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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has expressed commitment to more robust collaborations with local startups in the country in order to deepen indigenous ICT contents.
The promotion of indigenous content which is one of the strategic pillars of the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP)2021-2024 was designed specifically to create opportunities for the development of homegrown solutions to meet the country’s needs as well as create wealth for the nation.
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According to NITDA’s DirectorGeneral, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi while giving a keynote address at the virtual maiden edition of the Innovation Ecosystem Engagement, Nigeria cannot be great globally if it doesn’t build locally.
Abdullahi stated that the event was geared towards listening to active startup ecosystem players and proffering solutions on how NITDA can collaborate to mitigate the challenges being faced by the ecosystem.
He described the tech ecosystems as a ‘home’, stating that he understood the frustrations and challenges of local startups in the country because that was where he started from. “I started very early when I was in 200 level. I perfectly understand how rough the journey is. I know how important it is to have enabling policies and infrastructure and how painful it is to fail”, said Abdullahi.
He assured that NITDA will make the tech ecosystem a more viable and better one.
The current administration support towards the tech ecosystem, the NITDA’s boss said while highlighting policies enacted such as the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in 2019, the National Broadband Plan in 2020, the draft Startup’s bill for onward transmission to the National Assembly in 2021 and the launch of the 5G policy which was developed to create enabling environments for startups to thrive.
He commended startups for their achievements despite the challenges to build the most investment-appealing ecosystem in Africa, attracting over $1.5B; about 35% of total investments in Africa in 2021.
“This is unprecedented, but for me, there is no passion playing small and settling for leading only in Africa if we can compete globally”, said Abdullahi.
He said NITDA was currently “rebranding and recalibrating its activities to align with the ecosystem as a symbiotic relationship with local startups is essential to foster the economic development of the country.
“You need the government and the government needs you and together we can do great things. Together we can redefine, create and shape our tomorrow.”
