The Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev) in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has launched N150 million DigitalforAllChallenge to reward self-development and encourage the acquisition and use of digital skills through competitive incentives.
The organisers said the DigitalforAllChallenge is to tackle Nigeria’s digital skills gap and empower two million Nigerians with basic and intermediate digital skills and offering participants the chance to win cash and prizes.
Meanwhile, the federal government has expressed its determination to position Nigeria as the next talent exporter and ensure that the country becomes a leader in the digital space.
Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi who stated this at the lunch of the DigitalforAllChallenge yesterday in Abuja, noted that there is a huge talent deficit globally adding that Nigeria can bridge that gap if it positions itself appropriately.
He said, “That’s why we have so many initiatives around talent Building. The minister launch the 3 million tech talents in November last year, and we have started training 30,000 Nigerians. We have so trained 8000 Nigerians on different talents and skills in demand.
“We launched another cohort yesterday and we are inviting Nigerians to participate. Our target is to have three million tech talents in Nigeria so that 1.5 can serve the local market and we can place 1.5 on the global value chain. So you can live in Nigeria and work remotely for any country.”
The NITDA boss stated that the Federal Government wants everyone to be digitally visible and is implementing a lot of interventions across the 36 states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) so that when people leave school, they can go to the innovation hubs to incubate and accelerate their ideas.
In his remarks, the founder of Tech4Dev, Joel ogunsola, explained that Digital for Challenge is an inclusion strategy to ensure that every citizen understand and appreciate the role that technology plays in building a strong digital economy.
He noted that the firm is giving out N150 million naira in cash prizes to the winners adding that there are three different categories which includes basic education category, youth category which are young people and the civil service category which is very critical because the country cannot achieve that full digital transformation across government and service delivery if the people in governments don’t have the right skill sets.
Deputy High Commissioner, FCDO, Mrs Gill Lever said that the UK government is committed to supporting Nigeria’s digital sector and will promote inclusive partnerships and digital growth to foster sustainable development
Lever observed that digital is economy is very important to every country in the world and technology can help tackle social challenges of our time.
She stated that about 62 percent of people in Nigeria do not know how to use digital devices and stressed the need to bridge the digital gender gap in the country.
She said she is “confident that by the competition’s culmination, we will witness a significant shift in Nigeria’s digital landscape, with millions equipped with the skills and confidence to navigate the ever-evolving digital world.”
