The agreement, described as an interoperable rulebook for digital trade, covers 12 key policy areas, including cross-border data flows, e-transactions, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, payments, and small business inclusion.

“If adopted and implemented, the MDEA can enable an estimated $2.1 billion in additional intra-DCO digital trade annually — just in digitally delivered services,” the DCO said in a statement on Monday.

The DCO, with headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has 16 member states spanning Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Nigeria joined as a founding member in 2021. Officials say the framework will allow Nigerian fintechs, startups, and SMEs to scale across borders while attracting foreign investment into the country’s fast-growing tech ecosystem.

The post Nigeria Eyes Digital Trade Gains as DCO Unveils Model Economy Pact appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, has said that the operation of Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service and the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA) will propel the success of the startup ecosystem in Nigeria.

The Minister stated this on Friday when he officially received two Nigerian Startups that were among the winners at the LEAP Rocket Fuel pitch competition which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The startups were RiceAfrika Technologies, a tech-driven agriculture optimization service provider, and Wicrypt, a start-up innovation that enables for sharing of the internet to people anywhere.

According to him, Starlink has covered the entire landscape of Nigeria, making it possible for startups to access fast-speed internet from any part of the country.

While noting that the Federal Government would continue to make efforts to provide the enabling environment for innovators and startups to continue to amplify the positive image of the country.

READ ALSO: Elon Musk Plans to Find New CEO for Stable Twitter by End of 2023

The Minister said: “Recently, we initiated the Nigeria Startup Act which is among the most important legislations we have in Nigeria particularly when it comes to addressing the challenges confronted by our innovators.

“Also, after my visit to the US SpaceX, a few days later Nigeria happened to be the first country to have Starlink. As of today, Starlink covers the entire landmass of Nigeria approximately 920,000 square kilometers.

“These are some things that will drive the sector and the ecosystem to succeed.”
Pantami commended the two startups that emerged winners at the Dubai competition, saying that their efforts promote the image of Nigeria on the global stage. He added that Nigeria’s participation at the event, which was facilitated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) happened because the nation is a member of the Digital Corporation Organisation (DCO).

DCO is a global multilateral body that aims at enabling digital prosperity for all by accelerating inclusive growth of the digital economy.

“This is supposed to be the beginning, not the end, we need to have many of you that will emerge because Nigeria is so passionate about innovation. You are job providers, not seekers because the challenge of unemployment, and underemployment can only be addressed by promoting our digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship.

“We are more interested in supporting job providers and if there is anything the government can do to support you to be successful, we are always ready. “We hope that in the next few years, you will be in the top class globally, don’t narrow your thinking only to Nigeria, think big where your innovation will be beneficial globally,’’ Pantami told the startups.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving Nigeria to be part of the DCO and also the DCO for supporting 16 Nigerians’ participation in the competition. According to him, Nigeria will actively promote the activities of the DCO and support the organization for global success.

Source: Nairametric

The post How Starlink, Nigeria Startup Act will drive Nigeria’s tech ecosystem to success – Pantami appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST- The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who is leading the country’s delegation to the LEAP Technology Conference and Exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has urged the world’s economies, especially those in the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), to embrace collaborative efforts and initiatives in order to attain digitalization. Professor Pantami made this statement during a high-level DCO panel discussion called “Deep Dive: The Road To International Digital Economy Through Innovation-Bridging Digital Divides And Breaking Down Barriers.”

READALSO:Nigeria, Niger Republic sign agreement on border frequency coordination

“In my opinion, the way other countries can benefit from the progress we have made so far, is through collaborations and partnerships. There is no monopoly of wisdom and knowledge, your strength could be the weakness of your neighbour and your weakness could be the strength of your neighbour. Through partnerships and collaborations, we can complement each other. DCO has been established in order to support, collaborate and partner with each other because our strength is in our unity. When members of the DCO agree to take a certain position, there is no institution in the world that will not listen to them”. Pantami stated.

He further emphasised that “developing a digital economy is hinged on two factors; digital innovation and entrepreneurship”.

Pantami, in response to a question from the DCO Secretary General, Deema Yahya, who was moderating a session on Nigeria’s digital success story, stated that digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and supportive policies have driven the growth of the fastest-growing sector in Nigeria’s economy. The Nigerian government has implemented 21 national policies to encourage development in the sector and has established a National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. They have also made substantial investments in digital skills development, promoting a focus on skills over unproven certificates. Professor Pantami discussed the positive impact of the sector, including an increase in revenue, a consistent rise in the country’s GDP (currently at 18.44%), a drastic increase in the national database from 39 million for 13 years to 95 million in just 2 years and 3 months, the establishment of ICT intervention centers, and digital skills acquisition. A recent evaluation of the sector by KPMG and DCFO showed exceptional results.

The post Pantami Calls For Global Cooperation In Digital Economy At LEAP Tech Conference  appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST- Isa Ali Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy of Nigeria, was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to attend the second and the first in-person General Assembly of the Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO). In this brief interview with BusinessDay’s Frank Eleanya who also attended the event, Pantami speaks on Nigeria’s benefits from being a member of the DCO and participating in all the organisation’s activities. He also spoke about the clamour for internet data price reduction. 

Nigeria was at the DCO LEAP conference last year where some initiatives were announced involving Nigeria and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. What has been the outcome of the initiatives, particularly the Startup Passport?

READ ALSO:NDPB at One : The Evolution of Data Privacy under Dr. Vincent Olatunji, PhD

There are many initiatives that Nigeria is the leading beneficiary of with regard to our membership in the Digital Corporation Organisation (DCO). Last year, Nigeria happened to be the first African country to join the DCO. The DCO organised a conference during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where foreign direct investments were specifically mobilised for Nigeria. Investors were brought together by this organisation to indicate their willingness to invest in Nigeria. Since then we have been in touch with many of them. Many have come to Nigeria and others are in the process of coming. Some of them have registered their corporations as well. There are so many initiatives and to me, it is one of the leading initiatives that we have so far benefitted.

Secondly, we have also benefited from being with other member countries. As I earlier mentioned in my response, there is no monopoly on wisdom and knowledge. You will discover that each and every country has its own strength. So when you collaborate together you complement each other. Besides being in DCO, we established a very strong collaboration with member countries and we are working together particularly. We share with them our area of strength and they reciprocate with their area of strength. The one you have cited as an example is the startup passport, Nigeria is a major beneficiary and most probably among all the countries because in DCO no country has benefited from Startup passports like Nigeria. This year we brought around 16 startups. Last year we brought many startups as well. All of them are being supported by the DCO and they are assigned that Startup Passport.

What percentage of the new target set by DCO of 30 million jobs by 2030 do you think would be coming to Nigeria?

When it comes to giving statistics, I am a mathematician and also a computer scientist I know the implication of statistics. You have to do your homework. I don’t just cut figures anyhow and say them. I know that Nigeria and Pakistan have the highest population among the DCO members so far. By implication, we should work harder to leverage our population, secondly leverage our Nigerian startup strength which we are among the very few countries in Africa to have a law in place that will support startups and also we are blessed with talents in Nigeria. What we only need to do is to mentor and harness that talent. I believe by doing that we will be able to get a much higher number that is equal to the proportion of our percentage compared to other DCO members.

There is this issue that data price is still on the high side and there has been clamour by consumers for a reduction. What is your view on this?

If you ask about the price of data, I have already exceeded the target given to me even before 2025. We assembled a team of experts from government, academia, industry, and civil society groups that developed the Nigerian Broadband Plan 2020-2025. At the time that we crafted the plan in 2019, up to early 2020, the price of one average gigabit of data was N1,200 according to the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). In that plan, our target by 2025 was that the price of one gigabyte of data should be brought down to N390. But today it is N350. That is N40 lower than the target of 2025.

So which price are you talking about? Should we give data for free? That is the next target and we are not yet there. But if it is the target of 2025, we have exceeded it by reducing it to N40. We reached the target and we exceeded it in 2022.

It is because of this that I do not think there is a need to reduce data price because of the cost of production. These companies within the internet communication sector are managing 32,800 generators every day in Nigeria. Second, fuel consumption, IHS was in my office the other day telling me that every day they consume one million litres of oil to sustain their infrastructure and facilities because of our challenge with the national grid. We have to acknowledge though that President Buhari has many initiatives today that are being implemented to increase the generation and distribution of transmission of our national grid.

Another statistic to share with you is that the average cost of one gigabyte of data in selected countries in the world shows that among 15 countries with the cheapest price globally, Nigeria is No 7 out of over 193 countries surveyed in total. So only a few countries have cheaper data than us. Our price is given at $0.60 per gigabyte. This is calculated with the official foreign exchange. It is similar to what I have told you.

You cannot compel companies to operate at a loss. They are for profit. If they operate at a loss, the government will not get revenue, citizens will lose their jobs and the economy will crash. This is not what we are after. We are only providing an environment where the price will be affordable. We believe it is now affordable. The government has been providing broadband to some institutions for free. Just last year, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the provision of unlimited broadband to 18 higher institutions of learning – 17 universities and 1 federal college of education. The implementation is being carried out by NCC today. The President also approved the provision of 20 markets with unlimited broadband to support commercial activities. These are the major markets in Nigeria. The universities are among the top in the country with the highest population. This is unlimited for both staff and students. A second phase is already in place and set to commence in the next few weeks. These show that the government is very responsible. Regarding the price of data, I think we have reached where we are supposed to be, at least for now.

SOURCE: BUSINESS DAY

The post No New data price reduction we’ve exceeded target for 2025 – Pantami appeared first on Tech Digest News.