NITDA OFFICIALLY FLAG OFF TIES SCHEME IN SIX GEOPOLITICAL ZONES
The Nigerian Government in speeding up its strides of bringing about 100 million citizens out of poverty is spreading the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (TIES) Scheme to the six geopolitical zones of the the country.
TIES a project of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is expected to empower the citizens with digital skills.
The Director General and CEO of NITDA Kashifu Inuwaofficially flagged off the TIES Scheme during a hybrid session that took place live at the Venture Park Hub in Abuja while other locations like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Katsina, Kano, and Enugu joined virtually.
While applauding the startups stride towards the pursuit of providing solution to identified gaps in the society, he gave a brief narrative of the impact of the startup community on the Nation’s economy within the last two years.
He said, “Nigeria’s flourishing startup ecosystem has continued to attract global attention as evidenced by a total investment of $2.9 billion between 2021 and 2022 as reported by Africa: The Big Deal; the highest raised by any startup ecosystem in Africa.”
he said that Nigeria is home to 5 unicorn startups out of the seven in Africa adding that these and other significant milestones point to the enormous potential of the ecosystem in contributing to creating wealth and economic growth for Nigeria.
He disclosed how NITDA had conceptualised and designed the TIES Scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a capacity building programme targeted at addressing the digital skills gaps through trainings for hub managers, provision of incubation work to ensure massive creation of entrepreneurs and jobs within the ecosystem for young Nigerians.
He was optimistic that the TIES Scheme would accelerate the prosperity of the country, while enabling NITDA on delivering the target of achieving 95% digital literacy by the year 2030.
The Chairman of the TIES committee Dr. Abdullahi Gambo, Director of Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions (ITIS) NITDA expressed his optimism about the success of the program through the support of the industry partners. He said that NITDA is expecting the partners to help achieve the target number of trainers within the stipulated time frame through the train-the-trainer method.
The General Manager of Venture Park Hub Mr. Jayeola Okuazun in his remarks expressed his gratitude to the Federal government for providing a bridging the gap for your young talented entrepreneurs.
“Our mission is very clear, we are here to build the future of Africa and to be able to do that in my language we speak a lot of proverbs, there is one that says one hand cannot lift a load on one’s head”, indicating that collaborative measures between the Federal Government and the various Hubs would enhance the development of the nation.
Other Tech partners include Quantum Business, Blue Saphire Hub, Venture Park, Young Innovators, and Cherish Enterprise Institute.
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