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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) of Nigeria and its counterpart in Ghana, the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) are seeking to collaborate for a greater IT ecosystem and promotion of digital economy across the sub-region.
Africa needs collaborations to enhance technological advancements on the continent, said Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, while welcoming a NITA delegation led by its Director General, Mr. Richard Okyere Fosu to understudy Nigeria’s IT regulatory instruments and policy documents as well as fostering partnership for the mutual benefits.
Describing the visit of the delegation from Ghana as a step in the right direction towards the development of Africa’s IT ecosystem, he stated that it was a necessary collaboration to achieving a common goal.
“If we really want to succeed as a continent, we need to collaborate, we need to work together. We need to learn from our experiences and share expertise so that we can work and grow together”.
He noted further that the Nigerian government has transcended from enforcing regulations on the ecosystem but has rather identified collaboration as critical, in creating an enabling environment for the ecosystem to thrive and flourish.
Stating that IT is borderless, the NITDA boss said that the agency had developed various regulatory instruments, policy documents and initiatives to create an enviable IT ecosystem in the country which has been making huge impacts within the continent and globally.
While confidently stating that Africa has a competitive advantage of talent and population in the fourth industrial revolution, he said a symbiotic relationship between the two countries would engender disruptive innovations that will solve many challenges pervading the continent.
His words: “This kind of visit will strengthen the relationship between our two agencies and build a stronger IT ecosystem in Africa. We are doing well in Nigeria but we want everybody to do well when it comes to technology.”
In his presentation on the regulatory environment and various regulatory instruments, the NITDA’s Head, Legal Unit, Barrister Emmanuel Edet referenced the Startup Act and Code of Practice as some of the instruments the agency uses as intelligent frameworks to develop regulations towards a sustainable digital economy.
In his remark, Mr. Fosu appreciated the efforts being made by NITDA in growing Nigeria’s IT ecosystem toward a sustainable digital economy.
He disclosed that NITA’s supervising ministry has similarly expanded its mandate to include digitalization and is now known as the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation which in his opinion has brought out the importance of digitalisation.
While giving assurances of keying into NITDA’s regulatory instruments and implementation of policy documents, Fosu expressed his agency’s commitment to work closely with NITDA in bridging the gaps identified in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
“This is not a one-time visit but we will definitely come back. We have come to learn and hope that we can make the needed impact in Ghana.”
