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The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has assured Nigerians of the agency’s commitment to achieving the government’s policy of Ease of Doing Business using information technology (IT).
Abdullahi spoke during a recent visit by the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Ease of Doing Business, Dr. Jumoke Oduwale to NITDA. He said technology has paved way for many e-commerce businesses to thrive, hence creating wealth and jobs to millions of people around the globe.
According to him, NITDA has identified capacity building as one of the key pillars and strategic road map for ICT development for entrepreneurship, which is why it is widening its scope and working on a framework to ensure Nigeria turns to technology for businesses.
NITDA is trying to create new digital industries that can support Nigeria’s digital economy through training of startups business by providing incentives and intervention, train startups and give them the skills they need, said Abdullahi.
NITDA, as a government agency with core mandate of regulating and developing IT in Nigeria, is currently leveraging and harnessing the talents possessed by young Nigerians to ensure they understand and utilise it in a business aspect, he added.
The NITDA’s boss said in the last couple of years, the agency has trained Nigerian youths, men and women on computer skills and equally empowered and distributed digital working tools to the beneficiaries, for them to become self-reliant and also train their neighbours, family and friends. According to him, this is part of NITDA’s ‘Train the Trainer’ project.
His words: “We are all aware that the federal government is ready to create enabling environment for young entrepreneurs, and NITDA is in the forefront of its realisation. Next month, we are going to Lagos State, probably on 9th March, we will meet with entrepreneurs and growing tech-business to see how we can assist them with some interventions.
“At NITDA, we are working in line with the new strategy from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and we are focusing on some key strategic initiatives, one of them is Developmental Regulation to create job opportunities for Nigerians.”
NITDA is opened to collaborations and partnership with stakeholders ready to help Nigeria achieve its goals for digital economy.
Oduwale, who commended the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami for his supervisory role in engineering Nigeria’s digital economy, said she was in NITDA to brainstorm on the areas of job creation especially small scale businesses. She said her office focuses on initiating and developing key strategies to ease doing business in Nigeria.
