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Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria is in a vantage position to lead Africa’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) transformation.
Kashim Shettima said efforts must be made for Nigeria to learn from policies of developed countries to ensure the country sustained her place in Africa’s technological revolution.
Nigeria’s Vice President said this on Friday while delivering the keynote address at Stakeholders Summit with the theme, “Digital Trade in Africa: The Renewed Hope Strategy,” held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
A statement from the Senior Special Assistant on Media to Shettima, Stanley Nkwocha, read: “We are in a vantage position because we are the continent’s largest ICT hub, and as such, we must lead the way to the future of this peculiar wave of the Industrial Revolution.
“Our collaboration must prioritize comparisons of our policy initiatives to those of developed economies and fine-tune them to sustain our place and fast-track our growth.”
Senator Shettima also outlined government’s policies to lead Africa’s technological transformation to include, the implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area’s Digital Trade Protocol (AfCFTA) and the development of expansive technical talent hubs.
The plans, according to Nkwocha, focus “on enhancing digital infrastructure investments, promoting disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship, and ensuring the alignment of multiple government agencies to support digital trade initiatives.”
He stressed the need for strong synergy between the public and private sectors in implementing the AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol.
He added that the federal government remained fully committed to investing in digital infrastructure and human capital development to drive the process.
Shettima noted that the federal government’s programmes including, Investment in Digital Creative Enterprise (iDICE) and the train Three Million Technical Talents (3MTT) were efforts to maximize the country’s potentials.
“Our collaboration must prioritize comparisons of our policy initiatives to those of developed economies and fine-tune them to sustain our place and fast-track our growth. For a sector upon which all others rely to survive, digital technologies hold the nation together, and we cannot afford to slow down.
“Our programmes, from the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) to the ongoing intervention to train 3 million technical talents by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, to the Outsource to Nigeria Initiative are lifelines in our digital economy.
“They offer us an avenue to not only maximize our potential but also commit to the adoption of the Digital Trade Protocol within AfCFTA,” Shettima explained.
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