The Bank of Industry (BoI), African Development Bank (AfDB), and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have joined forces to promote digital literacy in Nigeria.
At the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, BoI Managing Director Olasupo Olusi emphasized the importance of leveraging Nigeria’s youthful population and increasing urbanization to enhance productivity in the economy, particularly in the digital and creative sector.
Olusi highlighted the significance of the digital and creative economy in President Bola Tinubu’s economic strategy, noting its role in employment creation, poverty reduction, and inequality reduction.
He introduced the transformative iDICE program, aimed at improving activities and output in the digital and creative economic space by providing funding, infrastructure, and policy support to startups and entrepreneurs.
Tapera Muzira, coordinator of Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy at AfDB Group, commended the iDICE initiative as timely and strategic, emphasizing its potential to create millions of jobs for young people in Africa. He underscored Africa’s youthful population and projected its growth by 2050, highlighting AfDB’s commitment to investing in Africa’s youth as a corporate priority in its 10-year strategy from 2024 to 2034.
Muzira revealed that the iDICE scheme will support 200 technology and creative startups and provide financial services to 450 digital technology Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General of NITDA, discussed the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (STRAP) aimed at achieving digital literacy in Nigeria by 2027. Focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, NITDA aims to position Nigeria as a knowledge-driven economy on the global stage.
Through collaboration and strategic initiatives like iDICE, the partnership between BoI, AfDB, and NITDA seeks to drive digital literacy, foster innovation, and empower Nigerian entrepreneurs to thrive in the digital age.
