By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, North

As a step towards the implementation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda with a focus on Accelerating Diversification through Industrialisation and Digitisation, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is set to partner with the Entrepreneurship Village (eVillage) in fostering technology innovations and inclusivity in the country.

A statement issued on behalf of NITDA by its Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations, Hajia Hadiza Usman, says this was made known when the DG NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, received the Chief Executive Officer of the eVillage, Sunil Santanam and his team at the corporate headquarters of the agency in Abuja on a visit to seek the Agency’s intervention on digital infrastructure for the eVillage Innovation and Transformation Centre.

The collaboration between the two organisations also aligns with the “Infrastructure” pillar of the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy’s strategic blueprint of accelerating the nation’s collective prosperity through technical efficiency.

Mallam Abdullahi  expressed his excitement at the collaboration because according to him, it aligned with the Agency’s newly crafted Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2024-2027) pillars of Building a Robust Technology Research Ecosystem, Promoting Inclusive Access to Digital Infrastructure and Services as well as Nurturing an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

“I see this as a potential technology development zone because whenyou talk about the technology development zone, it’s not about bringing big hardware or manufacturing equipment and so on, but bringing people together, creating the ecosystem that can ignite and spark conversation about technology on solving real-life problems”, Abdullahi  added.

While giving assurances of the Agency’s support, Abdullahi believes that the proposed technology development zone is a technological advancement initiative that promises to catalyze immense transformative change in the country.

Central to the partnership proposal is the acceleration of the technology development zone across the six geopolitical zones in the nation and Inuwa disclosed that all the arrangements between the two organisations would be formalized through a memorandum of understanding.

Earlier in his remark, Santanam expressed his gratitude to the NITDA DG and his team for the privilege given to him by agreeing to partner with the Village.

He asserted that the opportunities being offered by the Village, if leveraged, would bring immense development to the large youthful population and the entrepreneurship ecosystem as a whole.

“It is a step forward for Nigeria, a step forward for the youth of Nigeria, a step forward for the entrepreneurs of Nigeria and as far as infrastructure and the facilities that eVillage will be offering, we will be second to none in Africa”, he averred.

In her remark, the village’s Director of Initiatives and Partnerships, Joy Francis, shared insights on the Global Entrepreneurship Festival that would come up later in the year in November.

She stated that “the event will bring the global community to your doorsteps and also build a lasting entrepreneurial platform for the benefit of this generation and the coming ones”.Top of Form