It was a proud moment of excitement for the Nigerian delegation, led by Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, accompanied by Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General of NITDA, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communication Commission,  and the Engr. Tukur Muhammad Funtua, Managing Director, Nigerian Communication Satellite, that participated at the 2nd edition of the LEAP Technology Exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

According to a statement signed by Uwa Suleiman, Senior Special Assistant Media/Spokesperson to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, over 10,000 Startups submitted applications from different countries.

After rigorous scrutiny, the applicants were down to 220, and only 90 startups were selected to pitch their business ideas in the semi-final. Eight Nigerian Startups participated at the semi-final, and three reached the final stage.

RiceAfrika Technologies – is a tech-driven agric optimisation startup that deploys IoT-enabled harvester and its FARMEasy mobile app for smallholder farming communities in Africa.

RiceAfrika believes Africa can feed itself and feed the world. It emerged as the global best in ‘The Tech for Humanity Award’ category and is coming home with 150,000 dollars.

While Wicrypt is an innovative Tech startup decentralising internet globally.

The startup has a custom OS and hardware that allows users to share data with people around them and charge an affordable rate also won 150,000 dollars after he was announced as the global best in the ‘The Into New World Award’ category.

Professor Pantami leader of Nigerian delegation expressed his delight while maintaining that Nigerian Startups have all it takes to compete with their peers in the global stage.

“I am so proud of our Startups who emerged as the global best in these categories. It is quite a long journey that followed rigorous process until the end; from over 10,000 applications to the final 12, in which three Nigerians took part and two emerged winners. We are delighted that our startups are not only amazing but went through a lot of nurturing and mentorship to be the best in the world,” he noted.

The Minister stated that Nigeria is on the right track in implementing its National Digital Economy Policy and Strategies to ensure that Nigerian Startups add value to the global tech ecosystem. We are building the ecosystem and making it more conducive for nurturing innovation-driven enterprises. Our startups are creating solutions for the local market that can easily scale to the global market.

“The journey started in 2019 shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for Digital Nigeria. Now we are reaping the positive benefits of our commitment. In the space of five months, we have Nigerians that are making us proud on the global stage.

“The eight entries from Nigeria competed with over 90 Startups in the semi-finals, showcasing their innovative ideas that will transform economies and solve pertinent issues around the world. Therefore, they emerged global best. They did not only pitch to win grants but also attended various knowledge-sharing sessions, conferences and investor meetings that have exposed them to numerous ways to accelerate their products for the best market fit. The startups intracted with the world’s best mentors, angel investors and venture capitalists.”

“It is also noteworthy that eight Startups we brought to this year’s LEAP, three made it the Grand Finale, two won, and are going back home to add value to our Digital Economy. On behalf of the Nigerian government, we sincerely appreciate the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) Headquarters, Riyadh, for sponsoring our innovative startups to participate and showcase their innovations to the world”, he added.

Prof. Pantami also said that the successes of Nigerian Startups in GITEX, Dubai, United Arab Emirates in October last year, and today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is evident that the country’s innovators have accepted the challenge posed to them by the Federal Government to not stell as the African leaders but compute globally.

“The recent successes are the fruit of policies we put in place to ensure our Startups walk shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the federal government appreciates the outstanding exploits of startups in the country, which are helping to create jobs, fast-track economic development, and also winning awards and grants amounting to millions of naira,” he concluded.

This year’s LEAP brought together breackthrough innovative ideas and emerging developments in technology under one roof. A landmark technology event that galvanised public and private organisations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Five startups were crowned as category winners, and the sixth, Plastus Biotech, ascended to victory and held the LEAP 2023 Award for the best overall startup. All of this took place in front of seasoned judges, angel investors, tech experts and government stakeholders from around the world!

The six awards divided the startup entrants by size, scale, impact on society, amount of funding, years in business, and a number of employees. Judges for the competition include Ghazal Alagh, Co-founder, of Mamaearth and Judge, Shark Tank India, Baroness Karren Brady CBE, Vice Chairman of West Ham United Football Club, James Caan CBE, entrepreneur, businessman, investor, and former Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, and Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur, investor, podcaster, and current Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den.

Prof. Pantami who was represented by the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, said this at the Nigeria’s First Content Moderation and Online Safety Summit organised by the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API) with the theme “The Challenge for Content Moderation and the Opportunity to Improve Online Safety in Nigeria”, in Abuja.

Reiterating the importance of ensuring online safety for users, he referred to Joe Biden’s request to the owner of Facebook, who pleaded that Facebook should moderate misinformation on the platform, and Nancy Pelosi’s petitions to the House of Representatives requesting Facebook and Twitter to take-down videos of her ripping the SOTU speech.

The Minister mentioned the great American patriot Benjamin Franklin’s response when asked upon his emergence from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 “What form of government the United States was going to have. Franklin answered succinctly, a Republic if you can keep It”.

Pantami clarified that Franklin’s response came 70 years before the emergence of the Republican Party, which means that he was referring to the true meaning of the word “Republic”.

He elaborated that the new democratic republic is not just a new form of government but a government that needs vigilance and at times actions to protect and maintain it.

Elaborating on Republicanism, the Minister explained that it is a political ideology connected to the Roman Empire and it means an ideology that opposes having a group, holding control of unaccountable powers, that is domination over others which means a few like the Kings, Emperors, or Military dictators, this he compared to the Big Tech Executives noting that today there is a strange power dominating human.

He narrated an incident that happened in New Zealand about a facial recognition system that refused to issue a passport to Asian persons thinking that their eyes were closed.

Essentially, in a democracy, he stated, there are three key things to the development of every individual. These are, Power, Freedom, and Justice. In the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we shouldn’t allow anyone to have unaccountable power over others.

“Today, looking at the social media incident before the US election, indicated that Big Tech has more power than the Government. Users are compelled to obey the Big Tech rules because of the restrictions and sanctions in its usage. For example, if you use Twitter there is a limit of the words you can tweet,” he said.

He emphasized that in a democratic setting citizens should have representatives elected by people to write rules rather than a few, according to him “This causes challenges such as the recruitment system being gender biased, or the recognition system being racist, and so on.”

“While we need modern Software Engineers, there is also the need for Social Engineers to control our social justice. The summit, therefore, is timely and is expected to promptly lead ways to protect the ungoverned online space.”

“From the period of John Ballos declaration in 1996, which explains how he predicted a new cyber world without government, to Eric Smith’s comment that cyberspace is an ungoverned space; to 2018 when Mark Zuckerberg said that the real question is neither if there is need for regulation or not, but what is the appropriate regulation?”

He concluded that those who control the online space must therefore be held accountable. “We need to look at technology as a citizen, how it impacts our life? What the Big Techs should control, and under what conditions? Because we believe that today’s technology is central to our social, economic, and political lives.”

In his welcome remarks, the Director of Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), Barrister Kasim Sodangi, outlined the harmful ways the internet is affecting people’s lives.

He said: “We are at a crossroads due to the abuse of freedom given by the internet. In rhetoric he asked, do we regulate and clampdown? Do we educate more? What are the tools needed to educate people? How do we properly tackle misinformation and disinformation? These questions leave us to ponder because as a shared resource, the internet is meant to be enhanced and not restricted, so we are left to consider how we can effectively maximize its general usage.”

Julie Owono, the Executive Director of Internet Sans Frontiers (Internet Without Borders) and the Executive Director of Content Policy & Society Lab at Stanford University, opined that to have stability for a whole society and safety of online spaces, stakeholders must come together.

She said, “The government bodies and agencies must create laws, guidelines, and online content regulations as well as partner with private technology companies, civil society organizations, citizens, and academia.”

She emphasized that the Tech world must not act in silos, but rather in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to be really effective.

Julie stated that the need for transparency is paramount in online spaces. Making an example of Twitter suspending Donald Trump’s account due to Trump inciting street violence and unrest in the American society through his tweets. According to her, this form of regulation helps prevent insurgence and protects the safety of the citizens.

She affirmed the need for a governance model to ensure proper review and seamless taking down of harmful content on the internet.