In a bid to elevate the visibility and growth of the innovation ecosystem in Northern Nigeria, the director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, has restated the agency’s commitment to supporting and catalysing the emergence and growth of the region’s innovation ecosystem.
In a keynote address delivered during a ‘Stakeholders’ Engagement on the State of the Northern Innovation Ecosystem’ in Abuja, Abdullahi emphasised the urgent need for strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts to address challenges and unlock opportunities in the Northern tech landscape.
Describing the event as a crucial platform “setting the sense of urgency for something to be done in favor of the Northern Innovation Ecosystem,” Abdullahi acknowledged the discussions’ timeliness in highlighting bottlenecks hindering the ecosystem’s growth.
“As an agency under the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, we are here to add our collective voice and render relevant support targeted at fostering economic growth and development in the North and Nigeria as a whole,” affirmed Abdullahi.
Aligning the discussions with the Federal Government’s ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration priority of ‘Accelerating Diversification through Industrialisation, Digitization, Creative Arts, Manufacturing and Innovation,’ the NITDA boss underscored the agency’s involvement, aligning with the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0).
Expressing hope for the northern innovation ecosystem to create solutions and jobs in various sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, transportation, and education, Abdullahi emphasised the unique opportunity in the region’s large and youthful population, with over 60 per cent under 25, positioning Nigeria as a talent net exporter.
Detailing NITDA’s strategic blueprint and SRAP document pillars, Abdullahi stressed the importance of co-creating and co-designing solutions with the ecosystem to build trust between the government and innovators. He assured the government’s support through interventions, talent development, infrastructure building in underserved communities and providing incentives for growth.
Challenging northerners not to let identified challenges hinder their innovative ideas, Abdullahi encouraged finding innovative ways to tackle issues such as funding shortages. He revealed NITDA’s conceptualisation of technology development zones, with plans for innovation hubs in each state, and a framework to address the monopoly of hubs within universities.
“We are open to co-designing it with the ecosystem, so anybody interested can reach out to us, so that we can figure out how to achieve that,” said the director-general.
Head of experimentation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Jamila Mohammed emphasised the meeting’s essence to engage key players in the innovation space for the northern innovation ecosystem.
Stakeholders unanimously affirmed the significance of the Northern Ecosystem Working Group (NEW-G), established in collaboration with UNDP, as a rallying point for nurturing and fueling the northern ecosystem’s growth with strategic initiatives.
