Sequel to the nation’s drive to attain a digital economy, Nigeria is set to firm up her partnership with Russia to promote digital and technological advancements.
This was the crux of the meeting between the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and Independence Digital, a Russian software development company, led by its president, Pavel Maximenko, in Abuja.
In his remarks, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, noted that though a lot has been done in the drive for a digital economy in the country, more needs to be done to attain the global ranking in technological know-how.
Represented by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Bitrus Nabasu, Pantami said though there exists a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Russian government in different areas of collaborations, more needs to be done for the mutual benefit of both countries.
“Although we have done much, we still need more partners like you. We will be happy if we can interface so that Nigeria cannot just diversify but also become stronger in [her quest for a] digital economy,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Maximenko explained that the company was in Nigeria to find what her unique needs are in areas of technology, software and digitalisation.
According to the president, only this consultation would help his organisation proffer tailor-made solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
“We are here to understand what you need and how we can help you. Nigeria is the biggest in Africa, just like Russia is the biggest in Europe, so we want to help solve the problem of communications,” he said.
Representatives of the ministry, departments and agencies mentioned possible areas of collaboration to include software and hardware capacity-building to improve the local content.
On his part, the director, special duties, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), revealed that the commission is operating on “obsolete enrolment paraphernalia. We need high-definition computers that can make enrolment faster because of the volume of enrolments”.
The delegation included the Nigeria technical partner managing director, Tellurium Technologies Limited, Francis Odukuye and managing director, Independence Digital, Nikita Kormzun.
