From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigerian Senate has called on the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to raise awareness of the recently passed Startup Act so that Nigerian youths will be aware of the advantages and opportunities that the Act offers.
The Senate Committee Chairman on ICT and Cybersecurity, Senator Oseni Yakubu, gave the charge at the opening ceremony of Digital Nigeria Conference 2022, organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said: “The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy should create more awareness of the Startup Act for Nigerian youths to know the benefits and opportunities that abound with it.
“We are going to collaborate with the minister of Communication and Digital Economy to create this awareness and I’ve been doing my little bit to create awareness of the potential of the bills. I trust Nigerian Youths they are very intelligent and talented and I am sure they will key into it. And also contribute their quota to the GDP and placing Nigeria in the ICT world map.”
Speaking on the government’s partnership with Microsoft to train five million Nigerians the Senator said: “The five million young people that we are talking about are going to be trained (by Microsoft). The jobs are already there, awaiting the youth to key in.
“When Mr President signed the bill into law. The government decided that a total of five billion Naira will be used as starting grant. It means that there are other funds we are expecting in the sector from other sources so that we can have something to fall back to. This Microsoft training is key because the chain effect will be enormous and very impactful on the Nigerian economy.
“The question is are we aware? Are we ready to tap into these opportunities?,” he asked
Pantami said the digital economy can greatly support the traditional economy, adding that the contribution of the digital economy to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria and its role in making the economy resilient to adverse events like the COVID-19 pandemic are two good examples of the impact of the digital economy on the traditional economy.
In his remarks, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed regretted that despite the numerous benefits of ICT, it has enabled the spread of fake news and hate speech which is used to cause ethnic, and religious wars and biases and to destabilise the nation.
He said: “While technology is a good thing, it has also caused a lot of problems for my ministry in terms of misinformation, in terms of disinformation and in terms of hate speech.
The Gambian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ousman Bah, emphasised the benefits of Blockchain and the need for African Central Banks to be proactive in their regulatory responsibilities.
“We can see enormous benefits of blockchain, especially for improving financial inclusion and nurturing the growth of micro and small businesses./There are also significant challenges to overcome if we are to realise these benefits. Issues of trust, consumer protection, and systemic network risks that can slow the pace of progress require clear and robust regulations.
“Central Bank regulations in the continent have not been proactive enough to take advantage of technological advances
On his part, the Director General (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, said Nigeria is working on how to become a global supplier of tech talents.
“We have several initiatives to position Nigeria to become the global talent supplier. Nigeria has the capacity to fill up the global talent gap. We are exploring how to use technology to create and capture values.
“Digital transformation is not about the technology, it is all about designing people technology to deliver things the way you want it and how you want it,” he disclosed.