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The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has won the prestigious Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) Leadership and Commitment Award 2022 at the ongoing GITEX GLOBAL.
Pantami leads Nigeria’s march into the digital economy and offers a rallying point not just for Nigeria but the continent’s digital agenda.
RELATED: GITEX 2022: Nine Nigerian startups enter semi-final of $200,000 North Star Pitch Competition
The minister was honoured at the end of a discussion on ‘Digital Inclusion: Aligning Regulators and Network Providers to Bridge Digital Divide’ – of the several vertical industry sessions that make up the 5-day tech show now regarded as the world’s largest startup and tech event.
Prior to the award, the Minister, who spoke on a wide range issues, took time to enlighten the audience of the unprecedented contribution of the ICT sector in growing Nigeria’s digital economy.
According to him, Africa’s most populous country of over 214 million has crafted policies to close the digital divide in the country, all of which are yielding positive results and could be measured in the contribution of the ICT sector to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2022.
His words: “These Initiatives can be divided into two; the first is in the area of digital skills, which to provide digital skills to our citizens, and the second is accessibility and connectivity.
“As a foundation, what the Federal Government has done is to come up with policies that will ensure connectivity, affordability and digital skills for Nigerians.”
The most important policy, the minister noted is the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria which was launched in November 2019 and Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020- 2025 which was also launched in March 2020.
“The Federal Government has been implementing these two policies out of many in order to ensure connectivity on one hand and digital skills on the other.
“With the initiatives under the policies and funds provided, the Federal Government is hoping to encourage and support the private sector to come in and leverage on government infrastructure and render services to our people,” he added.
The award ceremony is one of the major highlights in an event proven to be Nigeria’s best since the country first made its appearance in 2013.
Nigeria is hinging its presence as Africa’s largest economy on its increasing shift to a digital economy and the promotion of its startup ecosystem held as the largest on the continent in terms of portfolio of global funding.
Pantami, formally unveiled Nigeria’s presence at the 42nd edition of GITEX GLOBAL now the world’s largest tech and startup show.
GITEX GLOBAL is 33 football fields, 26 halls and 2 million sq. ft to give enough space to the incredible more than 5,000 companies and more than 200, 000 attendees from 170 countries.
The National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA) through which Nigeria’s participation is managed, is promoting a Nigeria Country Pavilion and a Startup Pavilion at GITEX GLOBAL with more than 30 exhibitors including startups, government institutions and private enterprises.
Already, nine Nigerian technology innovators and startups have become semifinalists in the Supernova Challenge Pitch Competition organised by North Star Dubai at this 42nd edition of GITEX GLOBAL to underscore Nigeria’s strong presence this year.
Inside Pictures: Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and some members of the Nigerian delegation at the ongoing #GITEXGLOBAL202.
