The Director General of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa says the agency is committed to achieving the innovative goals of Nigerian Youth Entrepreneurs.
Inuwa made this declaration while giving a Keynote Address on “Problems, Possibilities and Potentials of Nigerian Youths,” during the Youth Entrepreneurship Dialogue (YED) Global Entrepreneurship Week, 2022, organised by Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN).
The NITDA boss applauded Nigerian youths for their consistent drive and enthusiasm towards the deployment of technological innovations in their various entrepreneurship ventures towards the progress and development of the Nigerian economy.
“The fact that Nigerian entrepreneurs, mainly the youths, kept delivering on innovation and promoting inclusion, leading to positive socio-economic impact and economic growth, is an indication of Nigeria’s entrepreneurship dexterity. Indeed, entrepreneurs are and will remain the backbone of the Nigerian economy,” he noted.
Inuwa assured that the Federal Government would fully support and be committed to the enormous entrepreneurial steps made by the Nigerian youths through the provision of infrastructures, policies, and initiatives that will create an enabling environment, while also expressing his empathy at the ecosystem’s challenges.
He claims that the Agency is dedicated to encouraging business ownership and Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs) throughout the nation.
Inuwa said that in order to bring the country into line with the best practices throughout the world, the Agency prepared its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) with a number of projects that were implemented in conjunction with stakeholders.
“NITDA has always been committed to driving youth entrepreneurship and we have continued to train and equip young innovative Nigerians aspiring to realise their entrepreneurial dreams through strategic programs,” he noted.
Highlighting some of these initiatives, the DG said that the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (TIES) scheme, the Idea Hatch (iHatch) incubation programme in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Bridge to MassChallenge (B2MC) are few of the several initiatives adopted and deployed by the agency in supporting entrepreneurship and creation of more IDEs.
On the Federal Government’s support for the promotion of entrepreneurship and the creation of more IDEs in the country, Inuwa added that “NITDA in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President for the actualisation of the newly signed Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) into law by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, which has now become the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA).”
Describing the NSA as one of the landmark achievements by the present government administration, Inuwa charged youths in the country to take full advantage of the initiative while stating that the Act would give them limitless opportunities in harnessing the boundless benefits it offers.
The DG said that the youths of the country are the most critical elements in the evolutionary process as they are the drivers of change with significant impact on the economic, social, political and cultural transformation in the country as well as globally.
“The youths, their talents, potentials, skills and capacities should be healthily and sufficiently channeled to the growth of the society. As a nation blessed with young and talented youths, Nigeria can attain economic independence, economic sustainability, and economic invulnerability, through enterprising our developed talents and potentials.”
