Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi has said the agency is committed to creating an enabling environment for digital innovation through strategic policies, partnerships, and capacity-building initiatives.
He made this disclosure in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of a two-day ISF Summit 2024, with the theme: ‘Empowering Innovation, Accelerating Growth’, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, at the weekend
The summit, convened by the Chief Executive Officer, Zeeh Africa, Mr. David Adeleke, brought together investors, entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, business operators, and policymakers from different countries in Africa. They shared insights, appraised successes, and initiated collaborations on transformative projects that could drive economic and technological advancement in Nigeria, and other African countries.
Represented by the agency’s Director of Stakeholders’ Management and Partnership, Dr Aristotle Onumo, the NITDA boss specifically spoke on the ‘The Role of Regulatory Frameworks in Accelerating Digital Innovation Across Africa’, emphasising the critical need for adaptive, inclusive, and forward-thinking regulations to foster innovation, build sustainable tech ecosystems, and position Nigeria and Africa as a global player in the digital economy.
He underscored the importance of aligning regulatory frameworks with emerging technologies to unlock opportunities for startups, investors, and tech enthusiasts across the continent.
In his contribution, the convener of the summit, David Adeleke, identified lack of collaboration as one of the factors facing business start-ups in Nigeria and Africa, saying: “If we join together, we could make a lot of progress. Our track record so far is we’ve been able to attract investors all over the world, including Japan, and the United States of America.
He added that the partnership has brought about $250,000 grant for business startups and each of the lucky beneficiaries would have access to $10,000 grant.
The Head of Commercial Banking (South), Lotus Bank, Felicia Tamuno, also said: “We found out that technology is seriously disrupting the business environment, making processes efficient and customers’ taste in businesses is also changing.
So, as a business owner, without innovative information and ideas, you cannot thrive. As a business person, you have to ensure that you keep growing, and reviewing models because things are changing every day. In business, you change models, come up with something better.”
