TECHDIGEST – National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has given a nod to the invitation by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) for the Agency to be a part of the Digital Economy Community of Practice where pathways that would drive collaboration towards achieving a sustainable and inclusive digital transformation would be created.

The DG who gave the confirmation of interest during a courtesy call on him by the representatives of the group described the visit as timely and the subject matter viable, adding that it aligns with NITDA’s renewed approach towards redefining regulation and how best to offer it to Nigerians.

“We just finished developing what we call Regulatory Intelligence Framework which will help us decipher the whole idea and impact of regulation. We do not want to sit in our offices, use armchair theories to come up with regulation that would never work.”

“We are looking at regulation that would promote market creation, enable innovation, customer protection and the delivery of efficient and effective services”, noted.

Inuwa said that the Agency believes in collaboration in order to succeed in executing its mandate, affirming that the Agency would review the details of their requests and revert accordingly.

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Earlier, the Senior Policy Specialist and leader of the team from the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) of the Nigerian Economy Summit Group (NESG), Mayokun Adediran, while briefing the NITDA management on the essence of the visit said, the PIC is planning a national dialogue to advance conversations about the operationalisation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and a policy analysis to understand the digital economy policy context in Nigeria and the critical role the institution played alongside other stakeholders in the development of the policy framework.

“The PIC is a dedicated not-for-profit centre within the NESG sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is the first national body of its kind in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, tasked with applying behavioural theory and other innovative policy tools to inform programme/policy design and implementation in Africa”, Mayokun explained.

While noting that the main aim of the Global Digital Access Project (DAP) which is a U.K. Government flagship initiative led by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (OCMS), is to foster collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders in the Digital Ecosystem.

He went further to explain that the partnership which necessitated the need to have a platform to garner the efforts from all parties informed the plan to inaugurate the Digital Economy Community of Practice that would house collaboration between the private & private sector stakeholders.

“From time to time we would need to discuss and analyse policies to ensure that there is inclusion and digital transformation in Nigeria”.

“Nigeria is a recipient of DAP’s support aimed at responsible, sustainable digital inclusion and transformation. The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) is supporting the implementation af the DAP project”, he said.

Mayokun who highlighted other facts also added that “on behalf of the FCDO, the PIC conducted multi-stakeholder consultative dialogues at the national and sub-national levels to understand the context of the digital economy in Nigeria and a multi-phased co-creation workshop (CCW) at the national level”.

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TECHDIGEST – The Federal Government has inaugurated the Digital Economy Industry Working Group (DEIWG) to serve as an action group and Public Private Dialogue (PPD) platform to be formed by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) inaugurated the group on behalf of the Federal Government during the closing ceremony of Digital Nigeria International Conference held in Abuja.

According to him, the group will be saddled with the responsibility of mapping out government initiatives and policies that are affecting the private sector pertaining to the Digital Economy  

He maintained that the group will harmonise and harness the work done by both the FMoCDE and the NESG to unlock the potentials of a fully Digital Economy and deliver benefits to the public, private and social enterprise sectors, with a view to supporting the delivery of the short, medium and long-term ministerial strategy for driving the growth of the Digital Industry in Nigeria.

The objectives of the group include; to establish a Public-Private Partnership Platform as communication link between the public and private sector to drive the Digital Economy Policies and Strategies; to create a framework for strengthening the immediate delivery of initiatives based on the 8 pillars as outlined in the Nigerian Digital Economic Policy and Strategy (2020-2030); to facilitate the creation of an Enterprise Programs Management Office (EPMO) and funding mechanism which will serve as a framework of funding for DEIWG Secretariat and to formulate, in partnership with the government, mechanisms that drive and catalyse growth and increase investments in the Digital Economy. 

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Other objectives of the group are to examine the current efforts by the Federal Government to digitally transform through policies, projects and programmes and co-create a private sector response plan; to facilitate leadership mindset that is digital-driven for shared prosperity and shared national vision and drive continuity of the policies to enhance the institutional arrangement that drives the Digital Economy and to call to action on private sector to take lead of the creation of the Nigeria Digital Economy Policy and Strategy.

Highlighting the composition of the group, the Minister noted that it comprises of the government representatives, the private sector and the academia adding that it is a model the ministry has adopted in the last three years. “We don’t formulate policies alone, we ensure that we bring together all stakeholders to work with us as part of the implementation model, we try to interact with other people from different sector, this is what we are promoting.”

Meanwhile, the minister has disclosed that he has directed National Information Technology Development Agency and Nigerian Communications Commission to come up with the National Cyber Security Research Centre in Nigeria.

Prof. Pantami noted the centre when completed would actively support the Nigerian participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“We are working every important component of the Fourth Industrial Revolution because we don’t want to be left behind. As at today, at least five African countries are part of the chase group that are chasing the developed countries and we have been displaying this in so many international events,” he added.

While decrying that African missed out in the previous three Industrial Revolutions, he expressed delight that the Fourth Industrial Revolution would usher in hope for Africa because it is a knowledge based revolution.

He said, “It is because of this we have been very proactive in Nigeria. The Nigerian Start-up Act, 2022 is to support our participation actively in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also my directive to NITDA for the renaming of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from NITDA Academy was to make us proactive in the fourth Industrial Revolution. And recently we have built the National Centre for Emerging technologies under NCC.”

The Minister also revealed that the ministry would soon present the Nigeria Data Protection Bill to the Federal Executive Council. According to the him, the bill has been forwarded to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation for review and to give go ahead for it presentation to the council.    

He said the bill will ensure confidentiality and privacy of Nigerians’ data when it comes to dealing with data and citizens’ information. He said Nigeria is one the countries to have data protection as a subsidiary law but it is now in the process of integrating the subsidiary law to a principal law. 

Earlier, the NITDA’s Director Gerenal, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE has said as the conference comes to an end, the government has reviewed the potentials availed in the country and had learned from the global community what is happening in other countries and regions and understood that all these prosperity and wealth are not evenly distributed.

He stated this on the backdrop that the 2022 Digital Nigeria International Conference has not come to end and urged the participants to continue with the momentum. “We want to keep the tempo until the end of November, when President Muhammadu Buhari will officially close the digital Nigeria 2022 ceremony.”    

While acknowledging that this year’s conference is very massive, he reiterated that there are a lot to learn from it. He noted that the government is a listening government and ready to work with the tech ecosystem  to make Nigeria the most vibrant ecosystem in the world. 

He said, “We are already leading in Africa, but if we can compete globally, why do we need to settle for Africa? We have all what it takes to be the global talent party, and we have you, the youth, you are the greatest resources of this country. When we talk about digital economy or innovation economy, your greatest resource is not what is lying underneath you, but it is what you have in your brains.”

He advised Nigerians have to understand what it takes to make wealth through innovation because it is the only way a nation can be lifted out of poverty. “We have the brain; we have the government’s political will, and government has provided the enabling environment. What left is for you to use the opportunity; to use the legal framework, to use all what government is doing to complement it.  Digital Nigeria is for all of us. Government is just one part of it and you are all critical stakeholders. And with you on board, nothing is impossible for us,” he declared.   

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TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) are exploring possible areas of collaboration to increase the contribution of telecommunications sector on Nigeria’s development.

According to Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, this was the crux of deliberations during a recent courtesy visit to the NCC by a delegation of the National Assembly Business Environment Round Table (NASSBER), a policy unit at NESG led by Nnanna Ude and a member of the technical committee of NASSBER, Yemi Keri.

The need for stakeholder collaboration and engagement between the Commission and other stakeholders in order to conduct an impact assessment and gap analysis of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, which will lead to improvement of the legal instrument and reflect new trends, especially in a post-pandemic world, was the primary focus of the visit.

The two entities also considered synergy in the area of Research and Development (R&D); while NESG has expressed its desire to have the Commission feature prominently in the forthcoming Nigeria Economic Summit (NES), an annual summit organised by the NESG, scheduled to hold in October this year.

While receiving the delegation on behalf the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, stated that the meeting was a welcome development, as it aligns with the telecom regulator’s strategic partnership and collaboration objectives.

Adinde stated that the NCA 2003 is a robust regulatory instrument, which has given the NCC the mandate to regulate the telecom sector effectively, as seen in the contribution to the overall economic development of the country.

He stated further that, by virtue of Section 70 of the NCA 2003, the Commission has developed various regulations and issued guidelines that have helped in addressing critical issues pertaining to its regulatory activities.

Other senior management staff of the Commission, including the Director, Licensing & Authorisation, Muhammed Babajika; Director, Technical Standards & Network Integrity, Bako Wakil and representatives of the departments of Legal & Regulatory Services; Policy Competition & Economic Analysis; and Financial Services of the Commission, took turns to talk about the activities of the Commission in implementing its regulatory mandate for the benefit of the country.

Mr Babajika spoke on the licensing regime of the Commission and its impact on innovation in the economy, while Engr Wakil spoke about NCC’s regulatory efforts and collaborations with various stakeholders, such as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) towards addressing challenges to quality of service (QoS) in telecom industry.

The impact of these challenges such as multiple taxation and regulations, fibre cuts, vandalism, high cost of Right of Way (RoW), theft of telecoms facilities and the need for the passage of the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Bill into law.

Speaking earlier on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of NESG, Laoye Jaiyeola; Ude acknowledged the critical role NCC is playing in the provision of essential digital support for the Nigerian economy. He noted that, in 20 years of telecoms liberalisation, the Commission has been contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Ude explained that the visit was part of the efforts of the NESG to strengthen collaboration with key institutions of government such as the NCC. He extolled the role of the Commission in driving telecommunications sector growth through efficient and result-oriented regulations, noting that the impact of the regulations are evident in industry performance indicators which have shown upward trajectory over the recent years.

“The NCC is key to the digital transformation agenda of the government and we can see the footprints of the readiness of the country on that journey, in terms of the level of broadband penetration, internet subscription, teledensity and other critical indicators,” he said.

Meanwhile, Adinde stated that the Commission was excited by the prospects of partnering with NESG and NASSBER, noting that such partnership will further enhance telecoms contribution to Nigeria’s socio-economic growth. He added that “all the issues discussed will be articulated in a memorandum, which will be submitted to Management for consideration.”

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