The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is to partner with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) towards investing in Start-ups to create more jobs and wealth in Nigeria.
This hint was given when the Director-General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, accompanied by his management team paid a courtesy visit to the NSIA management where the two Federal agencies discussed areas of collaboration that will culminate in the provision of digital infrastructure to boost digital economy policy of the Federal Government.
During the visit, Abdullahi stated that Information and Communications Technology has already taken over world’s economies; hence there is need for massive investment that will bring IT infrastructural development to the country.
He emphasised the importance of stimulating the IT industry through content localization, rather than importation from other countries especially against the backdrop that the large population of Nigeria consists of young and brilliant innovators.
The DG noted that his team chose to visit NSIA for partnership particularly in the areas of investment on local content development.
“At NITDA, we have initiated a number of projects during lockdown that will go along the pandemic; COVID-19 Innovation Challenge is one of them. Young innovators were converged and came up with technology solution that cushioned the effect of the COVID-19.
“Furthermore, our National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), an initiative to digitise our farming processes is yielding a positive result. We have trained and equipped over 140 Nigerians who are already benefiting from the scheme. We are currently working to escalate it to every part of the country. If we work collectively, we can achieve a lot,” he said.
On his part, the Managing Director of NSIA, Mr Uche Orji, thanked the DG of NITDA for finding time to visit him particularly to discuss areas of partnership and collaboration.
He described the visit as historic, noting that the two agencies will work hand in hand towards developing economic activities in the country, especially now that ICT is contributing huge figures to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Our mission is to play a leading role in driving sustained economic development for the benefit of all Nigerians. We want to create economic stability in the country and IT is a great way to achieve that,” he said.
