The Federal Government plans to deploy appropriate technologies to tackle the menace of inadequate power supply as well as a shortage in the supply of fuel and foreign exchange.

The government stated this in a 100-page document – Nigeria E-Government Master Plan- which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to the government, the gaps in the supply of the essential commodities have constituted constraints to economic growth.

It added that the plan would help the country to overcome the challenges.

The government said, “Economic growth in Nigeria faces various supply constraints including fuel, power, foreign exchange, and business unfriendly regulations. In addition, there is a shortage of requisite skills and appropriate technology necessary to drive growth. This plan focuses on overcoming and resolving these challenges.

“Economic recovery and transformative growth cannot be achieved by the government alone. It is essential to harness the dynamism of business and entrepreneurial nature of Nigerians, from the MSMEs to the large domestic and multinational corporations to achieve the objectives of this plan. The plan prioritises the provision of a more business friendly economic environment.

“Nigerians are the ultimate beneficiaries of more inclusive growth and, therefore, the initiatives set out in this plan are aimed at ensuring social inclusion and the strengthening of national cohesion.”

According to the strategy paper, the government said that technology-enabled transformation presented Nigeria’s government the best hope to reduce costs while promoting economic development, increasing transparency in government, improving service delivery and public administration while facilitating the advancement of an information society.

It said, “Putting services online substantially decreases the processing costs of many activities compared with the manual way of handling operations. Efficiency is also attained by streamlining internal processes and by enabling faster and more informed decision making.

“Technology enables governments to create positive business climates by simplifying relationships with businesses and reducing the administrative steps needed to comply with regulatory obligations.”

At the inauguration of the e-Government in Abuja last Friday, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said that with the implementation of the e-Government Plan, the government was targeting seven per cent growth in Gross Domestic Product.