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President of Microsoft Corporation, Mr. Brad Smith, has commended Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, even as the IT giant seeks further collaboration with the Nigerian government to deepen the country’s digital economy.
Smith, who was on a working visit to the minister’s office at the weekend, in Abuja, said Pantami’s leadership has impacted significantly on the nation’s economy as well as drawn global attention to the sector in particular.
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“We are here today because we are very excited about the future of Nigeria, especially concerning the role you are playing. We are excited about the opportunity for digital transformation which is the centre of your vision for the country. We are thankful to you for launching the Microsoft Development Centre in Lagos. That was a huge step for Microsoft and it reflected our belief in the future of Nigeria. Already, we have more than one hundred software developers working in Lagos and we hope to have three hundred by next year. We are committed to building our digital infrastructure here and we are committed to investing and sustaining the relationship with your ministry,” said Smith.
The Microsoft’s president assured Pantami of its commitment to digital skills development.
His words: “We already have seven hundred people who are trained to be trainers and we need to get that number up to seventeen hundred so they can fan out and train the youths across the country. We are also committed to partnerships in expanding broadband connectivity across different parts of Nigeria. We are especially grateful for all your efforts in helping companies like ours, expand their presence in the country.”
The minister expressed government’s appreciation for setting up the Microsoft Africa Development Centre in Nigeria underscoring its confidence in the people and economy of Nigeria.
“This is particularly beneficial to our young innovators. We are also appreciative of the current training of our citizens by Microsoft as this has given a commendable boost to our digital skills capacity building initiatives,” said Pantami as he enumerated some of the initiatives government has put in place to ensure an enabling environment for ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country including; visa on arrival and developmental regulation.
His words: “this administration has done a lot when it comes to Ease of Doing Business. Under the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), there are over 36 major initiatives supporting Ease of Doing Business and that catapulted our nation’s ranking a lot higher in the global ranking of countries implementing the same initiatives and for the first time in our history, particularly in the ICT Sector, we initiated and implemented developmental regulation. This is regulation to facilitate fast track development whereby a regulatory instrument can be amended within 24 hours if it is found to constitute an obstacle to investment, or contradicts Ease of Doing Business”
According to a statement by the minister’s spokesperson, Uwa Suleiman, Pantami assured the Microsoft team of government’s unwavering support for investors in the sector and the country at large. The meeting was attended by the Executive Vice Chairman. Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Chief of Staff to the Microsoft President, Crole Ann Browne; VP Tech and Corporate Responsibility, Teresa Hutson; External and Legal Affairs Lead Middle East and Africa, Daniel Brown; External and Legal Affairs Lead for MEA Emerging Markets, John Edokpolol; Country Manager for Nigeria and Ghana, Ola Williams; and Government Affairs Lead for the MEA Emerging Markets, Nonye Ujan.
