platform recorded 65,767 beneficiaries from rural areas and 17,156 persons with disabilities.
US tech firm Cisco led private sector contributions with over 1 million training completions, followed by NITDA with 960,000 and Meta Platforms Inc. with 333,000.
Speaking at the launch, NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa said the initiative aims to make all citizens digitally capable rather than turning every Nigerian into an IT professional.
“Digital literacy has become as fundamental as reading, writing, and numeracy,” Mr Inuwa said. “Our ambition is to enable traders to manage business records digitally, farmers to access market information, and teachers to improve classroom learning.”
Ambitious economic targets
Nigeria’s National Digital Literacy Framework targets a 70 per cent digital literacy rate by 2027 and 95 per cent by 2030, aligning with the federal government’s broader economic expansion goals.
While acknowledging the progress, Mr Inuwa noted that the dashboard must be complemented by rigorous post-training assessments to measure real-world impact, including improved business productivity and protection against cyber fraud.
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