The Bank of Industry (BOI) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) on Tuesday inaugurated an ‘ICAN-BOI Tech Hub’ as a collaborative initiative to promote job creation, entrepreneurship and skill development for Nigerians in the technology space.
Speaking at the inauguration event in Lagos, Managing Director of the development finance bank, Mr. Olukayode Pitan, said that the project was important in view of increasing roles technology is playing in development and youth empowerment.
According to him, the dominant roles technology in currently playing in many professions have transformed the way businesses are being operated with the attendant positive implications for improved efficiency, cost-saving, and simplified processes.
Pitan explained that the tech hub was established to ensure that members of the institute and the public can acquire necessary skills and competencies required to become employers of labour and contributors to national economic development through productivity in today’s tech-savvy world.
He said: “The tech hub shall encourage development and testing of new ideas, products and business models as well as create an environment to prepare for start-ups and existing businesses for sustainability.
“It also aims at boosting business mentorship, market linkages and accelerated programmes to enable young entrepreneurs to scale up.
“Technology, innovation and entrepreneurship are key factors shaping global trends and there is a need to continually scale up on them for our national economic growth and development”, the banker added.
He noted that many young people now were developing entrepreneurship mindset and technological skills, thereby resulting in the provision of innovative solutions servicing millions of people in diverse sectors.
Speaking on the strategic roles of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to national development, Pitan recalled that the sector contributed 14.7 percent to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 and 15.21 percent in 2021.
The banker said: “We can see a perfect example of the value of tech hubs when we consider Silicon Valley, which is one of the earliest tech hubs in the world.
“It houses the headquarters of many of the world’s largest high tech operations as well as thousands of promising start-ups and we have started on that journey here in Nigeria.
“Nigerian FinTechs are fast gaining recognition globally. In 2021, Nigerian FinTech start-ups raised about 1.37 billion dollars out of a total of four billion dollars raised by African start-ups despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In Nigeria, we can boast of having technologically-driven products and services such as Flutterwave, Opay, Andela, Interswitch and Jumia. This shows the growing significance of ICT in driving the economy,” he added.
The BoI boss promised that the bank, through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, would continue to proactively support the establishment of tech hubs nationwide, adding that the ICAN-BOI tech hub collaboration has increased the tech hubs established by BOI to 10 in six states.
The banker explained: “Structurally, the ICAN-BOI tech hub boasts of over 250 co-work desks, meeting rooms, private offices, a relaxation centre and a hybrid area for organising competitions and hackathons.
“In collaboration with ICAN, we have made provisions for all divider networks, IT equipment, power supply and all required to enable the hub function at optimal capacity.
“The bank is committed to making all its financing products and services available to bankable projects that emanate from users of the tech hub.
“We are confident that this hub will help users to innovate, incubate, collaborate and scale up as they become employers of labour and contributors to the economy of the nation”, he added.
In her remarks, the ICAN President, Mrs. Comfort Eyitayo, explained that the hub was positioned to empower users through different stages from idea generation to actualization of products or services.
Eyitayo thanked the bank’s management for partnering the Institute to ensure that members of the professional body and youths were equipped with the necessary skills for economic development.
