• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • NAHCON

      Renewed Hope in Hajj Operations: NAHCON Records Milestone Achievements Under Tinubu…

      Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

      FG Reaffirms Non-Interference in ICPC, EFCC Operations

      ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

      Nigeria Customs Aligns with Finance Ministry over 4% FOB Policy Review

      Members Board of Directors of Dangote Refinery

      Dangote Refinery Deploys 4,000 CNG Trucks, Promises 24,000 Jobs as Fuel…

      Renewed Hope in Central Banking

      Book Review: Renewed Hope in Central Banking – A Blueprint for…

      NAHCON

      Renewed Hope in Hajj Operations: NAHCON Records Milestone Achievements Under Tinubu…

  • National
    • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

      Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, Legislators

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Saudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug Syndicate

      President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Minister of Women Affairs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim presenting a cheque to women

      Renewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister,…

      A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator Iroegbu

    • Government
      • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

        ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

        Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

        NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments,…

        MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief…

        President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Minister of Women Affairs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim presenting a cheque to women

        Renewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister,…

  • Security
    • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

      Police Officer

      Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms

      Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar,meets with Security Leaders in Beijing

      Badaru Joins Global Leaders at Beijing Forum on Peace, Security

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Saudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug Syndicate

      Military Troops in Action

      Troops Ambush Bandits in Plateau, Neutralise One 

  • Features
    • A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator Iroegbu

      A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Nigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity

      Engr. Suleiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka

      Engr. Kawu: A Heroic Homecoming for a Man of the People…

      Prof Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy

      Gombe Tech Training: Pantami’s Call for a Paradigm Shift By Muhd…

      Healing Nigeria: A Chronicle of Health Reforms

      Book Review: Is This the Cure? A Look into Healing Nigeria…

  • State
    • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

      Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

      NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments,…

      Police Officer

      Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms

      Crowned Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia

      Saudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug Syndicate

      MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief…

  • Event
    • Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

      NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments,…

      Flier for the programs that happened for the elderly by members of BUKAA FCT

      BUKAA FCT Appreciates Sponsors after Aerobics, Football Exercises

      Prof. Abubakar Mu’azu

      UNIMAID appoints Prof. Mu’azu as Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Communication

      NIPR President Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Baze University Management visits TETFUND, Showcases Tech-Driven Growth, National Impact

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Government How President Buhari Approved National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre- Pantami
  • Government

How President Buhari Approved National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre- Pantami

By
Isa Pantami
-
February 4, 2021
Prof Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy
Prof Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy

How President Buhari Approved National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre- Pantami

Being a remark by Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy at the Groundbreaking of the Centre in Abuja on February 4, 2021

I am highly delighted to be at the epoch making event of the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre, Abuja. I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to our boss, the Father of Digital Economy in Nigeria, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR for his immense support for this project.

Mr President approved the building of this Centre on the 11th of November 2020, during the Federal Executive Council meeting.  Prior to that, I made a detailed presentation to Council on the project and successfully answered around 22 questions in the robust debate that followed the presentation.

The idea received overwhelming support of the Federal Executive Council because of the huge positive impact it can have on the lives of Nigerians.

Furthermore, Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship are globally recognized as two prerequisites for achieving an indigenous Digital Economy.  As such, a successful digital innovation and entrepreneurship programme will support us in the development of our digital economy and this is exactly want this Centre aims to achieve.
Our journey towards the development of Nigeria’s digital economy commenced with Mr President’s approval of our request to redesignate the Ministry of Communications as the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.  This approval was given on the 17th of October 2020 and was endorsed by the Federal Executive Council on the 23rd of October, 2020.  The implementation of the Digital Economy mandate commenced on the 24th of October, 2020.
Following the redesignation of the Ministry, we developed a National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria (2020 – 2030) and this was graciously launched by Mr President on the 28th of November, 2019.  The Policy outlines our vision for the development of Nigeria’s digital economy, based on the following 8 pillars of the National Policy.

High speed and affordable Internet connectivity serve as catalysts for innovation and they stimulate the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This inspired us to develop a Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020 – 2025).  Again, Mr President unveiled and launched the Policy on the 19th of March 2020, in his characteristic commitment to Nigeria’s Digital economy.  This support has motivated us and has led to significant developments in the sector.

For instance, the growth of the sector resulted in an increased contribution of ICT to Nigeria’s GDP, reaching an unprecedented value of 17.83% in Q2 ‘2020 according to National Bureau for Statistics.  We have also recorded an all time high broadband penetration since the redesignation of the Ministry.  When I assumed office on the 21st of August 2019, the official broadband penetration figures stood at 33.72%. It increased with the subsequent monthly figures from end of August 2019 to end of November 2020, where it stood at 45.07%. We also succeeded in obtaining the commitment of the State Governors to peg their Right of Way charges to a maximum of N145 per linear metre, resolving an issue that had lingered for over 7years.

In addition, we have also experienced great success in the development of other aspects of our digital economy.  Over 120,000 Nigerians have benefited from our online digital skills program, with over 80,000 of them receiving one form of certification or another.  This is even without taking the physical trainings into account.

We have developed over a dozen policies aimed at providing the right environment to enable entrepreneurs to thrive in the sector. We are also developing National Policy on Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which this Centre and many other centres all over the country will implement.

Read Also:

  • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC
  • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director
  • NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier Exercise

The groundbreaking ceremony of the National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre is another giant leap towards the development of our digital economy and diversification of our country’s economy.  The Centre will be based on the ‘live, work and learn’ concept. The activities of the centre align with 6 out of the 8 pillars of our National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria.  These include Pillar #2 (Digital Skills), Pillar #4 (Service Infrastructure), Pillar #5 (Digital Services Development and Promotion), Pillar #6 (Soft Infrastructure), Pillar #7 (Digital Society and Emerging Technologies) and Pillar #8 (Indigenous Content Development and Adoption). We are also developing National Policy on Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which this Centre and many other centres all over the country will implement.

Our National Digital Economy Policy appreciates the importance of identifying and supporting Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) and it also focuses on encouraging many of these SMEs to go a step further by aiming to become Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs). The IDE-concept has been promoted by leading institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and these enterprises, no doubt, have great advantages. In contrasting IDEs and MSMEs we find that IDEs tend to have a global outlook while SMEs tend to start small and choose to remain local.
IDEs also generally require more capital than SMEs and tend to integrate innovation more into their activities more than SMEs. However, they can have a far more significant impact on the economy than the SMEs can. To further illustrate this, imagine the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a nation of IDEs. A 2015 Report notes that such an ‘MIT-nation’ would have been the world’s 10th largest economy, with gross revenue falling between the GDP of Russia ($2.097 trillion) and India ($1.877 trillion)!
I currently lead an Abuja Massachusetts Institute of Technology Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT-REAP) to accelerate the development of home grown IDEs in Nigeria. We are adopting MIT’s proven frameworks on accelerating innovation to create localized strategies for developing and sustaining enterprises driven by innovation. That same IDE-approach will be utilized in this Centre.

As part of our policy, I earlier directed the Director-General of NITDA to include the National  Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre in the proposed budget of the Agency.  The National Assembly graciously approved the request.  There are several benefits that Nigerians will enjoy from this Centre and I will mention a few of them.  The Centre will:
i.        enable Nigerians to acquire cutting-edge technological skills;
ii.        enable Nigerians to participate in the development of hardware, software and emerging technologies;
iii.        create an innovative ecosystem;
iv.        create a unique platform for technical skills (programming), soft skills (social interaction), entrepreneurship (starting and operating a business) to focus on the promotion and development of ICT, including smart energy solutions to drive ICT;
v.        nurture new ideas and develop an inquisitive perspective to support in the creation of employers of labour;
vi.        support in the promotion and development of ICTs, including aspects of advanced applied research; and
vii.        allow startups to accelerate and experience innovations at scale, through customized visits, design thinking sessions and co-innovation workshops to create a highly collaborative and immersive environment.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you all, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, for honouring our invitation. I invite State Governments, the Organized Private Sector, Foreign Multinational Companies and High Net-worth Individuals to follow this example of the Federal Government and develop ICT innovation and entrepreneurship parks according to minimum standards NITDA will set, popularize and promote.

I wish to commend the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, for his great effort towards the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy. NITDA’s role towards the digital innovation and entrepreneurship initiative is pivotal. I urge you to keep supporting the growth of the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem of the country.

Dr. Isa Ali Pantami
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Isa Pantami
  • National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre
  • President Buhari
Previous articleVIDEO: How NDLEA Uncovered MultiMillion Naira Cocaine Neatly Concealed in Traveling Bag
Next articlePantami Lists Benefits of New National Digital Innovation, Entrepreneurship Centre
Isa Pantami
Isa Pantami
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC

ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director

Chairman NAHCON Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman meets with Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda

NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier Exercise

Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, Legislators

MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief Imam of Oyo

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Minister of Women Affairs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim presenting a cheque to women

Renewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim

Court Reaffirms ICPC’s Power on Investigation of Kano Scholarship Funds

Engr. Suleiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka

Engr. Kawu: A Heroic Homecoming for a Man of the People By Adegboyega Ajadi

Omoyele Sowore and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Finally, DSS Files Charge Against Sowore, Twitter, and Facebook over Anti-Tinubu Post

HCSF, Didi Esther Walson-Jack

Federal Govt Moves to Fill 5 Permanent Secretary Positions

Commissioner of Police, CP Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, and Chief Medical Director of AKTH, Prof. A. Abba Sheshe, and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of KEDCO, Dr. Abubakar Shuaibu Jimeta

Power Outage: Police Broker Peace Between AKTH, DisCos in Kano

Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB arrested by Nigerian security services

Court Rejects Nnamdi Kanu’s Request for Transfer to National Hospital

Recent Posts

  • FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAAC
  • ICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin Director
  • NAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier Exercise
  • Kaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of Firearms
  • Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, Legislators
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
FG, States, LGs Share N2.225trn Revenue for August – FAACICPC Secures Six-Year Jail Term for Sokoto River Basin DirectorNAHCON Boss Meets Katsina Governor, Pushes for Early 2026 Hajj Payments, Promises Easier ExerciseKaduna Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Illegal Possession of FirearmsTinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Reinstates Fubara, LegislatorsBadaru Joins Global Leaders at Beijing Forum on Peace, SecuritySaudi Frees Nigerian Pilgrims Framed by Drug SyndicateTroops Ambush Bandits in Plateau, Neutralise One MURIC to Alaafin: No Law Grants You Power to Appoint Chief Imam of OyoRenewed Hope Agenda: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Tinubu’s Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-IbrahimNigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and Insecurity By Senator IroegbuNigeria Fights Back Against Banditry and InsecurityNavy Retrains Personnel on Weapon Handling to Boost Operational EfficiencyFirefighters Rescue Nine Victims from Burning 6-Storey Building in LagosPolice Arrest Seven over Death of IBB University Student, Nab Four Robbery Suspects in Suleja
X whatsapp