Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi has identified a vibrant startup ecosystem as highly critical to the future of Nigeria in addition to being vital to finding solutions to the country’s various challenges.
Abdullahi who stated this Tuesday in his opening remarks at the virtual Bridge To MassChallenge (B2MC) Nigeria Media Engagement session noted that Innovation is a prominent way of creating prosperity for all and lifting countries out of poverty.
“Considering this, NITDA and MassChallenge have partnered to catalyse and support a national startup community in Nigeria. MassChallenge is well known as a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators,” Abdullahi said.
The NITDA DG said that the Agency’s partnership with MassChallenge will focus on achieving three main objectives of firstly, promoting Nigeria as an emerging entrepreneurial hub and leader of innovation in Africa in order to support job creation and economic development.
Secondly, the partnership will foster the growth and success of Nigeria’s startup enterprises by connecting Nigerian entrepreneurs with markets, networks, and capital in the global innovation ecosystem.
The third focus of the partnership according to Abdullahi, is to facilitate key strategies to complement growing innovation initiatives within Nigeria.
“Having these objectives, it is obvious we cannot succeed in the silo. Therefore, we have identified you, the media, among six categories of stakeholders that will be fully involved in this initiative. Others include critical government agencies, academia, business entities, angel investors and venture capitals and entrepreneurs.
“Among all, you have the most critical role to play. Our startups are targeting the global market. Nigeria is a leader in the digital skills and startup ecosystem in Africa. The investments attracted by our startups confirm the position.
“Recently, Flutterwave announced new funding of $170m, and Stripe acquired Paystack for more than $200m. Other Nigerian technology companies like Interswitch have raised funding in hundreds of millions of dollars.
“This shows that you are already doing your work in projecting Nigeria as a leader in Africa. I must admit that we are fortunate to have an excellent relationship with you. We are excited by the interest you have already shown in this initiative. We received confirmation from around 80 of you to join us today, this is unprecedented, and we are most appreciative,” the NITDA DG stated.
He said that NITDA saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to do the things never thought possible and therefore, conceptualised the partnership to help Nigerian startups have a breakthrough during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
“The initiative is designed to identify and accelerate top startups based in Nigeria and grow their businesses to serve the Nigerian and global markets,” he said.
Recall that as part of its 20th-anniversary celebration, the DG presented NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024 crafted in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a digital Nigeria.
Abdullahi said the NDEPS which was developed with the vision of transforming Nigeria into a leading digital economy, providing quality life and digital economies for all has been properly aligned with the SRAP seven strategic pillars.
“These pillars are developmental regulation, digital literacy and skills, digital transformation, digital innovation & entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, emerging technologies and promotion of indigenous content,” he said.
Abdullahi further stated that “as part of NITDA’s achievements for the past 20 years, we have, through our various initiatives, touched the lives of more than 2.5 million Nigerians. The Agency has also contributed to Nigeria’s exit from the recent recession.
“Most importantly, our innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives have attracted more foreign investments into the country’s digital economy. We have also created new economic industries such as software, business process outsourcing and data protection, contributing to our national economy significantly.”