National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is to partner with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) towards generating investment in Information Communication Technology (ICT), start-ups, to create jobs and wealth in the country.
NITDA Director-General, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said this on Thursday, in Abuja when he paid a courtesy visit on Mr Uche Orji, the Managing Director of NSIA.
Inuwa noted that ICT was taking over world economies, hence the need for massive investment that would result in IT infrastructure development in the country.
“It is important to stimulate the IT industry through content localisation rather than importation from other countries, considering especially that the large population of Nigeria consists of young and brilliant innovators”.
The director general added that the agency initiated some projects to ensure valuable investments and sustain the ICT ecosystem during the COVID-19 lockdown in the country.
Inuwa said such projects included the COVID-19 Innovation Challenge and the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA).
“For the innovation challenge, young innovators were converged and they came up with technology solutions to cushion the effect of COVID-19. NAVSA is an initiative to digitise our farming processes and it is already yielding positive result. We have trained and equipped over 140 Nigerians who are already benefiting from the scheme and we are currently working to escalate it to every part of the country. If we work collectively, we can achieve a lot”.
Responding, Orji said the collaboration would benefit the country in terms of developing its economy, especially now that ICT is contributing significantly to the 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”.
