The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, at the weekend announced the expansion of the agency’s Hub Managers training programme in furtherance of its sustained efforts in harnessing technological innovation to create jobs and foster the nation’s economic diversification.
Inuwa maintained that the initiative was in total alignment with the presidential priority area of Reforming the Economy for Sustained Inclusive Growth and Accelerating Diversification through Industrialisation and Digitisation.
The Director-General made this disclosure at the iHatch Cohort 4 -Onsite Training for Hub Managers organised by the agency in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) in Abuja.
The on-site training programme, which had 37 hub managers from the 36 states of the federation, including the FCT as participants, will empower hubs to build robust incubation systems to support startups locally, develop strong regional ecosystems through partnerships and engagement, enhance their operational and mentorship capacity and provide access to international exchange programmes towards the adoption of best global practices.
While emphasising the current administration’s commitment to reforming the economy for sustained and inclusive growth, Inuwa pointed out that the key to achieving this goal remained in leveraging digital technology at the grassroots level to solve local problems across various sectors, including agriculture and small-scale trade.
According to him, the NITDA’s management does not want technological innovation to be concentrated only in Lagos and Abuja but is determined to take it to the grassroots and use it to solve real-life problems.
Inuwa disclosed that the pilot phase of the iHatch, which was conducted in Abuja, successfully trained 50 startups, which led to the creation of 179 direct jobs and over 1,500 indirect jobs, adding that the expansion of the initiative to accommodate all the 37 states will create 740 direct jobs and 7,400 indirect jobs before the end of the year.
The Director-General expressed optimism that the initiative will domesticate innovation in states and enable start-ups solve real-life problems in areas of agriculture, healthcare, transportation and other sectors that are peculiar to their different states.
Noting that innovation thrives in clusters where critical stakeholders can exchange ideas and incubate solutions, Inuwa harped on the importance of collaboration, networking and ecosystem development in driving innovation.
He said: “To sustain this initiative, we must build a strong community where startups, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders can continuously share ideas and collaborate. We don’t want startups to just pass through the programme; we want them to remain within the iHatch ecosystem because we want this initiative to expand to all the 774 local governments of the country.”
The Director-General further clarified that in addition to job creation and ecosystem building, the initiative aligns with the Nigeria Startup Act, which aims to provide legal backing and incentives for startups, urging the participants in the programme to act as champions in their respective states, spreading awareness about the Act and encouraging other startups to register and benefit from its provisions.
He said: “In line with the president’s mandate, our ultimate goal is to see every Nigerian digitally literate, using technology to access government and private sector services. We also want our market women to leverage technology to expand their businesses.
“We at NITDA are proud to walk this journey with you. Let’s keep building, let’s keep innovating, and let’s continue to shape the future of Nigeria, one innovation at a time”, Inuwa added.
