NITDA wins Dubai World Trade Center's most valued partnership award
As part of the hosting activities of the 2022 edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) and in recognition of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), excellent services to the 'Annual Tech Show, GITEX, Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) awarded the Agency the prestigious "Most Valued Partnership Award".
Receiving the award on behalf of the Agency, Director General Kashifu Inuwa expressed NITDA's appreciation to the organizers and the Center for the award.
The presentation of the award was preceded by a panel discussion during which the Director General and his Ethiopian counterpart from the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Selamyhun Adefris Haile, discussed the topics: "What is the attractiveness of the startup ecosystem in Africa? " What are the government's strategies? (Act of startup, Participate in GITEX).
Inuwa, who took the opportunity to speak about the federal government's ongoing efforts to strengthen the tech ecosystem, said many innovations are coming out of Africa where Nigeria has the biggest market.
According to him, there are fifteen major sectors in which Nigerian startups are playing a key role and solving some challenges with their indigenous solutions that are having a global impact.
"Fintech is at the top of the list because financial inclusion is essential to the economy and it is closely followed by e-health, eduTech, logistics and mobility, etc."
“Over thirty-six percent of startups in Nigeria belong to the fintech sub-sector, which is why fintech is thriving as it creates hundreds and thousands of jobs,” Inuwa noted.
>The Managing Director highlighted the fact that Nigeria had, at the start of this year, five unicorns out of the seven in Africa, adding that about three more unicorns could be registered soon.
"This means that before the end of this year, we hope to have between eight and nine unicorns in Nigeria. Some of them have a huge capital base; In fact, one of them has a valuation of over $3.5 billion, which is a Fintech with a valuation almost twice that of the largest bank in the country,” Inuwa asserted.
Inuwa said the government is trying to give a level playing field to all start-ups by creating an enabling environment for them.
“As a government, we have a fundamental policy to help the start-up which is called: National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria and my agency, NITDA, which is the one of the agencies responsible for implementing the policy has developed our own strategic roadmap and action plan which has seven strategic pillars; all of these policies aim to create a viable environment for our startups,” Inuwa explained.
The NITDA boss, who confessed that the agency takes a development regulation approach in order to co-create with the tech ecosystem, assured the audience that the startup bill, a once sanctioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, will go a long way in addressing the myriad challenges plaguing the sector.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria will be at the forefront of closing the global talent gap.
"If Africa, Nigeria in particular, positions itself well, we can close this talent gap; the talent industry is expected to generate approximately $8.5 trillion in revenue by 2030, so that any country that positions itself to close this gap will be among the best economies in the world,” the DG asserted.
As part of the hosting activities of the 2022 edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) and in recognition of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), excellent services to the 'Annual Tech Show, GITEX, Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) awarded the Agency the prestigious "Most Valued Partnership Award".
Receiving the award on behalf of the Agency, Director General Kashifu Inuwa expressed NITDA's appreciation to the organizers and the Center for the award.
The presentation of the award was preceded by a panel discussion during which the Director General and his Ethiopian counterpart from the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Selamyhun Adefris Haile, discussed the topics: "What is the attractiveness of the startup ecosystem in Africa? " What are the government's strategies? (Act of startup, Participate in GITEX).
Inuwa, who took the opportunity to speak about the federal government's ongoing efforts to strengthen the tech ecosystem, said many innovations are coming out of Africa where Nigeria has the biggest market.
According to him, there are fifteen major sectors in which Nigerian startups are playing a key role and solving some challenges with their indigenous solutions that are having a global impact.
"Fintech is at the top of the list because financial inclusion is essential to the economy and it is closely followed by e-health, eduTech, logistics and mobility, etc."
“Over thirty-six percent of startups in Nigeria belong to the fintech sub-sector, which is why fintech is thriving as it creates hundreds and thousands of jobs,” Inuwa noted.
>The Managing Director highlighted the fact that Nigeria had, at the start of this year, five unicorns out of the seven in Africa, adding that about three more unicorns could be registered soon.
"This means that before the end of this year, we hope to have between eight and nine unicorns in Nigeria. Some of them have a huge capital base; In fact, one of them has a valuation of over $3.5 billion, which is a Fintech with a valuation almost twice that of the largest bank in the country,” Inuwa asserted.
Inuwa said the government is trying to give a level playing field to all start-ups by creating an enabling environment for them.
“As a government, we have a fundamental policy to help the start-up which is called: National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria and my agency, NITDA, which is the one of the agencies responsible for implementing the policy has developed our own strategic roadmap and action plan which has seven strategic pillars; all of these policies aim to create a viable environment for our startups,” Inuwa explained.
The NITDA boss, who confessed that the agency takes a development regulation approach in order to co-create with the tech ecosystem, assured the audience that the startup bill, a once sanctioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, will go a long way in addressing the myriad challenges plaguing the sector.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria will be at the forefront of closing the global talent gap.
"If Africa, Nigeria in particular, positions itself well, we can close this talent gap; the talent industry is expected to generate approximately $8.5 trillion in revenue by 2030, so that any country that positions itself to close this gap will be among the best economies in the world,” the DG asserted.
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