We are strengthening digital ecosystem in Nigeria - DG NITDA
The Director-general of National Information Technology Development AGENCY,(NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, has that said the Agency is implementing key policies to harness and strengthen the Nigeria Digital Ecosystem.
He made this known at the webinar session organized by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Service Companies in India (NASSCOM).
Abdullahi noted that the collaboration is an amazing opportunity for creating a viable ICT Market and Digital
Economy in both Nigeria and India, as he spoke on the theme; ‘Nigeria India Partnership towards a Structured ICT Market and Digital Economy’.
“We hugely invest in four areas to strengthen our tech innovation ecosystem; these are:
Human Capital Development, Infrastructure, Demand Creation and Funding for Startups”, he disclosed.
He further corroborated his claims by stating that Lagos alone has more than 400 startups valued at over $2billion.
“At NITDA we focus on creating a market for the digital economy through implementing groundbreaking initiatives to create an innovation ecosystem and entrepreneurial capacity in our country,” he said.
This, according to the NITDA boss, is in line with the Presidential mandate given to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
He also stated that Nigeria is leading in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the technology sector, and this he attributed to the nation’s population and volume of usage.
“We have the largest young population, internet users, and mobile subscriptions, and we are second-highest tech-startup density on the continent,” he added.
The DG explained further that with Nigeria’s population both countries have promising potentials to create and capture value in the digital economy.
He argued that Nigeria is towing the same line with the Indian tech sector on this positive trajectory.
He also identified three distinctive attributes that fostered the growth of ICT in India; firstly, lowering the cost of mobile data, secondly, implementing a national identification program to provide a digital identity for all, and thirdly, embracing digital payments.
“Nigerian government is vigorously implementing similar policies to structure its ICT market and digital economy,” he added.
Abdullahi believes that Abuja is becoming an emerging tech hub and having a
viable innovation ecosystem in Abuja is critical to digital economy market creation in the city and Nigeria at large. He is optimistic that this partnership will focus on opportunities to learn from India to build a market and create prosperity for Nigerians.
The NITDA boss charged the collaborating team to ensure the partnership is geared towards enhancing Nigeria to become a digital economy. He is also confident that Nigeria has a competitive edge to compete with any country globally.
He commended the efforts of ACCI and NASSCOM for the opportunity they are opening up to Nigerians. Stating his belief that the partnership will help strengthen the digital ecosystem and create prosperity for the country.
The Director-general of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dan-azumi Mohammed Ibrahim, in his goodwill message expressed his optimism that the collaboration would enable sustainable development and also bring the level of illiteracy to its barest minimum in the country.
Arecent assessment of Nigeria’s performance on Human Capital Development (HCD) shows that 12 percent of Nigerian children do not survive up to 5 years due to poor investment in health care, education among others.
The assessment which was conducted by the World Bank shows that Nigeria recorded a Human Capital Index (HCI) score of 0.36 point in 2020. Health experts and Stakeholders, while expressing concerns, said the score means that only 88 children out of 100 born in Nigeria survive to up to 5 years.
HCI is a measure of how much human capital a child born today expects to acquire by age 18, while HCD is the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate throughout their lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society.
Gafar Alawode, program director, Development Governance International (DGI) Consult while analysing Nigeria’s HCI performance, said the score of 0.36 also means that a child born in Nigeria today will be 36 percent as productive compared to if they enjoyed complete education and full health.
He said this at a one day media Orientation Parley with the theme “Catalyzing the Media as Partners for Human Capital Development in Nigeria” organized by Human Capital Development Network ( HCDN) in collaboration with the Lafiya programme recently in Abuja.
Alawode, explained that though the country’s score improved by 0.02 compared to 2018 when the country rated 152 out of 157 with HCI score of 0.34, its performance was still abysmal and worrisome.
He noted that some poorer countries in the sub-saharan Africa performed better than Nigeria, despite its vast natural resources stressing that advancing HCD requires investing in people through nutrition, health care, quality education, jobs and skills.
To this end, the HCDN in a statement issued at the end of the media parley called on government to as a matter of urgency and national importance, increase investments across the health and education sectors evidenced by timely release of budgetary allocations, full release and cash backing of appropriated sums and effective utilization of such funds.
The statement was signed by Gafar Alawode of DGI Consult; Juliana Aribo-abude, Legislative Advocacy Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL); and Aanu Rotimi, Centre for Accountability and Inclusive Development (CAAID), the conveners of the Network.
The Network also wants the federal government through the Human Capital Development Core Working Group under the National Economic Council to fast track the process of engagement with the tiers of government to further engender HCD as a development policy objective.
HCDN also called on government at all levels should see the current security challenge ravaging all parts of the country as a consequence of under-investment in the human capital of the citizenry and therefore consider HCD investment as a potent intervention towards accelerated growth, shared prosperity, enhanced productivity of the citizenry and enduring peace.
It further recommended that the government should ensure greater transparency and accountability in social investment especially for health and education expenditures; foster citizen participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of HCD interventions to enhance ownership of such interventions at the grassroots.
“We call on the three arms of government at both Federal and State levels to engender HCD as policy objectives for national progress and deploy available resources towards design and implementation of policy thrust articulated in the Nigeria’s HCD vision document.
“The Nigeria Governors’ Forum should ensure the state Governors include HCD on their priority agenda, follow-up on implementation and encourage knowledge sharing amongst the governors”, the network urged.
HCDN is a network of development practitioners, Civil Society Organizations, and media with membership drawn from the 36 states and FCT was established to advance the cause of HCD in Nigeria through advocacy and accountability.