NITDA, Nigerian Consulate in UAE Move to Boost Investment

The National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA) and the Nigeria foreign mission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through its Consulate in Dubai have identified an Investment Information Helpdesk (IIH).

The IIH is a critical resource tool that can be used to help prospective offshore investors get adequate answers to their enquiries in real-time on how to invest in and enter Nigeria’s economy, particularly the ICT sector.

While comparing notes on fast-tracking the ease of doing business in Nigeria for foreign companies through the UAE, acting Director-General of the NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olatunji,and the acting Nigeria Consul General, Dubai, UAE, Ambassador Babagana Wakil, both agreed that it was imperative to set up an IIH at the consulate in Dubai where prospective investors seeking answers on the entry requirements to doing technology related businesses in Nigeria could be quickly availed of such information directly from an equivalent IIH in NITDA, Abuja.

According to a statement, the officials agreed to engage the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and other related statutory bodies.

“Happily, most if not all of these bodies are already working as partners with the NITDA for the promotion of local content and investment opportunities for ICT in Nigeria,” Olatunji said during a recent working visit to the Consulate as part of Nigeria’s participation at the Gitex Technology Expo holding later this year in October 16- 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

“Nigeria’s participation in past Gitex expo has elicited a lot of interests and attention from prospective investors in the Middle East and Asia.