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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) reiterated its commitment to empowering the youths by leveraging tech skills and creating an enabling environment to nurture their potentials for the sustenance of digital economy in the country.
With surging inflation and unemployment globally, Director General, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi said ‘youth, skill-building and employability’ are major focus of the IT regulatory and development agency.
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Abdullahi spoke during his keynote address on ‘Problems, Possibilities and Potentials of Nigerian Youths’ at the Youth Entrepreneurship Dialogue (YED) Global Entrepreneurship Week, 2022, organised by Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN).
The NITDA boss, a youth himself, applauded Nigerian youths for their consistent drive and enthusiasm in deploying technology innovations in their various entrepreneurship ventures for the development of Nigeria’s economy.
He said: “the fact that Nigerian entrepreneurs, mainly the youths, kept delivering on innovation and promoting inclusion, leading to positive socio-economic impact and economic growth, is an indication of Nigeria’s entrepreneurship dexterity. Indeed, entrepreneurs are and will remain the backbone of the Nigerian economy.”
He assured that the Federal Government’s totally support the impressive entrepreneurial strides by Nigerian youths through the provision of infrastructures, policies and initiatives to foster an enabling environment.
NITDA is committed to promoting entrepreneurship and Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs) in the country, said Abdullahi adding that agency developed its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) with various initiatives deployed in collaboration with stakeholders to align the nation with the best global practices.
His words: “NITDA has always been committed to driving youth entrepreneurship and we have continued to train and equip young innovative Nigerians aspiring to realise their entrepreneurial dreams through strategic programs.”
Highlighting some of these initiatives, the NITDA boss said that the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (TIES) scheme, the Idea Hatch (iHatch) incubation programme in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Bridge to MassChallenge (B2MC) are few of the several initiatives adopted and deployed by the agency in supporting entrepreneurship and creation of more IDEs.
“NITDA in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President ensured the actualisation of the newly signed Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) into law by President Muhammadu Buhari which has now become the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA)”.
He described the NSA as one of the milestone achievements by the present government even as he charged youths in the country to take full advantage of the initiative while stating that the Act would give them limitless opportunities in harnessing the boundless benefits it offers.
“The youths, their talents, potentials, skills and capacities should be healthily and sufficiently channeled to the growth of the society. As a nation blessed with young and talented youths, Nigeria can attain economic independence, economic sustainability, and economic invulnerability, through enterprising our developed talents and potentials”, he said.
