This initiative focuses on revolutionizing the way young Nigerians engage with technology, equipping students with the necessary skills to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE made this known when he hosted a delegation from the Head-to-Head Debate Committee of FCT UBEB led by its Ag. Executive Chairman, Dr Alhassan Sule, at the Agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja to discuss possible areas of collaboration.

Inuwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of the Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions (ITIS) department, Mr Oladejo Olawumi, stated that the collaboration aligns with a pillar of NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0) 2024-2027 which is to Foster Digital Literacy and Cultivate Talents.

While stating that the pillar is key to the proposed educational board’s debate competition, the DG emphasized the importance of integrating technology into education to capture the interest and potential of young people.

“Children today, often referred to as digital natives, intuitively use technology and unlike us, who are digital migrants, these children seamlessly adapt to new gadgets and platforms. Therefore, it is essential to embed digital knowledge in their learning environment,” he noted.

He disclosed that the agency has been providing infrastructure and resources to facilitate educational transformation as well as digital learning centres across all states of the country.

He added that the Digital Literacy for All programme is a national initiative of the agency which is designed to extend digital education resources to all corners of the country. 

He urged the visitors to key into the programme while he asserted that it would be instrumental in enhancing digital literacy skills among students and out-of-school children alike.

Highlighting the agency’s focus on emerging technologies, Inuwa stated that extensive research and development are being conducted in areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics which are pivotal for future skill sets.

While referring to a recent collaboration between the agency and the Abuja Enterprise Agency on a Robotics competition organised for secondary schools in Abuja to spur interest in Robotics and technology among students, he said “I think we can work together in this area and make sure that Robotics interest is geared up among the youth.”

Elaborating on the Agency’s ongoing initiatives toward achieving 70% digital literacy in the country by 2027, he further disclosed that the agency is working to integrate digital literacy into the national educational curriculum and providing hands-on experience with technologies like AI and Robotics.

While stressing the importance of addressing the needs of out-of-school children, he mentioned “We are developing programmes in partnership with various stakeholders to attract these children through incentives like school feeding, coupled with digital literacy and other educational training.”

Inuwa noted that the multifaceted approach will ensure that children are not only fed but also equipped with essential digital skills that will pave the way for a more inclusive and technologically proficient future.

In his earlier remark, Dr Sule commended the agency for their various strategic initiatives to ensure a sustainable digitally transformed economy in the country.

While stating that the head-to-head committee is saddled with the responsibility of conducting the FCT Basic Schools debate competition, he noted that 900 students in the FCT will contest in a debate.

He said that finalists from the competition will be moved to a reality house which will be aired live on different media platforms where they will be trained on AI and Robotics.

According to him, this is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to create millions of jobs by leveraging digital technologies and achieving a digital literacy rate of 70% by 2027.

Inuwa made these remarks during a meeting with the management team of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), led by its Executive Secretary, Professor Ismail Junaidu, at NITDA’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja.

He stated that digital technology has an important role to play in the design of the curriculum, content and processes due to evolution of technology. This disruptive technology has substituted the way of doing things worldwide of which Nigeria as a country is not to be left behind.

“We must lead in developing a competency-based, outcome-focused curriculum that addresses the demands of the 21st century. This will enable us to produce a skilled workforce capable of meeting the needs of the Nigerian market and attracting investment from other countries.  Integrating digital skills into the curriculum is crucial for national development and economic growth,” Inuwa stated.

He further asserted that government policies and objectives, especially those that relate to sustainable development, 21st century skills, digital economy, creative arts and digital technology will create a pathway for nation-building.

Inuwa also explained that things have scaled up to meet up the new normal, like computer precision to digitalisation which is the central focus of the curriculum to provide citizens with the required knowledge and skills and digital technology for growth and development.

In his earlier remarks, the Executive Secretary of NERDC Prof. Ismail Junaidu stated that their institution is charged with the primary responsibility of curriculum development for the country at all levels and this cannot be done without the infusion of digital literacy as a critical area for the development of any country.

The ES noted that the visit was to scale up the existing relationship, partnership and engagement and to explore potential areas that both organisations will have a tie towards national development. 

Junaidu added that the institution is also responsible for undertaking and promoting book development, and local authorship for quality assurance, conducting educational research for public policy formulation and implementation and developing Nigerian languages and promoting other languages to enhance education delivery and for public use.

The Professor also commended NITDA for its significant contributions to advancing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) across Nigeria.

He praised the Agency’s efforts, which span across almost all states and highlighted the impact these initiatives have had on driving growth and development in the ICT sector.

Mr. Balogun who led other Google executives to the Agency’s Corporate Headquarters, Abuja, disclosed that the familiarisation visit to NITDA has become imperative because it would restate Google West Africa’s commitments to deepening the partnership.

He said, “I have been at Google for four years, recently now taking over the West Africa Director lead role. And our coming here today is to identify the critical steps that we need to take to jointly actualise the Nigerian President’s initiative to drive 1 million digital jobs because Google cannot thrive in isolation.” 

Mr. Balogun revealed that Google have been working on Africa Internet for over eight years. According to him, “In 2015, during our premier developer event, we announced that Google has shifted from being a mobile first company to an AI first company. So, we were quite amused with all the chat GPT conversations.”

While disclosing that Google is currently working on a document that would detail the impact of Artificial Intelligence in Africa which will be launched in University of Johannesburg, South Africa in September, the Director is inviting the NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, to deliver keynote address at the event. 

In his remarks, the NITDA boss maintained that he believes that they can create I million digital jobs if they work together to craft a strategy on how to achieve the target. 

According to Inuwa, NITDA is positioning Nigeria for accelerated job creation in a digital economy. Saying, “We are looking at the Nigeria Startup Act, which identifies some initiatives such as the talent development that can enable job creation. Nigeria can position itself to bridge the gap because we have youthful population,” he said.

He noted that the government’s responsibility in the ecosystem is to intervene in terms of policies, regulations, and infrastructure where needed, the objectives of any regulation are to help create market, democratize access to services, protect consumers, enhance service delivery, and enable innovation. 

“Basically, Regulation can be rule based and non-rule based. Non-rule based is what we advocated for. To allow the ecosystem players to self-regulate themselves, put the standard in place, and we can help to ensure new entrance comply to that standard because what we are after is to have a responsible and ethical views of platforms around the world,” he said.

Inuwa further disclosed that NITDA is changing people’s mindset about the perspective on government approach to regulation and policy, adding that the Agency is co-creating with the ecosystem in anything it does. 

He maintained that Nigeria could position itself to bridge the gap in digital transformation because it has a youthful population. “In 2018, digitally transformed enterprise contributed 18.5% global GDP. It was projected to reach 53.3% this year, that is over 50% of the global GDP. The generative AI is going to add about 7 trillion US dollars,” he said.

While acknowledging that NITDA’s partnership with Google Developers Group has resulted in the training of 150,000 youths in Nigeria, Inuwa noted that, “Presently we have an initiative running here in Abuja at our National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), and we want to expand same programme to other states in collaboration with the GDG as well. We are looking at how we can build technology development zones in partnership with universities to promote smart manufacturing.” 

“Similarly, we are also looking at how to establish the seed investment fund to all the startups to attract investment. Last year, over 626 billion was invested but only 3.5% came to Africa and if you look at our population, we can do more than that; these are some of the ideas we need the stakeholders like you to come work with us on,” he concluded.

This disclosure was made known by the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, when he received the Deputy Commandant and Director of Studies of the National Institute of Security Studies, Mr. DE Egbeji fsi fdi, the management staff of the Institute’s Faculty of Studies as well as the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 16 participants at the corporate headquarters of the Agency.

Appreciating the representatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offenses Commission (ICPC), Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Chadian Armed Forces and various other organizations at the 16th edition of the training course, the NITDA DG said that their participation is a reflection of their various commitments to the development of the country.

Describing the theme of the event, ‘Globalization: Implication for Regional Integration and Sustainable Development’ as apt and timely, Inuwa posited that regional integration is a major driving force in the process of globalization with technology as a catalyst.

“Globalization is a process of integrating economies, societies and cultures through the world wide web and through technology in general. Technology is becoming increasingly integrated with everything around us becoming technology and thereby facilitating globalization”, he stated.

While emphasizing the impact of technology on regional integration to globalization and consequently, sustainable development, the NITDA boss stated that technology has helped countries increase the exchange of goods and services globally, thereby enhancing foreign direct investments.

“Wherever you are, you can start your own business locally and with technology, it can help you grow exponentially and also take your product and services to global markets”, he proclaimed.

Admonishing the participants to embrace, adopt and deploy the use of emerging technologies in their various organizational processes, Inuwa stated that utilizing emerging technologies in operational processes increases efficiency as well as productivity and therefore urged them to make the best use of it because the benefits are enormous.

While giving more insight into the training’s theme, Inuwa asserted that in sustaining development in any society. technology is critical because it would bring a convergence between the physical, digital and biological worlds by harmonizing all resources to achieve a desired goal.

Buttressing his point further with practical illustrations of the numerous positive impact that technology has had on humanity, the first Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert in Nigerian public service averred that using technology to improve farm produce has curbed global food insecurity, use of surveillance cameras, social network analysis, deployment of drones have been used to fight insecurity and the enhancement of education, construction, health sectors with technology just to mention a few.

He further disclosed that research is ongoing globally where farm products can be produced from vertical and soil-less farming, where cultured meat can be produced from animal stem cells and where 3D printing technology can be used to produce bioartificial organs for the body.

Inuwa stated that the Agency’s National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) had been doing a lot of research on the advancement of technology in the country while the Agency has been collaborating with various institutions and organizations in the country with the purpose of providing security and diversifying the nation’s economy.

While expressing his belief that the training course would have a great impact on the country, he encouraged the participants to propagate knowledge gained to their various organizations so that the country can create and capture value from emerging technology for its socio-economic development.

Earlier, Mr. Egbeji appreciated the DG and his management team for the warm reception and for the agency’s enviable unprecedented achievements over the years.

Stating that the institute is a high-level manpower training institute, he sought further collaborations with the Agency in achieving their mutual statutory objectives and that of the country as a whole.

“Essentially, the course is a form of synergy to accommodate officials from different agencies of government and interact. And globalization is about technology which is why we are here to hear from your wealth of experience in terms of technology”, he stated.

The program is aimed at developing and retaining Creative Technology Talents in Nigeria for promoting career skills and providing job opportunities among the beneficiaries.

“The goal of the program is to enable, nurture and upskill creative technology talents in persons into viable career options; and create an ecosystem that will boost the economic potential of all participants,” Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, the Director General/CEO of NITDA, said.

According to him the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing digital skills gap and resulted to millions of job losses – disrupting the global landscape and leaving many with speculations on the world’s recovery mechanism, therefore this level of training is crucial.

Similarly, the President of Ascend Studios Foundation, Dr Inya Lawal, said “We are delighted that NITDA has partnered with us as our goal is to bridge the creative technology skill gap Nigeria has and produce top professionals in Gaming, Animation and Augmented Reality whose work can compete globally”.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has embarked on several initiatives to upskill and reskill Nigerians across all walks of life in line with the national agenda for a digital economy- the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS). The development of NITDA Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) is a strategic plan towards achieving the NDEPS.

In continuance to provide massive employment opportunities through digital skills, NITDA have kick started an ambitious project to train one million software developers in the country. Therefore, the NITDA- Ascend Studios Foundation, CTP will enable the participants gain new skills that will help them take their ventures to the next level, at the same time formulating a strong network for sharing ideas and each other’s experiences.

As the creative economy rapidly transforms the global economic landscape and the technology skills gap between Africa and other continents widen, technology literacy is fast-becoming a fundamental right and a springboard for Africans to engage and participate in today’s world. The need and demand for creative and digital technology skills is more pressing than ever before.

The program will find talents in Animation, Games and AR who will contribute positively to the Nigerian economy and its relation to career/business opportunities within creative technology. CTP is supported by the HOW Foundation, Africa Creative Market, Paramount Africa, Global Wissen Consult, Entertainment IP Germany and the Animation Excellence Cluster in Germany.

How to apply

To apply for the Creative Technology Program, click the link before the deadline on Friday, November 11, 2022.

The program runs from Monday, November 21 – Wednesday December 7, 2022.

The CEO, Khalil Halilu who was among the two Nigerian startups to enter the final stage of the competition at the ongoing GITEX 2022 was presented with a prize of $8000.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) who was obviously elated by the success story described the victory as a win to all Nigerians and a clarion call for investors to come and invest in Nigerian Startups.

“It shows that we are doing well, don’t forget that we have around seven unicorns in Africa, and five out of the seven originated from Nigeria”

“If you look at the competition up to Semifinals, we had nine start-ups and at the finals, we had two start-ups and now we have one winner, so it is a clear indication that we are doing well, out of 90 countries and over 800 entries; the future is certainly bright for Nigeria when it comes to digital innovation and entrepreneurship”, Pantami stressed.

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE while appraising the competition, expressed excitement at the turn out of events.

According to the DG, the solution Shap-Shap presented is going to impact not only Nigeria but the global market.

“This shows that we have people with innovative ideas that can change the world positively.”

“This is how others started like Uber and other logistics applications; In Nigeria, most of the strength we have today is in Fintech but other categories like e-Health, eduTech and Mobility, Logistics and Smart Cities are areas also we need Startups that can solve problems for our local consumption and the world in general”, Inuwa noted.

Inuwa noted that the different success stories achieved by the Nigerian team underscores the fact that the participation was indeed lucrative.

He enumerated the highlights of Nigeria’s participation to include the signing of MoU with Microsoft to train 5 Million Nigerians on digital skills, Startups closing deals worth more than $10 million and a startup, Shap-Shap emerging the global winner in the tech competition.

The winner who lacked words to expressed his joy was thankful for the prize and promised to deploy the money judiciously.

Halilu also thanked the Federal Government for always supporting Startups and encourage relevant authorities both in private and public sectors to build Nigerian Startup to come up with innovations that will turn the world’s attention to Nigeria for solutions. 

Receiving the award on behalf of the Agency, the Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE registered NITDA’s appreciation to the Organizers and the Centre for the award.

The award presentation was preceded by a panel discussion where the Director-General and his Ethiopian counterpart from the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Selamyhun Adefris Haile deliberated on the topics: “What is the attraction of the startup ecosystem in Africa and What are the government’s Strategies?” (Startup act, Participating at GITEX).

Inuwa who seized the opportunity to speak on ongoing efforts by the Federal Government in strengthening the tech ecosystem said a lot of innovations are coming out of Africa where Nigeria owns the largest market.

According to him, there are about fifteen major sectors where Nigerian startups play key roles and are solving some challenges therein with their indigenous solutions which have global impact.

“Fintech tops the list because financial inclusion is critical to the economy and it is closely followed by e-Health, eduTech, Logistics and Mobility etc”.

“In Nigeria, more than thirty-six percent of the Startups are in Fintech sub-sector which explains why Fintech is thriving as they are creating hundreds and thousands of jobs”, Inuwa noted.

The Director-General stressed the fact Nigeria, as at early this year, had five unicorns out of the seven in Africa, adding that about three additional unicorns might be recorded anytime soon.

“That means before the end of this year, we are hoping to have between eight to nine unicorns in Nigeria. Some of them have huge capital base; Infact, one of them has more than $3.5B valuation which is a Fintech with valuation almost twice as the biggest bank in the country”, Inuwa affirmed.

Inuwa indicated that the government is trying to give a leveled playing field to all startups by creating an enabling environment for them.

“As a government, we have a foundational policy to help the Start-up which is called: National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria and my Agency, NITDA which is one of the Agencies responsible for implementing the policy crafted our own Strategy Roadmap and Action Plan which has seven strategic pillars; all of these policies are geared towards creating a workable environment for our Startups”, Inuwa explained.

The NITDA Boss who avowed that the Agency adopts a developmental regulation approach in order to co-create with the tech ecosystem, assured the audience that the Start-up Bill once assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari will greatly help in addressing the myriad of challenges plaguing the sector.

He expressed optimism that Nigeria will be at the forefront of bridging the global talent gap.

“If Africa, Nigeria in particular positions itself well, we can bridge that talent gap; the talent industry is projected to create about $8.5 Trillion revenue by 2030, so any country that positions itself to bridge that gap will be among the top economies in the world”, the DG maintained.

Inuwa said this at the Digital Finance Summit, a sideline event of the ongoing GITEX 2022.

While noting that 2021 was a record year for tech startups in Nigeria as more than 35 percent of direct investments to Africa came to Nigeria, the Director-General added that the achievement was not by publicity but by structural design.

“In 2019, the President redesignated and expanded our ministry to cover digital economy and the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami formulated the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a digital Nigeria; so, that set the stage for the tech ecosystem in Nigeria“, Inuwa noted.

According to Inuwa, the FinTech has helped move so many people out of poverty.

“Between 2017 to 2019, we have seen in Nigeria where farmers access money from the government and also, during the COVID-19, a lot of people could not access the released funds and when you deliver it using cash, it costs much”.

“The start-ups are doing fantastically well, but also the government needs to level the playing field for them to plan better“, the DG remarked.

He went further to stress that  government needs to work with the United Nations, World Bank ,and others to see how they can help build the infrastructures for the Fintech in order to reach the unreachable to be connected.

Moreso, the NITDA Boss told the audience that the Start-up Bill which has been passed by the National Assembly and awaiting Presidential assent will address almost, if not all the challenges plaguing the tech ecosystem.

Responding to questions regarding Nigeria’s efforts to entrench the Environmental, Social and Governance ESG, Inuwa explained that the Federal Government has been working assiduously towards creating a conducive environment for startups to thrive, as the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy formulated several policies to help drive the digital economy.

“The policies are Startups ecosystem friendly, when we talk about digital economy, we need three keys to drive it which include Digital Identity, Payment System, and Connectivity.”

“We have other policies is tailored towards the bigger picture, like the National Broadband Plan, Digital Identity Policy, and the National Financial Policy which drives the financial inclusion in the country”, Inuwa maintained.

He avowed that the Agency’s developmental regulation is to safeguard the providers as much as consumers.

“Without the enabling environment, the ESG alone can not help them because the ESG sometimes, we see it as self-centric because as a provider when you come up with any self regulation or ESG, you do it in a way that would enable you to excel.”

“The government looks at technology beyond seeing just a capitalist or a consumer, we work with the ecosystem in a way that gives them opportunity to develop new indigenous solutions that have global impact,” the DG added.

Inuwa said this while playing host on the Nigeria Digital ID4D Project Team at the Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

He highlighted Broadband Penetration, and Digital Identity amongst critical areas to the attainment of Digital Economy. Adding that to achieve a positive outcome in regard to the Digital Economy, there is a need for connectivity, and identifying who consumes or provides the services and also you should be able to pay for the services.

Inuwa informed the Team that NITDA’s mandate of Developmental Regulation is in line with what ID4D is actually working on, and pledged them the Agency’s unalloyed support.

He acknowledged that collaboration between NITDA and ID4D as well as other relevant partners will always be welcomed with an open arm.

Inuwa reiterated that government cannot do it alone, thereby urging ID4D to help in whatever way they can for Nigeria to get this Digital Identity and implement policies and mandates.

“Anything that has to do with identity, we need it to implement our mandate. Identity is key to Digital Economy. We believe we need each other to succeed, our mandates are interwoven, we need ID to succeed, and you also need us for the ID to be used in Digital Economy”, the DG said.

Inuwa also lauded what ID4D is doing, particularly in areas of Developmental Regulation, according to him, it will make an impact on what NITDA is doing, adding that: “These Laws you are trying to help the government agencies to review, will equally help us.”

While expressing confidence that the Nigerian Digital space will soon compete with its peers globally, Inuwa “IT is dynamic, that is the reason why we are reenacting our own Bill that was passed in 2007; a lot of vocabularies are obsolete and things have changed, without that enactment, it will be difficult for us to deliver.”

“We need to have a robust Law, because technology is growing and becoming dynamic, having a fixed law will be difficult to deliver, when the Technology evolves, the Law should be able to stretch and cover it.”

He also expressed concern about regulating the digital space, which he described as an ungoverned space that needs to be regulated in the best way – a major challenge faced globally.

“The right regulation does not exist, we need to co-create it, because it is not something that you can learn from the previous generation, due to its non-existence during their time, it’s our collaboration that will bring the desired changes in developing the nations IT sector,” he noted.

Earlier in his address, the Coordinator Nigeria Digital ID4D Project, Musa Odole Solomon, appreciated NITDA’s stride in sanitising the Nigerian digital space.

“Since its establishment, NITDA has proven to be one of the Federal government institutions contributing immensely to the Nigerian Economy through its various relevant regulations, monitoring, evaluation and verification in fostering the development and growth of the Information Technology sector in the country.”

Solomon said the ID4D Project’s objective is to increase the number of persons with a National Identity Number (NIN), and issue a robust and inclusive foundational Identity system that facilitates their access to services.

He added that “the project is designed following an ecosystem model, and not limited to any single organization. It involves different Agencies of government, private sector and civil society. The project had since identified NITDA as an important ecosystem implementing partner.”

The Nigeria Digital ID4D is a five-year project, jointly funded by the World Bank, European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency.

He made the pledge during a dinner meeting with some key stakeholders of Lagos Ecosystem, including representatives from Microsoft, MasterCard, Norebase, among others.

Inuwa while suing for trust, and strengthening the value chain deliberated on the best way to accelerate growth and support startups in the country, said “there are lots of distrust within the government and the ecosystem, so much that the only way to engender trust between the two entities is to have this conversation”.

The Director-General assured the group of his unrelenting support to the startup ecosystem which he maintained would be his return base upon retirement from government service, emphasised the need for collaborations across the board to achieve a faster and more sustainable digital economy.

“We cannot succeed in isolation; we need each other to succeed. Innovation is not distributed evenly across the world. Innovation and the digital economy are about humans”.

“A company is as good as its next product and its products are as good as the person or people who make them. This underscores the relevance of talents. If you don’t have the requisite skills and talents, then it is no deal”, he added.

The DG seized the opportunity to share his thoughts on different issues bordering on investments, partnerships, commercialisation of innovations, enabling policies and acquisition of relevant skills as well as training.

“At NITDA, we are reenacting our act and laws to make it more robust so that we protect the ecosystem”, Inuwa stated.

The NITDA Boss whose friendly body language gave the forum some sort of a relaxed atmosphere was keen on listening to their opinions and suggestions on how to get the ecosystem to perform much better.

“The sector we are in is dynamic and we must move with its pace, so we don’t play catch-ups or get left far behind. We must disrupt the way we do things and bring to bear professionalism, innovations that will solve indigenous problems but have global impact”, the DG urged.

While taking turns to share their ideas and challenges, some of the representatives touched on diverse areas of concern and specialisations, including soliciting for government support in the development of hardware space, funding, talents, procurements, local content enforcement, mitigating gateways, policy timings and changes, data protection and management, digital skills framework, standardisation and others.

Reacting to their comments and questions, the Director-General extensively explained the efforts of NITDA under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and by extension, the Federal Government in addressing most of the issues deliberated.

The Start-up Bill was also on the front burner of his response as the DG quickly reminded them that most of the concerns raised would soon be rested, given the recent passage of the Bill into law by the National Assembly.

He assured the startups of a speedy and effective implementation of the bill to deal with the bottlenecks experienced and in the process, fast-track the anticipated growth of the ecosystem.

Moreso, Inuwa highlighted the Code of Practice for Interactive Platforms as another document that is expected to engender appropriate monitoring to enforce compliance to established regulations guiding the sector, while seeking their contribution to the document.

“We need to decide what and what are the right regulations so that every startup and industry player would have a Code of Practice that works for everyone and is adhered to the latter. Also, I think we need to form a union for Startup Ecosystem”, Inuwa added.

The engagement with the Lagos ecosystem ended with a resolve by all parties to forge ahead against all odds but not just as an ecosystem but a more united and prepared for future tasks.

The meeting was part of NITDA’s stride towards making Nigeria a talent hub for Africa and possibly the digital world, especially as there are several reports indicating a global talent shortage.