NITDA DG Shares Strategic Vision, Collaborative Opportunities With JICA
By Matthew Eloyi
As part of continuous efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s Startup ecosystem in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” of creating Millions of Digital jobs, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, had a productive meeting with a team from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Our correspondent reports that the purpose of the visit was to further strengthen the existing partnership between the two agencies with a focus on further collaboration, particularly the JICA New Cooperation Scheme Idea for Solving Challenges and the establishment of a state-of-the-art Innovation Hub, which will include Fab-Lab and Startups Hub.
JICA is a governmental organization dedicated to promoting international development and cooperation. In Nigeria, JICA has been actively involved in supporting various sectors, including education, healthcare, and technology. JICA’s initiatives in Nigeria aim to contribute to the country’s sustainable development by providing technical expertise, financial aid, and capacity-building programs. The agency collaborates with Nigerian institutions, including NITDA, to implement projects that address key challenges and promote socio-economic growth.
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In his address at the meeting, the DG expressed enthusiasm about the synergy between NITDA’s goals and the presentations made by the JICA team, highlighting ongoing efforts to redraft the agency’s strategic roadmap and action plan.
He highlighted key areas of alignment, with a primary focus on digital literacy and talent cultivation, underscoring the agency’s commitment to achieving a 95% digital literacy rate by 2030.
The NITDA boss further emphasized the need to bridge the talent deficit globally, citing potential collaboration between Nigeria and Japan in creating a talent pipeline. He also revealed plans to establish learning centres, innovation hubs, and technology development zones across Nigeria, reflecting a commitment to creating a thriving technology ecosystem.
Earlier in his presentation, JICA’s senior director, Ishigame Keiji, said the visit aimed to explore the possibility of JICA’s new scheme to provide financial and technical assistance to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Nigeria to develop seed and early-stage startups, as well as to identify responsible ministries and government agencies to partner with.
The dialogue laid the groundwork for further collaborations between NITDA and JICA, aligning their visions for leveraging technology to drive societal development in the digital landscape.