TECHDIGEST – The provision of massive employment opportunities through digital skills has informed the decision of the Federal Government through National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to embark on several initiatives aimed at upskilling and reskilling Nigerians across all walks of life in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).   

Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, Director General of NITDA who was represented by Dr Salihu Abdulkarim stated this while delivering his goodwill message at the closing ceremony of the Creative Technology Programme, Phase 1 Training that focuses on business opportunities in Nigeria. 

He said Creative Technology Programme is aimed at developing and retaining talents in Nigeria on promoting career skills and providing job opportunities among the beneficiaries with the goal of nurturing and upskilling Nigerians’ talents into viable career options; and create an ecosystem that will boost the economic potential of all participants.

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Inuwa stated that the Agency is making tremendous efforts in pursuing a robust and all-inclusive talents development agenda that will create a competitive environment for the development and production of IT goods and services in the country, adding that the program would serve as mechanism for diversifying the nation’s revenue using digital economy.  

He said, “The various capacity development programmes in our strategic plan have been designed to serve as a foundation for rapid development in all sectors, and we have built hundreds of digital capacity training centers and IT incubation Hubs across the nation to facilitate these programmes.”

Inuwa  maintained that it is very important for Nigerian to build its talent from within because the nation is endowed with abundant talents.

“We have all we need to grow and compete with some of the biggest industries in the world. The retainment of talent within Nigeria can only happen if we all agree to stay here and build what we have. We have started building an ecosystem that will accommodate more people and help the development of a thriving community for tech talents in animation, games and AR within Nigeria,” he opined.

Acknowledging the intensity of the two-weeks training, Inuwa informed the participants that their “work has just begun,” adding that bringing the participants together is very important to the growth Nigeria seeks in promoting the Africa’s narrative in content creation. 

“We see you all as creative technology ambassadors who will contribute positively to the Nigerian economy and build business opportunities within your sector. It is time to implement and we believe that you are all interested in bridging the creative technology skill gap,” he said. 

While expressing his appreciation to the organiser of the capacity building, Ascend Studios Foundation for partnering with NITDA on the “crucial project of skilling and upskilling Nigerians with the trending digital skill,” the NITDA’s boss enjoined the participants to ensure that they judiciously utilise the knowledge acquired and pledged that NITDA would continue to “support them in any best possible ways.”

30 participants were successfully trained in the first phase of the programme and they are expected to train another 3000 participants across the country. 

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TECHDIGEST – The Director General, National information technology Development agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa CCIE has reiterated the Agency’s commitment towards supporting young Nigerian innovators, according to him, the nation’s apex IT regulator will continue to maintain itself as the champion of innovation in the country.

Inuwa made the commitment during the opening ceremony of APP-LAB Fellowship Programme in collaboration with Young Innovators of Nigeria in Abuja.

Represented by Dr Salihu Abdulkareem noted that the APP-LAB Young Innovators Fellowship Program which seeks to identify, mentor and train young Nigerians for free in Emerging Technology skills and match them with industry practitioners, will surely create a platform for creating jobs in IT the Sector.

He added that the fellowship concept, if implemented properly, will produce team of developers who will become Technology Entrepreneurs for themselves and other companies in the nearest future.

“NITDA believes that our youth must be trained and given the prerequisite skills in order to participate in the knowledge economy and create wealth for themselves and the country at large,” he said.

Inuwa maintains that government cannot do it alone, and it is encouraging to see organization coming up with initiatives that help the country in bridging the digital gap.
He added that NITDA has been playing a key role in creating various initiative and programmes that support innovation driven Startups ideas.

“At NITDA, we believe innovation and entrepreneurship has become a strong catalytic force for economic growth, wealth creation, and sustainable development. We are supporting Start-ups ecosystem in Nigeria for inclusive development, the DG emphasized.

While Highlighting the NITDA iniatives, Inuwa said the Agency initiated startup voucher programme to support viable business idea for incubation in any technology hubs of their choices across Nigeria. In 2022 the Agency also launched iHatch Programme, which was designed to refine the business model of Nigerian entrepreneurs through a series of mentoring, lectures and bootcamps, and enable the creation of viable and scalable business models, hence, the creation of innovation-driven enterprise (IDEs).

The overall goal of iHatch is to establish companies, which are legally Incorporated under (CAC) by young Nigerians, produce minimum viable product (MVP) of their innovative ideas, establish connection between start-ups and investors, enable NITDA to analyze the startup ecosystem and take necessary actions to improve the ecosystem through government actions and incentives.

While taking turned to appreciate the NITDA support and support, convener of the APP-LAP and Young Innovators of Nigeria, Mr Andrew Abu, shared the challenges being faced by the young innovators.

He said one of their challenges is funding talent, nevertheless, he remains confident that at the end of the programme, fellows will come up with various futuristic solutions that will make impact in Nigeria’s quest to be one biggest digital economy nations.

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