The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, has said that Nigeria receives almost 30% of Africa’s Foreign Direct Investment. In the years 2015, 2019 and 2020, the Nigerian tech ecosystem attracted $4.4bn of investment, contributing to about 18.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Inuwa made this known at the recent Leaders Without Borders Annual Business Summit and International Honours 2023 held in London, where he highlighted Nigeria’s achievements in the digital economy.
The theme of the summit, which brought together entrepreneurs and thought leaders worldwide, was “Business Beyond Borders, Global Partnerships and Sustainable Investments.” Explaining the agency’s role, Inuwa said that NITDA, established in 2001, has supported 753 startups, including providing grants, seed funding and training. Through the agency’s efforts, over 120 million Nigerians now have access to the internet and digital services.
The DG described the digital economy as providing opportunities for emerging technologies and creating opportunities for talented youths in Africa to emerge as global leaders by harnessing their potential. Inuwa also claimed that Nigeria has the most vibrant tech ecosystem in Africa, with fintech companies in the country being twice the size of its largest bank. The biggest bank in the country has a value of about $1.6bn, while Flutterwave is valued at almost $3.6bn.
The NITDA DG added that the agency had established hundreds of IT hubs, IT parks, and community ICT centres furnished with world-class facilities across Nigeria’s states. This initiative complements the local content policy in place to boost human capital and provide universal access to digital services, creating a knowledge-based economy.
In addition, the agency has trained over 3.3 million Nigerians on digital literacy, using local languages to enable every citizen to use digital devices and consume digital services. The IT project clearance initiative also saved the country over N305bn from the duplication of IT projects by ministries, departments and agencies in the years 2019 to date, resulting in improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of government IT projects across Nigeria.
