OF DIGITAL LITERACY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP  

FELIX OLAJIDE explores the changing expectations in Nigeria’s business landscape 

Digital literacy is fundamentally changing business models, how work is performed and managed, and the kind of skills needed in the workplace. It is also changing the expectations we have of business owners’ traditional leadership skills and models which are no longer enough to foster market-leading innovation and entrepreneurial returns. 

The Digital Economy is expanding across the globe, albeit at an uneven pace across different countries. In most countries, however, the digital economy is constantly being developed. A 2016 Report by Oxford Economics, the global digital economy is valued at $11.5 trillion dollars or approximately 16% of the Global Economy. The global digital economy is also projected to account for a quarter of the global economy in the next 10years. Nigeria currently does not has a large slice of the global digital economy but effort is being made to position the nation to play a leading role in contributing to this economy. 

The World Economic Forum predicts that over 60% of global GDP will be digitized by 2022 and that over the next decade, digital platforms will be used to create close to 70% of new value. Furthermore, according to a Report by Ericsson titled “How Important Are Mobile Broadband Networks for Global Economic Development”, 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration results in approximately 0.6% to 2.8% rise in gross domestic product (GDP). 

Today we live in an information society in which more people must manage more information, which in turn requires more technological support, which both demands and creates more information. These developments have affected the whole essence of an individual’s life. Every individual uses digital devices from cell phones to digital camera and computers; they are changing our everyday lives. Computers are used for virtually every aspect of life. They are also used in banking, mass media, publishing, communicating and they bring about quality in music, photography, marketing, film making and other businesses.  

Although, there have been various arguments on what digital literacy should be. It is set of skills that enables individuals operate effectively in information retrieval task in technology-oriented environment. Digital literacy is critical for a nation’s workforce within today’s digital world. UNESCO (2011) defines digital literacy as the ability to access, use and disseminate information in the digital age. Digital literacy is about understanding information when it is presented in different formats, and figuring out how to use it in secure and productive ways.  

For instance, in running their businesses, digital technologies can be used to: sell goods or services (e-commerce, including apps), source materials, manage their finances and employees and market businesses online (including social media) in order to boost their entrepreneurial returns.Entrepreneurial returns are the benefit derived by business owners as a result of investing their time, money and education into their business. These benefits could be measurable in terms of gaining more customers, having more business outlets and making more profit.  

In developed countries, research has shown that both large enterprises and small businesses have successfully adopted digital literacy or skills to gain competitive advantage, transform business models and improve relationships with customers and suppliers. These skills are essential success factor for many successful small business owners (SBOs).  

Digital literacy continues to be one of the major challenges faced by developing countries.  

The importance of digital literacy to the successful implementation of Nigeria’s digital economy was underscored by the minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mallam Isa Pantami, at the one-day virtual workshop, organised by the Nigerian Software Testing Qualifications Board (NGSTQB), themed: “Role of Software Testing in Nigeria’s Digital Economy’”. Pantami noted that, for Nigeria to achieve its ambitious target of 95 percent digital literacy level by 2030, “we will need to build the literacy of citizens, in order for them to understand and consume digital services.” 

However, numerous research studies have been conducted on SBOs, and most findings maintained that despite their significant importance and contribution to economic growth, SBOs across the world over, and in Nigeria in particular, are still faced with numerous challenges that inhibit entrepreneurial growth.  

Regardless of each employee’s function, information and communication technologies (ICT) competencies are becoming more and more crucial for many organisations. The variety of technology tools and resources used to communicate, create, distribute, store, retrieve, and manage information demonstrates the significance of digital literacy. 

Each technology has a different potential, depending on how it is used. Knowing how to evaluate internet sources for the accuracy and reliability of information would be considered to be good digital literacy. For instance, utilising a computer requires procedural skills (file management), cognitive skills, and emotional-social abilities. Digital literacy is a mix of these talents (intuitively reading the visual messages in graphic user interfaces). As such, Nigerian educators must constantly adapt the curriculum to integrate the most recent technological developments because the components of computer literacy are changing as a result of technological advancements. 

Although, despite the efforts of the government in creating small business development agencies in Nigeria, small businesses continued to face the challenges that threatened their survival. This is despite that numerous interventions have been launched in Africa, specifically in Nigeria, to assist these entrepreneurs to grow sustainable businesses and become more digitally literate.  

Various agencies were created to do the job of stimulating the development of the small business sector of the Nigerian economy including Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN). Others are National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (PBN), Microfinance Banks, National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), and National Bank of Commerce and Industry are the agencies with the mandate to develop the SBOs sector. In spite of the effort of the government in Nigeria, small businesses continued to face the challenges that threatened their survival.  

The key-issues affecting the SBOs include: Lack of fund,low entrepreneurial and managerial capabilities; poor unreliable infrastructure; harsh business environment; poor services delivery and lack of access to modern technology. Furthermore, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) the government provide intervention programme through the provision of fund to channel low interest funds to the SBOs. 

Hence, Universities should open their doors to small business owners for technological development and innovations through diploma programmes, seminars and work shop. This can help to increase their entrepreneurial returns. Government should reinvent the future of small business owners, by extending her current education reforms to make it more functional and need –oriented driven. Emphasis should be on social networking services (such as Face book, Whatsapp, You tube) and how they can be use to foster entrepreneurial returns among SBOs. 

Felix Oladeji, oladejifelix94@gmail.com