GITEX Nigeria will open country’s tech ecosystem, says Abdullai

Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullai, in an interview with ADEYEMI ADEPETUN on the sidelines of the just-concluded GITEX Global, held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, spoke on how Nigeria can increase its stake in the technology market.

GITEX Nigeria is about 11 months from now, what is shaping the country’s hosting optimism?
In Nigeria, we have one of the most vibrant markets in Africa. Today, the Lagos ecosystem is valued at about $11 billion. So, what GITEX is bringing to Nigeria is the network effect. We are doing well as a country, we are doing in Africa, but that is not enough because we can do well in the world. The global stage is the main stage of development and competitiveness.  So, GITEX is coming to orchestrate our international presence. You know we have GITEX Asia, GITEX Europe and GITEX Dubai, GITEX Thailand, among others. So, GITEX Nigeria will expose the global ecosystem to the Nigerian market and give the Nigerian ecosystem opportunities to showcase its talents to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and others.

How would this stimulate the economy?
Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation because innovation is about taking an idea from conception to impact. It is about challenging the status quo, the conventional wisdom and bringing something new either from vertical industry or from other countries and the environment. So, if you want to excel in terms of innovation, you need to open up your market and also you need to go out and learn from what is happening in other places so that you can bring it back home and as well as you take your innovation to the global space.

With several backlashes, how will Nigeria go to convince investors to come?
If you are looking for a place where you can make a social and economic impact, that place is Nigeria. Technology is about two things, talent and the technology itself. Technology makes our lives better, but people make the technology better. So, you need access to talent and in Nigeria, we have one of the youngest populations in the world and an expanding market. Look at the telecommunications sector, when it started, people thought mobile phones were toys for rich people but when it came to Africa, see the way it revolutionised everything. Today, you cannot have a vibrant financial sector without technology and AI is coming to increase productivity in all critical sectors of the economy. So, this is the right time to come and invest.

According to recent Google research, every $1 investment in Nigeria can yield $8 economic value. So, this is the reality.

What is your about of the sector?
Technology is already taking over. In Nigeria today, ICT contributes more than 16 per cent to the country’s GDP and oil contributes less than seven per cent. So, ICT has already taken over oil in terms of contributions to GDP. IT is not a vertical sector, but one that permeates around. It helps other sectors to increase productivity.

Can we say the Federal Government is fostering tech-oriented development?
Nigeria is a nation where innovative ideas are valued and rewarded, where people have access to the latest technology and services, where businesses can hire young creative and competent workers and where entrepreneurs can prosper that is Nigeria of today and the future holds even greater potential.

President Bola Tinubu is a pro-business president and has mandated the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to accelerate the country’s economic growth by enhancing productivity in critical sectors through technological innovation. To achieve this, the Minister in charge of the ministry, Dr Bosun Tijani, has unveiled the ministry’s Strategic Blueprint with five strategic pillars. The first is knowledge. This is because the country is in a digital economy moment, a knowledge-based economy and knowledge is the foundation upon which nations build a robust and sustainable economy. So, in Nigeria, we are intentional about building our digital literacy, we have developed the National Digital Literacy Framework with an ambitious target of achieving 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030.

We are also building our talent pool. We have embarked on the world’s largest talent accelerator initiative, the 3MTT. It has been established that by 2030, there will be a global talent crunch, which if left unaddressed could lead to $8.5 trillion in unrealised yearly value. So, Nigeria is ready to bridge that talent gap.

We are ably investing in research. We are building the country’s technology research ecosystem with the latest focus on six technologies, including AI, IoT, UAV, Blockchain, Robotics and Additive Manufacturing.

The second pillar is about policy, which is building and creating an enabling environment for investors. So, we do a lot to create an enabling environment.

Thirdly, we are also putting up infrastructure. We are very bullish about this. This is because Africa lost out during the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. But today, we have no reason to be left behind. We want to lead the 4IR because it is about talent and Nigeria cum Africa is the future of human capital. We have the youngest population in the world, and while all the developed countries are suffering from ageing, we are here to provide the talent that will make technology better because one business is as good as the next product and the next product is as good as the people, who met that product and if you are looking for talent, come to Nigeria.

In terms of infrastructure, we are working on building our National Cloud Sovereignty. If you are interested in cloud technology, this is the right time to come and invest in Nigeria.

The country is also working on rolling out a 90,000km fibre optics cable, which will enable more connectivity. We are upgrading our cybersecurity architecture, among others. We have one of the best AI strategies in the world.