The director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, has revealed that Nigeria and Ghana are set for a collaboration to boost Africa’s information technology system and build her digital economy.
Speaking at the NITDA headquarters in Abuja during the visit of a delegation from the Ghanaian National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Abdullahi stressed the importance of collaboration to achieve a common goal. He stated that the Nigerian government is prioritising collaboration as a critical factor in creating an enabling environment for the IT ecosystem to thrive and flourish.
Abdullahi noted that IT is borderless and that Nigeria has developed various regulatory instruments, policy documents and initiatives that have created an enviable IT ecosystem in the country, making a significant impact within the continent and globally.
He was confident that a symbiotic relationship between Nigeria and Ghana would engender disruptive innovations that would solve many challenges facing the continent.
During the visit, NITDA gave a presentation on its strategies and initiatives for driving economic growth and prosperity by creating a knowledge-based economy that can compete with the best in the world. The agency’s head of legal services, Barrister Emmanuel Edet highlighted the Startup Act and Code of Practice that the agency uses to develop intelligent frameworks for regulations towards a sustainable digital economy.
The director-general of Ghana’s information technology agency (NITA), Mr. Richard Fosu appreciated NITDA’s efforts in fortifying and fostering Nigeria’s IT ecosystem towards a sustainable digital economy. He disclosed that NITA’s supervising ministry has similarly expanded its mandate to include digitalisation, which he believes highlights the importance of digitalisation.
Fosu expressed his agency’s commitment to working closely with NITDA in bridging the gaps identified in Ghana and Africa as a whole. The NITDA DG then took the Ghanaian delegates on a tour of the agency’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) unit.
The visit by the Ghanaian delegation is seen as a step in the right direction towards the development of Africa’s IT ecosystem. The collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana is expected to strengthen the relationship between the two agencies and build a stronger IT ecosystem in Africa.
