To enhance technological advancement in the continent, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa believes that effective collaborations among the nations in the continent would build a formidable and greater information technology (IT) ecosystem in the region.
The NITDA DG stated this in Abuja during day one of the three-day working visits of the Ghanaian National Information Technology Agency (NITA) delegation led by its DG, Richard Okyere Fosu, to understudy Nigeria’s IT regulatory instruments, and policy documents and seek possible areas of collaboration.
Describing the visit of the delegation from Ghana as a step in the right direction towards the development of Africa’s IT ecosystem, Inuwa stated that it was an imperative collaboration needed to achieve a common goal.
Stating that no one can succeed in isolation, he asserted, “if we want to succeed as a continent, we need to collaborate, we need to work together. We need to learn from our experiences and share expertise so that we can work and grow together.”
He noted further that the Nigerian government has transcended from enforcing regulations on the ecosystem but has rather identified collaboration as critical, in creating an enabling environment for the ecosystem to thrive and flourish.
Stating that IT is borderless, the NITDA boss said that the agency had developed various regulatory instruments, policy documents, and initiatives to create an enviable IT ecosystem in the country, which has been making huge impacts within the continent and globally.
While confidently stating that Africa has a competitive advantage of talent and population in the fourth industrial revolution, Inuwa opined that a symbiotic relationship between the two countries would engender disruptive innovations that will solve many challenges pervading the continent.
“This kind of visit will strengthen the relationship between our two agencies and build a stronger IT ecosystem in Africa. We are doing well in Nigeria but we want everybody to do well when it comes to technology”, he noted.
The NITDA DG then proceeded to make a presentation on an overview of the Agency, its guiding strategies, and strategic initiatives which have been instrumental in driving economic growth and prosperity with a focus on creating a knowledge-based economy that can compete with the best in the world.
In his presentation on the regulatory environment and various regulatory instruments, the Agency’s Head, Legal Unit, Barrister Emmanuel Edet referred to the Startup Act and Code of Practice in which the agency uses intelligent frameworks to develop regulations towards a sustainable digital economy.
In his remark, Fosu appreciated the efforts being made by NITDA in fortifying and fostering the nation’s IT ecosystem toward a sustainable digital economy.
He disclosed that NITA’s supervising ministry has similarly expanded its mandate to include digitalization and is now known as the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, which in his opinion has brought out the importance of digitalization.
