The determination to build a new Africa by repositioning Nigeria, the most populous nation in the continent, via Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technology, is being reinforced yet again.
Speaking at the virtual Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition 2021, Tuesday, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, expressed confidence that Nigeria will lead Africa in its economic diversification.
“Africa, particularly Nigeria, with a growing population and dwindling revenue from oil, have put significant pressure on the economy. There is a need to harness other areas to diversify our economy. Emerging technology is one of these areas, and will play an important role in economic diversification if properly harnessed,” he said.
Abdullahi, who was delivering a goodwill message at the conference themed ‘Building a New Africa with AI & Blockchain,’ stated that digital technologies are changing the world at a faster pace than previously experienced waves of technological innovations.
He further clamoured for Nigeria, to accelerate growth and modernize its economy through the development of a digital-led growth strategy for the Nigerian economy. “It is pertinent to note that despite the economic shocks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the growth was observed in the economies with viable digital economies,’’ he said.
“Digital economy has been identified as an engine of growth; hence Nigeria can harness it as a driver of growth and innovation,” advised Mallam Abdullahi.
The NITDA boss affirmed that the WBG Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) flagship initiative supports the digital transformation strategy for Africa, prepared by the African Union (AU), the DE4A initiative also recognizes that digital economy can help to accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the World Bank Group’s twin goals.
He recounted that recently, a call to action was made with the unveiling of the “Economic Sustainability Plan 2020” which seeks to put technology at the forefront of driving development in Nigeria. “This conference is a meeting point for professionals, practitioners, and policymakers to brainstorm on the best ways of harnessing these technologies to the advantage of the citizenry.
“For Nigeria, a country in dire need to diversify its economy, digital economic activities are keys for diversification because they transcend all aspects of human endeavours and the economic sector,” said the NITDA DG.
He asserted that at NITDA, the development and utilization of emerging technologies is one of the strategic pillars for the 2021 -2024 Roadmap and Action Plan, adding that to drive this pillar, is the combined effort of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and Office for Nigeria Digital Innovation (ONDI) both subsidiaries of NITDA.
“We are already collaborating and will always be willing to partner with stakeholders and researchers to bring AI, Blockchain, and other emerging technologies to support our economic diversification and sustainability plan for the country,” the DG assured.
He reiterated that the focus on the economic advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging emerging technologies, specifically AI, Blockchain, IoT, and 5G is highly commendable, apt and timely.
Abdullahi urged stakeholders present at the event to make necessary partnerships and collaborations towards making Nigeria a leading knowledge and digital economy by 2030.
He commended Digital Africa, organisers of the conference for their commitment to the cause of building a digital economy for Africa.
