The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osibanjo stated that the FG is re-convening the Technology and Creativity Advisory Council, to advise the government on policies in the sector.

The Vice President, represented by Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), disclosed this at Google’s “The African Start-up Ecosystem Opportunity’’ on Thursday, where he outlined steps the FG has taken to improve the tech ecosystem in Nigeria.

What the Vice President said

“As part of our Ease of Doing Business Reforms, we instituted the Visa on Arrival Policy which allows any person outside ECOWAS to get a visa on arrival in Nigeria. This policy means that all African startups and entrepreneurs seeking to expand their business into Nigeria will have a more straightforward process.

We are also re-convening the Technology and Creativity Advisory Council, made up of public and private sector stakeholders, to advise government on policies and programmes to support the ecosystem,’’ he said.

The VP also added that there were plans to set up a $500 million Innovation Fund financed by the  African Development Bank (AfDB), which will provide infrastructure support, finance, skills development and technical assistance to the sector.

“The 4th industrial revolution is shaping and creating economic activities. It is proving to be the catalyst for future economic activities that will bridge the divide between the rich and developing countries….It will remove physical borders and barriers while maximising the utilisation of digital technologies as a source of inspiration across economic sectors,” he said.

What you should know 

• Nigeria’s information and communication sector grew by 13.8% in full-year 2020 compared to 11.08% recorded in 2019 and 9.65% in 2018, making it the best performing economic sector in Nigeria.
• The sector contributed 15.06% to aggregate real GDP in Q4 2020, higher than the same quarter of 2019, in which it represented 13.12% and higher than the preceding quarter, in which it represented 13.47%.