By 
The Nigerian government has inaugurated the Digital Economy Industry Working Group (DEIWG) to serve as an action group and Public Private Dialogue (PPD) platform to be formed by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE).
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami inaugurated the group on behalf of the Federal Government during the closing ceremony of Digital Nigeria International Conference held last week in Abuja.
RELATED: Nigeria digital economy diagnostic: A plan for building Nigeria’s inclusive digital future
According to him, the group will be saddled with the responsibility of mapping out government initiatives and policies that are affecting the private sector pertaining to the Digital Economy
He maintained that the group will harmonise and harness the work done by both the FMoCDE and the NESG to unlock the potentials of a fully Digital Economy and deliver benefits to the public, private and social enterprise sectors, with a view to supporting the delivery of the short, medium and long-term ministerial strategy for driving the growth of the Digital Industry in Nigeria.
The objectives of the group include; to establish a Public-Private Partnership Platform as communication link between the public and private sector to drive the Digital Economy Policies and Strategies; to create a framework for strengthening the immediate delivery of initiatives based on the 8 pillars as outlined in the Nigerian Digital Economic Policy and Strategy (2020-2030); to facilitate the creation of an Enterprise Programs Management Office (EPMO) and funding mechanism which will serve as a framework of funding for DEIWG Secretariat and to formulate, in partnership with the government, mechanisms that drive and catalyse growth and increase investments in the Digital Economy.
Other objectives of the group are to examine the current efforts by the Federal Government to digitally transform through policies, projects and programmes and co-create a private sector response plan; to facilitate leadership mindset that is digital-driven for shared prosperity and shared national vision and drive continuity of the policies to enhance the institutional arrangement that drives the Digital Economy and to call to action on private sector to take lead of the creation of the Nigeria Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).
Highlighting the composition of the group, the minister noted that it comprises of the government representatives, the private sector and the academia adding that it is a model the ministry has adopted in the last three years. “We don’t formulate policies alone, we ensure that we bring together all stakeholders to work with us as part of the implementation model, we try to interact with other people from different sector, this is what we are promoting.”
