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The Gambian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ousman A. Bah, has described Nigeria’s tech ecosystem as progressive and is seeking for partnership.
Bah, who spoke in Abuja after a recent tour of the National Centre for Artificial intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), a special purpose vehicle of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), lauded the innovative efforts of the Nigerian startups community.
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“For the last four days I have been in Nigeria, I have been really impressed, I have lived in the United States of America for 32 years, I have done a lot of tech stuffs, manage a lot of tech people in my life but what I have seen here is phenomenal; the commitment, the drive, and the innovativeness of young Nigerians is unspeakable,” Bah told the Director General of the NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.
According to Bah, the Nigerian startup tech ecosystem is impressive while affirming that members of his team have greatly learnt a lot from the knowledge gathered, especially from the digital skills workforce of the country.
“Going back to The Gambia, we have a lot to take from here and put it into practice as well as starting our own digital transformation in The Gambia. Nonetheless, continue to do what you are doing; as your Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) said , the reward for good work is more work, so you guys have a lot of work to do and we have a lot to learn from you and I really appreciate this”, Bah noted.
He also challenged African leaders to use technology to resolve the challenges of the continent for good.
His words: “I think we Africans and as leaders, we need to encourage, empower and motivate ourselves towards taking the front seat in critical areas of the world’s economy, we can do it if we make it a collective effort. If they can do it in the west we can do it here.”
He assured the Nigerian team that plans are ongoing to have the two countries start engaging in mutually beneficial collaborations, particularly in the digital economy sector in order to encourage technology transfer and support each other to reap the benefits of emerging technologies to also grow their digital markets.
“I suggested that we do collaboration, hopefully sign an MoU and engage others in areas we can mutually benefit. I think that Will definitely be the next step,” said Bah.
The Gambian minister who was in the country to attend the just ended ‘Digital Nigeria Conference and Exhibition’ expressed awe at the quality equipment in the facility.
The NITDA boss noted that the relationship between the two countries have always been mutual and said agency was already embarking on series of projects to deepen Nigeria’s digital economy even as he expressed optimism that the new startup law will position Nigeria close the global talent gap.
His words: “The Startup Bill which was recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari would address the bottlenecks stifling the growth of the tech ecosystem.”
