The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE has predicted that the Nigeria’s digital transformation future would be “brighter and also offers hope of being prosperous.”

The NITDA’s boss expressed this optimism in Lagos while delivering his keynote address titled “Implementing a National Digital Transformation Agenda” at the ongoing Global Tech Africa 2023 with the theme “Facilitating Investments in Africa’s Digital Economy.

The conference which provides platform to bring together African and international stakeholders in technology to unlock growth opportunities for all, and build the tech ecosystem in Africa was put together by Ascend Studio Foundation and in partnership with NITDA, the U.S. Consulate, Venture Garden Group, Business Sweden, and RivExcel Health.

Inuwa disclosed that Nigeria’s greatest resource to which he hinges his prediction on, is Nigeria’s abundant human capital which remains her greatest resource. He noted that many global reports have predicted that there would be global talent crunch by 2030 that could affect the future of work but which Nigeria can explore to reimagining herself to become global talent factory.

He said, “It is evident that Nigeria is not just positioned to be the global talent factory, but we are also set for investment and global collaboration because all developed countries will suffer from that deficit, including the United States of America. But Nigeria, we have one of the youngest populations in the world.

“We have the largest population in Africa; the largest economy; we have the market, and we have the youth, and we have natural talent. So, if we position ourselves, we can bridge that global talent deficit, and we can benefit from the 8.5 trillion USD digital transformation global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.

According to Inuwa, Nigeria’s focus is beyond digital economy but the attainment of national digital transformation because of pervasive nature of digital technology and its capacity to transform any industry power by digital technology.

He emphasised that for the nation to benefit from this, “we need to position ourselves and design the economy to reap the benefit of digital transformation.”

He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has mandated the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to accelerate the nation’s economy by diversifying it in a way that would enhance productivity across all sector through digital innovation.

“Our mandate is not just about digital economy but transformation of the digital space and how we can empower and enhance productivity across all sector,” he noted.

While emphasising the implementation strategy approach Nigeria has adopted to drive its digital transformation agenda, the NITDA boss said, the approach are in three fronts; “firstly, reimagining ourselves in the global economy, secondly, embrace and creation of values for our ecosystem because no one succeeds in isolation and lastly, improve connectivity.

He noted further that, with the new Minister’s five priority areas as contained in a document tagged “Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency, A Strategic Plan for the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy,” the nation’s Strategic Agenda 2023-2027 to digital transformation would now be anchored on Knowledge; Policy; Infrastructure; Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Capital, and Trade.

In his remarks at the conference, the United State Consular General, Mr. Will Stephen expressed that Nigeria’s strive to digital transformation is commendable and assured that with such gusto the nation is exhibiting, her digital transformation would soon blossom.

While commending Nigeria for various partnership and collaboration it has forged with some American big tech companies, Mr. Stephen sued for continuous collaboration.

He promised that America would ensure continuous collaboration with Nigeria in promoting her digital transformation agenda.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Executive Trustee of Future Map Foundation, the convener of the Global Tech Africa, Mr. Ahmad Shuaibu who was represented by Mrs. Farida Yahya disclosed that Africa would play pivotal roles in shaping the “unprecedented technological revolution” the world is currently witnessing.

According to her, the continent’s young and vibrant population with her rich natural resources and growing entrepreneurial spirit, provide a solid foundation for the technological innovation.

She noted that the Global Technology Africa Summit 2023 would serve as a powerful platform to showcase Africa’s technological prowess and connect innovators with investors, partners, and mentors.

“This gathering of minds will undoubtedly spark new ideas, collaborations, and opportunities, propelling Africa’s technological journey to new heights, she opined.

The highlight of the day one of the conference was the signing of partnership agreement for the Startup Support and Engagement Portal between NITDA and Venture Group Garden, VGG.

The NITDA’s Director General described the agreement as a “milestone and exhilarating because it would provide the Nigeria’s startups access to funding as enshrined in the Nigeria Startup Act 2022.

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TECHDIGEST – Global Tech Africa (GTA), an initiative of the Future Map Foundation designed and implemented by Ascend Studios Foundation; and in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the U.S. Consulate General, Lagos launches in Nigeria.

The Conference is designed to bring together African and international stakeholders in Tech, unlock growth opportunities, and build the tech ecosystem in Africa. Other partners include Business Sweden, Venture Garden Group, RivExcel Health, and other Tech Giants across the world.

Africa is poised to play a critical role in the global tech ecosystem, providing innovation, talent, and new market opportunities in areas such as mobile technology, e-commerce, fintech, ag-tech, and the digital economy.

The Director General of NITDA, Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi emphasizes the opportunities GTA can bring to Africa with Nigeria playing a significant role in driving the growth of the African tech ecosystem.

“Nigeria’s tech prowess ignites a flame of innovation that illuminates Africa’s path towards a prosperous digital future, fostering job creation and driving economic growth across the continent. Leveraging Nigeria’s youthful and tech-savvy population, favorable legislations, and policies, the country is well positioned to become Africa’s leading digital technology hub”

The United States has been a key partner to Nigeria in providing an enabling environment for the Tech ecosystem.

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“The U.S. Mission Nigeria will continue to promote partnerships that advance the development of Nigeria’s tech and startup ecosystem to catalyze technological progress and promote a more robust U.S.-Nigeria trade and investment relationship. Nigeria is rapidly being recognized by global tech companies as a center for tech talent and innovation and the U.S. Mission is committed to working with U.S. and Nigerian tech companies to harness this great potential.” – U.S. Consul General Will Stevens added.

A GTA Summit will take place in Lagos on the 25th of July 2023 with 300 tech stakeholders from the private, public, and development sectors. The summit will be followed by the GTA Conference in Lagos, Nigeria between the 17th and 20th of November 2023.

Speaking to the opportunities GTA will give to participants and attendees, Dr. Inya Lawal, the president of Ascend Studios Foundation and implementation partner for GTA, and Abdulsalam Umar, COO of Future Map affirm that GTA will attract support from private, public, and development sectors to explore opportunities for tech infrastructure and investment, support for start-ups, grants/seed investment as it also enables increased participation and growth of Women and Girls in the Tech Ecosystem.

The GTA conference will provide a platform for stakeholders, including investors, regulators, consumers, academia, and the general public, to engage in discussions and explore opportunities for collaboration to shape the future of Africa’s tech landscape.

The conference’s structure includes plenary sessions, breakout sessions, pitch competitions, exhibitions, sideline networking, and cocktail sessions.

Exposing the opportunities in the Nigerian Start-Up ACT and its offerings, with GTA as a meeting forum, the summit and conference will provide a platform for investors, regulators, and entrepreneurs to explore investment and global partnership opportunities.

GTA will provide a platform for consumers, enthusiasts, and the general public to engage with and learn from technology experts and practitioners – showcasing the latest technology trends in Africa and providing insights into future trends and innovations.

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TECH DIGEST – The Director General, National Information Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has urged a leading provider of innovative, data-driven solutions, Venture Garden Group, to join the Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria.

Abdullahi made this call during a visit to Vibranium Valley, the company’s headquarters in Lagos, on Friday. He added that “NITDA recently came up with Bridge the MassChallenge Nigeria initiative in order to promote Nigeria as an emerging entrepreneurial hub and leader of innovation in Africa, foster the growth and success of Nigeria’s startup enterprises by connecting its entrepreneurs with markets, networks, and capital in the global innovation ecosystem, and facilitate key strategies to complement growing innovation initiatives within Nigeria.”

Abdullahi further noted that a critical activity of the initiative is the hosting of quarterly technology innovation challenge. While working with Stakeholders, key challenges within the Nigerian economy and challenge the startups to come up with solutions for them. He therefore urged the Venture Garden Group (VGG) to come onboard the Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria initiative.

The Director General (DG) indicated that NITDA is keen on working with the tech community to develop use cases as the technology evolves so that everything can be regulated. He said the Agency has developed key regulatory instruments in this fashion. The Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), for example, was developed and perfected through close collaboration with stakeholders. This, he said, is the strategy the Agency is adopting for each of the technology innovation use cases.

Citing one of the seven pillars of NITDA’s Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024, the DG said: “The general understanding with regulation is that it does not allow or stifles innovation. This is the more reason why we in NITDA came up with Developmental Regulation.” “With this approach,” he said, “we work with stakeholders like you, develop the product, innovate then develop relevant regulatory instrument to regulate it”.

“The regulation is aimed at protecting you and your consumers because technology is about the future and there is no data about the future, the data we have is on the past and present and that is why it is hard to regulate the innovation industry,” he added.

Abdullahi outlined the seven pillars of SRAP as: Developmental Regulation, Digital Literacy and Skills, Digital Transformation, Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Cybersecurity, Emerging Technologies and Promotion of Indigenous Content.

“We have identified six key stakeholders we need to bring onboard to achieve our initiatives; Universities as they produce the human capital, talent is needed to drive the digital economy and we work with universities and corporate organizations that will absorb these talents. We also have the entrepreneurs as they need access to the talent and corporate organizations because they are selling the products to them” he said.

The DG further indicated that, “Venture capitals and funding is a challenge, having the idea without the funds and government cannot provide funds for everyone and there are people with money doing nothing, bringing them onboard to invest in these startups will help boost the nation’s economy”.

He averred that Government’s role, as an enabler, is to create the enabling environment and the Agency would want to co-create with stakeholders because NITDA does not operate alone, that is why the ecosystem is engaged.
He added that NITDA also intervenes in the area of infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities.

While responding to the DG’s demand, the Group Head, VGG, Idowu Oladiamonds, said they invest in and develop technology solutions that address inefficiencies in automation, data collection, payment and revenue assurance across multiple sectors.

Oladiamonds stated that VGG has invested in over 30 companies in various sectors including financial sector infrastructure, education, financial technology, SME-focused technology and many other initiatives.

The VGG Group Head added that foreign countries scout talents from Nigeria, offering them residential Visas and higher pay and absorb them into their countries, taking more and more talents away from Nigeria. He stated that joining the Bridge to MassChallenge initiative would be an opportunity that would benefit the Agency, companies and Nigeria’s digital economy.

“VGG is always on the hunt for talent so we hire corp members who are passionate about technology, give them time within their ability to work on real life projects and understand what it takes to deliver proper robust software solutions within six months. It is interesting that foreign companies like Microsoft do hire some of them.” the Group Head stated.

Oladiamonds said “VGG has a creative space for work and encouraged work from home idea even before the lockdown and have achieved the highest result in the organisation across all our businesses.”

The Group Head further stated that the company is filled with 22–23-year-olds, mostly those that are comfortable with the structure of work which is redefining the everyday idea of work especially in Lagos with the hectic traffic.

“The company’s message behind using containers which would be usually scrapped as office spaces is they can use the ruins of Nigeria to build the beauty of Nigeria,” he concluded.

By PRNigeria

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