The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is forging more partnerships and initiating different developmental programmes and projects geared towards achieving the stated target. As one of the key implementers of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria, coupled with an ambitious target of achieving 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030, the NITDA is forging more partnerships and initiating different developmental programmes and projects geared towards achieving the stated target.
To that aim, the Agency will engage with Mastercard to hold a Cyber Security and Data Protection training workshop with representatives from the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) and NITDA.
“To ignite digital innovation activities in the country, relevant partnerships would be necessary,” said Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, who received the Mastercard delegation in his office. “The Federal Government is not relenting in its efforts to create an enabling environment to attract local and foreign investors, which would, in turn, trigger the exponential growth of the sector and the nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).”
While highlighting the Agency’s Virtual Academy – a massive open platform for online courses where Nigerians can learn at their own pace and receive digital certificates – the NITDA Boss informed the Mastercard delegates that, in addition to exploring possible cooperation in the aforementioned area, the Agency would like to engage with multinational corporations towards achieving their goals.
Approximately one million indigenous ICT specialists will be trained in order to expedite the construction of various digital services that Nigerians currently require.
“We know there is a worldwide talent deficit, and Africa is the next frontier because we have the world’s youngest population… so everyone is looking to Africa to offer talent.”
Kashifu, who expressed worry over the low number of key professionals in the field of programming, which has impacted negatively on the Nigerian market, said that there is a need to grow the ecosystem and compete with other countries that are outsourcing professionals to most of the big tech companies.
“I believe we cannot succeed in isolation. That’s why we won’t work in silos. We need to work together so that we can see the impact and harness the full potential.”
Ebihijie Momoh, Country Manager and Area Head for Mastercard, West Africa who was accompanied by George Owuor, Director of Public Policy for Mastercard, Sub-Saharan Africa, spoke with the DG about a planned data protection and cybersecurity workshop to be held in May in collaboration with NITDA. Momoh said this engagement would help to build data protection and cybersecurity capabilities in the country.
On his part, Owuor affirmed the corporation’s readiness to support NITDA in achieving its mandate, particularly as it relates to the Agency’s Digital Literacy (Capacity Building) in the Seven Pillars of the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP- 2021-2024).
According to Owuor, the forthcoming workshop will be beneficial to not just NDPB, but the spectrum of the digital value chain
